26. Chapter 26
Chapter twenty-six
“We have a bit of a problem.”
Polly looked relieved when Wes and Cassandra walked into the office. “I was getting worried. I was about to call you.”
“Everything is fine, Polly. Just overslept.”
Cassandra excused herself and went to her office as Wes picked up two slices of banana nut bread. “Mrs. Tolliver?”
“Mrs. Beacon.” Polly glanced toward Cassandra’s closed office door. “Are these ladies about to be very disappointed?”
“Polly, the reason Cassandra and I have been arriving together is that she’s been driving me in. I’ll be back behind the wheel next week.”
“Of course.” She handed him several pink phone message slips. “Mr. Morrow has called three times.”
Wes tucked the slips into his pocket and poured coffee into his mug. He set the slices of banana nut bread on top, then headed to his office. “I’ll give him a call.”
Wes closed his door, then sat at the desk. “What do you want first thing in the morning, Stu?” He drank some coffee, then took a bite of the banana nut bread. When the door opened and Cassandra peeked in, he smiled. “Miss me already?”
She came through the door and closed it. “I wanted to explain my reaction.”
“To…”
“You know what to.”
“Have a seat.”
She sat down. “I, ah…”
“I know we just got back into this. I didn’t mean to freak you out. It’s just where my head is. I don’t want to run off and get married. I just feel like that’s the eventual outcome. And I was joking about Luke and Bailey.”
“It didn’t freak me out. The fact that it didn’t freaks me out a little bit, though.”
“We’ll carry on, and when it happens, it happens.”
“When, not if?”
“No if. Only when.”
“You’re a lot more confident than you were back then.”
“Seems like that happens when you’re damn near forty.”
“Three years. Don’t be in such a rush to get there.”
“I’m not in a rush. It’s just inevitable.” He took the pink slips out of his pocket and laid them on the desk.
“I should let you get to work.”
“Will we need Polly to order us lunch again?”
Cassandra stood. “Oh my gosh, why can’t we remember to bring lunch?”
“I think we had other things on our minds last night.”
“Bailey is spending the weekend with her girlfriend.”
“Making you free to spend the weekend with Frank and me?”
“We’ll have our first therapy session.”
“I can think of a couple of other things I’d much rather do.”
“We’ll have the whole weekend. There will be time for it all.”
She left the office, and Wes scowled at the phone for a moment before picking up the receiver and dialing Stu’s number.
“Stu Morrow.”
“Stu, it’s Wes.”
“We have a bit of a problem.”
“I thought we were good after last night.”
“Pete West is suing.”
“Dammit.”
“Not just the district. He’s suing the camp and you personally.”
Wes stood and picked up his cane. “Can he do that?”
“Technically, as an employee, you’re protected.”
“Technically?”
“If the trustees determine you were negligent, then you could be vulnerable to a lawsuit.”
Wes dropped back into his chair. “How did this get so out of control? Am I going to lose my job over this, Stu?”
“I’m sure it won’t come to that.”
“Should I go talk to Pete?”
“No. Definitely don’t do that. Stay away from him.”
“So, what am I supposed to do?”
“The trustees are strongly suggesting you take a paid leave until this thing is resolved.”
“Leave? You want me to…dammit, Stu.”
“We’ll tell everyone your leg injury was worse than you thought and you need to take some time off.”
Wes rubbed his face. “I don’t believe this.”
“You know I’ll do what I can. I don’t want to lose you, Wes.”
“I need some time on this.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Okay. If I get any good news, I’ll call you.”
Wes hung up the phone, leaned back, and gripped the armrests of his chair.
When one suddenly came loose in his hand, he let go of it.
It fell to the floor, and he stared at it for a moment, picturing Pete West’s face, before picking it up and setting it on the desk.
He flexed his hand a couple of times, then picked up the phone messages and flipped through them.
“Nothing urgent.” He dropped them on the desk and picked up the phone again.
Polly answered. “Yes, sir.”
“Can you come in here for a moment?”
“Of course.”
Wes was finishing the banana nut bread when Polly knocked once, then opened the door. He waved her in.
“Is everything okay?”
“It seems like it’s not. Were you at the meeting last night?”
“Yes. You did a wonderful job.”
“Apparently not. Paul West has filed a lawsuit, and the trustees have asked me to take some time off until this thing is resolved.”
“Oh my gosh. That is so wrong.” She exhaled sharply. “I can’t believe they’d do that to you.”
Wes smiled. “It’s okay, Polly. It’s a temporary situation.”
She cocked her head. “You don’t sound convinced of that.”
“I will play along and give it some time.”
“When are you leaving?”
“In about five minutes.”
“No.”
“If the trustees want to take over my job and send in a replacement, I’m not going to make it easy for them.”
“Good for you.”
“Immature, but yeah. Yay, me. I told you this because you have a right to know. But the official story will be I’m on medical leave.”
“For your knee.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I will spread that news.”
“How does Cassandra’s schedule look for the day?”
“She’s pretty open. Not too much going on.”
“Thank you, Polly. I’ll stay in touch.”
“Thank you for trusting me with the truth.” She opened the door, then looked at him. “So…you and Dr. Jordan?”
He nodded. “Me and Dr. Jordan. But that’s not why we were late this morning.”
“Of course. You overslept. The kids are going to miss you.”
“Hopefully, I won’t be gone long enough for that to happen.”
Polly left, and Wes stood and looked around the room. He picked up his cane and the plant and left his office.
Cassandra was on the phone when he opened her door. She held up a finger, then finished the call. When she saw the plant, she raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on? Why do you have Geraldine?”
“Would you still like to play hooky today?”
She stood. “What’s wrong?”
“It has been strongly suggested by the trustees that I take a leave of absence while they fight the lawsuit Pete has filed against the district.”
“Oh my gosh. That’s…ridiculous.”
“I agree. So, how about you, me, and Geraldine get the hell out of here?”
She picked up her coat and purse. “Let’s go.” They left her office and stopped at the reception area counter. “Polly, will you reschedule my appointments for today?”
“Of course.”
“And if Bailey comes looking for me for some reason, tell her to call me.”
“I’ll do that.”
Wes smiled at Polly. “Thanks. She’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Have a good day.”
They left the building and got into Cassandra’s car. “Where to?”
“My parents’ house.”
“Why there?”
“Well, it’s high time you met them. Then we’re going to blow off some steam on the paintball course.”
“The famous paintball course you used to talk about all the time.”
“I didn’t talk about it all the time.”
“Maybe. But you relayed a lot of stories.”
“It was an important part of my childhood. And not so child…hood.”
“Are you going to take it easy on me?”
He patted his knee. “I’m injured. What more of an advantage do you need?”
“You’ve played all your life. I’ve never played.”
“There’s a very small learning curve. Point and shoot.”
“I guess I can do that.”
Wes walked up to Cassandra with a grin. “Are you okay?”
She shoved him. “Point and shoot my ass.”
He wiped some paint from her cheek. “You got me a few times.”
“Only because you’re a cripple.”
He laughed. “I believe the politically correct term would be temporarily physically handicapped.”
“Have you released all of your pent-up frustrations?”
He sighed. “I’m afraid it’s going to take more than kicking your ass at paintball. But I feel slightly better.”
“Can we be done, then?”
“Yes. Let’s go meet my mother. I think she’s home now.”
“Now that I’m covered in paint.”
“You look beautiful.”
She squinted at him. “That’s not going to stop me from hating you right now.”
He put his arms around her. “How about this?” He leaned in and kissed her. “Or this?” He kissed her neck, then moved to her temple, before returning to her mouth.
“I’m starting to forgive you.”
“What’s it going to take?”
She wiped some paint from the sleeve of her coveralls, then smeared it on his face. “That helps.”
“Wow.”
She kissed him. “They should make this stuff edible.”
He laughed as he took a step back. “That would be a whole different game. And one I wouldn’t want to play at my parents’ place.”
Cassandra unzipped his coveralls. “Do you think maybe she’ll feed us some lunch?”
“I guarantee she’ll insist we eat lunch.”
“Good. I’m starving.”
“Yeah, getting your ass kicked will do that.”