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Chapter 9
Ru pulled into her driveway a little after 6:00. The sun was starting to fade behind the horizon, and she was both exhausted and starving.
Pushing open the front door, she found Piper there to greet her. “Hello, kitty. I’m sorry. Mommy had to stay late at work to set up her classroom.” She bent down to scratch her pet beneath her chin, dropping her bags on the floor as she did so. She’d come back and take care of that later, but first she needed to make sure Piper had some food and water in her bowls.
Her cell phone rang as she was filling up the water dish. Glancing down at the name, she groaned. Should she take it now or put it off? “Better get it over with,” she mumbled, slogging back into the living room as Piper dug into her fresh bowl of food. “Hello?”
“Where have you been?”
Not even a greeting. Certainly no, “How was your first d
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“Oh, my God, Ruin Sara Roberts! Where have you been?”Taking a deep breath, Ru squeezed past her mother into the house. “It’s 4:03,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm.“That’s right, and I specifically told you to be here before 4:00. The fact that you are late is just further proof that you don’t care one bit about your family!”Ru’s hands were full with the various items her mother had asked her to pick up, and she carried them straight to the kitchen, setting them down on the counter. Her mom was still barking at her, but Ru had learned that not listening was always better than trying to reason with whatever Liddy was going off about. “I’m sorry. I got off at 3:45, remember? I got here as fast as I could.”“You always have an excuse for everything, don’t you?” Liddy stood in front of her, arms fold
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Cutter put his phone away and picked up the piece of paper Lyric had produced for him earlier that afternoon. It was a nice fall evening, and he sat on the porch swing, listening to the leaves rustling in the wind and the fading sounds of insects that would soon find their winter homes.Rider walked out onto the porch, the sagging wood protesting and the door creaking behind him. He had a beer in his hand, and he took a swig as he crossed over. The porch swing seemed as unhappy at his presence as the porch. “So… now what?” he asked, leaning back as if he didn’t have a care in the world.With a sigh, Cutter said, “I think… we give it another week or two, and then I figure out how to explain all of this to her.”“Do you really think we have a week or two?” Rider asked, running a hand through his blond hair which was beginning to get a little shaggy around the edges.
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“Okay, class, if you will go ahead and put away your notebooks, it is time for music!” A quiet round of “yays!” filled the classroom as twenty-two students slipped their science notebooks into their desks. “We will line up at the door whenever you are ready.” Ru waited for all of the students to show her they remembered her rule and were going to be able to walk down the hallway quietly, in an orderly fashion. Everyone looked ready except for Ira. He was having a little bit of difficulty this morning, and she could see him self-stimulating because he was struggling. His arms were moving back and forth rapidly, but he was smiling at her, and she knew he was doing the best he could. Smiling back at him, she said, “You may line up.”Twenty-two children stood, pushed in their chairs, and politely walked to the door. She was so proud when they courteously let others in front of them with no pushing or arguing. M
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