Chapter 8 #2
“I just wanted to let you know that I received a complaint about you,” Tinsley said.
“Oh?” Suzanna looked at her in surprise. “From who?”
“Eva Dayton. She came in Friday after school, and she wanted to know if I would advance her daughter into the fourth grade. She believes Boone will appreciate Holly’s special gifts more than you do.”
Suzanna fought back a groan. Just what she needed to add to what she knew was going to be a stressful day. “And what did you tell her?”
“I told her I generally frowned on moving children from one grade to another. I pulled up Holly’s grades, and while she seems to be doing well, there’s nothing there to indicate she’s ready to skip a grade.
I assured her that you were a great teacher and appreciated each one of your students’ special qualities.
I’m sure she left unsatisfied with my answer, which was that I wouldn’t move Holly from your classroom. ”
Suzanna released a deep sigh. “Holly is a bright girl, but socially she’s very immature and more than a bit of a bully. I addressed my concerns with Eva at the parent-teacher meeting, and I knew at that time she wasn’t particularly happy with me.”
“After she left my office, I took the opportunity to reach out to Holly’s last school. I spoke to the principal there, who told me Eva had launched the same kind of complaints at Holly’s first and second grade teacher, so this does seem to be something of a pattern.”
“Do you have any suggestions on how I should handle this?” Suzanna asked.
Tinsley smiled at her. “Just keep on being the great teacher that you are. I just wanted to give you a heads-up that you have a disgruntled parent.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Suzanna replied.
“Now, get out of here. It’s almost time for the students to arrive.”
Minutes later, Suzanna stood at her room’s doorway and greeted the children as they came in.
Another day had begun. She had a discontented parent and she hated that.
However, what she hated even more was that she still had to face the three men she had named as potential suspects in the attack against her.
That happened at lunchtime. As she walked into the teachers’ lounge with her lunch, all three men were there, along with Vanessa.
“What in the hell, Suzanna,” Ray said angrily as she sat at the table with her lunch tray.
“Some nut is after you, and you think it’s one of us?
” He looked at her incredulously. “Are you out of your ever-loving mind?”
“You’re hurt,” Boone said, his gaze filled with concern as he gazed at her bandaged arm. “I’m sorry you got hurt, Suzanna, but you’ve hurt all of us by having Chief Calloway come to our homes to question us about the attack on you.”
“I’m sorry, but Dallas asked me about who was close to me, and so I gave him your names,” she replied defensively. “I just want to find the person who attacked me.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you, but I don’t appreciate you putting my name out there as a potential suspect,” Ray said, his eyes dark with an anger she’d never seen in him before.
“I would never hurt you, and I certainly wouldn’t ever attack you with a damned knife, and you should already know that about me. ”
“Stop picking on my girl,” Vanessa said with obvious irritation, and Suzanna shot her friend a grateful look. “She’s explained why she gave Chief Calloway your names, and there’s nothing more to say on the matter. Suck it up, buttercups.”
“Ha, easy for you to say,” Ray muttered under his breath.
The lounge was quieter than it had ever been as they all ate their lunches. Suzanna’s thoughts whirled around and around in her head. Arlan had an airtight alibi for the night she was attacked with the knife, but Boone and Ray didn’t.
Was it really possible one of them had attacked her first by forcing her car off the road and then with a knife in an effort to kill her?
Had Boone’s sympathy over her wounds been real or manufactured to make her believe he cared about her?
Had Ray been angrier with her than she’d realized because she hadn’t gone out with him when he’d asked her?
Had that anger driven him to hate her…to want her dead?
She had hoped that seeing the men today would clear her mind and assure her that Boone and Ray were completely innocent. Instead, she was more confused than ever about the two men she worked with, two men she had considered her friends. But now she worried that one of them wanted her dead.
The next week flew by, and Seth was happy that they had settled into a routine that was smooth and easy. The only thing that wasn’t easy was his simmering desire for Suzanna. She had definitely become an itch he wanted to scratch.
Every morning, he drove her and Sammy to school, and while they were gone, he worked on the farm, getting the fields ready for winter and planting the crops that needed to be planted.
At four thirty he picked them up from school. Sammy had gotten the necklace every day that week, and so two evenings ago after supper they had gone to a charming little ice cream parlor in town.
Seth had definitely been on duty that night. With his gun hiding beneath a sport coat, his eyes had shot everywhere and to everyone who entered the ice cream parlor. He didn’t like going out, but the trip had been short and Sammy had been happy.
Suzanna had told him about the tense first lunch with the three men she had named to Chief Calloway. According to her, things had remained tense with Boone Wilder and Ray Stedman throughout the week.
Still, she managed to put it all behind her in the evenings when they all spent time together. He so admired her strength and her ability to be in the present and enjoy life despite the fear he knew she still carried deep in her heart.
Thankfully nothing had happened over the past week to threaten her, but that didn’t mean Seth had let down his guard where she was concerned.
Whenever they were out in public, which was rare, Seth made sure he wore his gun beneath a suit coat, and he remained vigilant about watching anyone who came close to them.
He was determined that no harm would come to her while she was under his watch.
Friday afternoon he pulled up in front of the school and watched as the two people he cared about most in the world came out the front door and got into his car.
Midweek there had been a warm-up with temperatures flirting around the eighty-degree mark. The ever-changing weather was typical for this time of year in Kansas.
“Daddy, I got the necklace again today,” Sammy said from the back seat.
“That’s great, son. I’m so proud of you,” Seth said and flashed a smile at Suzanna. Today she was clad in a pair of navy slacks with a tailored red-and-blue blouse that clung to her curves. She looked utterly beautiful and as fresh as she had looked that morning when she’d left for school.
“Good day?” he asked her as he headed toward home.
“Yes, it was a good day,” she replied and returned his smile. “The students were all great, and the day went by very smoothly.”
“What about Stedman and Wilder? Things still the same there?”
Her smile faltered slightly. “Yeah, they’re still pretty much ignoring me and giving me the silent treatment, which is fine with me. It’s obvious by their actions now that we weren’t as good of friends as I thought we were.”
“I’m sorry about that,” he replied softly.
She shrugged. “Live and learn.”
“Hey, Daddy,” Sammy said. “Tommy Kelce asked me to spend the night with him tonight. Can I do that? Please, can I go to Tommy’s house for the night?”
“You know the rules. I’ll need to talk to Tommy’s parents first and make sure that it’s okay with them,” Seth replied.
“Susan and Rick Kelce are good parents and nice people,” Suzanna said.
“Yeah, I met them when we had Tommy over to spend the night a few weeks ago.”
“Sammy and Tommy are pretty inseparable at school. They always play together at recess,” she said. “And if we do something that requires a partner, they always choose each other.”
“Tommy is my very bestest best friend except for Lady,” Sammy quipped.
“That means I’ll be babysitting Lady tonight. How are you going to pay me for my services?” Seth asked. He glanced in the rearview mirror at his son and then returned his gaze to the road.
“Daddy, you know I don’t have no money,” Sammy said and frowned. “How about tomorrow when I get home from Tommy’s, I’ll vacuum the whole house. Would that pay you for taking care of Lady tonight?”
“I think that sounds fine as payment,” Seth replied. Seth didn’t believe in giving his son an allowance yet. He wanted to instill in him the fact that chores were something you did for the family and not because you were getting paid for them. Sammy had always been good about doing chores.
They arrived at the house and all went inside. Sammy immediately prompted Seth to call the Kelces and see if the plans for Sammy to spend the night there were on.
He called and spoke to Rick Kelce, who assured him that the plans were, indeed, on. The arrangement was that Seth would bring Sammy to their home around six.
As Suzanna went to change her clothes, Seth put into the oven a chicken casserole he’d made right before he went to pick them up from school.
He opened a can of corn and put the vegetable into a saucepan to warm up when the casserole was almost ready. He’d also already made a salad to add to the evening meal.
He’d just sat down at the kitchen table when Suzanna came back into the room. She’d changed into a pair of jeans and a purple T-shirt that had the high school’s logo on the front. The school colors were purple and gold, and on football days, half the town seemed to sport those colors.
“You look more comfortable now,” he said.
“I am more comfortable,” she replied. She sat at the table across from him. “Is there anything I can do to help with dinner?”
“Nothing at all. I’ve got it all under control,” he replied easily. “It should be ready to eat in about twenty minutes or so. Are you hungry?”