Bayview Heights Trilogy (57 page)

“So sit back and enjoy the program. You, too,
Dad.”

The stage darkened and a spotlight focused on
Johnny. “I asked to go first. I’m a premed student at Columbia
University. I just got my grades for first semester and they were a
perfect 4.0. Seth Taylor played a major role in this
accomplishment. He started an At-Risk Program that a lot of people
opposed. He hired the best teachers—” Johnny glanced over to
Cassie’s table “—and gave us his support. Without that, I would
never have gotten this far. I’d never be the successful doctor I’m
going to be, or led the life I’m going to lead. That’s what you’ve
done for me, Mr. T.”

The audience clapped. Seth felt his throat
tighten.

Johnny added, “Now, Mr. T., don’t come up
here during the program and hug me or anybody else.” He assumed a
tough-guy posture. “Wouldn’t want to ruin my image.” He smiled at
Seth. “Just sit there and relax.” He angled his head to the right.
“And listen to our next speaker.”

Seth vaguely recognized the tall lanky man
who approached the mike. “Hi, Mr. T. Remember me?” The voice did
it. Seth nodded.

“I’m John Henderson,” the former student told
the group. “I was class valedictorian in 1985. I used to wear those
big horn-rimmed glasses and a brush cut—before it was in
style.”

And he’d been expected to go into his
father’s law firm, Seth remembered. Which he hadn’t wanted to
do.

“Mr. Taylor gave me some good advice my
senior year. He told me I could do anything I wanted in life. I
didn’t have to live up to everybody else’s expectations. Just my
own. Now, I could’ve been a hotshot lawyer, and some of you might
think that I wasted my life. But I didn’t. I switched majors and
took creative writing. I’m doing what I love.” He held up a
hardcover book. “I wrote this,” he said proudly. “And my agent sold
it within two months. Doubleday Book Club just picked it up as an
alternate choice.” There was a hush over the audience, although
some people knew John had become a writer. The man opened the
cover. “I’d like to read you the dedication. ‘To Seth Taylor, who
showed me that I could do anything I wanted.’” He stared out at the
audience. “That’s what you’ve done for me, Mr. T.”

Amidst enthusiastic applause, Seth closed his
eyes. He scrubbed his hands over his face. When he looked up, a
tiny old woman made her way to the mike.

“Hello,” she said in a quavering voice. “I’m
Florence Bellamy.” She peered out over wire-rimmed glasses at the
audience. “I had many of you for typing years ago.” Several people
in the crowd clapped as they recognized the teacher. Seth swallowed
hard as she told her story of how he’d helped her cope with being
almost sixty and trying to keep up with teenagers. She couldn’t
retire because she hadn’t been teaching long enough to draw a
pension that would support her and her husband, who was ill. “At
first I thought those newfangled teaching ideas were bunk. And that
Seth Taylor was too young, at thirty-five, to be a principal. But
he taught me how to deal with young people effectively. I ended my
career at sixty-five happier than I’d ever been in my life. Thank
you, young man,” she said poignantly.

Though they’d told him to stay seated, he
couldn’t do it. He threw back his chair and strode to the front. He
gave Mrs. Bellamy a big hug and escorted her from the stage.

By the time he was in his chair again, a man
Seth had never seen before was at the podium. “I’m Jack Carrington.
You don’t know me, Mr. Taylor, but I married Judy Larson.” Seth
remembered vividly the shy young girl who’d been abused by her
uncle. When Seth had found out about it, he’d gone to the
authorities and gotten her help. “Judy died four years ago in a car
accident. She’d been employed as a social worker in a youth shelter
in New York City. She talked about you all the time. She said she
wanted to help kids like you helped her. And she did. Scores of
girls passed through Gentlehands, and Judy was there to give them
what
you
gave
her
— understanding and hope.” The
man’s voice broke on the last words. “She would’ve wanted me to
come here tonight and tell you this, Mr. T.”

Tears filled Seth’s eyes. He tried hard to
suppress them, and succeeded by locking his fingers tightly
together. He sat through more students—a soldier decorated in
Desert Storm, a boy who’d been on the verge of suicide, a popular
cheerleader who’d been heavily into drugs. Seth remembered working
with them all.

Then Cassie got to the podium. She carried
papers in her hand. “We also received many letters from those we
contacted who couldn’t be here tonight. We’ll give them to you
later, Mr. T. But I’d like to end the program by reading this one.
It’s very meaningful to me and I think you’ll see why.”

Seth shifted in his seat. Already overcome
with emotion, he wasn’t sure he could handle more. His sister
reached over and took his hand. He squeezed it and held on. Cassie
read:

Dear Mr. T.,

I’m not sure you’ll even remember me, but I
was in your tenth-grade English class twenty-five years ago. My
name was Sally Sorensen. I got pregnant at the end of my sophomore
year and was going to have an abortion. I told you about it. You
didn’t lecture me. You didn’t tell me what to do. You just talked
about values, about caring and making the right choices. And I
listened. I didn’t have that abortion. I dropped out of school,
remember? I had a baby boy.

Eventually, I met and married a wonderful
man, went back to school and got my high school diploma. I didn’t
do much after that, but I had my baby because of you.

I couldn’t come to your celebration tonight
because my son—James Seth Stanton—is graduating from Harvard
Medical School today, the day of your party. Yes, it’s early. He’s
been ahead in grades all through school. Remember how I couldn’t
tell a noun from a verb? Well not him. He’s graduating magna cum
laude and plans to study with the best researchers in Europe. Who
knows, maybe someday he’ll discover a cure for cancer or win a
Nobel Prize in medicine.

And I almost didn’t have him. This boy might
change the world, Mr. T., because of you.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sally

By the time Cassie finished reading, she was
sniffling. So were his mother and sisters. Seth put his head in his
hands and dug his fingertips into his eyelids.

Dimly he was aware that everyone was standing
and clapping. Then Joey touched his arm. “Dad, you’ve got to go up
there.”

At first Seth was shocked that he was
expected to be coherent. So many emotions swirled inside him. Then
he looked up and his gaze sought Lacey. She was on her feet, too,
applauding. She angled her head to the podium, telling him to go
there.

He did. He wound his way around several
tables, patting people on the back as he passed them. When he
reached the front, he took the mike from Johnny, who stepped back,
and said, “None of that hugging stuff.” But Seth embraced him
anyway.

Facing the audience, Seth cleared his throat.
“A friend of mine once told me he envied teachers because the good
that they do has a domino effect. When he said that, I half
listened. I was in a pretty bad funk then, wondering what good I’d
done at Bayview Heights.” He smiled at the crowd. “Well, thanks to
all of you, I know that my buddy was right. Those of you who came
up here today, or wrote letters, say I touched your lives. I won’t
forget that again, I promise. And I want you all to know that
you’ve touched mine, too. Thank you for reminding me of that.”

Amidst cheers and applause, Seth made his way
back to his seat. By the time he reached the Lansings’ table, Lacey
was gone.

o0o

LACEY STARED out the window of her room at
the Marriott Hotel, watching the puffs of snow drift to the ledge.
Her own reflection was mirrored in the glass. Her shoulders were
stiff, her face drawn tight.

Relax, girl, or you’ll never convince
him. If he sees you hurt and crying, he’ll never agree to what you
have to do.

So she summoned the earlier images of him:
his eyes glistening with unshed tears at all the stories told about
him, his dazzling smile as he addressed the crowd, the huskiness in
his voice when he thanked them.

Juxtaposed to that she heard her
grandfather’s strained accusation,
He’s a con man and a menace
to young people.

Lacey swallowed the lump in her throat. Now,
more than ever, she couldn’t let her grandfather ruin him. Not
after what she’d witnessed tonight. All those lives he’d
affected...he had to continue as principal of Bayview Heights High
School.

The only thing she wasn’t sure of was how she
was going to stand by and watch him go on with his life, day after
day, year after year. He was such an attractive man, he’d surely
marry someone else. Would his wife have the baby Lacey longed to
give him? Could Lacey bear to watch that?

“Stop it!” she told herself. She’d cope with
that if she had to. She’d do anything to protect the man she
loved.

After all, she’d coped with all kinds of
loss. Her mother. Then her father. Most recently, Kevin. The acute
pain caused by his death settled heavily in her soul.

Her reflections were interrupted by a noise
at the door. A key. Then Seth was there, standing before her,
looking so happy she wanted to weep.

“Hi,” he said as he entered the room.

“Hi.”

He held up a bottle of champagne and two
glasses. “To celebrate.”

“Where did you get it?”

“We had a toast, and since you weren’t there,
I brought you some.” Setting down the bottle and glasses, he strode
to her and hauled her into his arms. His kiss was long and thorough
and had her clinging to him. When he was done, he drew back. His
eyes were still glowing. Brushing a lock of hair off her cheek, he
asked, “Why did you leave?”

“You needed time with your friends and
family. I didn’t want to intrude.”

Drawing her close again, he brushed his lips
against her hair. “You should have been next to me tonight. I never
want to go through anything good or bad again without you by my
side.”

She struggled not to stiffen.

“Lace? What is it?”

“Nothing. Did you get a chance to visit with
your family’?”

“Yeah. I went back to the house with them for
a while. By ten-thirty, everybody was more than ready for bed.”

“Good. Let’s have some champagne.”

He hesitated but turned to the bottle. As he
went through the uncorking process, he babbled. “I can’t believe
Cassie pulled this off without my knowing.”

“She was so excited.”

“I’m shocked Mitch let her do it. He said she
had help locating the people who attended.”

Lacey shifted. Just then Seth looked up to
hand her a glass. “What?”

She shook her head and took the wine.
“Nothing. Let’s toast.”

“Not until you tell me what you were thinking
when you got that guilty look on your face.”

As good as any way to begin
. “Okay,
I’ll tell you. But a toast first. To Seth Taylor, the best educator
in the world.”

He grinned. “How could I have ever considered
leaving the high school?”

They clinked glasses. The champagne was tart
and its bubbles tickled her nose.

“Now, tell me what part you played in this,”
he said.

Her throat closed up. Oh, God, how could she
do this? “I gave Cassie the names of those people who spoke
tonight.”

He stilled. “I don’t understand.”

“They were in that file my grandfather had on
you from the private investigator.”

“
What?
”

“Adams dug up only good things about your
career, Seth.” She hesitated then added, “Until last week.”

Seth’s eyes widened. He sighed heavily and
then took a sip of champagne. Then another. Finally he said, “He
found out about Carson City.”

“Yes.”

“You know the whole story.”

“Yes. I know the facts, and I also read
between the lines.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning Tim Johnson’s actions were no more
your fault than my brother’s were.”

Seth reached over and ran a hand down her
cheek. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

Turning her face into his palm, she kissed it
lightly. “All those wonderful things they talked about
tonight.”

“Lace, I made a terrible mistake with
Johnson.” Seth’s voice was raw with remembrance. “It still haunts
me. I’ve spent twenty-five years trying to make up for it. It’s one
of the reasons I’ve been so vehement about helping new teachers.
And why I’m tough on violent students.” He waited a minute. “Like
Kevin.”

“I understand. You were twenty-one years old.
What’s more, your crime was believing in a kid.”

“I used bad judgment.”

“At twenty-one most of us use bad judgment.
Frequently. You were only a few years older than Joey. That’s
pretty young, Seth.”

“I…” His eyes clouded with pain. “The girl
was never the same after the rape.”

Setting down her glass, Lacey went to him and
wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry.”

He held on to her with one hand. His
champagne glass—to toast all his accomplishments—teetered in the
other. Lacey didn’t miss the irony. After a moment, he said,
“Thanks.”

Slowly she drew back. “Seth, Philip’s private
investigator unearthed this information last week.”

“So that’s what the guy was doing at the
Herald’s
office.”

“Yes.”

“And Philip told you about this hoping to
discredit me in your eyes.”

She smiled. “It didn’t work.” Her smile
faded. “But that was only part of the reason he got this on
you.”

“Why else?”

“He planned to ruin your reputation with it.
Make it public along with the fact that you omitted your year at
Carson City on your application to teach at Bayview.”