Seeking His Love (16 page)

“Thanks, Cam. You’re a lifesaver.”

He grinned. “Butterscotch or cherry?”

She laughed. “Very funny. Can I talk to Kayla?”

“Sure. I’ll call you later.” He passed the phone to his niece and turned off the grill. Shannon sounded good, almost like her old self. A surge of hope lifted some of the weight he had been carrying.
Please, God, bring her through this storm.

Cam poured a glass of iced tea for each of them while he listened to Kayla tell Shannon a funny story about play rehearsal. He glanced up at Rachel’s window. His trip to Seattle would squelch his hope of spending time with her tonight. But at least he could follow through on his promise
to bring her dinner. He loaded a burger on a plate, then added a dill pickle, potato chips and fruit salad the girls had made. He’d take it up to her after he changed. He’d also let her know he planned to be away overnight. Hopefully, by the time he got back tomorrow, she’d feel better and be ready to let him back into her world.

Twenty minutes later he climbed the stairs to Rachel’s apartment. Stopping on the landing, he called her name, but she didn’t answer. He set the foil-wrapped dinner on the counter in the kitchen and glanced around. The sink was empty except for one coffee cup, and the counters were neat and clear. He walked out to the landing.

Rachel’s bedroom door stood open. He walked over and peeked in. His steps stalled in the doorway, and a slow smile lifted his lips. She lay on top of the comforter, eyes closed, curled up in a ball, still dressed in the same clothes she’d been wearing when she came home. She hadn’t even taken off her sandals. Poor girl must be exhausted, but she’d never looked sweeter.

Her relaxed expression and steady breathing assured him she was sound asleep. The ceiling fan rotated overhead, spreading a light breeze around the room, but the temperature would drop when the sun set in a couple hours. He quietly crossed the room, took the light blanket off the trunk at the foot of her bed and laid it over her. With a gentle hand, he tucked it lightly around her shoulders.

She stirred for a moment. He stilled, hoping he wouldn’t wake her. When her breathing returned to its slow, steady pattern, he bent and placed a feather-light kiss on the forehead.
Sweet dreams, Rachel. I’ll be counting the hours ’til I see you again.

With one last glance, he slipped out the door.

R
aindrops pelted Cam’s head and shoulders as he climbed the ladder leaning against the side of Eric and Shannon’s garage. The tarp he and Kayla had stretched over the hole in the roof last night had come loose and now flapped in the gusty wind.

Cam gripped the sides of the ladder and glanced down at Kayla. “Hold it steady.”

She looked up, squinting against the rain. Water splashed in her face and ran off the hood of her yellow raincoat. “I am, but hurry up. I’m getting soaked.”

“You’re not the only one!” he shouted, then sent her a teasing grin. He didn’t mind this little adventure. In fact, fighting against the storm to take care of this problem for his family gave him an adrenalin rush.

When he reached the rooftop, he stopped to brush the water from his eyes and scope out the situation. Balancing on one foot, he leaned across the roof, grabbed the tarp and hammered in the first nail.

Kayla’s cell phone rang. He glanced over the side in time to see her turn around and sit on a lower rung of the ladder. She flipped open the phone and lifted it to her ear.

That girl and her phone! You’d think she could do without
it for a few minutes, especially in the middle of a storm. He huffed and turned back to the roof. But, he had to admit, her phone had come in handy since he’d left his behind by mistake when he changed into his work pants.

The howling wind and pounding raindrops snatched away the first part of Kayla’s conversation. Then she screamed.

Cam’s foot slipped, he gasped and grabbed the ladder. “What’s going on?” he yelled.

She waved him off as though she was having a hard time hearing the person on the other end of the line. The wind died down a little as he pounded in the last nail.

“I can’t believe it! Are you sure?” Kayla’s high-pitched voice carried a note of panic. “Well…what did Ryan say?”

More teenage drama. Cam shook his head. “I’m coming down.”

“Text it to me. I’ve got to go.” She pocketed her phone, then spun around and looked up at him. “Haley’s mom is pulling her out of the play!”

Cam clambered down and jumped to the ground. “How come?”

“She said Rachel got fired from her last job for doing something really bad with a student.”

Cam pulled in a sharp breath. “That’s not true.”

“That’s what I said.” Kayla’s phone chirped, and she flipped it open. “Haley is texting me the link.”

“What link?” Cam led her back toward the house. “You girls need to stop spreading rumors or someone is going to get hurt.”

“Haley only told me and Lindsey.”

“Oh great.” Lindsey was an outgoing kid with a ton of friends. He couldn’t imagine her keeping anything to herself for very long.

“Haley said there’s an article about it in the Seattle paper.” Kayla strode into the family room and turned on
the computer. Her fingers flew over the keys as she typed in the link.

Cam crossed his arms and scowled at the screen. This had to be some kind of mix-up. Rachel would never do anything to hurt a student. She loved kids. Making sure they were safe and well supervised was important to her. The
Seattle Times
banner popped up on the screen, and then the article headline appeared: Roosevelt Teacher Accused of Inappropriate Relationship with Student.

Cam’s gut clenched, and he spun Kayla’s chair around. “I don’t want you reading that.”

Her eyes flashed. “I’m not a child. I need to know what’s going on.”

“Just give me a second.” He clamped his jaw, forced his gaze past her shoulder and read the first paragraph. His hands clenched as he scanned the shocking words.

How could this be true? Rachel had high moral standards and good character. At least that was what she had led him and everyone else to believe. Was that all a lie? Had she fooled them all?

“Well? Can I read it now?”

He blinked and shifted his gaze to Kayla. Everything in him wanted to protect his niece from this information. But all the kids would be talking about it soon. It might be better for her to read the article while she was with him. “All right.” He let go of her chair.

She spun around and leaned forward, her shoulders tense and her gaze focused on the computer screen. She gasped and then slowly shook her head. Finally, she turned and looked up at him. Tears glistened in her deep blue eyes. “Did you know? Did she tell you?”

His eyes burned, and he tried to swallow, but it felt like a boulder was stuck in his throat. “No. No she didn’t.”

Chandra leaned closer to Rachel. “I don’t see how we’re going to rehearse the second act without Haley and Kayla.”

Rachel’s stomach tensed. She glanced at the stage where the rest of the cast stood in small clusters talking and waiting to begin. With only a little more than two weeks until their first performance, having all the cast members present was vital.

A worried frown creased Chandra’s forehead. “It’s not like Haley to miss a rehearsal and not call. Something must be wrong.”

Rachel pulled her phone from her pocket. “I’ll call her again.” But she’d already called twice, and no one had answered.

At least Kayla had left a message this morning and explained her absence—something about a tree falling through their garage roof in Seattle. She hoped to be back in Fairhaven by mid-afternoon and would come to rehearsal as soon as she and Cam returned.

Why had the call come from Kayla rather than Cam? Didn’t he care that she had something important to tell him? Dealing with a tree through his sister’s garage roof might take some time, but didn’t he have five minutes to call her back?

After the tenth ring, Rachel huffed and snapped her phone shut. Haley was not answering. The rehearsal would have to go on without her. She turned to Chandra. “You’ll have to play Anne, and Lindsey can stand in for Kayla.”

Chandra lifted her brows. “Are you sure?” Her tone suggested she thought Rachel was one step away from crazy.

“Do you have a better idea?”

Chandra winced. “Not really.” She turned and trotted up the steps to the stage. “All right. We’ve got a show to rehearse.”

Rachel took a seat in the front row and tried to ignore the sense of foreboding hovering over her.

Two and a half hours later she stood at the front of the auditorium and released a weary sigh. “Okay, everyone let’s gather round.” She motioned the cast over, and they took seats with their legs dangling over the front of the stage.

“Good work. I know today was a challenge without Haley and Kayla, but I’m proud of each of you for giving it your best effort.”

The mood of the whole group seemed to be dragging, and they exchanged doubtful glances.

“So what’s up with Haley?” Ryan crossed his arms, clearly perturbed that his costar had skipped rehearsal. “Where is she?”

“I’m not sure, but I intend to find out. When we accept a role, we make a commitment to the whole cast, and it’s important to—”

The auditorium doors swung open, and Haley’s mother, Gail Mitchell, marched down the aisle. Her stern expression was mirrored on the faces of the four other parents who followed her.

Rachel froze. Something was wrong, and she had a terrible hunch she knew what it might be.

Cam walked in a few steps behind them with Kayla at his side.

Rachel’s breath caught in her throat. What was he doing with this hostile group?

Cam’s penetrating gaze connected with Rachel’s for a split second, then shifted away. Kayla hurried down the aisle with him, her wide-eyed look scanning the cast and then settling on Rachel.

“Ms. Clark, we’d like to have a word with you,” Gail Mitchell announced.

Rachel’s face burned, but she lifted her chin and forced her voice to remain calm. “Of course.”

“Not in front of the children,” Gabriel’s father added, his silver brows furrowed.

A heavy blanket of dread dropped over her shoulders. She clenched her jaw and turned to Chandra. “Take the kids out to the hallway. They can wait for their parents there.”

“What’s going on?” Chandra whispered.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I’m done here.” She tried to use a reassuring tone, but it probably sounded more like a cry for help.

“You sure you don’t want me to stay?”

“I’ll be all right. Go ahead and take the kids out.”

Chandra nodded, still looking worried, then gathered the cast and led them past the parents.

“I want you to go with them.” Cam nodded to Kayla.

She gave her head a defiant shake. “I’m staying.”

Cam straightened. “You need to go, now.” His firm tone left her no option.

With a wild flash of her eyes, Kayla spun away and marched off with Ryan and the others.

Rachel’s heart sunk as she watched them go. Facing these accusations again would be difficult, but she’d do anything to avoid hurting these kids. Maybe there was still a chance to salvage this situation. She leveled her gaze at Gail Mitchell. “We missed Haley at rehearsal today. I’d appreciate a call next time.”

“There won’t be a next time. Haley is not going to be in the play.”

Rachel clenched her jaw, her anger building. It was one thing to question her, it was another to pull Haley out and ruin the summer musical for all the kids. “I don’t see how I can replace her at this point.”

“We’re not just talking about Haley. None of our children
are going to be a part of this production as long as you’re the director.”

Shockwaves rippled through her. “What?

Several parents exchanged uncomfortable glances.

Gail raised her chin. “We know what happened in Seattle, how you were fired from your job because you were…romantically involved with one of your students.”

Fire seared through her. “That is not true!”

All the parents began to talk at once: “How can you say that?” “We read the article online!” “Well, what did happen with that boy then?” “How can we trust you to work with our kids?”

As their rapid-fire questions filled the air, Rachel looked past them at Cam. Though he was silent, chilling doubts filled his eyes. Her heart dropped to her toes. What a fool she’d been to believe he would defend her.

She held up her hand and quieted the group. “I promise you, there is an explanation for all of this, and I’ll answer all your questions, but not here, and not now.”

Another round of angry comments rose from the group. “Why not?” “We came here for answers!” “What are you trying to hide?”

“I want to meet with
all
the parents at the same time so this information won’t have to be passed on by anyone else. As I’m sure you’re all aware, rumors and gossip can do a lot of damage.” She took a moment to make eye contact with each parent. “I’d like to be sure that doesn’t happen in this case.”

Lindsey’s mom blinked, looking apologetic. “I can call the other parents and set up a meeting. It’s too late to try and reach everyone for tonight, but we could probably get the word out for tomorrow.”

“All right. Tomorrow night, seven o’clock, here in the
auditorium. Is that agreeable to everyone?” Rachel glanced around the group.

Several parents nodded, but Gail’s expression remained defiant. “We won’t be sending our kids to drama camp or rehearsal until this is settled.” Her mouth puckered in a determined line. “And if we’re not happy with your
explanation,
then we expect a full refund on the drama camp fees.”

Cold dread flowed through Rachel. She gripped the folds of her skirt. There was no way she could give a refund to anyone. The money had been spent on salaries, costumes, props and set-construction materials for the musical.

The parents spoke to each other in hushed tones as they walked out of the auditorium. But Cam stood about ten feet away, watching her.

She grabbed her clipboard off the chair and headed toward the other aisle.

“So you’re just going to walk away?” He strode after her.

She fought back her tears as she turned around. “What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to tell me what’s going on.”

She swallowed and steadied her voice. “I already told you—I’ll answer everyone’s questions tomorrow night.”

“But I’m not everyone.”

She lifted her hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes from his intense gaze. “I am so tired of having to defend myself against these charges.”

“Maybe if you’d told me about them before, I would’ve been standing up there with you, instead of back here wondering what to believe.”

His words snatched her breath away, and she dropped her hand. “I’m sorry, Cam. I didn’t think the problems from Seattle would follow me here.”

“Well they have, so don’t you think it’s time you told me the rest of the story.”

She had planned to do just that, but it would’ve been a whole lot easier if he hadn’t ignored her phone message and then showed up with Gail Mitchell and her gang.

But she’d prayed for direction and a way out of all this trouble. God’s answer last night seemed to be, tell Cam the truth, so she needed to follow through and trust she’d heard God clearly.

“Remember me telling you about the student who was following me?”

Cam nodded, silently urging her on with his eyes.

“I thought he was just a mixed-up kid from a troubled family who needed someone to talk to, so I tried to befriend him. Then one day he was really upset, and he hinted he was thinking about suicide. He asked me to meet him at a coffee shop after school. I knew it was risky, but I agreed. I thought I could convince him to get professional help, but he misread my concern and confessed he had feelings for me. I had no idea that was coming. I tried to let him down as gently as possible, but he was angry.

“Someone saw us there, and the word got around school. A few days later he was called in to the principal’s office. Maybe he felt cornered, or maybe he just wanted to get back at me, but whatever the reason, he lied about what happened, and the whole thing blew up in my face.”

She’d avoided looking at him as she told the story, but now she lifted her gaze, longing to read understanding in his eyes.

But shadows darkened his gaze, and a frown creased his forehead. “So there was nothing going on between you and this student?”

“Nothing…just a teacher trying to help a hurting young man.”