by SUE FINEMAN
Billy swept his hand toward Georgia. “Meet my new publicity chairman.”
Georgia giggled.
“Do you have school tomorrow?”
“No, we’re finished,” said Georgia. “There’s a meeting of the graduation committee tomorrow, but I don’t have to be there.”
“Yes, you do,” said Billy.
“I’ll take you,” said Kayla. “I have some errands to run tomorrow.”
<>
Kayla wore her church dress and invited herself along to the River Valley Academy’s graduation ceremony on Saturday. She’d bought Georgia a dress that actually fit her to wear under her gown, and she looked fresh and pretty. She was nearly six months pregnant, but the gown hid the baby bump. When she pulled off the gown, everyone would know, but Georgia didn’t seem worried about it. She’d come to terms with her condition and with the reactions of her friends and family.
The ceremony was held outside in the academy’s garden on the left side of the main building. Ribboned chairs for the seniors sat in the middle in front of a small stage. Behind the section for the seniors and angled on the sides were more chairs for families of the graduating seniors and other visitors.
Billy led Kayla to the teacher’s section on the left side. The principal motioned them to the front row, and they sat beside her. When everyone was settled, smiling seniors, clad in traditional caps and gowns, marched to their seats, and the ceremony began.
Before the kids walked to the stage to get their diplomas, Georgia walked to the front to give a special award. Kayla knew what it was, but they hadn’t told Billy.
“Every year, the seniors give an award to a special teacher, someone who inspired them to be better students and better people. The seniors took a vote, and the vote was unanimous. After the country club burned, we thought we wouldn’t get to have a prom this year, but the teacher we’re honoring tonight came through for us, opening his home and giving us the prom of our dreams. Then he invited us back the next day for a pool and pizza party.”
Kayla squeezed Billy’s hand. He deserved this so much.
“But that’s not the only reason for selecting this teacher. This week, he put the welfare of his students above his own. He sacrificed his job to give us some information that could save our lives and the lives of the people we love. And he gave me a place to live when I had nowhere else to go. I don’t know any other teacher who would be so giving and understanding. Mr. Kane, would you please come forward?”
Billy stood and looked down at Kayla. In that moment, he realized she’d known all along that the kids were going to do this. If she’d warned him, he would have something prepared to say. Now he’d have to wing it.
As he walked to the stage, the seniors stood and cheered, and he felt like the king of the world. He stood before the microphone and thanked Georgia for her kind words, but the entire audience was on their feet clapping, and he couldn’t be heard.
When the noise settled down, he said, “All this for a party?”
Everyone laughed, and Georgia said, “It was the party to beat all parties, and we owe it all to you and Kayla.”
Billy motioned for Kayla to stand. “I’d like to introduce Kayla Ainsworth, the woman who took over the entertainment at the prom after the singer was unable to continue.”
The kids stood and applauded again. Kayla blew them a kiss and sat down.
“We have a gift for you, something to thank you for being there when we needed you.” Georgia motioned to a kid who pulled the cover off the biggest barbecue grill he’d ever seen.
“Wow, that’s an impressive grill. Are you pushing for another party?”
“Yes,” several kids yelled, while the others laughed.
Mrs. Packard smiled, and Billy said, “Thank you. It’s a great gift, one I’m sure I’ll use often. I’d like to thank Mrs. Packard and the entire staff at the academy for making it a pleasant experience to work here for the past few years. As most of you know, I won’t be back next year.”
A collective gasp told him most people didn’t know.
“I sincerely hope the board considers offering sex education to the students next year. I taught a little this week, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Kids need to know the facts, and if teachers don’t provide the information, they’ll get it elsewhere, and some of it will be wrong. Dangerously wrong. I’m not giving anyone permission to have sex. I just want kids to know the correct facts, so they can protect themselves.”
Mrs. Banning’s face turned red and she gave him a look of contempt.
Billy finished his impromptu speech. “Thank you all for this honor and for the great barbecue grill. Tomorrow afternoon, you’re all invited to help me break in the new grill. We’ll make it a pool party.”
The seniors went wild. He knew this was what they expected. Another party.
“I’m proud of every one of you graduating today, and I wish you well with whatever you decide to do with your lives. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
The ceremony proceeded, the kids got their diplomas, and soon it was over.
Billy was surprised to see his family there. Hannah hugged Georgia. “Congratulations.” Then she hugged Billy. “And congratulations to you for your award.”
Dad took some pictures while Charlie and Andy scoped out the girls.
“I need to buy propane.”
“I already did,” said Trevor. “There are two bottles in my pickup.” He cocked his head. “Are we invited to this party tomorrow?”
“Sure. You’re all invited.”
“That’s good,” said Dad, “because we bought enough food to feed an army.”
“Or six dozen teenagers,” Hannah said with a smile.
Chapter Eighteen
The Kane family didn’t just bring food to the graduation party, they brought tables and chairs, and Andy brought his band. They set up the band just inside the ballroom, where they had electrical outlets to plug in their equipment. Trevor helped Billy get the grill set up, and Pop settled in a comfortable chair in the family room and promptly fell asleep.
Kids streamed in and out all afternoon, while the chief of police cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and the women kept refilling the bowls of food on the buffet table.
Hannah had ordered a big cake with Congratulations! on top. Caps outlined in icing adorned each corner. She’d also brought three gallons of ice cream to go with the cake.
Some kids played in the pool, while others sat in little groups talking and laughing. Billy and Kayla talked with each of them about their plans for the future. Everyone had plans for college, which was to be expected. The academy was a prep school focused on college-bound kids. Aside from a few scholarship students, they were all from wealthy families.
Georgia wouldn’t have the same college experience the others would, but Billy had faith in her. She wanted to be a doctor, and if any of his students could accomplish that goal, she could, even with a baby. Georgia had something to prove to herself and to her parents, and Billy was determined to help her reach her goal. No matter how her parents felt about her right now, this wasn’t a throw-away kid by any means.
Charlie homed in on the cute girls, and the academy kids accepted him as if he were one of their own. Andy hung around Georgia during the band’s breaks, which was good, because Dustin had already started pulling away from her. He didn’t want a pregnant girlfriend any more than her parents wanted a pregnant daughter.
Ginny took charge of the dog, who made the rounds begging for food. Billy shook his head. Buford wouldn’t need to be fed tonight.
One of the kids asked Kayla if she could yodel, so she did, and Buford sang along, nose to the sky, bringing laughter from the people around him.
The party was well underway when Conner ran out of the house and grabbed Billy’s arm. “I saw her again.”
“Who?” Billy asked, but he knew. Conner had gone upstairs looking for the pretty blonde he’d seen before. Maggie.
“Who is she?”
“Come with me and I’ll introduce you.” They walked upstairs together and into Maggie’s suite. “Did you see her in here?”
“Yes.”
“Maggie, would you show yourself please?”
The ghostly figure, this time wearing a pale blue bathing suit, appeared by the window. Billy grabbed Conner to keep him from running away in a panic or passing out. At this point, he wasn’t sure what the kid would do when he realized he’d seen a ghost.
“Maggie, meet Conner. Conner, Maggie was my mother. She died twenty years ago after a battle with breast cancer.”
The kid gaped, his face nearly as pale as Maggie’s.
“Thank you, Maggie,” Billy said, and Maggie’s form faded away.
“Satisfied, Conner?”
“Uh…”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought the first time I saw her like this. Don’t tell anyone.” If people found out they had ghosts in this house, he’d never be able to sell it.
Dad and Hannah met them at the bottom of the stairs. Hannah said, “Kayla thought you might need us.”
“Conner just met Maggie. If you have anything you need to say to her, say it now, because I’m sending her on her way.”
Dad and Hannah started up the stairs, and Billy told Conner to join the others outside. “I’m trusting you with the secret, Conner.”
“They wouldn’t believe me anyway. They’d think I was nuts. Maybe I am nuts. I just saw a ghost.”
Billy rubbed the boy’s shoulder. “It’s a natural reaction.”
Following his parents upstairs, Billy heard Dad talking with Maggie. “I’m sorry things turned out like they did,” he said. “I didn’t want you to die.”
“I know,” Maggie said in that hollow, other-worldly voice.
“Hi, Maggie,” said Hannah. “I’m your sister, but I didn’t know until after you were gone. I’m sorry we never had a chance to get to know each other.”
“Me, too,” said Maggie.
Billy stepped into the room. “Maggie, I forgive you for the way you treated me. I know if you’d grown up differently, you wouldn’t have behaved that way. It’s time to let go of everything that happened in the past. It’s time for you to move into the light, into the peace and love God has waiting for you. Go now, and someday we’ll see you there.”
“So sorry.”
“So am I. Go now, before Eleanor realizes what you’re doing.”
“I love you,” she said as she rose slowly toward the ceiling and vanished. It was the first time he’d ever heard those words from Maggie. Kayla was right. She’d hung around not for Eleanor, but because she needed his forgiveness. Now she had it. He felt a giant weight lift off his shoulders. The hate he’d held inside him for so many years had vanished with his mother’s ghost.
Billy walked downstairs with his parents and they returned to the party. He should feel relieved that Maggie was gone, and he did, but he worried about Eleanor missing Maggie and causing a disturbance.
He hoped it didn’t happen until after the kids left today.
The last of the kids left at nine-thirty that evening, and Billy’s family hung around a little longer. Pop had roused long enough to eat dinner and visit with the kids, who all called him Pop. Then he wandered through the house with Kayla. “Is Maggie really gone?” he asked her.
“I didn’t see her leave, but I don’t doubt she’s gone. She wanted forgiveness from her son, and now she has it.”
“Worst excuse for a mother I ever knew. The only person she cared about was herself.”
“I don’t think she was bad by nature, Pop. That’s the way Eleanor taught her to be. This was nurture all the way. Did you know Eleanor spent some time in a mental hospital before they adopted Maggie?”
His eyes widened. “No.”
“She locked her fragile little boy in a dark room in the basement. He couldn’t help it that he was born with Down’s syndrome, and he couldn’t help it that his mother was sick in her mind. William put John in an institution, probably because he didn’t think Eleanor would ever be able to take care of him, and he couldn’t do it by himself.”
“People didn’t know what to do with mentally retarded kids in those days. When I was a kid, people had them taken away or locked them up somewhere out of sight. Sad, but true.”
An ungodly screech came from upstairs. Kayla sighed deeply. “Eleanor knows Maggie is gone.”
“What about William?” Pop asked. “Is he still here?”
“I haven’t seen him lately. Billy thinks Eleanor killed him and made it look like suicide.”
“I’d buy that before I’d buy suicide. I didn’t know William well, but I don’t see any reason why he’d want to kill himself.”
Donovan came in. “Pop, we need to go. Ginny is scared out of her mind, not that I can blame her. That sound sends chills down my spine.”
“Coming.” Pop kissed Kayla’s cheek. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Pop. Thanks for coming.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it. My grandson, Teacher of the Year.”
Minutes later, it was quiet upstairs, and Billy’s family was gone. Georgia and Billy were gathering trash from around the pool, so Kayla put the leftover food away. Not that there was much to put away. She was astounded by how much food a bunch of teenagers could devour.
Eleanor started crying, filling the house with the sound of her anguished sobs. She’d lost the daughter she adored for a second time.
Kayla called to Billy, “I’m going upstairs and see if I can calm her.”
“Not alone, Kayla. I don’t want you going upstairs alone.”
He put a twist tie on the trash bag he’d just filled and walked inside.
She took his hand and they walked upstairs together. Eleanor was in Maggie’s bedroom, hands over her face, sobbing uncontrollably.
Kayla squeezed Billy’s hand. “Eleanor, Maggie’s not here. Billy and Donovan sent her on her way this afternoon. She’ll be in heaven with the angels, where she’ll have eternal love and peace. Soon you’ll go there, too, and you’ll be together again.”
“Mine,” she said, and the word sent a chill skittering along Kayla’s arms.
“I know she was your daughter, but you want the best for her, don’t you?”
The sobbing stopped, and an eerie silence descended over the room. Maybe Eleanor would accept it and make peace with God herself, but Kayla had her doubts. The woman was still too close to the worldly life. If she expected things to be the same on the other side as they were here on earth, if she expected Maggie to belong to her in the afterlife, she was mistaken.
Kayla wasn’t sure whether Eleanor would go to heaven or hell, but that wasn’t her decision to make. She looked up at Billy. “Can you forgive Eleanor for what she did to you and Maggie and your father?”
“I know she was sick, but…” He shook his head. “I can forgive her for treating me like she did, but she’ll have to atone to a higher power for what she did to Maggie and William.”
“We don’t know what she did to William.”
“Yes, we do. She killed him, murdered him in his bed.”
“Maybe.” But Kayla wasn’t so sure.
<>
On Monday, the painter finished the stairwell up to the attic and started working in the big attic room, while Kayla cleaned bathrooms and tidied up.
Kayla and Georgia were in the kitchen making lunch when Billy said, “Georgia, after lunch, I’ll take you to the state licensing office to get new tags for the van and get it registered in your name.”
“Okay.”
“You’ll need car insurance, too,” said Kayla. “I’ll take care of it for six months, but you’ll only have liability insurance.” She’d get full coverage on the Mercedes. Although it was several years old, Eleanor’s car only had twenty-four thousand miles on it. She probably only drove it around town.
By the time Billy and Georgia got home, Kayla had the little girl’s bedroom ready to paint. As she rolled the paint
on the walls, the room exploded with warmth and color. The deep golden yellow was a few shades darker than the hallway, and it looked great in here, but it would take two coats to cover the white walls.
Billy popped his head in the door. “Need some help?”
“Sure.”
“Any trouble from you-know-who?”
“No, it’s been quiet all morning.”
They painted together for the rest of the afternoon, until Kayla’s arms gave out and it was time to start dinner. But Georgia was in the kitchen making something. “What are you making?”
“Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, and peach cobbler. We stopped at the fruit stand on the way home.”
“Smells good already. Want me to make a salad to go with it?”
“Already done.”
“You’re such a sweetheart.” Every day Georgia helped with the cooking and cleaning. She never asked if someone needed help with something, she just pitched in and helped. Georgia was growing up fast. Soon she’d be responsible for another human being, a tiny, helpless baby who would depend on her for everything.
“Oh.” Georgia smiled and put her hand on her stomach bulge. “He moved.”
“What are you going to name him or her?”
“If it’s a boy, I want to name him Jonathan, after my grandfather. If it’s a girl, I’ll call her Linda, after my aunt. She’s the one who set up the trust fund for me.”
“Nice names. Will you give the baby Dustin’s last name?”
“No. Dustin is no longer a part of my life.”
“Does that bother you?”
“It did at first, but not now. I don’t need him. He didn’t even tell his parents I was pregnant. They found out at graduation.”
Georgia needed clothes, and if she intended to live on her own, she’d need enough money for doctor bills, first and last month’s rent, furniture, and everything else to set up housekeeping. Which reminded Kayla of Leonard living in her apartment. He probably didn’t have anything either, which was why he’d come back. As if she wanted him. Still, if she was going to live here in River Valley, she needed to go back to Memphis and pack her clothes and personal things, like Granny’s sewing machine and family pictures. Leonard could keep the furniture. It would cost more to move than it was worth.