The Lawman's Little Surprise

by Roxann Delaney

  Trish laughed and stepped out of her arms. “That’s something I’d like to see.”

  Aggie frowned, and then burst out laughing. “If you talk to Kate, tell her thanks. You’re right, this is a grand opportunity, and I shouldn’t grouse about it. It’s just—”

  “I know,” Trish said. “You’re not used to being away from home, but I also know you’ll have a wonderful time if you just relax and let it happen. That’s what Kate and I want.”

  Morgan approached but kept his distance. “They’re calling for passengers to board. You’d better get a move on, Aggie.”

  After Aggie had given Morgan a pat on the cheek, she and Hettie headed for the line forming at the gate, tickets and boarding passes in hand.

  Trish waved and blew kisses to both women before they ducked inside the tunnel and disappeared, while Morgan stood next to her. Feeling mixed emotions about the two women who meant the most to her being gone, she turned to Morgan, hoping her voice wouldn’t betray her.

  “We can leave now.”

  He nodded and turned back to go the way they’d come. “Is there anything you need to stop for before we head home?”

  Suddenly Trish wished they’d taken two cars to the airport. She’d forgotten she’d have to share the ride home with a man in a sour mood. She longed to tell him that he should be happy. She wasn’t going to tie him down to a life with a family he obviously didn’t want. But she couldn’t form the words.

  “No, there’s nowhere I need to go, except home.” She could feel him watching her, but she didn’t look up.

  “You’re sure you don’t want to stay at the Commune?”

  Nodding, she sighed. Were they going to get into it about that, too? “I’m positive. There’s no need. I’ll be fine at the farm.”

  “I never thought you wouldn’t be.”

  Surprised, she tried for a smile, not completely trusting what he said.

  They were well on the road home before either of them spoke again, except for some civil discussion on the traffic. It was as if they were strangers, trying to fill in the silence that separated them.

  “About what we were discussing the other night…” Morgan began, and then hesitated.

  It was the last thing Trish wanted to talk about. “There’s plenty of time to discuss those things.” Before he could say anything, she continued. “I know it was a shock to you. It certainly was to me. It still hasn’t completely sunk in that I’m—that there’ll be a baby in my life in only a few months. Now that Kate’s wedding is over and the holidays are past, there’ll be time to consider everything. Maybe once school is back in session in a few days, life will be closer to normal.” At least that’s what she hoped.

  “I guess there are a lot of things to consider,” he said, his eyes on the road ahead. He slid a quick look her way. “But you don’t have to do it alone.”

  “Alone as in pregnant and unmarried? I will be fine.” She stared at her hands folded in her lap. “Times have changed. Single women raise children without a whisper or a raised eyebrow, although it won’t be like that in Desperation.”

  His fingers tightened on the steering wheel, so tight she could see his knuckles whiten. “Is that what’s bothering you the most? What people will think?”

  “What I worry the most about is Aunt Aggie. No matter what, there will be gossip.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about Aggie. She knows how to put a stop to that sort of thing.”

  “She’s not as tough as you think she is.” Morgan hadn’t seen the softer side of Aunt Aggie. How many nights had she rocked either Kate or her in her arms those first months after they’d come to live with her? Aggie’s patience with her nieces had no limit. She’d taught Kate to work the farm. On Kate’s demand, of course. And Aunt Aggie had done everything to make sure both girls received a college education, something she often said she regretted not having. College hadn’t been a priority in her day.

  “I just don’t want to rush into anything, that’s all,” Trish explained. “I don’t want either of us to regret anything.”

  “I won’t let that happen.”

  Knowing he meant what he said, but that saying it didn’t make it so, she let it drop. “I still have to tell Hettie, too.”

  Morgan had that brooding look on his face and refused to look at her. “They may not like that we aren’t getting married.”

  “It’s our decision,” she replied. “They’ll accept it, sooner or later.”

  They rode the rest of the way in total silence. She thought about asking him where he’d gone when he left the party on New Year’s Eve, but knowing it was a call, she was certain he wouldn’t tell her. He never had before, and he hadn’t changed, except maybe to become even more secretive.

  When he dropped her at the farm, she thanked him, and he reminded her to call if she needed anything. She was relieved he hadn’t suggested staying at the Commune again. At least at the farm she would have the solitude she needed to think and make plans. Unless Morgan professed a desire to be involved in her life and the baby’s, she suspected she was on her own.

  “I’LL SEE YOU FRIDAY,” Morgan said, shaking the high school principal’s hand.

  “We’re always glad to see you,” Jeff Ketcham told him. “When you’re here, the whole building is as close to quiet as it gets.”

  Morgan laughed. “Yeah, the law seems to do that to some people, especially the younger ones.” He said good bye and left the high school, ready for the next stop.

  At the beginning of each semester he made it his job to check in with the principals of all three school buildings, high school, middle school and elementary, to schedule dates in the future to visit. Because the elementary was closer, he chose to go there next to set up the day and time for his second-semester visit.

  He knew exactly where Trish’s second-grade classroom was. He’d visited it often in the past, and the kids were always excited to see him. Trish always had been, too. He doubted she’d feel the same now.

  He parked at the back of the building before he realized there wouldn’t be a way for him to get to the office without passing Trish’s room. With a shrug, he decided it didn’t matter.

  And that’s exactly where he was when he came to a stop. From the doorway of Trish’s classroom, he could see her getting the room ready for the return of her students after their winter holiday vacation. He watched as she hung colorful pictures and cutouts on the walls and remembered what it was like to be a kid returning to school after a long Christmas break. He even remembered his second-grade teacher, Mrs. Thurgood, but she wasn’t anything like Trish. Did the kids know how lucky they were to have Trish for their teacher? He doubted it. Maybe they’d realize it when they grew up.

  Just watching her made him long for the time before he’d canceled their wedding. Before John had gone on his worst drinking binge. John’s wife had called the station that day, and Morgan had gone out to check on things. She’d been scared and crying on the phone, saying John was going to kill her. When Morgan arrived, John was wielding a pistol and shouting at the top of his lungs. Morgan tried to calm him down, but the next thing he knew, John had him around the neck with the gun pointed at his head. Morgan hadn’t been sure he’d make it out alive. And that’s when he knew he couldn’t marry Trish and subject her to life as a cop’s wife. Bad things happened in small towns, too, just not nearly as often as they did in big cities.

  While it was true that he was relieved that Trish hadn’t insisted they get married, there were times when he wondered if what they were doing was the right thing. The minute he started thinking that, he reminded himself of what could happen. That stopped the wondering.

  “Morgan! You scared me to death. What are you doing here?”

  He didn’t realize Trish had turned and seen him until she spoke. “Sorry, just on my way to set up this semester’s visits.”

  She looked especially pretty, with a blush of surprise on her cheeks, but he suspected it was being pregnant that was the real di
fference he saw. She cried easily, too, he’d noticed, but he wouldn’t dare point it out to her. He’d seen other changes in her as well, but he didn’t think being pregnant had brought them on. She had a more independent attitude, sometimes to the point of being stubborn, since returning from her book tour, and more like her sister and aunt than he ever would have imagined. Not that it was bad, but it wasn’t the Trish he knew.

  “It looks good,” he said, with a nod of his head toward her classroom.

  Smiling, she turned and surveyed her work. “I think so, too. I hope the students like it.”

  “They will.” When she turned back as if expecting him to say more, he decided it was time to move on. “Well, I need to check in at the office and see when they have me scheduled.”

  She nodded, as if dismissing him, so he turned and made his way to the school’s office. “Hi, Sadie,” he greeted the secretary. “Is Lorene available?”

  Looking up from a stack of papers on the long counter, she flashed him a bright smile. “Hey, Morgan. Yes, she’s in her office. We were just talking about when you might be dropping by.”

  “Can I go on in?” he asked, indicating the door to the principal’s office to his right.

  “Sure, sure. She’s on the phone with Bill, but she won’t mind.”

  He took the few steps to the office door and opened it wide enough to see inside. Lorene Hartman sat behind a desk piled high with papers and folders, the phone receiver at her ear. Looking up, she waved him inside. “No, Bill, get the nondiet soda. I hate that diet stuff. And tell Jenny to go with you to the store. She knows more about buying groceries than you do. Besides, she’s sixteen and should be doing something besides running around town with her friends.”

  Morgan couldn’t stop the chuckle that rumbled through him. Lorene always had a way of saying what needed to be said, no matter who she was talking to. She was straightforward and honest, but some people complained she was too much so. He didn’t agree.

  She groaned as she set the handset on the cradle. “Teenagers and men, the bane of my existence.” Then she smiled before saying, “Now you know why I’m an elementary school principal.”

  “I know you love your family.”

  “Most days,” she said with a sigh. “Today? Not so much. But I’m glad you’re here. We need to go over the dates when you’ll be visiting and which grades. Go ahead, make yourself comfortable while I pull the file.”

  He took the only empty chair in the room and waited until she was ready. He’d decided early on that it was better to meet with each grade than to try to structure a program for all ages in the school. He enjoyed visiting the kids and made excuses to stop by just to say hi.

  “Here it is,” Lorene announced. “You’ll have to write it all down. The copier isn’t working. It’s like it knows classes start tomorrow.” With a sigh of resignation, she gave him a blank piece of paper, then read the dates and times that worked best for the school and the teachers, while he jotted down the information.

  Folding the paper when they finished, he put it in his back pocket. “As always, it’s been a pleasure, Lorene, and tell Bill howdy for me. Jenny, too.”

  “If you think that’ll keep her in line, you’re dreaming,” she said with a laugh. “But I’ll tell them both. See you again in a few weeks.”

  He told Sadie goodbye as he passed through the office. Back in the hallway again, his cell phone rang, and he checked the caller. “What’s up, Ernie?” he asked his uncle.

  “Where are you?”

  “At the grade school.”

  “Perfect. I was thinking, with Aggie gone, maybe Trish would like some company. Why don’t you stop in and ask her to come for dinner this evening.”

  Morgan glanced down the hallway in the direction of Trish’s classroom. “Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “No reason she should be cooking for one,” Ernie continued.

  “Knowing Aggie and Kate, they froze meals for her.”

  “You don’t have to join us, you know.”

  “It isn’t that, Ernie. It’s just…not a good idea.”

  “You’re denying me and the others a pleasant evening with a young lady we all adore? You’re a better man that that, Morgan.”

  Grunting, Morgan looked around to make sure no one was within hearing distance, but lowered his voice anyway. “Maybe another night.”

  There was a moment of silence. “What’s going on?” Ernie asked.

  Dread shot through Morgan. He wasn’t ready to tell his uncle the news yet. Ernie would have questions he couldn’t answer. Not until he and Trish could work out how they’d raise the baby apart. As far as he was concerned, it would be better if he wasn’t involved. That way, there would be no emotional attachment. It was something else he needed to talk with Trish about.

  “Nothing. But I talked to Trish earlier and…” He thought quickly. “She said she was calling it an early night. Getting everything ready for school to convene again tomorrow was taking it out of her.”

  “Oh.” Ernie’s disappointment was clear in his voice. “Okay. Another time, then. I don’t want to keep her up late.”

  “Yeah,” Morgan agreed with relief. “I’ll be home later.”

  When the call ended, he felt like a condemned man who’d been pardoned at the last minute. Ernie didn’t have any clue Trish was pregnant, and there was no telling what he’d have to say about it when he did.

  “IF EVERYONE WILL take their seats, we’ll get started on today’s math lesson.” Trish turned to one of the little girls in her class, who was waving her hand. “What is it, Alyssa?”

  Focusing on what Alyssa was saying, Trish suddenly felt queasy. Not again! She took a deep breath, hoping the feeling would go away as it usually did. This was the third day she’d been sick. Until now, she hadn’t had any trouble with morning sickness, and she was almost through the first trimester of her pregnancy, when morning sickness was supposed to be the worst. The past two mornings, she’d spent her free period lying down in the health room. Maybe this time it would go away, too.

  But deep breathing didn’t help, and she took a step back, reaching behind her for her desk to steady herself.

  “Are you okay, Miss Clayborne?” Alyssa asked.

  Trish braced herself against her desk and tried to nod, but her stomach decided at that moment to roll. Frantically shaking her head, she covered her mouth and ran for the door.

  “She’s gonna hurl,” one of the boys said as she reached the door and stepped into the hallway, turning in the direction of the closest bathroom.

  When she’d finally finished what she couldn’t fight happening, she rinsed her mouth at the sink, hoping this would be it. She was wrong and headed immediately for the stall again. She didn’t realize someone else had entered the bathroom until she opened the door of the stall and stepped out.

  “Are you okay, Trish?” Chelle Trainor, the other second-grade teacher, asked. “I saw you run past my classroom door, your face as white as it is now.”

  “Must be a bug,” Trish fibbed, wetting a paper towel to press to her face.

  “It’s going around,” Chelle said, stepping closer. “You don’t look at all good. Let’s go down to the office. You need to go home, and we’ll find someone to fill in for you.”

  Trish hated leaving school. She’d never taken a sick day, and she didn’t intend to for something as paltry as morning sickness that had probably run its course for that particular morning. “I’m okay, Chelle, but thank you.”

  “No, you’re not,” Chelle said, putting an arm around her waist. “You’re as white as a sheet, and you don’t need to be here.”

  Realizing it wouldn’t do any good to argue, Trish let Chelle take her down to the office. Still not feeling as well as she thought she should, she wondered if maybe she should go ahead and sign out for the day. Just this once. She couldn’t let this happen again. She’d looked forward to starting the new semester after being gone since late October on her book to
ur. The school had been so accommodating for her, and now she might miss even more time if she didn’t get this under control.

  This is only the beginning. She swallowed the groan that followed the thought and wondered how long feeling this way would continue. She loved her students, and she had a job to do—a job she loved. And she meant to do it. She wouldn’t let this silly morning sickness get the best of her.

  By the time they stepped into the office, she’d convinced herself that she was feeling better and could finish the day. A glance at the clock told her it was an hour until lunchtime. But the thought of lunch had her stomach protesting again, and she decided she’d be skipping that.

  “Oh, Trish,” the school secretary cried, “you look awful.” Sadie hurried around the long counter and helped Chelle get Trish into a chair. “Let me get you some water.”

  “No, I’m all right,” Trish assured them. “I must have some kind of bug…the flu, but I’m feeling much better.”

  Sadie frowned as she sat in the chair next to Trish and took her hand. “Let’s have the nurse take a look at you. She’s over at the middle school, but I’ll call and have her come here.”

  “There’s no need, Sadie, but thank you,” Trish said, wishing they would all go away and leave her alone.

  Lorene came out of the office and took one look at Trish. “Go home.”

  “I’m feeling much better,” Trish insisted, in spite of her stomach still being queasy.

  “I don’t care,” Lorene said, shaking her head. “If it’s a bug, you don’t need to be passing it among the staff and students. If it isn’t, you’ll be back tomorrow morning, as good as new.”

  “I’ll take her students into my room for now,” Chelle said, getting ready to step out the door. “We can get a sub for this afternoon.”

  “But I—” Trish started to protest, but she knew she was outnumbered. She also knew her students were in good hands with Chelle already on her way to handle it. “All right. I’ll go home. But I’m not happy about it.”