A loud chorus of “yes” exploded throughout the auditorium, leaving Mariah clearly stunned. She was about to flounce off the stage, when Helen rose and walked up to join her.
“Not just yet, Mariah,” she said quietly. “Since you’ve been up here doing a bit of slandering of your own, let’s make sure we get the facts on record.”
Mariah blinked and turned to Ham. “Can she do this?”
“I believe she can,” he said, then glanced at the other board members who nodded in assent.
“Mariah, I know you’ve always taken an active interest in Annabelle’s singing, is that right?” Helen asked. It was more statement of fact, since it was something no one in town was likely to question.
“Well, of course. She has an amazing voice. Everyone knows that.”
“Agreed,” Helen said. “But what about her school work? Do you monitor that, make sure her grades are up?”
“Of course,” Mariah said. “Not that she’ll need a college education with the career that’s ahead for her, but she wants to go, so, yes, we pay close attention to her grades.”
“I thought so,” Helen said, smiling. “All reports say she’s always been a good student.” She glanced down at some notes, though Laura had a hunch Helen already knew exactly what was written there. “Now, how closely do you keep an eye on her online activities? Do you have access to her social-networking account, for instance?”
“Of course not,” Mariah said indignantly. “Children deserve to have privacy just like the rest of us. It’s in the Constitution, for heaven’s sake.”
Again, Helen smiled. “Then you can’t say with a hundred percent certainty that Annabelle never posted the bullying taunts that appeared on her personal page and then circulated to all of her friends, can you?”
“I’m telling you she wouldn’t do that kind of thing,” Mariah said.
“And while your faith in your daughter is admirable, I have here pages and pages of posts that say otherwise. I also have statements from the police, the prosecutor and the website administrators confirming that this is Annabelle’s site and that her screen name and password were used for these posts. I can read them one by one, if you’d like. We can let the board decide if the posts rise to the level of bullying that is justification for immediate expulsion in this school district.”
Mariah seemed to deflate before their eyes. She’d obviously been counting on her counteroffensive to take the heat off her daughter and turn it onto Betty and Laura. Now that the strategy had failed so miserably, she looked a little lost.
“She’s a good girl,” she whispered, though it lacked her earlier conviction.
“I think up until this incident she probably was,” Helen said more gently. “This was a wake-up call, Mariah. Rather than viewing this as an unjust punishment, view it as an opportunity for Annabelle to have a second chance. There’s already a lot of national attention on this case, mostly thanks to you. Let’s resolve this quietly so your daughter and Misty Dawson can move on with their lives.”
By now there were tears on Mariah’s cheeks, and she was shaking uncontrollably. Helen put an arm around her and walked with her off the stage. It was so quiet in the auditorium, Laura was pretty sure they could have heard a pin drop.
Hamilton Reynolds cleared his throat. “Okay, then, first things first. Does anyone up here see any need to discipline Betty Donovan or Laura Reed for the actions they took to protect Misty Dawson?”
“I vote for a commendation,” Bernice Walker said fiercely. At a look from Ham, she grinned. “Oh, I know, it’s supposed to be a motion. Well, I’m making it.”
“Second,” Trent Ayers said.
Ham gave a nod of satisfaction. “Any discussion?” He looked around but the other board members were merely nodding acquiescence. “Okay, then, all in favor?”
The commendation was approved unanimously.
“Now to the expulsion,” he said. “Do I have a motion for that?”
It, too, was quickly approved by a unanimous vote.
Laura finally let out the breath she’d been holding. J.C. gave her hand a squeeze. “I told you it was going to be all right.”
“You told me, but anything could have happened in here,” she said.
“Not with Helen on the case,” he said, then stepped aside as well-wishers came to surround her.
The Sweet Magnolias were first in line. Laura was enveloped in hugs from Sarah, Raylene and Annie, then from Maddie, Jeanette, Dana Sue and Karen Cruz.
“I think a celebratory margarita night’s in order,” Annie declared.
Sarah immediately shook her head and nodded toward J.C. “This is an occasion for a coed gathering, if ever there was one.”
“My house, then,” Raylene said. “I baked lasagna this morning just in case.”
“I can bring salad,” Dana Sue said. “And some killer guacamole, since it wouldn’t be a true Sweet Magnolias gathering without that.”
Helen joined them just then. “I just got off the phone with Erik. The dessert’s covered.”
Laura looked around at them, feeling oddly choked up at yet another display of such loyalty. “Are you sure?”
“Of course we’re sure,” Sarah said. “You’re one of us, aren’t you? And this is what we do to celebrate.”
“I’ll round up all the guys and let them know,” Annie offered, then rolled her eyes. “And the kids.”
“I think we should include Frances, Flo and Liz,” Karen said hesitantly. “Would that be okay?”
“Of course,” Maddie said at once. “They have Senior Magnolia status with us.”
Laura looked over at Betty, who was standing with a couple of other teachers but basically seemed pretty alone. “Would it be okay,” she began with a glance toward the principal.
Everyone looked to Maddie for a response, since she’d been most affected by Betty’s attack on Cal several years earlier.
“Oh, why not?” Maddie said. “I’m married to the best man on the planet. I can afford to let bygones be bygones.”
Helen draped an arm over Maddie’s shoulders. “What a woman!” she teased.
“That’s me. Generous to a fault,” Maddie said. “What time is this party starting?”
Raylene glanced at her watch. “It’s nearly five now. How about six-thirty?”
Everyone quickly agreed, then went off to handle their various assignments. Laura turned to J.C. “You are coming, aren’t you?”
He looked hesitant.
“Hey, what about all that talk about going public, admitting we’re a couple, not that it’ll come as a huge shock to anyone.”
“But this crowd?” he said, looking oddly shaken. “They’re liable to take the news and run with it.”
“Run with it where?” she asked, bewildered.
“Straight down the aisle,” he murmured, then looked sheepish. “Overreacting, huh?”
“Just a little. We’re tougher than them. Nothing goes on between us unless we want it to. We’ve done okay so far with that philosophy, haven’t we?”
“What I want is a little privacy and a very long night with you in my arms,” he said.
She warmed to the comment but held firm. “First you have to play nice with our friends.”
“How long?”
She grinned. “Until you can persuade me there’s more intriguing entertainment at home.”
J.C. chuckled. “I imagine I could persuade you of that before we ever leave the school building, if you’ll join me for five minutes in a broom closet.”
“Ambiance, sweetie,” she teased. “You’ll have to do better than surrounding me with mops, water buckets and wet rags.”
He gave her an endearingly solemn look. “I swear, you won’t even notice they’re there.”
“Not gonna happen,” she repeated.
But she couldn’t seem to shake the thought that it might be fun to let him try.
* * *
The party at Chief Rollins’s house was turning out to be a lo
t more fun than Misty had anticipated. For a long time now, she hadn’t expected to feel normal or to hang out with other kids ever again. When Katie had suggested she, her mom and Jake come tonight, Misty had initially declined, but Maddie had joined them and pretty much insisted. She’d noticed that Mrs. Maddox generally seemed to get her way. She hoped her own mom would be forceful like that one of these days. She had been once upon a time, and it seemed to Misty as if she’d been getting stronger during this ordeal, just as Misty herself had.
Even though it was great being included, the house and backyard were packed. There was barely room to turn around, especially with some huge addition being built onto the back of the house and construction stuff all over.
Mrs. Rollins’s lasagna had been enough to feed a small army, but the men had insisted on throwing hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill anyway, so there were all these great aromas in the air, right along with more laughter than Misty had heard in a very long time.
She was sitting all alone in a chair beside this really cool garden, when Katie and Mandy Rollins joined her, along with a girl named Lexie, who apparently lived next door. She was Mandy’s age, just fourteen, so not on Misty’s radar much before tonight.
“I’m really sorry about what’s been happening to you,” Lexie said, then blinked shyly, her expression crestfallen. “Is it okay to say that? Would you rather I not even mention it?”
“It’s fine,” Misty said. “Thanks.”
“Not just at school,” Lexie said, emboldened to go on. “I mean the divorce thing. My mom’s going through that, too. It really sucks.”
“It definitely sucks,” Katie confirmed.
Mandy gave all of them a sympathetic look that was tinged with wisdom. “You know what’s worse? Losing your mom and dad in a car crash and knowing you’ll never ever see either one of them again.”
Lexie, clearly a kid who took everything to heart, gave her a horrified look. “Of course it is. What was I thinking? I am so sorry. Sometimes I forget why you’re living here with your brother and Raylene.”
“It’s okay,” Mandy soothed. “Most of the time I don’t think about it so much. Carter’s the best big brother and guardian in the world, and Raylene’s been amazing. Still, they’re not my mom and dad, you know?”
Lexie gave her an impulsive hug, her cheeks still pink with embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, looking stricken. “It’s just that my mom gets so down sometimes, and my dad’s being such a jerk, I forget that there are people who have it a lot worse.”
“Pain is pain,” Katie said. “That’s what my mom always tells me. She says my feelings are valid because they’re my feelings.” She grinned. “And then she proceeds to tell me why I’m completely crazy for feeling the way I do.”
“Do you think moms have some book or website they go to so they can find stuff like that to say?” Lexie asked. “I’ll bet we’ve all heard the exact same things all our lives.”
“Don’t even mention websites to me,” Misty said. “I may never go on my computer again.”
“Yes, you will,” Katie said, nudging her in the ribs. “How else will we keep in touch when you’re off at some fancy Ivy League college and I’m back here at Clemson?”
As soon as she and Katie started talking college plans, the younger girls took off. Misty watched Lexie with a frown as she piled a plate high with food.
“She’s pretty skinny. She can’t possibly eat like that all the time,” Katie noted worriedly.
“Maybe she missed lunch today,” Misty said, not seeing anything that unusual about it. Jake ate like that all the time, especially since their mom had been erratic about getting meals on the table. She thought she recognized the signs of hunger rather than something more dire, the way Katie obviously thought she did.
“I don’t know,” Katie began.
Misty interrupted. “Stop fretting. You heard her talking about her mom being a wreck because of the divorce. Maybe her mom’s been too caught up in that to cook very much. My mom sure has been.”
Katie’s expression brightened. “That’s probably it. Let’s get some lasagna before it’s all gone. And then brownies. Erik’s are amazing.”
As they went to get food, Misty spotted her mother deep in conversation with a couple of the other women. She looked happier than Misty had seen her for a long time. And Jake was over the moon hanging out with Coach Maddox and the men.
Tears filled Misty’s eyes. It had taken a really awful crisis to get them to this point tonight, but she had a hunch that this was another of those silver linings Doc Fullerton had been talking about. With all these people backing her up, maybe she’d never feel quite so alone ever again. Her mom and Jake, too.
* * *
J.C. had been given the dubious honor of helping out at the grill. Apparently it was a duty usually guarded protectively by Erik, but he was held up at Sullivan’s tonight. Cal had immediately enlisted J.C. to take his place.
“I haven’t done a lot of grilling in my time,” J.C. reluctantly admitted, eyeing the huge gas grill with a certain amount of trepidation, and maybe a little awe, if the truth be known.
“You watch. You flip,” Cal said as if it were mindless work.
Of course, that didn’t explain why Erik thought it needed a master chef to do it well, but J.C. was forced to take Cal at his word, especially since he was lining up burgers in one row and hot dogs in another at a rapid clip.
“So, you and Laura,” Cal began as he placed the meat on the grill. “It’s finally getting serious? You’re openly dating these days?”
J.C. thought of his earlier comment to Laura about this crowd being dangerously addicted to marriage.
“I’m not sure serious is quite the right word,” he equivocated.
Cal regarded him with a hard look. “But you’re sleeping with her, am I right?” At J.C.’s unmistakably shocked reaction, he waved his long fork dismissively. “Hardly a secret, J.C. I warned you about that a while back.”
“So you did,” J.C. said, not sure if the regret he felt was for not listening back then or for showing up here tonight. “You going to call me out, demand to know my intentions?”
Cal chuckled. “Not me, man, but take a look around. There are lot of women here who’ll have your hide if you mess with her. I’ve warned you about that before.”
“Define messing with her,” J.C. requested, though he was pretty sure he understood Cal’s definition.
“Break her heart. Toy with her affections. Sleep with her, then dump her.” He lifted a brow. “You follow me now?”
J.C. nodded. “I think I’ve got it.”
“And?”
“I will do my best not to break her heart,” he said and meant it. It was far more likely that she’d wind up breaking his, though he’d started to have hope that maybe this time things would turn out differently.
“She’s a strong woman,” Cal said with admiration.
“The strongest,” J.C. confirmed.
“Smart, beautiful, caring.”
J.C. chuckled. “I don’t need a resume of her attributes, Cal. I can see them for myself.”
“Just thought I’d put in a good word, in case you’ve been sitting on the fence.”
“I don’t do much fence-sitting,” J.C. told him. “I’m either in or out.”
His gaze searched the yard until it fell on Laura and lingered, watching the smile blossom on her lips when she caught him staring.
“And you’re definitely in,” Cal concluded happily, watching him. “Good to know.”
Yeah, J.C. thought. He was definitely in.
* * *
Misty had been worrying all night about finally walking back into school and facing yet more stares. Sure, once she’d found out Greg Bennett was likely behind the latest online posts, it had made her plenty mad, but she was a long way from being brave enough to confront him.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you to school today?” Diana asked.
“N
o way,” Misty said.
“How about I take you over to Katie’s? You can walk from there with her.”
Misty knew she probably ought to do this all on her own, but she seized the lifeline her mother had thrown. “Let me call and ask if that’s okay,” she said at once.
As soon as she got Katie on the phone, she told her what was going on. “Could my mom drop me off at your house?”
“Of course,” Katie said at once. “How about this? Let me make a couple of calls. I think we should show up in force. Let Greg see that you’re no longer alone, that you’re surrounded by friends who’ll stand up for you. He’s such a jerk, it probably never occurred to him that anyone would choose you over him.”
“Maybe nobody else will want to get involved,” Misty said worriedly.
“Leave that to me,” Katie said with confidence. “I’ve been telling you all along that a lot of people have been on your side. They’ve just been waiting for a signal from you that you want their help. Be here in fifteen minutes, okay? We don’t want to be late.”
“We’re leaving now,” Misty said, glancing at her mom, who smiled and nodded.
“I gather Katie has a plan,” her mom said.
Misty grinned. “Katie always has a plan. I think she was born to fight for the underdog. She’ll be a mini-Helen if she decides to go into law. Or maybe even president. She’s smart enough.”
“So are you,” her mom said loyally.
“I haven’t felt smart for a while now, but today?” She shrugged. “I almost feel like my old self again.”
There were half a dozen kids already waiting at Katie’s by the time they got there. As the group walked toward the high school, more kids fell into step with them. By the time they reached the high school, there were maybe twenty kids surrounding Misty, clearly eager to face down Greg or anyone else who dared to taunt her.
Just inside the building, Misty spotted Greg with a couple of the teammates who’d been suspended from the team along with him. He looked as if he were going to get in her face, but her friends moved en masse to block him.
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