The Friend Game (Games for Two #1)

Chapter 32

I’LL ADMIT THE worry does start to creep back in as the day progresses and I still don’t hear from Lexie Stone. But it’s fine, remember? I’ve officially walked through all of the worst case scenarios, so she is no threat to me.

Luke and I had plans to get dinner before the board meeting, but he ends up getting called to the hospital to visit a member of the church in critical condition. Which is of course fine .

He shoots me a text letting me know he’ll meet me at the board meeting. Jill is coming too and Belinda. So at least I’ll have a support system in place should Lexie try any funny business. Or rather, when she tries her funny business. Pretty sure it’s inevitable.

I get to the school fifteen minutes before the meeting is set to start and sit in my car with worship music blasting. I once heard someone say that it’s impossible to worry when you’re praising God, so I’m putting the theory to the test. I’m happy to report that it’s proving true. I’m feeling pumped and ready for this meeting as I step out of my car and head toward the building.

My good feelings only increase when I hear my name a second later and turn to see Brooke and Sydney hurrying toward me.

“Brooke? Sydney?” I exclaim. “I didn’t know you guys were coming.”

“Duh,” Brooke says. “Of course we came. What kind of sister would I be if I didn’t come to your trial?”

“It’s not a trial, Brooke,” Sydney says, elbowing her in the side. “It’s a board meeting where her employment will be voted on.”

“Tomato, tomahto.” Brooke waves off Sydney’s correction then turns back to me. “Are you ready to state your case?”

I nod. “Yes, I think so.”

“You’re a great teacher,” Sydney pipes up. “I’m sure they’ll vote in favor of keeping you on.”

“Thanks, Sydney.” We’ve reached the building now and the three of us file in, Sydney leading the way. The media center where the meeting is being held is already buzzing with people. Are board meetings usually this highly attended? I sort of doubt it. Pretty sure they’re all just here to see me face off with Lexie.

Brooke disappears to use the bathroom, and I scan the room for Luke, but can’t find him. My heart sinks a little, but I tell it to float back up because I’m sure he’ll be here soon.

“Ah, Hannah, you’re here.” George approaches me with a friendly smile on his face. “I just want you to know that I plan to speak on your behalf tonight.”

“You do?” I say in surprise. I hadn’t realized that was even an option.

“Of course. It was my idea to lie about your certification so it’s only right that I stand up there and admit that.”

“Wow, George.” I reach over and squeeze his hand gently. “Thank you.”

“Don’t get me all choked up before my speech,” he says, clearing his throat and walking away from me. But another person approaches in his wake—Sheila, Zach from flag football’s mom.

“Our family is behind you 100 percent,” she tells me before heading off to grab a seat. Etta is behind her, here even though she doesn’t have kids at the school.

“I’m just here because I want to support you,” she tells me with a hug. Will comes next, apologizing for not being able to stay due to having worship team rehearsal but then leaning in for a hug so that he can whisper that he thinks I’m good for Luke .

And it keeps going. Person after person steps forward to offer me words of encouragement or to let me know what a great teacher they think I am. I’m completely floored by the realization that this crowd isn’t gathered to see drama unfold or to gleefully watch my demise. They’re here for me.

Debbie, the mom of Bella, the little girl who once told me mistakes are okay as long as we learn from them, finishes telling me how happy they are to have me at Grace Canyon, then Jill appears at my side.

“Can you believe this?” I whisper to her, my heart full of love for this community. “All of these people rooting…for me ?”

“Of course,” she says. “Haven’t you realized by now that you’re someone worth rooting for?”

Good grief. The emotional punches just keep coming. No, not punches…that has a negative connotation. Maybe high fives? Yes, the emotional high fives just keep coming.

“Order! Order!” A woman sitting at the front of the room calls, banging a gavel against the table she’s standing by.

I hear Brooke exclaim to Sydney, “See, I told you it was a trial!”

All around the room people find their seats and stop talking. I head toward the front, since I know they’ll be calling me up to talk. I scan the room as I go, but there’s still no sign of Luke. Or, I note with surprise, Lexie. There’s an empty seat at the long table where the board members are all sitting. It must belong to her. So where is she?

I pull out my phone hoping for word from Luke on his whereabouts. There’s a text from him about ten minutes ago, letting me know that he’s so sorry, but he’s running late on his way from the hospital but that he’ll be there soon.

I let out a relieved breath. Even with all of these people here supporting me, Luke is the one who matters most.

My relief dies on my lips when I notice another text that arrived around the same time.

It’s from an unknown, yet somehow familiar number.

All it says is: I told you things between us weren’t over.

Anxiety starts to churn in my stomach because it’s obvious who this is: Marshall. It has to be. I deleted his number when we broke up, but now I wish I’d blocked it. He was so furious with me when I ended things, though, that I never considered he would try and reach out to me again.

Hands shaking I delete the text without replying. I have no interest in interacting with the man. I’m about to block his number when the same woman who shouted Order starts to speak .

I put my phone away, forcing myself to concentrate on the meeting at hand. I’ll deal with Marshall later.

This is what I tell myself, anyway, but my nerves are back in full force. All of the feelings of hope and encouragement from only seconds ago have vanished. Why did Marshall have to text me tonight of all nights? It almost feels…intentional.

But no, Marshall doesn’t know about this fiasco. Does he? I mean, he did somehow find out about me teaching at Grace Canyon. Which suggests he’s been keeping tabs on me.

I shudder at the thought.

“As you all know, the primary focus of this meeting is discussing the subject of our long-term substitute teacher, Hannah Garza, and whether or not she should be hired full-time despite not having the proper certification,” the woman is saying as I stare stupidly at her. Focus! I chide myself. “Now,” she glances to her left at the empty seat beside her, “we had planned on having our president open the night for us with her opinion on the matter, but as you can see, Lexie isn’t here.” She coughs, seeming nervous to point out this obvious fact, like somehow it might get back to Lexie that she was the one who outed her for something we can all see with our own two eyes.

Is Lexie really not coming? I tap my fingers along my knees, unease gripping me. I’m not sure why, but I have this terrible feeling that everything is about to fall apart.

Jesus , I murmur His name in my head. Always the best lifeline.

“I suppose what we’ll do is have the case in support of Miss Garza open for us instead. I know Principal Novak had planned to speak, then Jill Bernard,” she looks down at her meeting notes, “and, of course, Miss Garza herself.” Her gaze flits to mine, and I nod. “Principal Novak,” she goes on, “would you–”

“Actually would it be okay if I went first?” A familiar deep voice speaks from the back of the room and my head swivels around to see Luke entering the room. Luke! He’s here! A smile spreads across my face. He’s here!

“Pastor Abbott?” The woman at the front continues to have an air of frazzlement about her, but she nods. “Of course. You’re not on the docket, but of course.” She nods again and Luke makes his way to the front of the room. Gosh, he’s so handsome. Like my own personal knight in shining armor.

Call me old-fashioned, but you’ll never convince me that getting rescued isn’t an incredibly appealing occurrence. Not that he’s necessarily rescuing me. I do have a speech of my own, after all. But still, the striding to the front of the room looking all competent and capable and, you know– hot …well, he’s definitely giving off some rescue vibes that I very much like.

“Thank you, Rochelle, ” Luke says to the woman as he accepts the microphone from her hand. “First off, I think it would benefit us all to start this meeting off with a word of prayer. If you’d all please fold your hands and join me as we come before our Heavenly Father.” Around the room people shift in their seats, dutifully adopting a posture of prayer as Luke speaks. “Father God, thank you for the Grace Canyon community. What a privilege it is for us to not only gather in your name, but to have this place where we can strive to educate young children about you, instilling in them the awesome truth that they are loved by the King. I ask that tonight you would keep our focus on that goal. That anything that doesn’t involve furthering your kingdom would be set aside. Clear our minds that we might fill them with you. Amen.”

The prayer comes to a close, and I let out a long exhale as I echo his Amen with the rest of the room. His words are a poignant reminder that this meeting is not about vindicating myself in front of Lexie. I want to keep teaching because I love these kids. Lexie may have a personal vendetta against me, but my job is not to retaliate, it’s to stand firm in what I think God has called me to. And right now that’s teaching here at Grace Canyon .

“Now,” Luke lifts his head and looks around the room, “before Principal Novak speaks I just wanted to get up here and state for everyone in the room to hear, that I stand behind the permanent hiring of Hannah Garza. I know the board has some concerns not only about her lack of certification but about the fact that she didn’t tell everyone that she wasn’t certified.”

“You mean she lied,” another board member says loudly. “You can’t just spin that truth away.” I swear I can hear Jill’s internal monologue rejecting that statement. Spinning isn’t lying, it’s making the truth seem more attractive.

“Fair enough,” Luke replies, unrattled. “She did lie, but she also came forward with the truth. That shows great strength of character. Owning up to our mistakes is never easy.”

“Amen!” Etta calls from the back.

“Furthermore,” Luke goes on, “there are many private schools across the state that don’t have the same requirements of their educators. Not only does that suggest that our own rules could perhaps benefit from being relaxed on this point— at the very least on a case-by-case basis—but also that Miss Garza could easily go to one of those other schools and try to get hired there. Instead, owing to her affection for Grace Canyon, she’s willing to pay to get certified so that she can stay on staff here. ”

“More like owing to her affection for you!” someone shouts from the back. I don’t know who said it, but titters erupt around the room and an endearing blush rises to Luke’s cheeks. For the first time he looks unsure. His gaze darts to mine. His apologetic expression suggests that he thinks he’s let me down for getting our relationship outed. Which is just ridiculous. I give him a big smile so he knows just how much I appreciate him going to bat for me. Then I mouth with a conciliatory shrug, “They’re not wrong.” His posture relaxes as he grins back at me. He turns back to the room.

“Well, yes, I hope that’s part of it too,” he says with a chuckle, earning himself a round of cheering and hooting that Brooke most definitely started.

I laugh helplessly in my chair, a warm, fuzzy feeling filling me.

“Now maybe I should turn the floor over to Principal Novak before I start literally singing the praises of the woman in question–we all know my voice is questionable at best.” Everybody laughs as George stands and heads up to his son.

“Hold on a minute, Principal Novak–I’m here,” Lexie’s authoritative voice cuts the laughter off, and all around the room heads swivel to the door. At first I’m actually relieved to see her. After all, I was expecting her to be here. Not having her here was almost more nerve-wracking. Now the meeting can go on as planned. No unwelcome surprises.

But then a man walks in behind her and my stomach freefalls to the floor.

Marshall.