Friday's Child Read Online Free PDF Page B

scanty. A copy of her birth certificate, a card documenting childhood vaccinations and copies of her report cards. He skipped the ones she’d received this year and looked at her kindergarten reports. His stomach did a slow roll as he read the comments from last year’s teacher.
    Overly active…hard to keep her attention…very distractible. He closed the folder, but not before the words had branded themselves onto his brain. Long moments ticked by in which no one spoke. For a short time, Michael forgot about the others in the room, immersed as he was in the realization that Chloe’s reports last year highlighted the same concerns that Kate had come to him with yesterday.
    Kate. His eyes lifted and met hers.
    â€œYour ex-wife hadn’t shared those reports with you?” she asked, sympathy tinging her voice.
    He cleared his throat. “Not copies of them, no,” he said. He was searching his brain, trying to remember exactly what Deanna had told him about Chloe’s schooling last year. Certainly nothing that would have prepared him for what he’d just read. Or for what the people around the table were trying to tell him.
    â€œIt’s a lot to take in all at once,” Kate said gently. “Only a qualified physician can diagnose Attention Deficit Disorder. I’m just asking that you consider seeking such a medical opinion. It’s no more than you’d do if we suspected a hearing loss or allergies, is it?”
    â€œAs Kate said, this is a lot to think about,” Carol put in. She handed him some brochures. “Here’s some information about ADD. Maybe you’d like to take some time to look these over and then get back to us about your plans. If you have more questions at that time, we could meet again.”
    Michael took the information she was holding out, because he couldn’t think of anything else to do. All his protective instincts, seldom dormant, rose to the surface. “This is a waste of time. I may not know anything about this…attention thing, but I know my little girl. She’s a perfectly normal, energetic six-year-old.”
    â€œPerhaps that information will help clear up some questions for you, though,” Kate suggested. “Read it and see if the descriptions match what you observe of Chloe’s behavior at home.”
    The women rose, and Michael stood slowly. Clearly the meeting was at an end. Clutching the information in his hand, he followed them out into the hallway. Kate was speaking to one of the women, the counselor, he thought. His gaze lingered on the hand she’d placed on the woman’s arm. The sight of that smooth skin and those long, tapered fingers stirred something inside him, something he didn’t want to feel.
    â€œMiss Rose.” The flicker in her eyes told him his tone had been harsher than he’d intended. The counselor walked away and left the two of them together. Kate waited patiently for him to speak. Something about that calm, waiting air rankledhim. His world was being kicked out from under him, and she was entirely too serene about the part she’d played in it.
    Deliberately he came nearer, close enough to invade her space, and felt a savage surge of satisfaction when her eyes flickered. “This—” he indicated the papers he clenched tightly in his hand “—isn’t going to change anything. There’s something you should know about me, Kate.” He rolled his tongue around her name, enjoying the uncertainty that flitted across her expression at its sound. “I protect what’s mine. I can make things extremely difficult for you if I choose to. I suggest you drop this whole ridiculous idea.”
    But he must have overestimated his effect on her. That softly rounded chin came up in the air, and she matched him look for look. “My students are very important to me, and I’ll do whatever it takes to help them succeed. And there’s