Emma's Home (The Fairfield Series) (11 page)

That was Jake. He listened. He remembered. He acted.

The squawking of birds pulled her out of her musings. Glancing across her yard, she saw a small furry creature slowly making its way toward the birdbath. Curious, she walked down the porch steps to get a better look. A small cat, fur matted, mewed in her yard, staring at her with huge eyes. It did not appear to be afraid of her as she approached it slowly. Carefully scooping it up, she was surprised that it did not attempt to scratch her or escape.

Rubbing its ears, she heard the distinct sound of purring. “Oh baby, are you lost? Are you hungry?” Taking the stray inside, she found some chicken and rice for him to eat. Gobbling the food, the cat walked into her living room finding a sun spot, then proceeded to take a bath.

“Well, you have certainly made yourself at home.”

Later that day, Emma purchased cat food and made an appointment with the closest veterinarian. Once at home, she walked in and was immediately greeted by the cat circling her legs begging for attention. Giving him some real cat food, he once again gobbled it up. “A few more meals like this and your ribs won’t show anymore.”

That evening Jake was on duty so Emma was alone in her bed. It did not take the cat long to discover that its owner slept in a warm soft bed. Making itself even more at home, the cat quickly snuggled on the pillow next to Emma, sleeping soundly through the night.

The next morning as Emma sat on her porch swing, watching the dawn, listening to the birds, and seeing her cat play on the porch, she realized something.
I’m home.

*

School started for Emma in late August. She met her co-workers, settling into her role as a high school counselor. The school was similar to her last one, and she found that teenagers were much the same everywhere. The other counselor was an older gentleman, soon to retire, but Emma found that the students respected him and he was treated with a grandfatherly respect. Students quickly flocked to her as well. Whether it was school problems, home problems, college applications, or just to talk, she loved all aspects of her job.

Jake made his presence known during the first couple of weeks, dropping by to see her at the end of the school day when he was in the area. Emma grinned to herself – she knew Jake well enough by this time to know he was publically staking his claim.

Emma, sitting in her office, looked over the most recent grades of some of her students. As she tried to familiarize herself with the students, she came across Brad’s grades. A significant drop in his grades from last year occurred, and she wondered what was going on. She called for him to see her toward the end of the day and when he came in he greeted her warmly. Sitting for a few minutes, they enjoyed chatting about her house, his part time job, and family.

“Brad, you probably are wondering why I wanted to see you,” Emma said with a smile.

Brad grinned back and answered, “Yeah. My grades, right?”

“Since I am new this year, it has taken me a while to get around to all my students, and I really just realized how your grades have slipped.”

Brad smiled a charming smile and easily replied, “Oh, I have just been working too many hours down at the store.”

Emma did not say anything for a minute, deciding to see what else Brad would say. His smile began to slip away as he looked anywhere in the room but in her eyes. Emma knew when she was being fed a line.

“Brad, I think there is more to it than that. Your grades are not the only ones slipping. I am noticing that a few members on the football team grades are slipping.” Again, Emma waited to see what Brad’s response would be. He began to squirm uncomfortably in the chair. At this point, Emma became concerned.

“Brad, I was going to talk to the coach tomorrow to see if he can tell me why some of his boys are starting to fail, but I was really hoping you could give me some insight first.”

“Honest, I don’t know why my grades are so poor, Ms. Dodd,” Brad answered, “but please don’t talk to the coach. I’ll talk to the boys, and we’ll start working harder. I’m sure that’s all it is – just too much homework, not enough time to get it all done with practice and jobs. It’s nothing else. You don’t want to go stirring up trouble looking for something else!”

Emma, raised her eyebrows. “I wasn’t looking for something else, Brad,” she said slowly, perusing him carefully. “But you are making me concerned right now.”

Brad looked into her eyes with a desperation she had not seen before. All of Emma’s senses were on high alert. She sensed Brad was lying and hiding something. Maybe it was just the coach’s wrath, she thought.

“Okay, well, for now just see if you can cut back on your shop hours and if you need some afterschool tutoring in your harder classes, just let me know.”

Brad let out his breath and looked up with a smile, one that did not reach his eyes. “Sure thing, Ms. Dodd. I’ll work harder, and the grades will come up, I promise.”

Brad left her office and Emma spent the next hour looking at the grade history of many of the students. New to the job, she didn’t have the knowledge of their grades without looking up each one. Closing her office door, she headed down to the gym to see the coach. The football coach was also the wrestling coach, so she knew most of the boys would be continuing their sports into the winter.

“Ted?” she called into the PE teacher’s room. He was packing up his bag.

“Hey, Emma,” he greeted. Ted was a big man, probably very good looking in his younger days and was aging well. He was in his early forties, divorced, with dark hair that was sprinkled with some gray. He kept in shape by working out with “his boys” as he liked to call them. His personality made him popular among the students. Ted greeted everyone with a loud voice and a friendly smile. “Whatcha need, Lil’Bit?” he called out.

Emma grinned. “Ted, you watched too much Little House on the Prairie, when you were younger!” referring to the nickname he bestowed on her.

“Just call em like I see em,” he laughed, looking her up and down, his eyes settling back on hers.

Emma explained she needed to see him about some of his player’s grades and her concerns.

The smile left Ted’s face. He was very protective of his boys. “Well, I’ve got to head out to practice now. We won’t be done till about five thirty.”

“Can I talk to you tomorrow then?” Emma asked.

“Sure,” Ted answered. Ted hesitated for just a second then said “How about we grab a bite of dinner after practice, and we can talk then?”

Emma hesitated. She really wanted to get his insight on the students they both cared about, but found herself wondering what Jake would think about her having dinner with another man. That’s ridiculous, she chastised herself. It was a working dinner, not a date, so Jake would have no reason to be concerned. And if she and Ted talked tonight, she would sleep better knowing there would be a plan to help the students.

“Sure,” Emma said. “We can meet at the diner about six o’clock?”

“Sounds like a date,” Ted boomed as he escorted her out of the door.

Emma debated as to whether or not she should tell Jake about meeting with Ted. On one hand she hated to think that she had to report to him, but on the other hand she could see that it could be misconstrued. Deciding to at least let him know what she was doing, she simply texted him.

Have teacher mtg at diner tonight. Talk to you later.

Knowing he was working and wouldn’t answer back for a while, she decided to drive downtown to accomplish some errands before meeting with Ted. Walking out to her car, she saw Brad and a couple of boys talking together. They all turned their heads, looking her way as she got to her car. Their expressions did not make her nervous, but looked guilty as though they had been caught talking about her. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and headed off to the stores.

*

A couple of hours later, Emma was sitting in a booth at the diner waiting for Ted. The diner was an updated version of an old soda shop. A counter running along the side of the room allowed customers to sit on high stools. The other side of the room had booths and tables. A plump waitress came over to take Emma’s order. She explained that she was waiting on someone and would order when they arrived.

Ted finally came in, belting out his greetings to everyone around. Hugely popular in the small town where everyone loved high school sports, he was considered a hometown character. Emma couldn’t help but grin at him, enjoying his popularity. Ted plopped himself down in the booth across from her, as the waitress came back over to take their orders.

Waiting for their food, Emma took several papers out of her briefcase and gave them to Ted. “As you can see, there are at least four of your starting seniors whose grades are plummeting. They will still be academically eligible to play, but it is not like these boys to do so poorly.”

Ted looked over the grade sheets carefully, keeping his expression neutral. “You seem to be implying that something is going on besides just not doing their work,” he stated.

“Ted I don’t know what is going on. But I would like to ask that each of these boys stay with me for thirty minutes of tutoring after school each day before practice. That way I can make sure to help them keep up with their homework and maybe find out what is going on with them.”

Ted seemed hesitant at first, which Emma found irritating.
Why was he hesitating? Was there something that he knew?

“Ted, if you are worried about them missing practice, I promise the tutoring won’t cut into practice time. But you have to admit that if you don’t agree and they become academically ineligible to play, you and they lose?”

Faced with that possibility, Ted agreed that her plan was sound. Smiling back at Emma, he was just about to ask her for drinks after dinner. Before he could say anything, the broad smile on his face faltered as he looked over Emma’s shoulder.

“Emma,” said an angry voice next to her, pulling her out of her thoughts. Emma jumped in her chair, swinging her head around, knowing whose voice she was hearing. Seeing Jake always brought a smile to her face, but she instantly knew he was not happy.

“Jake, hey. Did you get my message?” she asked, hoping Jake was not caught unaware.

“Got a text, babe, about a school meeting,” he said with his eyes raised at Ted.

Ted, seeming to be glad for the interruption, greeted Jake with a smile. “Jake, good to see you. Miss Emma needed to talk to me so I thought I would take the opportunity to take the lovely lady out to dinner.”

Emma swung her head around to Ted, her mouth hanging open. “This is not a date,” she stammered. “We were talking about some students I am concerned about.”

Jake, realizing that Emma had misinterpreted Ted’s intent, sat down next to her determined to make it very clear to Ted just who Emma belonged to. As he sat next to her in the booth, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closely.

At this, Ted then raised his eyebrows at them. “Well, I see I have missed the first opportunity,” he said.

Emma, feeling as though she was in the middle of a pissing contest, grew angry. “Ted, I wanted to present my idea about a tutoring session for your boys; that is all this is. Do you agree that it is a good idea and will you support me?”

Ted looked contrite and said apologetically, “Absolutely, Ms. Dodd. I think it’s a great idea. Sorry if I offended you.”

Since they had already finished their meal and paid, he stood and looked down at them. “Jake,” he said looking straight into Jake’s eyes. “Hope you know what you have there?”

Jake just gave a head nod.

“Ms. Dodd, I will see you tomorrow and I’ll let my boys know to report to you after school.” He couldn’t resist giving her a wink as he turned to leave.

Jake growled behind Ted’s back, but it turned into a grunt as Emma’s elbow jabbed into his side.

“Let me out,” Emma said, pushing against Jake who had her pinned in the booth. Pushing against him was as effective as pushing against a large tree.

Jake just looked down at her. “Not doin’ it babe.”

“Jake if you don’t move I am going to scream,” she said, in truth knowing she would never do that.