Oakley: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance (Marshall's Shadow Book 3)

by Kathi S. Barton

  He was handed the phone just as his sisters-in-law showed up. Lach took the phone from him and asked who it was she was speaking to. After figuring out who it was, Lach apologized in advance to the staff in the office.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing at home right now? There are children at this school who you were paid to care for waiting for you.” He didn’t know what Lannie said to Lach, but he would bet she’d be careful in the future of saying it to someone else. “You think no one needs you today? You think you’re doing a good job here? Honey, you are so fucking stupid I might have to have you put into the world book of stupid people soon. We, as the city, do not pay you for taking time off. As of right now, you’re fired. If you have a problem with that, then please, by all means, come down here and voice your concerns. I’ll be here with Harris and Bella, just waiting for you to show your face here again.”

  She handed the phone to Mrs. Briggs. “She’s upset. I don’t care if you think this is the wrong way to go about this, but if you agree with me, then hang up. She’ll show up, and I’ll have her arrested. She’s been fired, and that’s the end of it.”

  “Remind me never to get on your bad side.” Lach grinned at Mrs. Briggs. “Are you really going to be on the board, Mrs. Marshall?”

  “It’s Lach, and I am. I want you to call any of the three of us directly if you need anything. I mean anything. Air conditioners fixed. A fridge breaks down. Hell, if you need bottled water for the Friday night football games, you’ll get it. As I was telling these women here, this is our school for our kids, and we need it to be in good shape for them.” Mrs. Briggs told her that as of the last month, they needed all three of those things. “All right. You write it all down, and between the three of us, we’ll get you fixed up. But, as I’m sure the others will agree, no one knows who donated things. It’ll be better if they think it’s coming from the town as a whole. You might want to thank some anonymous people in the next email that goes out. Say something like the people will double their donations if fifty people donate their time to some of the things going on around here.”

  “Oh, I like you.”

  Harris hugged Lach and told her she’d done good. Mrs. Briggs left to go to her office to work on the list. Sandra, one of the aides in the school, asked what they wanted to do.

  “Bring in the first grade, and we’ll work from there. Shep said he’d bring the stuff he’s picking up to the back door to be loaded in here.” Rodney looked at his sisters. “You guys are the best. I hope you know that.”

  Within half an hour, he had twenty-five kids lined up against the wall and was giving them quick exams. Lach followed behind him, giving each kid a packet that contained toothbrushes, paste, and other personal items for the entire family. She also spoke to each child to find out what sort of things were going on in their home. Bella was making notes about that on each file. Things were moving now.

  By the time he was on the last grade at the school, Shep and Grandda had off loaded the things that were on the truck. They ended up making several trips to the store, and Shep had put in an order at a larger store for things that weren’t on the list. He had ordered backpacks to be given to the kids, and someone was coming in to help measure the kids for coats and boots if they needed them. Rodney didn’t think there was a child in this school that didn’t need winter boots.

  “How’re the other schools doing?” He’d not thought of the middle or high school and what sort of things they might need. Rodney was thrilled to have someone thinking about them too. “Do you know if they might need a nurse as well?”

  “The high school has a good one. She’s my granddaughter, and she knows better than to let them down.” Rodney laughed with Mrs. Briggs when she answered Adaline. “The middle school, I don’t know. I know they had a nurse working, but I couldn’t tell you anything about her. You might have to check on that too.”

  Harris left to check on the other two schools as he and the others finished up the exams of all the children. She’d also made notes on the kids that were going to need more than just a quick exam like he was doing.

  “The school was supposed to have an eye doctor come in. Do you know if one was scheduled?” None of them had heard anything about that. “I’ll take care of that when I get back to my office.”

  One of the secretaries was making notes for him too. Adaline was still working with the cafeteria workers to find out if the kids were getting the breakfast program. He thought there was some sort of grant that could help defray the costs of feeding the kids the first meal of the day.

  At half-past six, exhausted yet delighted with the progress they’d made, Rodney sat down with Mrs. Briggs to go over the list of things the school was in desperate need of. She told him the kitchen area needed to be upgraded completely, and that most of their tables and chairs weren’t in good condition.

  “Don’t feel you have to do all of this for us, Rodney. It’s a great deal to take on. Paying for it all on your own will put you in the poor house.” He said he’d talk to his family about a fundraiser for most of it. “Good luck with that. Most of the people in this town have been out of work for some time now. They could use a boost up as much as this school does. We’ve tried before to get the parents involved, but they just don’t have the funds to help out.”

  He thought about what she told him all the way back to his office to get his car. The town would do so much better if there was extra income for the people. It was that same trickle-down theory that he’d been seeing a great deal lately. Without working folks in town, the restaurants didn’t do well and would close up. And so on down the line. He needed to have something big come to town to make jobs for everyone. Rodney thought he needed to speak to Harris. She had a head for such things.

  ~*~

  Rebel looked over the paperwork she’d been handed when she came to the school meeting. Her niece and nephew went to school here, and since their mom wasn’t able to take time off her job, Rebel said she’d go. There were a great many people there, more than she thought were parents of the children.

  After the meeting was called to order, she listened to a woman talking about what they’d found out about the nursing staff that worked for the schools. Harris, she thought her name was, said they’d been doing a piss poor job of taking care of the elementary children. What they’d done about it and how the donations were pouring in to make things better here. Rebel had gone to school in another country but knew there were big struggles to keep good teachers on the payroll.

  Each person that was to speak to the crowd of several hundred people had positive things to say about the teachers but also pointed out that they needed more than just a chalkboard and paper. They needed volunteers too. People that could spare an hour would help a teacher get papers graded and things in their rooms put back in order at the end of the day.

  “Aunt Rebel, can you come into my class and help out? Mrs. Montgomery is doing her best, but she gets cranky if she gets too much going.” Rebel asked Todd what the teacher had said that made him think she was cranky. “Nothing. She just looks tired. I think she’s really old too. Older than you even.”

  “Thanks, kid.” He laughed when she did. Then Angie spoke up. She was in the first grade and was in love with her teacher. “What do you think they need in the school, honey? More breaks or something?”

  “Computers. They only have one in my classroom that works. I like using it, but it takes forever for my turn to come around.” She nodded, thinking of the computers they had in their home. “I can do all my homework on mine at home, but the teacher’s doesn’t work all the time, and I get a late point when she can’t pull it up.”

  Rebel made a mental note to get them a printer so that Angie could turn in her homework on time. The kids around them were telling her what they needed, as well. Finally, when Rebel realized how much they saw as opposed to the teachers, she stood up to be heard.

 
The man standing up there asked her what she had an idea for. “Not so much an idea, but a concern. I have a niece and nephew that go here. I’m hearing from them that computers don’t work most of the time. That the Internet is so slow, they can’t turn in homework on time that they’ve done at home.” He asked her if she’d like to meet with him after the meeting. “Sorry, but I work the night shift at my job. I can’t be late any more than homework can be.”

  The man, Rodney he said his name was, said he’d meet her at any time she could get away if she’d work with him through the kids. She didn’t want to take up that much time working on this, but Angie begged her to help out. So she found herself giving out her personal phone number and receiving Rodney’s before she left. Somehow she felt like she’d been sucker-punched when he handed his over.

  On the way back to their home, the kids were telling her about how Doc Rodney had given them toothbrushes and stuff the other day. And that there was a big old room with supplies in it just for the kids to have.

  She knew who the Marshalls were. Anyone that was in town for less than a minute heard how the Marshall family was the big deal around. Rebel thought she would give the list she had as well as the notes she’d taken from the meeting to her sister-in-law. That way, she’d not have to be around the other man too much more. He was good looking, but she was just getting out of a sour relationship and didn’t need anything more fucking up her life.

  After tucking the kids into bed, she made her way to Sheila’s kitchen. It might well have empty cabinets all the time, but she did a good job raising the kids like she was.

  Her brother, Thomas, had died a few years ago, just after Angie had been born. The insurance company didn’t pay out, and Shela and the kids depended on her to help them out each month for food and bills. She didn’t mind. Rebel loved the kids, and Sheila as well.

  Tomorrow when she got off work, she was going to go down there again and see what the fucking hold up was. At eleven-thirty, the nighttime babysitter showed up, and Rebel was free to go to work. She hated working nights, but at the hospital she was working at, those that weren’t born in this country didn’t get to pick what they wanted. She hated the staff there more than she did the situation Sheila and her children were in.

  Going into work, she was met with hostility and anger. Not from the people in the emergency department that needed help, but the people she had to work with. Rebel was tired of the same shit daily. They would hide files from her. Set up patients that were ready to go home to have stitches put in. Some of the nurses would steal her things right from her locker. Tell some of the patients that she was a nurse, not a doctor, as she had told them. The fun they’d have with her accent. Stupid shit that just got in the way of her working. At the end of her shift, she was turning in her resignation. Enough was enough.

  Before You Go…

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  Kathi Barton, a winner of the Pinnacle Book Achievement award as well as a best-selling author on Amazon and All Romance books, lives in Nashport, Ohio, with her husband, Paul. When not creating new worlds and romance, Kathi and her husband enjoy camping and going to auctions. She can also be seen at county fairs with her husband, who is an artist and potter.

  Her muse, a cross between Jimmy Stewart and Hugh Jackman, brings her stories to life for her readers in a way that has them coming back time and again for more. Her favorite genre is paranormal romance, with a great deal of spice. You can visit Kathi on line and drop her an email if you’d like. She loves hearing from her fans. aaronskiss@gmail.com.

  Follow Kathi on her blog: http://kathisbartonauthor.blogspot.com/

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11