Riley POV
The idea began with a compliment.
Mrs. Harris said it during breakfast on a quiet Monday morning, while Amelia tried to balance cereal on the end of her spoon and Oliver searched for a missing worksheet.
“You have a natural connection with children.”
I looked up from Grace’s lunchbox.
“What?”
Mrs. Harris smiled.
“You understand what they need before they always know how to say it.”
“That sounds like a dangerous amount of responsibility.”
“I mean it as a compliment.”
Oliver found the worksheet beneath his chair.
“I knew it was there.”
“You looked inside your bag three times,” I said.
“I was checking other places first.”
Mrs. Harris laughed softly.
“You see?”
“See what?”
“You do not only manage them.”
She lifted her coffee.
“You know them.”
The words stayed with
