More Than Words Volume 4

by Linda Lael Miller

  “You don’t have to sound so blasted pleased with yourself,” he grumbled.

  “In my line of work, you develop survival skills early on, or you get out,” she said. “Figuring out what makes people tick and how to use that is a survival skill.” She stared straight at him. “So, Trent, are you in or are you out for the whole prom thing?”

  He didn’t know why she bothered asking since they both knew it was a foregone conclusion. “I’m in,” he said grudgingly.

  “Good. Then you’ll line up a few more tuxedos?”

  “Once you’ve gotten a few more boys to agree to go,” he challenged.

  She sighed dramatically. “I’ve got to tell you, I’m fresh out of ideas on how to accomplish that. Mike was supposed to help but he’s thrown in the towel, too. Frankly, if it weren’t for Laurie, I don’t think he’d participate at all.”

  Trent wasn’t entirely sure whether to buy her claim that she had no strategy. He had a feeling there was something more behind it. He couldn’t resist challenging her. “Really? I never took you for a quitter. Then again, you did walk out on the two of us.”

  She winced slightly but ignored the jab about the past. “I’m not quitting, I’m regrouping,” she insisted.

  He ignored the alarms going off in his head, telling him not to get any more involved with this project—or with her—than he already was. “Ever thought about asking for help?”

  Her gaze narrowed. “From you?”

  “I am a guy,” he reminded her.

  “Yes, I’m aware of that.”

  “I do get how the male mind works in a way that might elude you, or even the less-experienced Mike.” He pushed aside his plate and tossed his napkin on the table. “Let’s start with why they’re objecting to going in the first place. Any ideas?”

  “They say it’s not their thing,” she said, then shook her head. “I know that’s not it, though. These kids act tough and disinterested, but they want to fit in, maybe even more than most. They’re just afraid they’ll get it wrong, that they’ll look foolish in front of their friends. Some of them simply don’t want to admit that they don’t have the funds to rent their own tuxes. It’s a matter of pride. Young male pride is quite a force.”

  “How did you convince Mike to go along with this?” he asked. “I’m sure he had the same reservations.”

  “I mentioned that he needed to think about Laurie’s feelings. Believe me, that was the only thing that resonated with him.”

  Trent grinned. “Exactly. Female power. Are most of these guys dating girls at school?”

  He watched as understanding dawned. Her expression brightened.

  “You’re absolutely right. I can’t imagine why I didn’t try the same thing with them that I did with Mike. I suppose I know him better than I know the others, and how important Laurie is to him. I’ll get right on this as soon as I get to school.”

  “Hold it,” he said, not entirely certain why he was pushing this. Maybe it was because of Laurie. More likely, it was because he wanted to prove something to Jodie. He had no idea what. That he was better at persuasion than she was? How idiotic was that? Or maybe that being around her didn’t bother him as much as she probably thought it did? Whatever it was, he couldn’t seem to back down. “I’m thinking these guys might be more easily persuaded in a man-to-man conversation.”

  “You want to handle it?”

  Her surprise was unmistakable. In fact, he thought it might be just the tiniest bit excessive. Once again, he had the feeling that she had an agenda. Regarding her suspiciously, he shrugged. “Unless you don’t think I’m up to the task.”

  Suddenly she looked just a little too pleased with herself, confirming his suspicion that this had been her plan from the beginning. She’d reeled him in neatly, the hook firmly embedded in his own stupid ego.

  “Fine,” she said too cheerfully. “You want the job of persuading these boys to go to the prom, be at school at three o’clock. Most of them will be in detention, I’m sure. It should be quite a conversation.”

  Trent found her attitude slightly disconcerting. Maybe he’d got it wrong, after all. Maybe it hadn’t been about tricking him into doing exactly what she’d wanted him to do all along or maybe she was looking forward to seeing him fail. He wasn’t overjoyed by either alternative. Worse, he had a hunch that the mention of detention had been deliberate, a warning that she didn’t expect him to make much progress with this particular group of young men.

  “I’ll be there,” he said grimly.

  And those boys would go to prom, if he had to bribe them to do it. He reminded himself to stop by the bank for a few twenties on his way to the school.

  JODIE HAD THE UNCOMFORTABLE feeling that Laurie knew all about her past with Trent. The teenager had appeared in Jodie’s office fifteen minutes ago clutching a pass from her study hall teacher. She claimed she wanted to go over some new developments with their project, but so far the conversation had been pretty rambling and her eyes hadn’t left Jodie’s face, as if she was trying to learn something from her expression.

  “Laurie, I thought you wanted to talk about prom,” Jodie said when the scrutiny had gone on a little too long.

  Laurie sat up a little straighter. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something else for a minute. I really do need to talk to you about prom.” She launched into the arrangements she’d made with her grandfather about using Oak Haven. “We’d probably need eight or ten kids for the cleanup. Should I get the kids on the committee or some of the kids who are going to benefit from all this? Maybe if they helped, they wouldn’t feel as if they were getting something for nothing.”

  “Sort of the way sweat equity works in the Habitat for Humanity program,” Jodie said enthusiastically. “I like that. I think the kids will appreciate what’s being done for them more if they have to work for it. We won’t make it a requirement, because some of them have after-school jobs, but I think most of them can be persuaded to pitch in. When did you want to clean the place up?”

  “I think it has to be no later than the last Saturday in March,” Laurie said, her expression thoughtful. “We probably need to do the whole shopping thing a week or two later, so there’s time for any alterations to be done, and prom is the first weekend in May.”

  Jodie looked at her calendar. “That makes sense. I’ll mark it down.” She hesitated, then asked, “Are you counting on your father to be there?”

  “I know he wants to go through the place with me ahead of time to make sure there’s nothing valuable that should be saved, but we didn’t talk about him helping.” She gave Jodie an oddly knowing look. “Why? Do you want him to be there?”

  “I was just wondering. He didn’t mention anything when I ran into him earlier today.”

  Laurie looked taken aback. “You’ve seen my dad today?”

  “I saw him at the diner.” She grinned. “I accidentally sat at his table.”

  Laurie laughed. “I’ll bet that got to him. All the regulars at Dinah’s have their special tables and heaven help anyone who sits at one of them by mistake. They go all territorial.”

  “I noticed,” Jodie said. “I haven’t run into that problem on the few Saturdays I’ve been in. It’s usually packed with families and everyone just fends for themselves. I often wind up at the counter.”

  “So, did he sit with you or just get huffy?”

  “He sat. We talked. Actually, he’s going to come by the school this afternoon.”

  She didn’t like the excitement that flashed in Laurie’s eyes. She recognized that look. It confirmed her suspicions that Laurie had her own agenda for her father and Jodie.

  “Then you two have, like, a date or something?” Laurie asked, clearly struggling to keep her tone neutral, when she looked as if she’d like to leap up and do a little victory dance.

  “Hardly. He’s coming to talk to some of the holdouts, to see if he can convince them to participate in the whole prom thing.”

  “Oh,” the teenager said, so
unding deflated.

  “Laurie, did your father mention that he and I knew each other years ago?”

  She nodded but revealed nothing about what Trent had said.

  Jodie pressed on. “So, you can understand that the two of us working together might be a little awkward.”

  “Yeah, he said the same thing,” Laurie admitted. Her expression turned earnest. “But I don’t get why. I mean, I don’t know what happened or anything, or if there was some big love affair or whatever, but it was a long, long time ago. You’ve both been married to other people, so you moved on, right?”

  “Right,” Jodie agreed. “It just makes things a bit more complicated, that’s all, but I’m sure we’ll work through it, at least enough to pull off a successful prom night.”

  “In other words, I shouldn’t get my hopes up,” Laurie said, then blushed. “About you two becoming friends, I mean.”

  “No, you shouldn’t.”

  Rather than looking disappointed, Laurie brightened. “You know, Ms. Fletcher, I figured you getting together with my dad was a long shot, but what with this whole thing from the past and the way you’re both acting all weird about it, I’m beginning to think this might be the best idea I ever had.”

  She bounced up before Jodie could think of a single thing to say.

  On her way out, Laurie stopped in the doorway. “Oh, since you’re seeing my dad this afternoon, maybe you can tell him about what’s happening at my granddad’s. He might help if you ask him to. Bye, now. I’ve got to get back to study hall. I still have math homework to do before next period.”

  And then she was gone, leaving Jodie to wonder how her attempt to caution Laurie about the danger of false hope had gone so dreadfully awry.

  CHAPTER

  FOUR

  Half-a-dozen sullen young men, a culturally diverse mix of Hispanic, Anglo and African-American, stared at Trent with suspicion. He’d deliberately chosen to come straight from the construction site, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and work boots that were filthy thanks to a drenching March storm that had turned the site into a sea of mud. He’d expected Jodie to regard him with disapproval for not being more professionally attired, but she smiled slightly as she took in his appearance.

  “Smart move, coming here dressed like that,” she murmured as she patted his arm. “It’s a very man-of-the-people, I’m-one-of-you look. Good luck.”

  She made a brief introduction, then turned and left, leaving him alone with an obviously hostile audience. Trent had a hunch, though, that she hadn’t gone far. She was probably ready to step in the second he lost control.

  “Why don’t you gentlemen introduce yourselves?” he suggested, sitting on the corner of the desk at the front of the room. “Tell me a little about yourselves, while you’re at it.”

  “What is this? Some kind of afternoon tea party, man?” one boy demanded.

  Trent grinned. “Last time I checked, this was detention. Think of it this way, at least talking to me will kill the time.” He stared pointedly at the boy who’d challenged him. “Let’s start with you. Your name is?”

  “Marvin,” the boy said grudgingly.

  “Anything else you’d like to add, Marvin?”

  “Not especially.”

  “Do you like school, Marvin? Have a girlfriend? A job?”

  The boy gave him a hard look. “Whoa! You looking for workers, dude, count me out. I ain’t into breaking my back for no man.” He turned and high-fived the boy seated next to him, thrilled with his little show of rebellion.

  Trent looked him in the eye. “Unless you clean up that grammar, son, back-breaking work may be all you can get,” he commented wryly.

  The boy gave him a hard stare. “Say what?”

  “I think you understood me just fine,” Trent responded.

  “I know what this is,” Marvin’s friend said. “You’re one of those do-gooder volunteers who’s here to motivate us.” He drew quotation marks in the air to emphasize motivate.

  Trent chuckled at the description. “Do you get a lot of those?”

  “Man, all the time,” Marvin said with disgust. “If that’s why you’re here, save your breath.”

  “That’s not why I’m here,” Trent assured them. “I understand there’s a big dance coming up in May, the junior-senior prom.”

  “Why do you care about that?” Marvin’s pal asked.

  “What’s your name?” Trent asked him.

  “Ramon.”

  “Well, Ramon, to be honest, I’m with you guys. Dressing up in a fancy suit is just about the last thing I’d ever want to do.” He gestured toward his own clothes. “Do I look like a guy who’d put on a tuxedo willingly?”

  “I hear you, brother,” Marvin said, suddenly more congenial.

  The other boys murmured agreement.

  “There’s just one thing,” Trent warned. “You boys all have girlfriends, right?”

  All but one, a slender kid with thick glasses and a defeated expression, nodded.

  “How do they feel about missing prom?”

  One of the Hispanic youths, who identified himself as Miguel, gave him a resigned look. “I have heard about nothing else for a week now, ever since Mariana found a way to get a dress to wear.”

  “So, the dance means a lot to the girls,” Trent said.

  All of them grunted in the affirmative.

  “I’ve got to tell you, I don’t get it,” Marvin added. “I take Devonia dancing all the time—you know, to places where you can look like a normal dude.”

  Trent grinned. “That’s the problem. Your high school prom is a special occasion, especially to women. I guarantee if you guys bite the bullet and get into those fancy duds for one night, it will make your women very, very happy, you know what I mean?”

  They looked intrigued.

  “I still don’t understand why this matters,” Ramon said.

  Miguel nodded. “It’s like Marvin said, Mariana and me, we go to parties. We go to clubs. Why is that not enough?”

  Trent regarded him with sympathy. “Because this is arguably the biggest event of all your years in high school. Your girlfriends deserve this kind of memory, right? They deserve a night they can discuss with their friends, instead of having to sit on the sidelines while everyone around them talks about the big dance.” He looked each of them in the eye. “Sometimes a man has to step up and do something he doesn’t want to do just to make the woman in his life happy. It’s one night, right? How painful can it be?”

  He leaned forward. “You know what I said about hating the whole tux thing? Absolutely true, but for fifteen years I put one on at least once a month, sometimes more often, just because it made my wife happy. That’s what men do. They try to please women, to show them they care about their feelings.”

  All six young men exchanged looks.

  “Dude, you’re laying it on kinda thick, aren’t you?” Marvin asked.

  Trent shrugged. “I’m on a mission. I promised a young woman I’d handle this.”

  “You mean Ms. Fletcher?”

  “Her, too, but I was talking mostly about my daughter, Laurie. You all know her, right? Laurie Winston?” He watched as their faces registered surprise. “This whole thing is really important to her. She wants everyone to have a good time at the dance this year, to not feel left out.”

  “You really think we won’t look like total dorks?” the boy with blond hair and huge glasses asked.

  “Jason, dude, you gonna look like a dork forever,” Marvin taunted. “What’s one more night?”

  Trent stepped in. “No, I don’t think you’ll look like dorks. In fact, I think you’ll be surprised at how handsome you’ll look.”

  “Jason, dude, why are you so worried?” Marvin asked. “Can you even find a date for this thing? Or am I going to have to do it for you?”

  Though Marvin’s tone was taunting, there was a hint of compassion in his eyes. Jason gave him a surprisingly cocky smile. “I can get my own date,” he retorted. “That was neve
r the problem.” He shook his head. “The whole tuxedo thing, though. I just don’t know.”

  “Same here,” Marvin agreed.

  Trent seized on the tiny opening he thought he heard in Marvin’s comment. “Does that mean you’re in, Marvin? You’ll consider going if we can get you a tuxedo?”

  “These tuxedos you’re talking about, they’re not going to cost us anything?” Marvin inquired worriedly. “I have to give all the money I make to my mom to pay the rent. With her bad back she hasn’t been able to work for a couple of months now. I can’t be wasting money on some fancy clothes to wear for one night.”

  “We have quite a few tuxedos that have been donated, and we also have gift certificates for rentals,” Trent assured him. “One way or another, none of you will have to pay for the tux you wear that night.”

  “Either way, they’ll be borrowed, which means the sleeves will be too long and the pants will drag on the floor,” Jason said, sounding resigned.

  “No way,” Trent assured him. “You’ll get to try them on ahead of time and someone will alter them so they fit perfectly. I’m telling you, you guys won’t recognize yourselves when you look in the mirror. Better yet, you’ll impress the heck out of your girlfriends.” He turned once again to Marvin. “So, are you in?”

  For a moment, Marvin looked as if he were struggling with himself. Trent simply waited.

  “What about the tickets?” Marvin asked. “Last year they cost as much as I make in a week. I can’t blow that kind of money on a dance.”

  “Laurie has the committee working on that. They’re doing a program with advertising to help underwrite the costs of the hotel and the food. That’ll bring the ticket prices way down. They won’t be free, but I think they’ll be within your budget, certainly no more than a night at some club.” He looked straight at Marvin. “How about it? Any other roadblocks?”

  “I guess not,” Marvin conceded grudgingly.

  “Then you’ll go?”

  “Okay, sure. Why not?” The boy gave an exaggerated shrug. “No point in ticking off Devonia if there’s a way around it.”