Mack Daddy(24)

I finally opened and forced the first words out. “Hello, Miss Hightower. It’s nice to meet you.”

She stood up and extended her long fingers toward me. “Miss O’Hara. Thank you for meeting with me. I’m sorry that it’s taken me so long to come in.”

“I understand. You’re very busy.”

Torrie sat back down in her seat before turning her phone on vibrate. “Let’s cut to the chase. Jonah has had a very difficult year, for more reasons than just our move from Virginia. Things at home with him have been very difficult, so I’m curious as to what you’ve noticed at school.”

“Well, first of all, your son is very bright. He’s probably one of the most intelligent students in my class. But, yes, it’s clear that he suffers from a great deal of social anxiety. We used to remove him from those situations that seemed to bring him discomfort, but now we’ve been taking a bit of a different approach.”

“How so?”

“Well, it’s really not benefitting him to teach him to run from situations that make him uncomfortable. So, we’ve been trying to make him stick it out longer, to teach him to cope with those feelings.”

“What’s your take on the medicinal route?”

“Well, I’m not a doctor. So, I don’t feel equipped to answer that, except to say that in my own experience, meds only help ease symptoms. They can’t cure a way of thinking that leads to a cycle of anxiety.”

“So, you think just trying to teach him to deal with it is the answer.”

“I do. But it’s also about teaching him that it’s okay to feel fearful. Once you accept the feelings, often they lose their power over you. Training a way of thinking is more of a long-term tool. But your family doctor would have more information on the risks and benefits of supplemental medication.”

“Is there a pill for a wrecked home life?” she asked sarcastically.

I had no clue what to even say.

“I’m afraid not.”

Torrie crossed her legs and leaned back into her seat. “You’ve met Jonah’s father…”

My throat suddenly felt extremely dry. “Mr. Morrison has volunteered a couple of times in our class, yes.”

“He’s trying to be as active as possible, to make up for the fact that he walked out on his son.”

My heart started to beat faster in anger. Feeling the need to defend Mack, I said, “He seems very involved in his son’s life, actually. We have a lot of students whose parents live in separate homes, and I can’t say I see their fathers as much as I see Jonah’s dad.”

“Well, his moving out was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Jonah. Things were bad for a very long time before that, though. My son has never really known what it’s like to have two parents who get along. I often wonder how much our home life has impacted his lack of desire to be among people, in general…if it’s why he shies away from everyone.”

“Well, he’s still too young to truly understand that divorce has nothing to do with him.”

“Oh, we were never married.”

What?

“Oh…I’m sorry. I just assumed…”

“No. I was never good enough for Jonah’s father, apparently.”

They were never married?

Come to think of it, Mack had never mentioned it one way or the other. I’d just assumed that Torrie had chosen to keep her maiden name.

“Anyway, I’d really like you to tell me if you notice things getting any worse with Jonah,” she said.

“Well, we will do everything we can to make sure he’s happy and thriving. But, of course, we’ll notify you if anything out of the ordinary arises.”

“You have all of my contact information?”

“Yes. I’ll be sure to update you soon.”

“Well, I can see he’s in capable hands. I have to admit when Mack insisted on researching the schools in this area, I was so busy with the job transition and the move that I just let him handle it. I wasn’t sure I should trust him to make a sound decision, but it seems that he has.”

“Thank you. I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

“Unfortunately, I’m late for a work meeting.” She checked her phone before standing up. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You, as well.”

Listening to the sound of her heels echo in the hallway, I stayed in the empty conference room and let out a deep sigh of relief. That hadn’t gone nearly as badly as I’d anticipated. Still, the fact that she knew nothing about my history with her ex made me very uncomfortable.

Reminding myself that I only had to deal with this situation until the end of the year, I put on my big girl panties, got up, and returned to the classroom.