Promises Forgotten
Chapter 48

“Mike, I don’t think Jacob knows.” I spoke up after we broke apart and I served everyone lemonade.

“Knows what?” Jacob looked from me to Mike.

Mike’s smile rivaled the Cheshire Cat. “I don’t believe he does. Should we tell him?”

I hummed. “Maybe we show him?”

Mike nodded. He went over to the shelf and grabbed the bag of French flour. I smiled, and bit my l*p, excited.

“The whole reason why we closed down today.”

Mike set the bag down gently and caressed the top of it. Jacob came over and looked. His eyes grew wide.

“F*****g hell. Holy f*****g hell. Make me a line and I’ll do it right now on the counter.”

We snickered and I patted him in the back. “What should we do first?”

“What shouldn’t we do? Bread? Cakes? Pastries? I mean….the possibilities!”

Laughing, the three of us were what was left of our culinary class friends. This was a huge deal for us. Being able to have access to the French flour outside making a trip to France. We huddled together over a few of my recipe books before settling on a menu. We wanted to try a bit of everything with it.

We laughed and worked together, David came in after a while to ask questions. All four of us farted around with the flour.

“Mom!”

I looked up from the recipe book I was hovering over.

“Can we have the guitar?”

I froze, looking at Elliot. Mike put his hand on my back, and it snapped me out of it.

“Of course. Just be careful.”

He squeaked and ran out. Mike looked at me.

“You sure?”

“It’s his anyways. He paid for it. I just…inherited it.”

The door swung open again and Zach stood in the door, holding the guitar. Mike was still standing behind me and rested his hand on the small of my back for support.

“Elliot wants me to play for him.”

Swallowing, I smiled. “It’s his favorite thing. I’m surprised he didn’t do it earlier.”

Zach looked at me awkwardly. “I…don’t want to play alone…”

A blush crossed his face, and I rolled my eyes. “You have your pick of people out there. Ron actually has a lovely voice when singing in Spanish.”

“Evie…that’s not…”

“I don’t…not now.” I didn’t mean to snap but I did. Mike squeezed my hand and I took a deep breath. “You don’t deserve it yet.”

He eyes cast down and he nodded. Turning, he went back into the cafe section. David shook his head.

“Ev, you shouldn’t have said that. You love…”

Shaking my head, I cut him off. “I appreciate it, I do. But I haven’t sang with him for three years. The last time I was totally and completely happy. I don’t think I have it in me right now to sing with him.”

He nodded, stopping the fight. I heard the guitar strum and I leaned against the counter, closing my eyes. Zach didn’t sing, but he did play the guitar. At some point, I knew I started to cry. Mike and Jacob stood on either side of me, being a strength without saying a word. After two songs, I heard commotion and probably the people in the cafe right now telling him how good he was. Only I would be able to tell it was half assed; his heart wasn’t in it.

“You okay?”

I smiled. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be? Come one, let’s get the stuff out of the oven so we can feed people. Take some polls.”

They nodded and Mike called David back in to help. He was grumbling about something but didn’t say anything louder. We plated everything and David, with Mike on his tail, brought out a mess of food. I grabbed the comment cards and Jacob grabbed the pencils.

“I ask that you judge harshly and fairly of the ones you decided to eat. Just place the card in front of it. It’s not anonymous or anything, we don’t care. Just working out what we want to do in the future.”

Everyone dived in and I backed up, starting to make coffee and sending it out to everyone, along with water and juice for the kids. Once everyone was thoroughly fed, we opened up the courtyard for everyone to enjoy outside and Jacob, with Jan’s husband, started to set up the smoker we had out there.

The atmosphere went from a little strained to smooth and enjoyable after a while. I sent Mike and Frank on a drinks run, so now we had some beer, soda and even some mixers. Beer in hand, I watched my extended family from the doorway of the kitchen outside in the courtyard.

“This is really nice.”

I craned my head up to look at Zach. Smiling, I looked back out. “It is. We don’t do it often, but when we do, it’s an extended family.”

He was standing behind me and I could feel his warmth. I relaxed a little more knowing he was there.

“I’m sorry. You were right. I shouldn’t have…I’m sorry, Evie.”

Taking a sip of beer, I held it up to him. His hand reached out and grabbed it, taking a sip and handing it back. The peace offering complete.

“It’s nice to see Elliot’s father is here.”

The relaxed feeling disappeared as Pat, Hailey’s mother, walked over. Zach noticed the change in my posture and his hand rested on the small of my back.

“I’m happy to be spending time with him.” His voice was very even and business-like.

“Well, the superintendent will be happy to hear both parents are in his life. We were worried Elliot would need to go somewhere else for kindergarten.”

My jaw set. I was well aware of the rumors that flew around the parents and faculty. Single mom, worked at a cafe, missing an arm, looking like I belonged as a manager of Hot Topic. The snobby school had been trying to get me kicked out ever since I enrolled him.

“Why would he need to go anywhere else?”

My smile was small as I looked down at the bottle in my hand. Zach was completely unaware of the politics of schools, especially of the good ones.

“Well, in our school, we not only want to make sure that the children have a well-rounded education, but also home life. It’s important that the home life be as organized and complete as their schooling. That the parents can be there for their children in every way.”

I rolled my eyes and continued to stare down at my bottle. It didn’t matter. She could say whatever she wanted, they all could. Elliot was mine and I would give him the world even if it meant I had to sell my left arm. They wouldn’t understand the struggles, and therefore would never stop judging.

Zach cleared his throat before speaking. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure I quite understand. My son is smarter and has shown on multiple occasions a decorum that your child seems to lack. I would hope that Elliot’s school is run exactly like his home.”

My eyes widened and I looked up at Zach. His jaw was set. He figured out the jab was at me and he was not happy.

Pat chuckled nervously. “We just want to make sure the kids are well provided for and have the best chance to succeed.”

“I fail to understand why a school would focus on the number of parents present if you truly want to make that evaluations for an existing student. A child can have two parents, but it’s obvious to see some don’t receive the same level of attention and love that my son receives in a single parent home.”

“Z…”

I felt his hand snake to my waist and tighten. “A school that made judgements based on that and is willing to throw out a child who was smarter and will succeed at a level that school could only beg to have as an example seems ridiculous. As well as parents of children who think it’s okay to sneak around their children’s backs and have affairs, but judge someone else for not wanting to get remarried.”

Clearing my throat, I bit back a laugh. Pat looked mortified and sent a quick glance to her husband, who was chatting away with the other fathers of Elliot’s classmates. Shaking my head, I took a sip of my beer.

“Pat, I’m well aware of what the school and most of the parents think of me. What mattered to me was that my son got the best education I could possibly provide him.” I held up the beer to Zach who smiled down at me and took it. “I found out recently that the education in which is being provided at that school is inadequate for him. I already planned on leaving at the end of the school year. He will be starting first grade, as he tested into it, at a better school. Since yours seemed to fail to understand just how special he is.”

Her eyes widened. “You…you’re leaving?”

“Yes. Isn’t that what you want? The smartest child of his generation, whose father is one of the most successful businessmen of the decade, is leaving your dumb a*s school because you can’t provide a good enough education, while the superintendent is getting blown by at least three of the PTO members.”

Zach coughed as he took a drink, but I smiled, knowing Pat was actually one of them. Her face paled.

“Well, I hope you get the education that you are looking for.” She stumbled over her words.

“Oh, I already know. I was able sit in on the classes all day for a week. Which, funny enough, wasn’t allowed to sit in with his class now unless I donated a ridiculous sum of money. I know Elliot will miss the girls, but he’s such a social butterfly. I know he will thrive in every situation. Just like his father.” I looked up at Zach, who was smiling down at me.

“I’ll grab you another beer. I finished yours off.”

“You don’t have to…”

Zach took my hand and kissed it. “But I do. For my goddess.” Shooting a glare at Pat, he walked into the courtyard where the drinks and food were set out. Pat excused herself and fled to her husband’s side but got shrugged off.

“I miss carrying two bottles at a time,” I mused as Zach handed me an already opened beer bottle. Taking a swig, I looked up at him with a smirk on my face.

“Are you really moving Elliot to a new school?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Elliot and I already talked about it. We actually sat in the classes together. They wanted to judge not just his aptitude but also his social abilities, because if he was going to be in multiple grades above his, he needed the maturity for that as well.”

“Will it be better?”

“Immensely. It will take some time to adjust. Jacob has offered to take him to school on his way to work because it’s not walking distance. It’s also twice the price…” I grimaced, taking a sip of my beer. “…but he’s worth it. I’ve still got one good arm I can sell if I need to.” Chuckling, I looked up at Zach, who was absolutely not amused.

His shoulder touched mine. “I can help. Especially when it comes to his education. I’d like the information for the school as well.”

“I’ll give you the info for the school before you leave.”

He sighed, taking a drink. “I know he’s in good hands. I know you’re in good hands. You’ve got some overprotective knights at your side, but I still don’t want to leave. I don’t know how I’m supposed to be okay next week. This…feels like home.”

“It will be here as long as you don’t f**k it up.” Smirking, I watched him shake his head, but a smile was on his face.

“I love you, Evie.”

“I love you, Z.” I looked over at Elliot, who is entertaining his ladies. “You’ll need to talk to him.”

He nodded. “I know. I will. At the latest it will be next Sunday when I fly back in. I have my ticket set for that. I’m going to try to be back on Saturday. I’d like to close on the house.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned to look at him, but he was already leaning down. Our eyes met and our faces were inches apart.

“No matter what. I’m coming back. To him. To you.” His hand cupped my cheek and he kissed me. It wasn’t long, but it was sealing a promise. A promise that I didn’t want to hold out for, but I knew in my heart, I would hold him to it.

I whispered. “The door will be open. Come home soon.”