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“Oh my gosh. Did he mess up your kitchen?”
“Nothing a broom and some really hot bleach water couldn’t fix.”
She reached for his hand and held it for a moment before taking a step back. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thank you.”
“I still want all the details.”
“I know.”
“Call me if you need to leave early. I can get someone to cover for you.”
“I’m fine, Rachel.”
“Okay.”
Wilda glanced over her shoulder, and Rachel waved at her. “Thanks for coming in to help.”
“Of course.”
Rachel headed for the door and left the classroom, and Milo sat in his chair and drank some more coffee. “Okay.” He turned to Wilda. “Will you and Caleb feed the animals, please?”
Caleb ran to the rabbit cage and peered through the wire. Flopsy jumped over to him and wiggled her nose.
Miss Evelyn brought the kids in, and they settled into the morning routine. During story time, Wilda read the book while Milo sat at his desk, trying to stay awake. Getting fresh air during morning recess revived him a little, and he made it through the next hour until lunch.
Rachel was anxiously waiting for him at the staff table. He sat next to her without a lunch and sighed.
“Where’s your lunch?”
“Didn’t get one made. Too tired to eat, anyway.”
“You need to eat.” She handed him half of her ham sandwich. He took it from her, then took a bite. “So, I need details.”
He looked at the sandwich for a moment. “What happened to you bringing me lunch for two weeks?”
“Didn’t I do that?”
“No.”
She took a sip of her bottled iced tea. “So, tell me about the bear.”
“I woke up to a crash in the kitchen. Thought it was raccoons. It wasn’t.”
“That’s not details, Milo.”
Milo chewed another bite. “He was big, stinky, and I was pretty sure he was going to come through the dining room doors and get me.”
She patted his knee. “How did he get in?”
“My back door doesn’t always latch. He walked right in and helped himself to the bag of groceries sitting on the counter.”
“And how did you get him out of there?”
“Justin shot him with a couple of tranquilizer darts. He dropped. We dragged his ass out of there with Abe’s winch.”
“Wow. Why didn’t you go back to bed?”
