Lucia’s smile was a little wild.
“It’s easy enough to corroborate, Martin,” Lucia informed the man. “With the cameras we installed to catch the person who has been stealing from the labs, we’ll know within thirty minutes whether this is true or not. Ms. Slater has always been an exemplary student, something that I think we can all agree cannot be said about Ms. Dunston. I believe her claim, and it’s easily verifiable. You may go, Ms. Slater. Congratulations.”
Martin started to sputter, but Lucia just waved off his annoyance.
“We can continue this tomorrow. As far as I’m concerned, Ms. Dunston is officially suspended from the program, pending an investigation into these new allegations.”
I walked out on Martin’s annoyed sputters.
Tally was already at the end of the hall, but she wasn’t laughing or smiling.
No.
She was exactly the opposite.
“She was my friend.”
“I know, Tally. I know.”
I wanted to pull her into my arms so fiercely that it astounded me, and I realized right then and there that I was in love with her.
I didn’t like seeing her hurt.
I didn’t like seeing tears in her eyes.
And I detested that she had to go through all of this today.
The fact that I played a small part in the reason behind those tears that were falling down her cheeks slayed me.
“It’ll all be okay, honey,” I murmured as I pressed the elevator button.
She swiped away her tears.
“I know,” she cleared her throat. “See you when I see you.”
She took off toward the stairs, and I rode the elevator down to the first floor.
By the time I got out into the parking lot, she was already pulling out of it.
But she had a smile on her face, and that was good enough for me.
Chapter 23
Raise your hand if you’re a little bit of an asshole in the morning.
-Raises hand
Tally
I walked into the backdoor of Tommy’s place, expecting to find it just as empty as the last time I’d seen it, but I was pleasantly surprised.
“Whoa,” I murmured, hitching Tallulah up higher on my hip. “Nice!”
“No,” I heard Tommy say. “What happened when you arrested her?”
My brows rose as I walked around the corner of Tommy’s kitchen, stopping just inside the entrance to the great room.
My eyes automatically were drawn to the large cedar beam that ran the length of the room, and my eyes widened when I saw the fan hanging in the middle of the room.
It was a Big Ass Fan.
Literally. That was the brand, and I found myself smiling.
Something I’d done quite a bit over the last four hours since I’d left the dean’s office.
I’d headed in there with a lead weight in my stomach at having to turn in my best friend, and had left with a resolve that would dissolve any and all guilt that I felt.
I still couldn’t believe that that stupid girl had thought she could accuse Tommy of rape.
Seriously?
Tommy?
He was the most ethical teacher—until me—on the whole campus!
He had five quiz grades (all grades given by nurses that interacted with you during your clinical) and five test grades. He didn’t tolerate cheating, bullying or foul language in any of his classes or shifts. Though, that was kind of hypocritical since I’d heard him drop the f-bomb no less than four times in the last two minutes.
“You really shouldn’t curse,” I murmured. “She has delicate ears.”
Tommy turned, a smile appearing on his face as he did.
He wedged the phone between his ear and shoulder and held out his hands for Tallulah, and I watched as my daughter instantly went into his arms, babbling happily once she was against his chest.
She lifted one chubby hand and pressed it against his beard, watching him rapturously while he continued his conversation—despite Tallulah’s happily screeching in his ear every five seconds.
“And did Hadley explain to you exactly why she falsely accused me once you had her brought in for questioning?” Tommy continued.
My brows rose as my heart started to race.
Hadley was arrested?
“Good,” Tommy grumbled. “Make sure you keep an eye on her, though. That girl is a sly one. She has split personalities, too. She may look like an angel on the outside, but I’m fairly sure she’s the goddamned devil when no one is watching.”
I snorted and turned to survey the yard through the windows while Tommy finished his conversation.
Some sort of green mixture was covering the ground, which I assumed was grass seed.
There was also what I assumed were sprinkler heads interspersed evenly throughout the yard as well.
“All right, talk to you later, Aaron. Have a good one.”
Tommy came up to my side and Tallulah slammed her open palm down onto the glass.
“What do you think?” he asked, his eyes taking in his yard, too.
“I think it looks good. That weird foamy green shit is grass seed, correct?”
He grinned. “Hydro mulch…which turns into grass, yes,” he confirmed. “I didn’t know you were going to come by.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I wanted to see you,” I murmured. “And little Miss over here was being a cranky toad, so I decided to go for a drive. See where we ended up.”
He sighed and dropped his arm around my shoulder.
“I’m glad your drive led you here. I like being the end of your road,” he rumbled. “And she isn’t acting that cranky now.”
Dropping his arm from around my shoulder, he tickled Tallulah’s belly and dropped a kiss to her smiling cheek.
“No,” I agreed. “She sure as heck isn’t.”
He sighed. “I’m guessing you want to know what that phone call was about.”
I nodded my head patiently. “I do.”
He took Tallulah to the playpen that I didn’t notice when I entered the great room and placed her carefully down in it.
Tallulah automatically face dived into the stuffed animals and immediately commenced chewing on every single one of them.
“You know her well,” I teased.
“Stopped by the store on the way home and got her her own shit,” he confirmed with a wink.
My heart swelled.
My little girl well and truly had this man wrapped around her little finger. Which made me happy. She hadn’t had much of a father figure to love her like she deserved to be loved, and I was grateful that she would have that.
“So, tell me what else happened since we parted ways this afternoon,” I ordered.
“Nothing.”
I growled, causing him to chuckle.
“That’s just it. Nothing.” He held up a hand when I went to protest. “They arrested Hadley for filing a false police report and likely will get her for extortion as well.”
“Extortion? And what did you find out about the dean, Martin?” I continued.
He grimaced.
“That’s the extortion I was talking about,” he murmured. “The videos that Aaron was able to locate showed a near knock-down, drag-out fight between Martin and Hadley in the lobby after hours. She threw something at him, photos of some sort that the camera angle couldn’t pick up, and Martin immediately acquiesced to her demands.”
“And what were those demands?”