7. Chapter 7
Chapter seven
“He’ll always be cute little Abe to me.”
Cassandra got to her feet, and Wes walked over to her. “I think I could manage a hug.” He hugged her, then stepped back.
Cassandra smiled. “Thank you.”
“I think it’s going to take more than a hug to get past this. Get your things. We’re getting out of here.”
“Together?”
“Yeah.”
“Did hell freeze over?”
He smiled. “Possibly. Just come on before I change my mind.”
“Where are we going?” She picked up her purse and a light jacket.
“What do you like on your pizza?”
She followed him out the door and into his office. “We’re going to Rocco’s?”
“Best pizza in town.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Wes shut off his computer. “You’ve lived here five years and have never been to Rocco’s?”
“I figured I wouldn’t be welcome.”
“My family is loyal, but they wouldn’t have refused to serve you.” He picked up his phone and put it in his pocket. “Let’s go.”
Polly looked surprised to see them leaving together. “Is that all resolved?”
“Yeah, my brother made sure Dennis left the grounds. Tomorrow, I’ll need the paperwork to send to the district office. He won’t be coming back to school.”
“Okay.” She looked at Cassandra. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Wes glanced at her. “We’re both headed out of here.”
“Should I open the office back up?”
“I guess you should. And get Roland in here to fix the hole in Dr. Jordan’s wall.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Today. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a little O.T.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“We’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have a good night.”
Wes opened the door and held it for Cassandra, then they headed for the parking lot. “We’ll take my car.”
“I’m perfectly capable of driving, Wes.”
“I’ll bring you back for your car after we eat.”
“You’re making too big a deal about this.” They arrived at his Wagoneer. “I can’t believe you’re still driving this thing. How is it still running?”
“My dad and Abe put a new engine in it a few years ago. The transmission has been replaced. It’s practically new under the hood.”
She ran a hand along the wood grain panel on the side. “We did have some—” He opened the door for her, and she got in without finishing the sentence.
Wes went around the front end and got in behind the wheel, then he turned to her. “Did that kid touch you in any way?”
“No.”
“But you were afraid he was going to.”
She put a hand on his arm. “You came charging in before I had a chance to go there.”
“I didn’t…I wasn’t too…”
“You showed restraint as far as I’m concerned.”
“Has that happened to you before? You’ve worked with a lot of troubled kids.”
“I’ve had a few confrontational patients. But my old office was a lot bigger than this one is.”
“I imagine your take-home pay was too.”
She smiled. “Yes, but that’s okay. I’m enjoying my new position.”
“Okay.” He turned back to the wheel and started the car. “Let’s go eat.”
Abe didn’t hold back his surprise when Wes walked into Rocco’s with Cassandra. He gave Wes a wave from the kitchen as Maggie walked up to them.
“Hi. Are you here to eat?”
“Yeah. Can we get a booth?”
“Of course.”
They followed Maggie to a booth away from the other customers. “Here you go. Coffee? Soda? Beer?”
Cassandra sat down. “Water for me.”
Wes sat across from her. “Iced tea.”
“I’ll be right back.”
“It’s been a while since we’ve sat across a table from each other.”
Cassandra took a napkin from the holder and set it on the table in front of her. “Seventeen years. Do you remember our last meal together?”
He wanted to tell her no, but lying to her didn’t seem right. “Ribs at that barbecue joint down the street from the bookstore.”
“Dusty’s.”
“Right. Best ribs ever.”
Maggie returned with their drinks. “Are we ordering pizza?”
Wes took a sip of his tea. “Yeah.” He looked at Cassandra. “Any preference?”
“No. Order what you want.”
“Um…let’s go medium with pepperoni, bacon, and bell peppers.”
“Breadsticks?”
“Sure. Small. Extra cheesy.”
“Got it.” She glanced back at Abe. “Abe wants you to come see him for a minute.”
“Okay.”
Maggie left, and Cassandra smiled. “I’m guessing he wants to know what the hell you’re doing here with me.”
“Exactly.”
She glanced at Abe. “I must say. He sure has grown up.”
“Well, he was in eighth grade when you knew him last.” Wes drank some more tea. “He has a very serious girlfriend and a son, so don’t get any ideas.”
She laughed. “He’ll always be cute little Abe to me.”
“I’ll tell him you said so.” He slid out of the booth. “I should go get this over with.”
He left the table and went behind the counter. Abe was moving pizzas around in the oven. When he finished, he grinned at Wes.
“So, what’s this?”
“We had a…bit of drama at work, and I thought she needed some time to get over it.”
“By having dinner with you?”
“By taking her mind off it.”
“Right. What happened?”
“A very disturbed student got belligerent in her office.”
“Damn.” He looked at Cassandra for a moment. “She’s very…attractive.”
Wes scowled. “Nothing has changed. I’m just being a good…boss.”
“I totally believe you.”
Maggie came up to them. “Abe, leave your brother alone.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Put some extra cheese on that pizza, will you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And when you get a free moment, there’s something Cassandra would like to run by you.”
“Hmm, sounds interesting.”
Wes patted him on the shoulder. “Just be nice and don’t say anything stupid.”
“Wow. Okay. I was going to, but now…”
Wes left the kitchen and returned to the table. He slid into the booth. “He’s going to come over when he can, so you can talk to him about holding the fundraiser here.”
“You want me to talk to him?”
“It’s your plan.”
“He’s your brother.”
“You’re in charge of fundraising.”
She picked up her glass of water and took a sip. “What are you in charge of?”
“Making sure the kids have a good time.”
“Wow. Tough job.”
“They are teenagers.”
They were halfway through their pizza when Abe approached their table. “How’s the pizza?”
Cassandra smiled at him. “Wonderful.”
“Wes said you have something to talk to me about.”
“Yes.” She wiped her mouth with the napkin. “Before he left so suddenly, Mr. Bishop set in motion a plan to allow all the seniors to come to senior camp this year. I guess in the past, some of them couldn’t afford it.”
“Okay.”
“When he left, it fell on me to follow through, but camp is six weeks away, and no money has been raised.”
“Are you looking for a donation?”
“No. Well, not specifically. I’d like to hold a fundraiser here. We advertise and get a lot of people to come in and eat pizza, and some of the proceeds go to the fund for camp.”
“We’ve done something like that a couple of times.”
“You can limit the menu however you want. If you want to only serve cheese pizza, that’s fine. Whatever works for you.”
“Gentry and I can come up with something we can live with.”
Cassandra glanced at Wes. “To make it fun, we can have Wes helping in the kitchen. Maybe have a few teachers serving.”
Wes cleared his throat. “If I’m going to be making pizza, you’re going to be delivering it to the table.”
“Fine.”
Abe smiled. “I’m beginning to like this idea.”
“So, you’ll think about it?”
“Don’t need to. It’s a done deal. Just give me a date once you decide when you want to do it. A Sunday would be ideal if possible.”
She put a hand on her chest. “Thank you.”
“Of course. We like to help out the community when we can. I also know how important the camp is to Wes. He looks forward to it every year.”
Cassandra turned to Wes. “I’m looking forward to it, also.”
Abe raised an eyebrow. “Sounds fun.” He glanced over his shoulder at Maggie, who was in the kitchen. “I should get back.”
“Thank you again.”
“No problem.”
He left, and Cassandra smiled at Wes. “I really like your brother.”
“Hmm.”
She cocked her head. “What?”
“You’re going to come to camp, aren’t you?”
“Of course.” She leaned back in the booth. “Unless you are completely opposed to it.”
“Don’t give me that power.”
“It’ll be fine. We can navigate a week in the woods with a bunch of seniors.”
“I just don’t get why you want to go.”
“Have you forgotten how many times we camped out together with just a tent after hiking to the middle of nowhere?”
“We were twenty.”
“Wes, it’s going to be fine. I may be old…er now, but I can certainly rough it in a cabin for a week. I won’t mind sharing a bathroom with you. You’re relatively neat.”
“Relatively?”
“You kept your half of the dorm room clean…ish.”
“Well, I’m old…er now, too. I happen to be extremely neat.”
“Good to know.”
He leaned back and tapped his fingers on the table. “It seems you’ve recovered from your ordeal today.”
“I have, thanks to you. It wasn’t just my ordeal, though. You nearly died. Or at least barely escaped a really bad headache.”
“Why do you still have that frog?”
“I thought I should honor Brian’s legacy.”
“With a glass frog?”
“It was that or a collage made up of his losing lottery tickets.”