“What’s going on?” Ash asks.
“Career day at school. Allie must have gotten held up at work, so I’m going in her place. Angel called.”
Ash’s smile breaks across her face. “She called you.”
My chest swells with a little pride. When she needed someone, she called me. “Yeah. She did.”
“When do you go on?” she asks as I get in my car.
“Two,” I call out before shutting the door and rolling down my window. “Why?”
“I’ll be there with something before then.”
She rushes back in, and Tag shrugs while grinning and following behind her.
Angel called me when she needed someone. That thought stays with me the short drive to the school. I practically sprint to the office to check in. The secretary blushes when I introduce myself, and I make sure to charm her with my smile, just in case being late is a big deal.
After getting my pass and information packet, I realize I’m not exactly prepared to explain to a bunch of kids what I do. Especially not in twenty minutes. Shit.
I own several businesses, but I don’t actually manage any of them. I invest in companies, but I work from home, only tending to the bigger issues.
No. No. No. I didn’t think this through.
“Wren!” Angel squeals from the doorway, interrupting my reverie.
Her teacher holds her hand, releasing it once she sees my visitor’s badge. Angel throws herself into my arms when I kneel, and I pick her up, surprised by the unusual show of affection.
“Told you I’d be here.”
“Mommy’s never late. It must have been an emergency,” she says defensively.
“I know. I’m sure it was.”
Her whole body relaxes in my arms, as though she was prepared for a fight.
“Mr. Prize?” the teacher asks, clearly a little confused. “Wren Prize? You’re here for Angel Thrash?”
Damn last name. That’s another fight for another day.
“Yes,” Angel says before I can respond. “He’s my dad.”
I’m pretty sure it’d be pathetic to cry right now, so I work hard, real damn hard, not to do that. After clearing my throat, I manage to form an explanation.
“Sorry I’m late. Allie works at the hospital, so something big must have happened to keep her away. I’m the fill-in.”
There are a few other parents here in the hallway, a mixture of men and women in nice suits and dresses. Here I am in a blazer, T-shirt and jeans, but most people know the Prize name.
A man stands quickly, jutting out his hand before introducing himself. “Mr. Prize. Honored to meet you. Hershel Marks. I work in management at the Prize Foundation.”
I shake his hand, smiling. I wish I knew everyone that works for me, but I don’t.
“Nice to meet you.”
From there, several other parents introduce themselves. Numerous ones work for me, my mother, my brother, or Tag. Angel smiles proudly the whole time she’s on my hip, and the teacher readjusts her dress and hair while fanning herself.
“If you’re all ready, we’ll get started again.”
“You already started?” I whisper to Angel.
“Some of the parents went early this morning, the rest have been going on at different points of the day. This was the last break. It’s almost our turn. We’re on last.”
I grin while kissing her head, but suddenly I hear my name, prompting me to turn around as Ash and Tag make their way toward me with Trip cradled against Tag’s side. Trip coos at the world, not bothering to use his limited vocabulary, while Tag gives him a kiss on the cheek.
He looks sharp in his little suit.
Great. Even the baby is dressed better than I am today.
“Surely you didn’t come to hear my impromptu speech,” I say, grinning.
Tag snorts and rolls his eyes, but Ash laughs. “We did, but we also came to bring you this.” She thrusts two canvas totes that are full of candy assortments wrapped in decorative bags toward me.
“What’s this?” I muse.
“Something I had on hand for a party. It’ll make Angel the class favorite,” she whispers, winking at Angel who beams proudly from my hip.
It’s hard not to keep smiling, so I quit trying. Tag gets swarmed by numerous people who are just as eager to talk to him as they were to talk to me.
Angel and I sneak in just as one of the moms starts speaking about her work in the post office. We move to the back, and I take a seat in one of the designated chairs. Angel curls up on my lap, reminding me just how much my life has changed in the past three months.
***
ALLIE
“If I ever complain about being bored at work again, slap me,” I groan to Tracy, one of the nurses who just endured hell with me over the past few hours.
I never work the ER—that’s not my job—but today it was like they had to call in the troops when two tour busses collided and caused a pileup in town. Everyone injured was shipped here, and we’ve been running around, trying to aid each and every person we could.