by SUE FINEMAN
The ghost disappeared. This one was easy. She just wanted to look pretty and have a good time. William wouldn’t bother them. The only ghost Kayla worried about was Eleanor.
Billy dressed and brushed his hair to a shine. He let the band in, and two parents arrived with boxes of refreshments. The smell of chocolate wafted from one box, and he was tempted to taste whatever it was that smelled so good, but he kept his hands off.
Another parent brought more goodies, and the members of the prom committee arrived. Billy propped the front door open and walked away. He didn’t intend to stand at the front door all night, and he wanted to find Kayla. She must be ready by now.
“Billy?”
She stood at the top of the curving staircase, her hair wild and sexy, wearing the most amazing dress he’d ever seen. The deep chocolate color matched her eyes and made her hair look redder. It molded her curves, and his hands itched to touch her. He motioned for her to come downstairs, and she walked toward him. “What are you doing up there?”
“Using Maggie’s mirror. Do I look okay?”
“Honey, you look so good, I might lock you up and keep you all to myself tonight.”
She cocked her head. “You’re looking pretty handsome yourself in your fancy duds. All the girls will want to dance with you tonight.”
He took her hands and held them out from her body, and his eyes devoured her. “Will I mess you up if I kiss you?”
“Ah, ah, ah, none of that,” said Mrs. Packard, who had just come in. Her eyes sparkled. “Everyone knows teachers and parents don’t do that stuff.”
Billy laughed.
“When I was in high school, teachers didn’t look like Billy Kane,” Kayla said.
Mrs. Packard leaned in closer. “Every girl in the school has a crush on him, and half the women teachers do, too. If I was a few years younger…” She wiggled her eyebrows.
Billy shook his head a little. The principal was at least sixty, with gray hair and wrinkles, but she understood the kids better than some of the younger teachers. If only the other board members were more like her.
As the kids came into the ballroom, Billy welcomed his students and commented on how much better the guys looked tonight than they did on the field or in the gym, and he told every one of the girls she looked pretty tonight. There were some whose dresses were too tight or who wore too much makeup, but most looked young and fresh and pretty.
Billy thought the kids would want their pictures taken in the living room, but they stood in couples or in groups in front of the mural in the ballroom to have their prom pictures taken. The two kids who’d painted the mural had done an outstanding job. With the lights down low, the other walls didn’t look so bad. Red and gold ribbons of various widths and lengths hung from the ceiling and fluttered in the breeze from the open French doors along the back of the ballroom. Red and gold tablecloths with gold pots of red flowers dressed the tables, and red and gold candles added a romantic touch.
Music blared and Billy motioned to the band to turn down the amplifiers. He didn’t want anyone to go deaf, and he didn’t want the neighbors calling the police about the noise.
Kayla walked through the room, drawing the eyes of most of the boys and all of the adults. The room had filled up when Billy walked up to the band. He took the microphone and said, “Welcome to River Valley Academy’s prom night. For those of you who haven’t met her, I’d like to introduce my date, Kayla Ainsworth.” He held out his hand and she walked to him. “She is one of countless beautiful women in the room tonight. Thanks to the prom committee, parents, and teachers who made this night happen. I hope everyone has a wonderful time.”
He handed the microphone back, and as the music began, he took Kayla’s hand and led her to the middle of the dance floor. He pulled her close and they danced to a slow song, ignoring everyone in the room who stood watching them. Then another couple took the floor, and another, and the prom was off to a good start.
Billy made an effort to dance with all the girls at least once, especially the ones who had come without a date or in a group. But he saved most of his dances for Kayla, the most beautiful woman in the room.
During the band’s third break, Billy smelled a familiar sweet, smoky odor. Following his nose, he walked out to the pool house and found the lead singer of the band smoking pot. He was so stoned he could barely move, let alone perform.
Billy pulled out his cell phone and called his father. “We have a problem. One of the members of the band is stoned out of his mind.”
“So call 911.”
“I don’t want uniformed cops ruining the party.”
“Okay, I’m on my way. Where are you?”
“In the pool house.”
Minutes later, the band was playing without a singer, and Dad had taken the singer and his stash away. It was too early for this to happen.
Billy walked back inside and asked Kayla, “Can you fill in for the singer?”
“Why? What happened?”
“He and his pot stash are on the way to jail.”
“Oh, Billy. I’m so sorry. What do you want me to sing?”
“Whatever you and the band can come up with.”
“What about a talent show? We can say the singer got sick, and the kids can have a contest and see which one of them is better.”
He nodded. It might work. He held up a finger. “I’ll be right back.”
He motioned to the members of the prom committee and they went outside to talk. He said, “The singer is too sick to continue.”
“Sick or stoned?” Conner asked. “I thought I smelled pot on him earlier.”
Billy nodded. “You did. He’s spending the rest of the night in jail. In the meantime, we need a singer. Kayla used to sing in a club, mostly country, but I know she can sing other things. She suggested we have a talent show and give everyone who’s willing a chance to sing with the band. What do you think?”
Caroline crossed her arms. “I think the band had better give us a big discount.”
“Agreed, but what do we do for the rest of the night? Do you want Kayla to sing until we come up with a better option?”
“Yes,” said Conner, “but not country, or not all country.”
He left the kids by the pool and went back inside to take the microphone. “I’m sorry to say that the singer is out of commission for the evening. But we do have a backup. I give you Kayla Ainsworth, the golden voice of Memphis, Tennessee.”
Kayla took the microphone from him. “I don’t know how y’all put up with him at school.” Laughter filled the room. She sat at the piano and started to play. “Y’all know the most famous singer who ever lived in Memphis?”
“Elvis?” someone said.
“That’s right. Elvis Presley. Well, I don’t sing quite like Elvis, but some of his songs are perfect for slow dancing, the kind of songs that make you want to snuggle up close while you dance. Or would you rather have a fast one?”
“No,” the kids shouted.
“Well, okay then. Slow it is.”
The mellow sound of the grand piano mingled with the sweet tones of Kayla’s voice as she sang one love song after another. Some were country tunes, but no one seemed to notice. When she stopped singing, she received a standing ovation.
The band took over, playing rock and heavy metal, until the kids called, “Kay-la, Kay-la, Kay-la, Kay-la.”
She took the microphone. “How ’bout country? Anyone here sing country besides me?”
Jeff held up his hand and then quickly pulled it down. He was a shy kid, a good student who loved music. Billy motioned him to the front. After a brief consultation with Kayla and the band, he borrowed a guitar, Kayla sat at the piano, and they sang and played a duet. At the end, the room exploded in applause.
Kayla stepped down, and for the next hour, different kids played and sang with the band. They all seemed to be having a good time, until Marci came up to Billy and said, “I can’t find Georgia anywhere.”
“She could
be in a bathroom or—”
“No, you don’t understand. She’s upset about… I can’t tell you why.”
Kayla put her hand on Billy’s shoulder. “I’ll check upstairs.”
She found the girl sitting in the rocking chair in the nursery, sobbing into a teddy bear. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“M-my father said if I don’t get an abortion, I have to move out, but it’s t-t-too late for an abortion, and I don’t want to kill my baby.”
“What about the baby’s father? Is he still in the picture?”
“Dustin got a scholarship to Ohio State, and he said he can’t take care of me and the baby and go to school at the same time.” She sobbed. “I don’t want him to lose his scholarship.”
Kayla dropped to her knees in front of the girl and gently brushed the hair off her face. “I know this seems like the worst thing that could happen, but it’s not.”
“It is to me.”
“When I was your age, I had a boyfriend I thought was the best thing since sliced bread. He was so handsome my heart nearly stopped every time he looked at me. He had big brown eyes and dimples, and I loved him to pieces. We dated off and on for four years. I married him when we were twenty, but he cheated on me and gave me a disease that caused so much scarring I can’t ever have a baby.”
Georgia sniffled. “Did you divorce him?”
“No, he died in the war in Afghanistan. But I still can’t have a baby.”
She swiped at her face, smearing her mascara. Kayla went into the bathroom for the box of tissues she’d left there.
Georgia blew her nose. “What am I going to do? I can’t go home, and Dustin doesn’t want me.”
Kayla wiped the mascara off the girl’s cheeks. “I’ll find you a place to stay tonight. Are you a senior?”
“Yes. I got accepted to Ohio State, but the baby is due the month school starts.”
“You can always ask them if you can start mid-term, in January. Or you can wait until next year.” But Kayla knew if this girl waited a whole year, she might not go at all.
“Do you think Mr. Kane would let me stay here until after my baby comes?”
“You’ll have to ask him.” But the girl couldn’t stay up here with the ghosts in the house. Eleanor’s screech could scare that baby right out of her.
Kayla settled Georgia in the maid’s bedroom. One of the mothers was cooking breakfast, so Kayla filled a plate and took it in to Georgia. After she ate, she curled up on the bed and closed her eyes.
When Kayla checked back a few minutes later, Georgia was sound asleep.
At two, another mother came to man the kitchen and the first one went home. Billy sat in the breakfast room with Kayla to eat. “Tired?” he asked.
“I’m getting there, but I can’t go to bed.”
“Why not?”
“Georgia is sleeping in there. I’ll sleep upstairs or in the family room or somewhere tonight, if I ever get to sleep. You have a bigger problem. You have a pregnant student whose father won’t let her go home unless she gets an abortion, and she doesn’t want one. She needs counseling, and she needs friends, people she can count on to be there for her no matter what she decides.”
“What about Dustin?”
“He has a college scholarship. He has plans for the future, and they don’t include a baby. She has plans for college, too, but her baby is due in September, so she’ll have to postpone college.”
“Poor kid. I’ve met her father. He’s a good friend of Elizabeth Banning, who’s on the board of the academy. They’re both unforgiving prudes. He’s probably more worried about his reputation than he is about his daughter.”
“Georgia needs to stay somewhere while she finishes high school. Maybe by then her parents will take her back.”
“I wouldn’t count on it, and she can’t stay here. Not with you-know-who upstairs.”
Kayla sighed. “I know, but we can’t throw her out on the street.”
“Let’s get through this party and sleep a few hours before we tackle this problem.”
“Okay.”
Kayla carried their dirty plates to the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. The mother behind the stove said, “I never thought I’d agree to cook in the middle of the night, but here I am.”
Kayla smiled. “If the kids don’t appreciate it, I sure do.”
“Mr. Kane is my daughter’s favorite teacher, and after this, he’ll be everyone’s favorite. This is an amazing house, and the kids are having a ball.”
“They’re all behaving themselves, too. I don’t know what I expected, but I’m glad they’re being so respectful.”
“How long have you and Mr. Kane been together?”
“Three weeks tomorrow.”
The mother dropped her spatula. “That’s all?”
Kayla nodded. Only three weeks, and she felt like she’d known him forever.
The band was taking longer and more frequent breaks, and Kayla’s voice was giving out, so at four, Billy took the microphone. “Is everyone having fun?”
“Yes,” they all shouted, with a little less enthusiasm than they’d shown at two.
“We’ve run out of food and this old man has run out of steam, so I have a proposal to make. If you go home now, you can come back tomorrow at three, and we’ll finish this off with a pool and pizza party. Okay?”
Several kids moaned, but others cheered.
“Clean-up committee, I’ll see you here tomorrow afternoon at two.”
“One more dance,” someone shouted, and others chanted the words.
Kayla played and sang Goodnight Sweetheart, and when she finished, Billy said, “Goodnight everyone.”
The dishwasher hummed, and the last mother to cook said goodnight. Billy was wiped out, but he’d accomplished his goal of giving the kids a prom to remember.
Chapter Fourteen
While Billy locked up, Kayla went into her bathroom and got ready for bed. Georgia was sound asleep, so Kayla left her there.
She found Billy in the study. He had his jacket off and his tie hanging loose, and he looked tired, but sexy. It was easy to see why his students loved him so much. He treated them like equals, joked with them, and put on a party nobody would soon forget.
The house grew quiet as Billy stripped off his clothes and pulled on a robe. He took Kayla’s hand and they walked upstairs to the guest suite. She crawled into bed beside him.
“This bed is a lot more comfortable than the one downstairs.”
“Yes, it is,” she replied, rolling into his arms. “Are we getting rid of the furniture in the little girl’s room?”
“Why?”
“Because there’s a good mattress on that bed, and it’s the same size as the one downstairs.”
“I’ll move it tomorrow.” He kissed her and sighed. “I’m beat.”
“Me, too.” She felt a cold breeze and said, “Goodnight, Maggie. I hope you had a good time tonight.”
Billy sighed again. “There you go, talking to ghosts again.”
“Did you see her dress? She looked so pretty tonight.”
“She always looked pretty.”
Kayla closed her eyes and listened to the night sounds. Billy’s breathing deepened and she knew he’d fallen asleep. That was the first nice thing she’d heard him say about his mother. Maggie must be pleased.
<>
Billy woke and rolled over to look at the bedside clock. Eleven-thirty. Kayla was already up, so he pulled on his robe and walked downstairs. She and Georgia were in the kitchen. “Morning, ladies.”
“Good morning,” said Georgia. She was wearing jeans and a loose-fitting top. Now that he knew she was pregnant, the baby bump was easy to spot.
Kayla smiled. “Go get your shower, then I’ll make breakfast.”
“Isn’t it my turn to cook?”
“No, it’s my turn. You made dinner last night.”
“I did?”
“Yes, we had Chinese, remember?”
“Seems lik
e a week ago,” he muttered on his way to the shower in the study.
After breakfast, Billy carried the mattress downstairs and put the lumpy one from the maid’s room in the garage. Kayla put the sheets in the wash and Georgia made the bed. She’d brought her suitcase inside and settled in as if she intended to stay. Billy didn’t want her there, but he couldn’t bring himself to throw a pregnant teenager out on the street. Maybe her parents would come looking for her today, but somehow he doubted it.
At two, the three kids on the clean-up committee and three others came to clean up the party mess. Billy supplied two big trash cans and let them have at it. He didn’t want Kayla to do it all. She’d already cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms. Georgia helped her. The girl seemed to have formed an attachment to Kayla. Billy wasn’t sure what he thought of that.
By the time the kids got the ballroom cleaned up and the tables moved out by the pool, the other kids started arriving. Two of the seniors had their lifesaving certificates, so he put them in charge. Two kids brought guitars and another brought a banjo. They played together and separately, but they could barely be heard over the noise of so many kids talking and laughing.
Kayla walked up to Billy and asked, “Are there more kids here today than we had last night?”
“Probably. They don’t all come to the prom. Some of them are on scholarship to the academy, and they can’t afford the clothes.”
“Do they wear uniforms to school?”
He nodded. “Those aren’t cheap either, but there’s less pressure for the regular kids to try to fit in with the rich kids.”
“Do you teach sex education?”
“No, the board won’t let us, but it’s a mistake.”
“It sure is. Dustin told Georgia he couldn’t get her pregnant because it was her first time.”
“Damn! This is why they need sex education. How can they be responsible without knowing the facts?”
She shrugged. “They can’t. That’s why that cute little girl in there is having a baby. Whether Dustin sticks by her or not, it’ll change her life.”