Friday morning, Kit looked up from rinsing the breakfast dishes as Maddie’s backpack thudded onto the counter.
“Mom?” Her fingers worried the beaded zipper pull she’d made at a friend’s sleepover last month. “Do I have to go to school today? What if—” A deep furrow formed between Maddie’s brows and her mouth pulled to one side. “I mean, everybody knows what Dad did. What if they, you know—”
Kit shook the water from her hands, dried them with a hand towel, and took her daughter by the shoulders.
“You’re worried about what kids will say.” Maddie nodded. “I expect some will say mean things intended to hurt you. Expect it but decide right now you’re going to ignore them. Kids who do that want to see you react, so don’t give them the satisfaction. Keep your head up. Pretend they’re not there. Once you get home, you can cry and fuss all you want. You’re safe here.” She hugged Maddie tight, rocking side to side, and inhaling the clean scent of her soft hair. Memories of malicious teasing, suggestive comments, and lost friendships after the disaster with Dad revived a dark cloud of emotions. She could coach Maddie through this, but nothing would reduce the horror of what Jeff had done.
Is this what you wanted for our precious daughter, Jeff?
Bryce brushed past them on his way to the door. “Come on, Maddie. Time to go.”
Kit released Maddie, her gaze following Bryce, whose frame nearly filled the doorway before he disappeared into the garage. He used to stop and give her a one-armed hug before racing out the door. Today he didn’t even acknowledge her presence. Was it really only grief or was something else simmering below the surface?
Maddie shrugged into her backpack and hugged Kit’s waist. “Bye, Mom. I’ll try to remember what you said.”
Kit patted her on the shoulder. “Focus on the real friends who stand with you. Did you talk to Cassie?”
“She’s meeting me at the door, so I don’t have to walk in alone.”
Kit followed the kids out the door and waited while Bryce backed out of the garage. Gravel crunched and popped as he headed down the driveway and soon, they disappeared beyond the neighbor’s oak tree. If she were a praying sort, she’d ask God to help them get through this first day back at school. But prayer hadn’t helped in the past. They’d have to manage this on their own.
She made her way back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up, one of the jobs Jeff always did while she dressed for work. She’d looked over the electronic files of the patients on her docket today. Most were transfers from Jody who was now on maternity leave. Kit made a mental note to send a card. Or an email. She could afford an email. This whole situation with the shootings and Jeff’s suicide and the missing money was as much a puzzle as the jigsaw pieces on the card table. Too bad there was no cover to show her how the three events fit together.
Bryce’s ringtone sounded as Kit slid into the driver’s seat to head out to work. She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone.
“Hey, Bryce. Did you forget something?”
“Mom, they won’t let us go to class.”
“What do you mean? Why not? Wait, I have another call coming in. Let me see who it is.” She checked her phone. “Mrs. Anderson is calling. Let me take it and I’ll get back to you.”
“Just get over here. Now!”
Kit clicked over from Bryce to the principal’s call.
“Kit, good morning. This is Mrs. Anderson at Grace Christian Academy. I’m sorry to bother you but we have Bryce and Maddie here in the office, and I need to talk to you. Are you able to come in?”
“Right now? I have a patient appointment in thirty minutes. If it’s about our payment for this month, there’s been a mix-up with the bank. I’m working to get it straightened out, but—”
“No, that’s not what this is about.”
“I don’t understand. What’s the problem?”
“I’d rather speak in person. It shouldn’t take long.”
Kit sighed. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” What could possibly be so important she had to come right away? And why not let the kids into class? They’d kept up with their homework since being out of school. Mrs. Anderson herself said they were exempted from the tests they’d missed.
Kit parked in the front lot and entered the school’s office. Bryce and Maddie sat with a single chair between them, backpacks at their feet. Arms crossed tight over his chest and jaw set, Bryce’s narrowed eyes glanced her way then returned to staring at the chest-high welcome desk. Maddie looked up at her, her bottom lip tucked in between her teeth. Kit perched on the seat beside her.
“Are you kids all right? What’s wrong?”
Mrs. Anderson beckoned her from the other side of the welcome desk. “Kit, thank you for coming so quickly. Please come into my office where we can talk privately.” She moved to the open doorway, her hand extended toward the office.
Frowning, Kit rose and allowed herself to be ushered into the office, a plain room with only two narrow windows. Diplomas hung on the wall to her right. On the opposite wall, a stenciled quote circled a painting of an old one-room schoolhouse. “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.”
Mrs. Anderson motioned Kit into one of the cushioned chairs in front of her desk and sat in the other one. She moistened her lips and rubbed her palms together.
“Let me first say, Kit, that I can’t imagine what your family has been through.” She leaned forward as if preparing to share some intimate secret. Or a juicy bit of gossip. “How are you doing?”
Kit set her purse on the floor with a slight shrug. “As well as can be expected, I guess. Obviously, it’s been an emotional week. But I doubt that’s why you called me in. Like I said, our—my—finances were hit with an unexpected withdrawal this month. I think you know me well enough to trust I’ll pay what we owe as soon as I get this mess figured out.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Mrs. Anderson leaned back, her thin lips pressed into a firm line. She steepled her fingers, drew in a deep breath, and held it for a moment. “Please know how much I regret having to do this. I’ve tried to find a way around it, but I’m afraid the school board has taken it out of my hands. They’ve terminated Bryce and Maddie as students at the academy.”
Kit’s mouth fell open. “Terminated? What for?”
“Both of your children are excellent students. We’ve been very proud of them. However, we received quite a number of complaints from other parents who seem to think your children represent a threat to the safety of the rest of the students.”
“A threat?” Kit cut short a bitter laugh. “My children?”
“Not that they themselves are any danger, but the hysteria surrounding your husband—” She looked down at her hands and folded them in her lap. “I assure you, if it were only a handful of parents complaining, you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation. But the volume has been overwhelming, to say the least. It left the board with no other choice than to terminate Bryce and Maddie.”
“What about innocent until proven guilty? The police haven’t even finished their investigation. What if it turns out Jeff is innocent?”
Mrs. Anderson’s mouth pulled to one side, and she raised an eyebrow. “I understand this must be very hard for you right now. But I’m sure you’re aware that Grace Christian Academy works to maintain the highest standards among its staff and students. We desire that attitude to extend to the families of our students as well. The Bible tells us there should be not even a hint of immorality among believers. I’m afraid what’s happened with your husband violates that principle.” She stood and retrieved two manila envelopes from her desk. “I’ve taken the liberty of copying all of Bryce’s and Maddie’s academic and health records, so you’ll have everything you need to enroll them at another school.”
Kit stared at the woman. Her neck and cheeks grew hot as she considered the envelopes awaiting her acceptance. She felt for her purse, stood and snatched the packets from the principal’s hand then marched to the door. Flinging it open, she aimed one last withering look at the woman. “You knew this yesterday when I called, didn’t you? But you waited until now to tell me.” Mrs. Anderson clasped her hands in front of her and looked down at the floor. Kit turned her back and went to stand in front of Bryce and Maddie.
“Take your textbooks or anything else that belongs to the school out of your backpacks and put them on the counter.”
The kids snapped to attention, exchanging wide-eyed side-glances before unzipping their packs. Bryce pulled out an iPad and his baseball jersey while Maddie wrestled with a textbook and a library book. Bryce collected everything and set them on the counter of the welcome desk.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Grab your things and come with me. You’re not going to school here today.” Kit proceeded to the outer door and held it open, her fingernails beating a rat-tat on the door as the kids shouldered their backpacks. Maddie’s face pinched in obvious confusion as she slipped past. Bryce followed, stopped to wait for Kit then matched her strides to the car.
“What just happened in there?” he asked. “Why aren’t we going back to class? Does this have to do with Dad?”
Kit held up her palm to his questions and pointed to her car. “Get in.”
“But I’m parked over in the student lot—”
“I’ll take you there. Get. In. The car.” Kit bit the words out as she yanked her door open. She slid behind the wheel, slammed the door, and turned the ignition. The passenger doors were barely closed before she stomped on the accelerator. The car shot backward out of the parking slot, then leaped forward, its tires squealing around the corner.
“Mo-om?” From the back seat, Maddie’s frightened voice brought Kit’s foot off the gas pedal.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t want to talk about it where anyone could hear us.”
“It’s Dad, isn’t it?” Bryce asked.
“Of course, it’s your dad.” Kit spotted Bryce’s truck and maneuvered down the row to stop in front of it. She shifted into park and half-turned in her seat so she could see Bryce beside her and Maddie in the back. “You—we’ve—been kicked out of Grace Christian Academy.” She held up a hand against the kids’ protests. “Parents complained about y’all attending because they think you might be a threat to the safety of their children.”
“But we didn’t do anything wrong,” Maddie argued.
Bryce angled his body toward her. “Is that what Mrs. Anderson told you?”
“Yes. She said if there’d only been a handful of complaints, she would’ve ignored them. But the response was overwhelming.” Her fingers scratched quotation marks in the air. “She claims the board voted and left her no choice. And besides all that, she’s afraid we’ll tarnish the spotless reputation of Grace Christian Academy. So much for the grace part of that.”
Bryce pressed his back against the seat and stared out the windshield. “Not very Christian of them, either.”
After a moment, Maddie asked, “So now what?”
Kit blew out a breath, the adrenaline rush subsiding. The two manila envelopes rested on her lap. “I need to get you two registered at the public schools, but I have to get to my home visits.”
“What about my baseball scholarship? I can’t play if I transfer.”
“I don’t know, Bryce. That’s something we’ll have to work out.”
Maddie scooted closer to the front. “Why can’t we just homeschool?”
“Because I’m not prepared to jump into that in the middle of a semester. You two go on home. You get an extra day off. I’ll call the schools between my appointments and ask if we can register later this afternoon. Y’all can meet me there.”
Bryce slammed the door when he got out of the car and hiked his backpack onto one slumped shoulder. Maddie joined him in the pickup.
Kit drove out of the parking lot onto the street. She hated to admit it, but Mrs. Anderson and the paranoid parents of the Academy had just done her a favor. With no extra funds to pay for private school, she would’ve had to pull the kids out anyway. Still, it rankled that they didn’t notify her earlier. Who waits until the kids arrive at the door to tell them they’re not welcome?
Kit gritted her teeth. One more adjustment they’d have to make when the kids most needed stability. Schools had changed so much since she was a teenager. After Raving Raven’s talk of bullying, drugs, and other issues, she’d depended on the protective atmosphere of a small private school. No telling what the kids might encounter in the public schools.