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wasn’t true, that her husband had mistaken you for someone else. I just want to know you’re okay.”
    “I’m swell. Never been better. Life is a bed of roses.”
    It was Maddie’s turn to pause. I sensed she was trying to decide the best course of action.
    “I appreciate your concern, but I have to go,” I said.
    I hung up and headed out the door.
    For once, Aiden wasn’t late. He did however spill the contents of his backpack all over the sidewalk. I was shoving everything back in against his protests.
    “Mom! You’re going to break them.”
    He was worried I’d break the rest of his colored pencils. I’d already broken one in my haste to pack his things.
    “I’ll buy you new ones,” I said.
    “Now what kind of lesson will that teach him?” a voice said from behind me.
    I turned to find Mr. Devereaux leaning against his sports car. His hands were in his pockets and he had an amused grin on his face. The top of his shirt was unbuttoned. I could see his hairy chest beneath. I was surprised by how lean and muscular he was. The man was handsome despite being a creep.
    “What are you doing here?” I said a bit rudely.
    “Can’t a father pick up his daughter from school?”
    I’d never seen Mr. Devereaux at the school before. He never picked up Bella. That was a job for someone else as far as he was concerned.
    “Did you bring my dinosaurs?” Aiden asked.
    “I sure didn’t, sport. Did you leave them at my house?”
    Aiden nodded shyly.
    “Tell you what,” Mr. Devereaux said, “why don’t you come over this evening and pick them up. You can play with Bella and your mother and I can-”
    “No,” I said cutting him off sharply.
    I didn’t want to deal with Mr. Devereaux’s advances or with the awkwardness of Theo’s presence.
    “We don’t have time today,” I added. “Sorry.”
    I could tell Mr. Devereaux knew I was lying. “Well, some other time then. I heard you had a date with our manny, Theo.”
    He said ‘manny’ with a smirk as if the idea of a male nanny was hilarious to him. Mr. Devereaux struck me as the type of guy who saw childcare as ‘women’s work.’ He probably viewed a man occupying that role as weak, or submissive.
    Theo was anything but. Not that Mr. Devereaux cared.
    “Heard it didn’t end well,” he said.
    “Good news certainly travels fast in this town, doesn’t it?”
    I managed to get the rest of Aiden’s things in his backpack and lead him to the car.
    “I don’t mean to seem insensitive. Lord knows, I’m in no place to judge,” Mr. Devereaux said, following us to my car. “I know I’ve been the target of some colorful rumors in the past.” A big, shark grin spread across his face. “I would hate to see your name slandered.”
    I glanced at Aiden; he was listening to our conversation intently. I started to get angry all over again. This wasn’t something that needed to be discussed in front of a five year old. I pushed Aiden into the backseat of the car and slammed the door.
    “Or your wife’s,” I replied. “She’s certainly been the target of some ‘colorful rumors’ herself.”
    His mouth twitched as if he was fighting to keep the smile on his face.
    “When the gossips get ahold of something juicy they can’t help themselves,” he said. “They blow things out of proportion, twist the truth to suit their means. It’s disgusting.”
    “Is it? Twisted out of proportions, I mean?”
    The shark-toothed grin returned. “Well, where there’s smoke there’s fire. And some of things I’ve hear about you are enough to burn this town to the ground.”
    I stared at him dumbly. I had no idea what he was talking about. Death was unusual in our town. When my husband died, it was all anyone could talk about for months. Half the town thought it was suicide, the other murder. I knew it was all nonsense, though I wasn’t exactly sure what events had transpired to lead my husband to that bridge in the middle of the night. But he was not suicidal, or