My Last Wish novel · Chapter 6 of 24
Chapter 6: Little Acorn
The doctor had told me to keep Teddy's days the same.
So at 12:25 on Friday I stood in the front hall of Little Acorn Preschool, in a clean sweater, with the other mothers.
Dane had dropped me at the curb.
He was waiting in the truck, and I had told him to stay there.
"If I need you, I'll wave," I said.
"You'll wave," he said, and didn't believe me.
The hall smelled of crayons and wet mittens.
Children's paintings hung on a clothesline above the cubbies.
The classroom door opened, and the children came out in a line behind their teacher.
Teddy saw me and ran.
"Mama! Mama, I made a lemon!"
He held up a yellow paper circle with a green stem, and I picked him up and held his whole warm weight against me.
For a moment it was a good day.
"Mrs. MacTiernan."
The director had come out from her office.
She was a tall, tidy woman with a lanyard, and she did not look at my face.
"Could I speak with you for a moment? Alone, please."
"Whatever you need to say, you can say here."
She flushed.
"I'm afraid I have a note on file from Teddy's father. As of Wednesday, only he and one other person he's named are authorized to collect Teddy. I'm so sorry."
The hall had gone quiet.
A mother by the cubbies stopped zipping her son's jacket.
"I'm his mother," I said.
"I understand. But the note says there are safety concerns."
"What kind of safety concerns?"
"That," the director said, miserably, "is not something I'm able to discuss."
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