“Are you a giant?” Amber asked as she looked up, up, up at him. “You look like a giant to me.”
Maizy suppressed a giggle and shushed the children as they all started chattering at once. “Walk with me?” she asked. “I just need to drop them off at the cafeteria. My volunteer will help them and we can sit and eat at one of the other tables.”
“Sure.”
Once her kids split into two groups, lining up to receive their hot meals from the lunch ladies or sitting at their tables and opening their lunch boxes, she spoke quietly to her volunteer and then directed Spencer to one of the tables where the teachers often sat to eat their lunches. Spencer received a lot of long looks from people but he seemed to handle it with ease, nodding at people in a congenial manner when they made eye contact.
Spencer nudged the toe of her shoe with his to get her attention and quietly said, “I didn’t take you for the sadistic type, baby.”
She choked on her bite of guacamole salad and then giggled because she knew what he was referring to. “Me? Sadistic? Never.” She wanted to fall over laughing but contained her playfulness because of their audience.
“You knew I was coming to see you today when you put on that catsuit.”
The thought had filled her with pleasure as she’d slipped it on that morning before putting on her conservative black skirt and the lightweight leopard-print blouse. The lace edge of the catsuit peeked up over the neckline of the top. “It was on the cool side this morning and I needed an extra layer underneath. And yes, I put it on because I knew you were coming, Spencer.”
“I like it. We’ve made another adjustment in the work schedule and I’ll be home with Heath tonight. Will you come over and model it for us?”
Warmth filled her. “If you’d like.” She bit her lip as she imagined it while poking at her food.
“I know that look. You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” he murmured as he leaned closer. “It’s making me hot, too.”
She glanced around her as her cheeks filled with heat and then nodded at him. “I’ll bring the kitty ears and the tail with me. Rowr.”
Spencer choked on his sweet tea.
“Maizy?”
She looked up and groaned inwardly as Chaz Edwards stood beside her at the end of the lunch table. “Chaz, I think you know my fiancé, Spencer Ketchum.”
Chaz turned his close-set eyes on Spencer and squinted. “We’ve met?”
Because she knew him well, Maizy noted the slight smile on Spencer’s lips as he rose from his chair, towering over Chaz, and held out his hand. His smile didn’t reach his eyes as he said, “On a regular basis at the Twisted Bull, Mr. Edwards.”
Chaz gulped and nodded. “Right. Good to see you again, Ketchum.” Chaz did a double take and turned to Maizy. “Your fiancé?”
Spencer’s eyelids flickered for a split second before he spoke. “You say that as though it surprises you, Edwards. I was fortunate Maizy said yes when I asked her. Any man would be lucky to have her.”
Chaz smirked and Maizy froze, knowing what was coming next. “I just hope her hobby doesn’t get in the way of your relationship, like it did with—”
“Actually, her hobby is one of the things I love about her. I’m not threatened by her leisurely pursuits in the least, Edwards. I think your loss was my gain. Good to see you outside of the nightclub.” Spencer took his seat again, subtle dismissal evident in his slightly raised eyebrow as he gazed at Chaz.
With a curt smile, Chaz looked at Maizy. “Congratulations, Maizy. I wish you both the best.” There was no sincerity in his tone but she appreciated that he knew when to back off as he walked away. Chaz was the kind of man who liked to have the last word but she didn’t think he looked very satisfied as he slunk away.
She reached out and stroked Spencer’s hand, and when he looked at her, she whispered, “Thank you.”
He grinned at her and winked. “His loss, my gain.”
After lunch, Maizy was walking her students in an orderly row back to the classroom when Mrs. Dumphrey suddenly appeared from around the corner. In an imperious voice, she said, “Miss Owen, would you please come to the staff meeting room during your conference period?”
Pausing for a moment, Maizy nodded her head and smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“See you then, Miss Owen,” Mrs. Dumphrey said with a firm nod and walked away.
Maizy got her class moving again and took slow deep breaths and released them, trying to slow her rapid heart rate. Is this it? She thought about calling the bears but there was no point if she didn’t know what Mrs. Dumphrey wanted to say. Besides, she told herself, she was a big girl and she could handle whatever happened.
By the time two thirty rolled around and her volunteer took the class to physical education, she was a nervous wreck. She straightened her attire and made the short walk down the hall to the staff meeting room. As if it was setting the mood on cue, the wind howled outside and rain suddenly began falling in a torrent against the building.
When she walked in, Mrs. Dumphrey was already seated at the head of the conference table. Next to Mrs. Dumphrey sat Mr. Ambrose. The principal tugged at his bow tie as they made eye contact. There was sweat on his brow and he looked agitated. She didn’t see judgment in his eyes but her heart still lurched. Mrs. Dumphrey said, “Please take a seat, Miss Owen.”
Maizy took the first available seat, closest to the door and at the opposite end of the table from them. She wished she’d called at least one of the bears after all. If nothing else, at least they’d know something was up. She felt very alone as she settled into her seat. The rain fell in sheets outside the windows, blotting out the landscape.
“This is an informal meeting, Miss Owen, intended to share some rather disturbing information with you. It’s been brought to my attention that a member of your family has entered into a questionable marital union with two other people over the weekend. Friends of yours. It’s also been brought to my attention that you are considering such a union.”
Roberta? Her dad? Who would tell Mrs. Dumphrey? She knew neither of them approved but she couldn’t imagine either of them “telling” on her either.
She neither confirmed nor denied Mrs. Dumphrey’s accusation. “I fail to see how my brother’s decisions or my private life could be cause for this meeting.”
“Hardly private. Miss Owen, I’ve brought you here today to make you aware of policies and a troublesome development.”
Mrs. Dumphrey stood and slipped several photos from an envelope and brought them around to Maizy. She laid one out. Maizy’s heart stuttered when she saw the photograph. Rain spattered against the windows and the temperature in the room seemed to drop as Mrs. Dumphrey lined the pictures up in front of her.
The grainy date-stamped image was of her in that first kiss with Cody when she’d gone to see the bears at the Twisted Bull back in August. Spencer and Heath were clustered around them while Cody had kissed her. Maizy glanced up at Mrs. Dumphrey as she laid out another photo and then gasped when she saw it. It was a very compromising picture of her and Heath on the back porch after they’d gotten out of the pool. Heath was kissing her and her legs were draped over the armrests of the chair as he stroked her pussy.
Mrs. Dumphrey placed another photo on the table, holding it distastefully by the very edges. It was a shot of her in the pool with all three of the bears, the day they’d washed and waxed her car for her. Cody was positioned between her legs, eating her with obvious relish while Heath looked on raptly and Spencer tongued one of her nipples. Fury swirled to life inside of her as one of her most precious memories was laid bare and treated as something sordid. The date stamps on all the photos indicated that they’d occurred within just days of each other.
Her face went up in flames and Mrs. Dumphrey had the audacity to say, “Well, it’s good to know that you’re still capable of blushing.”
Maizy blinked to clear the red from her vision. It would do no good to try to defend herself against this woman’s
accusations, and she wasn’t worth having to wear prison orange for. Maizy made eye contact with Mr. Ambrose and was confused by the abject sympathy she saw there. He said nothing.
“I was under the impression that you and Mr. Ketchum, the large dark-haired man with the arms covered in tattoos were a couple, Miss Owen. Engaged, in fact.” She laid a final date-stamped image of Maizy surrounded by the bears on Grace’s front porch, moments after they’d all proposed to her. She was kissing Cody while holding on to Heath and Spencer. It was obvious from the way they were clustered around her holding her that they were a ménage a quatre. Roberta. Betrayal and fury blazed inside her.
The grainy images all made her sweet memories seem so sordid and she saw that reflect in Mrs. Dumphrey’s eyes as she peered at her. “Miss Owen, exactly who are you engaged to?”
Maizy pointed at the compromising photos and said, “Whoever took these was violating private property laws and my personal privacy. What I do in the sanctity of my home, or any other, is none of your business or the school board’s, for that matter. May I take these?”
Mrs. Dumphrey nodded. “Two sets were included in the envelope, these are yours. And you’re absolutely right about the privacy issue, Miss Owen.” Mrs. Dumphrey’s lips pressed into a flat line as she stacked the photos and returned them to the envelope and handed it to Maizy. “But we have a larger, much more troubling issue.”
“Where did you obtain those photos, Mrs. Dumphrey?”
“They arrived in my mailbox at school today, along with an anonymous note. The note claims that if you do not put an immediate stop to this illicit relationship, this person will go to the news networks. The national news networks. This person promised to drag Divine through the media and you in particular, as the teacher and shaper of young minds. Miss Owen, I want you to know that although I wasn’t fully in favor of you being hired as our kindergarten teacher five years ago, I do believe that you have done a good job as a teacher here, and might have done a good job as elementary principal if you’d taken the position when it was offered. And while I agree with you that you’re entitled to privacy, this situation does place the Divine Independent School District in an untenable position.”
“Do you have any idea who took these photos?”
Mrs. Dumphrey turned her back and returned to her seat at the other end of the conference table as she spoke. “No, nor does anyone seem to know who placed the envelope in my mailbox.”
“What will you do?”
“It’s not me who needs to take action, Miss Owen.”
“I understand,” Maizy said softly, as she rose from her seat, glancing again at Mr. Ambrose, who looked incredibly uncomfortable at the other end of the table but said nothing. She’d always been kind to him, she’d never been late unless the circumstances were an emergency, and she’d at least hoped he’d say one word in her defense. Something. But he just sat there, looking at the table.
Mrs. Dumphrey took her seat again, her face stoic. “Please let me know your decision as soon as possible.”
“I will.”
When Maizy reached the door, Mrs. Dumphrey held up her hand and said, “Miss Owen, we have the young minds of this school to think of. We can’t have immorality going on under our noses and just ignore it the way they do in town. The parents of your students, past, present, and future, would have our heads. And in any case, if this news ever came to the attention of the school board as a whole, they’d have you removed from your job. Think very hard, Miss Owen, before you make your decision.”
The decision was already made. She turned to Mrs. Dumphrey and Mr. Ambrose and said, “I understand the difficult position I’ve placed you, and the school board in. I’ve already given this serious consideration. I know it won’t affect your opinion on the matter but I am in love with Spencer, Cody, and Heath. We’ve made a commitment to each other and I have no intention of ending my relationship with them.” She held up the envelope containing the photographs. “Seeing something so precious to me dragged through the mud is tremendously hurtful. You’ll have my letter of resignation by the end of the day.”
Mrs. Dumphrey looked down and nodded as thunder rumbled outside. Mr. Ambrose looked devastated. He stood as though he was going to say something but remained mute.
She walked out and made her way down the silent hallway on numb legs. Kinder through second grade were all at physical education. Jan Gaylord looked up as she passed her open door and she jumped up and ran to the door.
“What’s the matter?”
Maizy fumbled with the doorknob to her classroom and looked up at Jan when she put her hand on Maizy’s shoulder. She could barely hear Jan over the pounding of her pulse in her ears. The grainy photos kept flashing through her mind and her skin crawled as she wondered how many strangers would see those private moments.
Jan followed her into her classroom. “Maizy, what happened?”
Maizy felt cold all over as she eased into the chair at her desk and looked around her classroom. Her eyes scanned the nameplates taped on each of her students’ tiny desks. She wouldn’t be the one to hear them read their first sentences. Someone else would do that. Someone else would high-five with them when they got their first report card…at least she hoped they would.
“I’m resigning my position.”
Jan’s jaw dropped. “What? Why?”
“Because sometimes you have to choose between two good things.”
She took in a deep breath as Jan launched into a diatribe she didn’t hear. She turned to her computer and opened a fresh document and began typing. Jan put her hand on her shoulder, jarring Maizy from her letter. “Do you need me to call Spencer for you? You look like you’re in shock.”
Maizy thought about it and smiled at Jan. It was absurd to be pleased while her heart was breaking but she noticed that her friend hadn’t immediately assumed that Spencer had done something wrong. Maybe Jan’s bitterness toward men was easing somewhat. She knew the bears would drop everything and be there for her in a matter of minutes if she asked them but the choice was clear. Yes, she was in pain but this was nothing compared to the soul-deep hurt she’d suffered when she’d thought she and her men were broken up for good. Camilla had been right in her assumption at the bachelorette party.
She shook her head and patted Jan’s hand. “No. I knew this might happen.”
“What happened? I still don’t understand,” she said as she pulled a chair close to Maizy’s desk.
Maizy explained quietly and watched the confusion grow in Jan’s eyes. “There are three of them? That really happens? I thought it was just rumors and gossip.”
Remembering the grainy image of her three men embracing her after she accepted their ring, she smiled and said, “No. It’s very real and I know I can’t do without them.”
“This is bullshit,” Jan muttered. “You’re not going to fight it?”
“I can’t see a way of doing that without dragging Divine and all the people I love through the mud. I don’t want reporters hounding my friends and the people they love because I want to keep this job.”
“But you love this job.”
“I’ll still teach. I know I will.”
“The kids will be back soon so I’ll leave you to finish that letter,” Jan said as she put the chair back in place. She turned at the door and added, “I know I’ve been wrapped up in my own bitter world, otherwise I might’ve noticed the changes in you. You’ve seemed so much happier lately and I’m glad if those three men are the reason. If you need me for anything, you have my number. This place won’t be the same without you.”
“Thanks, Jan.”
She typed up her letter of resignation, keeping one eye on the clock. When two copies of it were printed and signed, she sealed them inside envelopes and slipped them into Mrs. Dumphrey’s and Mr. Ambrose’s mailboxes.
The kids returned and she struggled through the last session of the afternoon and helped them prepare to go home. The next two weeks would be spent counting do
wn as the days slipped away until she was no longer the one introducing them to the wonderful world of learning. She knew they’d still progress and she would miss them, but she didn’t need them the way she needed Cody, Heath, and Spencer.
Her umbrella wasn’t much use when she left at four o’clock, with the wind blowing the cold rain sideways. In her Bug, she took out her phone and sent two text messages.
To Cody, she typed, “I tendered my resignation today.” She knew he would let Heath and Spencer know.
It probably wasn’t a good idea to communicate with Roberta when she was upset but she did so anyway. She typed the message and hit send. “It’s one thing to voice your discontent over my choices, sis. It’s another thing to betray me.”
Cody replied within a minute. “Where are you? We’ll come to you.”
Her phone chirped with more incoming messages while she replied to him. “I’m in my car about to head home. Don’t you need to get ready for work?”
“We’ll see you at your house in a few minutes.”
She typed the first words of a reply to him, telling him that he didn’t have to do that, but then she chuckled and backspaced. He thought they did and it wasn’t really up for debate. She was about to check the rest of the recent incoming messages when one more message arrived from him.
“Please take it slow on the wet roads, angel. I love you.”
She glanced hurriedly at the other messages.
One from Spencer, who worried about her. “Are you all right?”
One from Heath, who was intuitive as ever. “It finally happened didn’t it?”
Knowing she would see them in a few minutes, she didn’t bother replying. She’d intended to go home, take a long bath, and lick her wounds for a bit but the thought of them coming to her like that made her lose interest in solitude.
There was also a message from Roberta. “Whoa! I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Did you tell anyone about my engagement to the guys, and take a picture of us at the wedding before we knew you were standing there?”
Maizy the Bear Charmer [Divine Creek Ranch 16] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 35