Kindergarten Baby: A Novel (17 page)

Jake was seeing another side of Shawna, though this didn’t particularly surprise him. She was the strangest woman he’d ever encountered. Tonight she wasn’t using any of her feminine wiles to get what she wanted. She was nervous, calculating, and almost threatening. He wanted no part of this‌—‌whatever
this
was.

“You can come in now,” said a sympathetic voice coming from the doorway of the harshly lit surgical suite.

Shawna was visibly upset by the man’s words. Agitated, she signed and gave Jake a blank personal check. She instructed him to “just handle it,” then call her on her cell phone in a few days. With that, she hurried out the door into the darkness, still wearing her sunglasses. She turned back with one last, chilling order.

“No one is to know about this.”

Jake ventured beyond the swinging doors and was welcomed in by a kind, old doctor. It was obvious the gentleman truly cared for his patients, and he seemed especially fond of this one with the sad brown eyes, lying helpless and attached to an IV.

“Hey, Wendell,” Jake said softly, stroking the broad neck. “You’re gonna be all right. Hang in there, big buddy. What happened, Doc?”

“He’s been here a couple of days. Looks like he got hit by a car‌—‌more than once, I think. Some of his injuries look older than others. Lucky someone found him and brought him in. He lost a lot of blood.”

“Who found him?”

“Nice guy. Didn’t give me a name. Just said he found him laying near a bush over by 4
^th
and Oak.”

That wasn’t far from Lindsey’s place, Jake thought, struggling to unravel what had really happened.

“The prognosis?”

“Too soon to know.”

“Can you at least estimate when he might be able to go home?”

The doctor regarded him somberly. “Well now, that depends on what kind of care awaits him at home. Who does this dog belong to? Surely not that fancy lady that arrived before you tonight.” He peered critically over the tops of his half-glasses. “Those two are not a good match. A dog and owner need to be a good match for both their sakes.”

Jake nodded. He stayed by Wendell’s side till midnight, talking in a calm, soothing voice, patting the suffering dog’s head. Every now and then Wendell opened one eye and gave a small whimper, letting Jake know he was glad he had come.

CHAPTER TWENTY

“Ms. Lindsey?” came the call over the intercom.

“Yes?”

“Please send Bobby to the office. He has a visitor.”

“He’ll be right there.”

Lindsey used her cell phone to call Laura’s office and see if she could walk with Bobby. Fortunately, he was having a good day, but he was a kid with whom she never took chances. He was too unpredictable.

“Hey, Linds,” Laura said. “Glad you called. Let’s get together after school today.”

“Let’s make it lunch break. I have an important meeting at the bank after school. Can you swing by and walk Bobby to the office?”

As it turned out, an investigator from Child Protective Services was there to interview Bobby. Both Laura and Lindsey had had numerous discussions about the little boy, and while they sensed something was wrong, they’d never had specific information that would warrant a formal call to CPS. They knew that without seeing a suspicious injury on the child or without the child stating that someone had hurt him, CPS would merely make note of the call, but no action would be taken. Apparently someone had finally made the call.

“Ms. Lindsey,” came another intercom call from the office just moments after Bobby returned.

“Can you take a call? I’m so sorry to bother you again. I offered to take a message, but he says it’s urgent. I could put it through to the classroom.”

All sorts of thoughts raced through Lindsey’s mind. It could be about Bobby. Or Anthony…‌or Emmett…‌or…? “Yes, please put it through.”

“Hello?”

“Ah, finally. If you had a cell phone I could text you. That would be so much more efficient.”

“I have a cell phone. Who is this?”

“Not important,” said the caller. “But I did leave my name with your new boyfriend. He and I had a nice chat. Didn’t he tell you? Oh, well. We men are not great at taking or delivering messages. Just to keep you informed, here’s the latest of Anthony’s dastardly deeds. He hit your big dog with his sleek car. How could you ever care about a man like that? You were wise to break your ties with him. Such a shame about the dog. Hope he lives.”

“What? When? Where? Who are you?”

The phone went dead, and Lindsey turned to face twenty-five curious kindergarten students. They knew something was wrong.

“Who was it, Ms. Lindsey?” asked Emma.

Armando had another idea. “Can we see your cell phone?”

“Does your phone have the Talking Cat or the Angry Birds?” asked Joseph.

Lindsey took a quick breath to compose herself, but her heart was racing. Wendell? Anthony had hit Wendell?

“Let’s finish up our Art Journals,” she said.

Why had this person called her at school? Why had he called her at all? And he’d already spoken with Emmett? Emmett hadn’t said anything about that. Nothing made sense, and she wanted answers.

A little while later, Laura appeared. “Hey, Teach. Get off the phone. I’ve brought lunch and we’ve only got twenty minutes to gobble it down,” she said, sporting an unusually happy face.

Lindsey did hang up, but only because neither Anthony nor Jake answered their phones. “Yum,” she said, distracted. “Leftover pizza. One of my favorites. What’s the occasion?”

“Oh, nothing really. I just wanted a chance to talk about our Jake.”

That got Lindsey’s attention.
“Our
Jake?”

“Yes.
Our
Jake. He’s been delivering food to you for quite some time, he takes care of your dog and your bird, and I thought I detected a hint of jealousy at your birthday celebration. You seem to like him a lot.”

“Jealousy?” replied Lindsey defensively. “Well, I do like him. He’s a nice guy, and he’s been a big help to me, but I don’t like him like a boyfriend. He’s way too young for me. And besides, I now have the perfect person to spend time with, and to get me over the hump—”

“The hump being Anthony?”

She shrugged. “More like the lack thereof.”

“And this perfect person wouldn’t happen to be your Grand Canyon squeeze, would it?”

“You know it is. Emmett has been wonderful. He’s just what I need right now: sensible and mature.”

Laura cocked her head to one side. “Then you’re okay with me moving forward in developing a relationship with Jake? And I do mean the part about
me
moving forward, because if the truth be known, Jake has never even asked me to go out with him. Perhaps he’s playing hard to get. One thing I know for certain about him is that he’s selfless‌—‌unlike most men‌—‌and he seems very interested in me, my life, my hopes and dreams, always asking how I feel about just about anything and everything. What a breath of fresh air‌—‌pardon the cliché.”

“As long as you can live with the robbing the cradle aspect and being the older woman, how could I object? I’ve got Emmett now,” Lindsey tried to say with conviction. It bothered her that something in her gut was uncomfortable with this arrangement. “Go for it!”

***

“Emmett, I’m home,” called Lindsey. “Are you here?” She found Emmett in the spare room, packing his clothes.

“Lindsey! You’re home a little earlier than I’d expected. I, uh…‌guess we should talk,” he said sheepishly.

“Okay, but me first. Close your eyes. No peeking,” she ordered, though her words sounded almost like a song. “I have a surprise for you, but I think you’d better sit down.”

He sat, eyes closed.

“Open your eyes,” she commanded with glee.

He blinked and stared, open-mouthed. “Oh my God, Lindsey. What is this? Where did you get it?
How
did you get it? What is it for?”

Lindsey held up a check for $8,000 and smiled at him like she’d just won the lottery. Emmett beamed at her, looking incredulous.

“Well, when you explained the timing glitch for all the pre-payments, I knew I wanted to help out. After all, if it wasn’t for you, I would never have the opportunity to go on this dream vacation. On a teacher’s salary, I pretty much live month to month, and don’t have a nest egg or a golden goose. But I did have some equity in my home, so I got a Home Equity line of credit. It was far easier to get than I thought it would be.”

“Oh Lindsey, you shouldn’t have. You are an angel. You truly are.”

“Everything is going to work out, Emmett. And this whole process will even help me. That’s what the banker said. She said that I will be able to demonstrate that I can pay back the loan, and my good credit rating will get even better. I didn’t tell her that I’d be paying the loan back very, very soon, but that shouldn’t matter because there is no penalty for that with this loan. As soon as your advance and expense money arrives, I will pay the whole thing off. See? It’s perfect.
And
we get the vacation of a lifetime together!”

Gathering her into his arms, Emmett held her close and brushed a gentle kiss across her forehead. Her body tingled from the sensual contact.
He’s the one,
she thought.
He might really be that knight in shining armor I’ve wanted all my life. He might be everything Anthony could not, or would not be.

“Oh,” he said, smiling down at her. “I have good news, too. My apartment is finally fixed and ready for occupancy, hence the duffle bag and the packing. Give me twenty-four hours to get it set up and finalize our travel arrangements, then we will have a celebration like never before. Just you and me, really getting to know each other. I’ll call you with the address.” He hesitated, frowning slightly. “On second thought, let’s make it forty-eight hours. That will be Saturday, and you won’t be distracted by celebrating on a school night. We can even sleep in…‌if you know what I mean.”

A warm flush rolled through her chest, and she grinned. “You are so thoughtful, Emmett. I’m counting the hours.”

He stepped back, and she felt briefly abandoned. “I’d better go,” he said. “Lots to do before Saturday night.”

“Oh, Emmett? Before I forget, I got the strangest phone call at work today. A stranger said that Wendell had been hit by Anthony’s car, then he hung up. He also said he’d spoken to you. Did anyone call here?”

“Oh, um, yeah. Some rude guy called, but it wasn’t today. He didn’t really say anything. I think his name was Sam‌—‌no, maybe Sean. Said you were acquaintances and hung up. Don’t know if that’s the same guy or not. Did seem odd, though.”

“Okay,” she said, no closer to the truth.

“I’ll see you later, okay?” he said.

He gave Lindsey a peck on the cheek then hurried out the door with the duffle bag over his shoulder and the check in his hand.

Waiting for Saturday was like waiting for Christmas. She had thought she’d hear from Emmett before then, along with the promised address and directions to his new place, but the phone never rang. Saturday eventually arrived, and she settled in, waiting for his call. She distracted herself by cleaning her kitchen, including scrubbing the grout in the countertop tile with a toothbrush and pouring boiling water and some citrus peels down her disposal. Oh, and she also took everything out of her refrigerator and washed every rack, tray, and container, including those sticky with old ketchup and jelly.

The dinner hour was fast approaching, and Lindsey’s impatience turned to worry. What could she do? She knew nothing more than his apartment was someplace on the north side of Tucson with a view of the city’s lights. Not much to go on. She never knew his cell number, since she’d always called him at her own house. She considered calling hospitals and police stations then decided to wait a little longer. It was only six o’clock. Maybe he’d had a family emergency. Trying to be optimistic, Lindsey decided to prepare for their date. She wanted to look great, because tonight would finally be
the
night. Tonight would be the beginning of the rest of her life.

Once she was dressed and ready to go, Lindsey turned on some Pachelbel to help her relax, but she shot out of her chair like a rocket when the phone rang. She nearly tripped over the coffee table as she ran to reach it.

“Hello?” she said, using her most cheerful voice.

“Lindsey? You’re home? I thought you’d be at Emmett’s by now,” said a confused Laura. “I was going to leave you a message saying to call me as soon as you got home, no matter what time or day it was.”

“No, I’m still here. The evening has been delayed.”

“What the heck does that mean?”

“I…‌I don’t know.”

Laura hesitated. “What do you mean, you don’t know? What is going on? You must know something.”

Lindsey had no idea how to answer.

“I’m coming over,” Laura said.

“No, don’t do that,” Lindsey insisted. “I figure he had a family emergency, or maybe I misunderstood the details of the plans. I’ll be fine. I’ll give him a few more days to call. Everything will be fine. I’m sure. In fact, I am so tired right now, I think I will just go to bed.”

“All right, if you’re sure that’s what you want to do. But promise to call me tomorrow.”

***

Lindsey overloaded herself with schoolwork the following week, creating several new integrated Art Journal Lessons and aligning them with the Writing and Language Arts Core Standards while also keeping with Tucson’s current rodeo festivities, making cows, horses, and cowboys part of the learning fun. She also managed to set up a Child Study meeting with Bobby’s mother and grandmother. The goal of the meeting was to share with his family their concerns about Bobby’s social and emotional difficulties at school, learn more about his behavior at home, and obtain permission to test the child. The team suspected the tests would show that he was emotionally disabled or ED; they had reams of observational data pointing in that direction. While no one wished the child to be ED, they hoped he would qualify for additional special services.

This time, his mother and grandmother not only agreed to attend, they actually showed up. The meeting took place at the end of the school day on Friday, and it went well, though both Lindsey and Laura were confused by Bobby’s mother’s total lack of reaction. Fortunately, his grandmother had been open and willing to sign the permission form. They decided to check Bobby’s guardianship later on, after they got started on the testing.