He looked. The first story was ship lap, the second, shingles. There was three feet of overhang at the eaves and gables. The roof looked in good shape, what he could see, anyway. It was a nice place all right, but getting fired again didn’t give him the urge to run out and buy a house. What was she up to now?
Rounding the front again, she led him up on the porch. “Well, what do you think?”
“About what?” He was beginning to see, and it was scaring him. “Wait wait wait… we were both fired today, remember?”
She had that look in her eye. “We talked about starting our own school.”
“This place? Is now the time?”
She took a key out of her sweater pocket and opened the front door. “Could there be a better one?”
His heart skipped a beat. “Oh Jesus, you’ve got a key.”
In shock, he trailed her into the walnut paneled entry. “Why do you have a key?”
She smiled.
“Now you’re smiling enigmatically. Don’t do that. It’s a bad sign when you smile enigmatically, a very bad sign.”
The house smelled of lemon oil and fifty years of living. She gave him a tour first downstairs then up, pointing out the uses for the various rooms.
“Am I right assuming this isn’t the first time you’ve seen this place?” he said.
Upstairs was a large bedroom with its own bath. She switched on the lights. “This’ll be ours.”
“Will be?”
“If you want it.” He was getting dizzy. “Wait a minute, have you already made an offer on this place?”
“I’ve been negotiating with them for a month now. That’s why I’ve been late getting home. The prelim looks fine. It’ll work—if you want it to.”
He looked around him, hardly able to believe any of it. “It’s a great old place, but there could be a hundred things wrong with it. Dry rot, powder post beetles, underground springs.”
She was ready for him. “Inspected, no problems.”
“What about money?”
“I’m using my savings along with what the district gave to buy out my contract for the down.”
He ran his hand along the black walnut banister. “It must have been a fortune. This is… This is nice.”
She frowned. “It’s been on the market for a year—I got it for fifty under appraisal.”
“You got it.” He forgot to breathe. “You mean you bought it?”
She held his eyes with hers. “It’s in escrow.”
Resentment burning his throat, he went to stand at one of the windows overlooking the steep gabled porch roof. He didn’t like being told after the fact. “Well, if it’s done, if it’s already yours, then it’s yours. Why ask me at all?”
She came to stand behind him. “I’m asking because I want it to be ours, not mine—ours. “ He faced her, not understanding. “It’s in escrow, you said. It’s a done deal.”
“I’ve got the down right here in my bag. I left us a way out, if you don’t like it we can back out right now.” She looked at him, eyes alight with hope, and something else—fear maybe. “Do you like it?”
It was dark. He couldn’t see anything out the window, now. It really was a damned nice house. “Does it matter what I think?”
She sighed in frustration and paced across the bedroom. “Look, we both knew what the board was going to decide today. We’ve known for a long time. I just couldn’t sit there and wait for it to happen.” She opened her arms. “Here it is—if we want it.” She squeezed his arm, her grip tight. “Do we want it?”
He looked around him feeling like a kid on his first trip off the high dive. “Can we make it work?”
“I must have had twenty calls this week from parents asking me to open a school. With our credentials, we can get a license, no problem. I can teach K-6, you can handle 7 through 12. We can always hire a couple aides.” She nodded, biting her lower lip in her excitement. “Yeah, I know we can. Do you want to?”
He stood, forefinger on the bridge of his glasses. Did he want it? What a question. “I want to help pay for it.”
“Oh, don’t worry.” She laughed. “Look around—we’re going to need books, desks, everything.” She inclined her head. “Does that mean you do?”
“Well, I don’t know.” He pretended to think about it. “I’ve heard it’s a bad idea for single people to buy real estate together. Very bad— from a business standpoint. “
She snuggled close in the cold room, and he took her under his arms. “Oh, is that what you’ve heard?”
He was feeling cocky, like the whole world was coming his way. “Yeah, that’s what I heard. It’s just not, you know, advisable.”
“Well, then I guess we’ll have to do something about that, won’t we?” He smiled, mouth against the skin of her neck, tasting her salt.
Yes. Yes, they would.
• • •
Chelsea shut the big front door.
Back against it, she sighed.
Solange came in from the dining room. “Is that the last of them?”
“God, I hope so.” Myrtle said.
Exhausted, O’Connel sank down on the stairs. “It’s got to be.” He held up a hand for silence. “Listen.” It was wonderfully quiet, the only sound sedate ticking from the wall clock. Genaro came in pushing a dust mop, resting his chin on big hands over the end of the handle. “I don’t hear nothin’.” Holding their breath, they smiled.
“Yes!” Chelsea said.
Genaro looked at his watch. “Only six, not bad for the first day.” Solange came to slide down next to O’Connel, resting her head on his lap. “We did it. One day down.”
“One hundred seventy-nine to go,” O’Connel said.
Sonny came clicking across the hardwood floor from her bed in back to stand, nose to the door.
“Oh, crumbs,” Myrtle said.
Solange frowned. “There’s a car out there.”
“I knew it,” Chelsea said. “We lost a kid. I’ll be in my room.”
“No, you don’t,” O’Connel said. “Open up. “ Solange yawned. “Somebody forgot a jacket, I bet.” Craning his neck to see out, he laughed, surprised by whom he saw. “Well, what do you know?” Up the walk came Sid, Aurora, and Karl.
Sid held them up at the door. “Permission to enter, Madam Principal.” Solange tightened her hold around O’Connel’s waist, and he ran a hand down her hair.
“Granted,” she said from his lap.
“I will most certainly be damned, will you look who’s here,” Myrtle said.
“Chelsea,” Karl said, “what are you doing here?”
“I work here, live here, too,” she said. “I’ll be going to U of O at night.”
“That’s wonderful, Chelsea!” Aurora said, hugging her. “And our best aide and custodian, too! Boy, talk about rats, jumping ship the first chance you got!” Genaro laughed.
“Damned right!” Myrtle said, baritone booming. “I’ve heard about your principal this year.”
“Oh, please, don’t bring him up,” Karl said. “He’s one of the little ones, out to make a big splash.” Sid held out a magnum of champagne. “We brought this to christen the old ship here.” He looked around. “Where do I do this?” He took a practice swing against the banister.
“Oh, God!” Solange laughed, holding a protective hand. “Not there!”
“Something hard—ah!” Sid’s eyes lit up, and he measured his swing to O’Connel’s head. “No? Well, then, it looks like we’ll just have to drink it. Chelsea,” he said imperiously, “fetch some glasses!”
Laughing, O’Connel turned the bottle. “Hey, that’s the good stuff What’d you do, rob a bank?”
“Well, I voted for a plastic cork, but Myrtle said that for an occasion like this, the best was de rigueur. “Sid looked to her. “Wasn’t that what you said?”
She laughed. “Oh, hell yes, sounds dirty, is it?”
“Just thought we’d come to wish you luck,” Karl said, looking around. “This is nice!”
“Say,” Myrtle said, “how about the nickel tour?”
They ended in the dining room.
“I hear you’ve got all the students you can handle,” Karl said.
Solange poured the champagne while O’Connel, enjoying this, opened a bag of ice.
“Two dozen right now, and a waiting list with as many more,” Solange said.
Myrtle raised her glass. “French champagne over ice, now that’s real class.”
“Don’t be a poop, Myrtle, old thing,” Sid said. “We don’t stand on convention, here.” Karl held out his glass. “Egads, what have things come to? They’re letting all manner of riffraff open schools now too, I hear.”
“Everybody got some?” Solange said. “How about you, Chelse?” She beamed, holding a glass aloft.
“Ah, corruptor-of-youth, okay, then,” Sid said. “I’ll offer a toast.
To the hard-headed Welshman, the angel of death, and to their school.
May they put us all out of business.”
“Yeah,” Karl said, “and give us all jobs while they’re at it.” Aurora raised an arm. “Wait!” She held her glass out to Solange.
“And to finding out you were wrong, and being happy about it.”
O’Connel took Solange’s hand and together they drank.
A Terrible Beauty: What Teachers Know but Seldom Tell outside the Staff Room Page 22