Trish shrugged with indifference. “The truth hurts sometimes.”
Kayla sighed heavily and shook her head. This was not going well at all, but she had never really expected it to. “That is your opinion, Trish, and you are entitled to it, but I would ask that you refrain from saying it out loud.”
Trish scoffed. “It doesn’t need to be said out loud. Everyone knows that Brigette is a doormat, and so is her daughter.”
Trish turned and looked at James. “I don’t know you personally, but I have heard from a very reliable source that you couldn’t provide the things that you were supposed to in your marriage, so your poor wife took up drinking and killed herself.”
“Trish,” Kayla called out in outrage. She had to give James credit. He didn’t even flinch at the comment, but she saw his eyes darken threateningly, and his hands curled into tight fists. She sent up a silent prayer that this would not turn into a brawl.
Margaret scoffed. “Give me a break, Kayla. You and your sister always did take up for the losers.”
Kayla could feel the heat start to travel up her neck. That was the first sign that she was starting to lose her temper. “No, Margaret, we don’t. My sisters and I never take up for any of you.”
She stood up and leaned over the desk before going down the line. The first thing that she pointed out was that Trish, Michelle, and Margaret all had daughters in high school in spite of them all being the age of thirty-two. Michelle had the decency to blush and look away. Kayla looked over at Trish and informed her that she should know about not being able to provide what was needed in a marriage. She was married to the son of an alcoholic, and she went on to point out that from Dan’s bloodshot eyes, the trait had been passed down.
Margaret was her last point of attack. Kayla admitted that Margaret should know what a loser was since Tim had only married her once he was certain that he would get money out of the deal and not because she was pregnant. The room was quiet, and Brigette stopped fidgeting. Instead, there was a slight smile on her face. Kayla sighed heavily. She knew that she’d gotten her point across. Not in the civil way that she’d wanted to, but it worked.
“We could go back and forth like this all day. Truth is it wouldn’t solve anything.” Kayla retook her seat, making eye contact with the three women that were still wreaking havoc as they had when they were younger.
“You know it is parents like you who cause the violence that occurs in schools these days. I refuse to stand by and watch it happen here. This problem will be solved with your cooperation or without it.” She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “So what will it be?”
Michelle was the first to break, and it was not all that surprising. Out of the trio, she was probably the weakest link. Margaret was next to cave in, admitting that Violet was getting out of control and that she didn’t know what to do. Looking over at Trish, Kayla knew that she was going to be the hardest one to get to agree. They sat there in silence, and finally, Dan spoke up.
“You will have our full cooperation as well.”
He looked directly at Trish as he spoke. “Kayla is right. I have been hitting the bottle pretty hard, and it is because of you and Holly.”
Trish’s mouth dropped open, but she didn’t say anything. Kayla nodded knowing that she had their cooperation. She asked Brigette and James if she had their cooperation, and both said that she did. “Okay then, I will bring the girls back in.”
She rose and went out into the hallway to get the girls. They were still standing there quietly as she’d requested. “Come back in, ladies.”
The teenage girls filed back into the room, and when she went back in, she noticed that the expression of all the parents had changed, with the exception of Trish’s. Once Kayla’s students were seated, she exhaled softly.
“Okay, ladies, your parents and I have decided that we need to help you resolve the conflict going on among you, since none of you seem to be in a rush to do so yourselves.”
Their parents murmured their agreement. Each parent went down the line to tell their child what the consequence would be if they didn’t participate in the conflict resolution plan. There were threats of everything from not being able to try out for the cheerleading squad to taking away a cell phone for a year. With those consequences in mind, the girls reluctantly agreed to arrangement.
Kayla told them of her plan to put them together for the next project coming up. They would have to work on the project and report to her each day who was doing what, so that she could make sure they were sharing the work equally. The paper would be their final exam grade. All of the girls groaned, but they consented. With that plan agreed upon, Kayla dismissed the meeting. Everyone slowly began to file out. Kayla gathered her things and placed them in her briefcase.
“Kayla.”
She looked up and saw Brigette standing there. The corners of her mouth tilted upward. Brigette really was a nice woman. It was horrible that she’d been picked on during their high school years. There had been nothing wrong with Brigette. Just the fact that her family had been poor made her the butt of jokes. She could remember when Brigette had become pregnant her sophomore year in high school. That had come as a shock to everyone. Brigette became more of a social outcast overnight. Then Trish had come up pregnant, followed by Margaret and then Michelle.
People started joking that there must have been something in the water, but there had been more to the story than that. After picking up her briefcase, Kayla stepped around the table. She took Brigette’s arm under hers. “How have you been?”
Brigette shrugged her shoulders slowly. “The same as usual, but I think that things will improve.”
Kayla smiled. “I am glad.”
Brigette nodded. “So am I.”
Kayla locked up the conference room, and they headed down the hall. She let Tom, the janitor, know that they were finished so that he could lock up the building.
“Maybe things will get better now.”
Kayla looked down at Brigette. “What do you mean?”
Brigette gave her a worried look. “Just the other day, Somer and I had an argument about this. Some pretty mean things were said by the both of us.”
She gave Brigette an understanding look. “Well, I am very certain that this plan will go great as long as everyone keeps her commitment, and you should apologize to Somer for the things that you think were wrong for you to say. Somer being the smart girl that she is will probably apologize as well.”
They were silent as they exited the building. After a moment, Kayla cleared her throat. “Brigette, I hope it is not too forward for me to say this, but maybe after this school year, you should send Somer to her father for the summer.”
Brigette laughed. “I would love to do that, but Trish would have a fit.”
Kayla stumbled before righting herself. She’d definitely misheard Brigette. A quick glance told her that she hadn’t. “Excuse me?”
Brigette smiled at her reaction. “You heard me correctly. Dan is Somer’s father. It happened during a weak moment for the both of us.”
Kayla looked at Brigette in amazement. All these years Somer’s father was right here in town. “Does Somer know?”
Brigette’s eyes widened. “No, of course not, and Holly doesn’t know either. Dan tells me that Trish has no idea, although I always thought that she suspects since she treats me like crap all the time.”
Kayla shook her head. “No, Trish is just a mean person. You weren’t the only one who felt her wrath.”
They continued on to their cars, Kayla still in shock over what had just been revealed to her. She paused in mid-step. “Does Keirra know this?”
Brigette sighed. “No, she doesn’t. The only people who knew up until now were Dan and myself.”
Kayla digested the information prior to speaking. “Do you ever plan on telling Somer?”
“Yes, we do, but with these incidents that have been occurring lately, it seems as if I should wait a little while.”
Kayla nodded. Right now might not be a good time to inform the girls that they were related. “But you will tell them?”
Brigette sighed heavily. “We will tell them. We don’t have too much of a choice.”
They came upon Brigette’s car first. Somer was sitting in the car buckled in, and there was clear relief on her face. Kayla gave Brigette a brief hug.
“You two have a wonderful night and a great weekend.”
One corner of Brigette’s mouth curled upward. “You do the same.”
A small grin spread across Kayla’s face as she headed to her own vehicle because she had a strong feeling that in spite of the shocking information that had just been revealed to her, it would be.
Chapter Three
“So what do you think, Dad?”
James looked over at his oldest daughter. “I think that you have your work cut out for you for the rest of the school year.”
Jamie sighed heavily. “Come on, Dad. You know what I am talking about.”
The corners of his mouth tilted upward. He did know what she was talking about. Jamie had been going on and on about Kayla Smith. In Jamie’s opinion, Ms. Smith was wonderful. In a lot of people’s opinion, she was wonderful. She was attractive, intelligent, honest, and fair. He’d already met her younger sister Kristen when he enrolled Jenna and Josh into her childcare center. She’d been nice, but there was a definite personality difference between the two. Kayla Smith was unique in her own way. He’d run into Kayla when he’d first come to town and had stopped by Sam’s Café to pick up dinner.
The meeting had been electrifying, and he hadn’t walked away unfazed. The only two reasons why he hadn’t approached her were, first, the fact that he’d just suffered a bad loss from his last relationship and, second, he was pretty certain that Kayla was seeing another man. He hated that because the woman was beautiful. Today her thick, dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her mahogany brown face had high cheekbones and full, kissable lips that captured his gaze in a mesmerizing hold. He wanted to press his lips to hers to find out if they were as soft as they looked. He was not afraid to admit that he was attracted to women of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Nicole had been half black, half white herself. Her skin had been fair. Therefore, most people could hardly tell that his children were of biracial decent.
Still, when he looked at Kayla, something about her made him want her more than he’d ever wanted anything, including his deceased wife. He felt awful saying that, but it was true. Kayla had a lot of bravado. She’d taken on six people like they had only been one. The other parents seemed to respect Kayla in a way that was admirable. From what he’d gathered, it had been that way for a while. There was a lot of history in that room, history that he didn’t care about, nor did he want to get involved in. He didn’t plan on being in Baxley too long. This was just until the end of the school year, and hopefully his father would be well enough to be on his own. Still, deep down, he was starting to wonder if his sister had been right. Maybe he needed to find someone to start over with.
At the age of thirty-five, he’d accomplished a lot. But in the end, Nicole had taken him through a whole hell of a lot, and he’d lost almost all of it. The first thirteen years had been good to them. Everything had gone downhill after she’d become pregnant with Josh. It was due to the fact that he’d recently found out Nicole had been having an affair. He’d stuck by her side until Josh was born. At that time, he’d requested a paternity test. The test results had come back showing that Josh was his, but Nicole’s behavior had only gotten worse. It had resulted in her getting drunk, going for a drive, and leaving him with four children to raise on his own, including an eight-month-old infant. A year later, they were still struggling to recover. He’d put himself and the girls into therapy, and that had eased the pain somewhat, but it would never be completely gone. The only thing that he could do was cope the best that he could.
“Dad?”
He looked over at his daughter and realized that he’d drifted off into his own thoughts. He gave her a kind smile. “You were right.”
What he was not going to tell his daughter was that he’d already known. He had just been trying to avoid it. Kayla Smith seemed to be a complicated woman, and he had enough of those in his life already.
A huge grin spread across her face. “So you will ask her out?”
“No.”
Jamie’s face fell. “Why not?”
He sighed, prepared to do battle with a daughter who had his own headstrong characteristics. “Conflict of interest to begin with, and secondly, I don’t think that she is interested in me.”
Jamie rolled her eyes. “Dad, please. That is a horrible reason. Ms. Smith would never show any favoritism toward me. Then there is the fact that you won’t know if she likes you or not if you don’t ask.”
He gave his daughter a look. “Well, judging from our conference today, others would.”
Jamie shook her head, and he knew what he was in for. He recognized his own expression on his daughter’s face every time.
“How many times have I told you that their opinions don’t count?”
He chuckled, wondering when they had reversed roles. “Several.”
His daughter was wise, sometimes too wise. For the last six months, Jamie and Jana had been trying to convince him to start dating again. Not too long ago, Jamie had confided in him that she knew about the trouble that he and her mother, Nicole, had been having in their marriage. She’d reassured him several times that he was, and always had been, a good father and husband.
The fact that he wouldn’t let anyone bad mouth their mother in spite of all of the horrible things that she’d done was proof of that. It had broken his heart to know that he hadn’t been able to protect his children in the way that he’d wanted to. His children were everything to him, the one thing that he’d been successful at. There had been times his children were the only thing that had kept him going. He was not sure if he wanted to put his heart on the line again. Everything that he had in himself had been given to Nicole, and it hadn’t been good enough. A thirty-minute parent conference with Kayla made him doubt that he would be capable of satisfying her. She was on a higher level than Nicole could ever be.
“So you should ask her out,” Jamie hinted.
James smiled at his daughter’s persistence. “What makes you think that she will say yes?”
Jamie rolled her eyes as if the answer was so obvious he shouldn’t have to ask. “Come on, Dad. You are hot, and the ladies love you.” She sighed heavily. “If you would open your eyes and see what is actually in front of you, then you might realize it.”
James shrugged his shoulders. He had a mirror, and he knew that he was a decent-looking guy. Finding a woman had never been hard to do, even when he had been married and had worn his wedding band proudly. Then there was the fact that when the women realized he came with four children, their interest in him quickly disappeared. Yet, finding the right woman had been a hard thing to do, so much to the point that he was no longer interested.
His main focus was to raise a healthy family and keep his career that he loved. He was a CPA, and it could be demanding at times. Being on call could come as an inconvenience as well. He’d just signed a two-year contract with Lockhart, Collins, Vickers, and Associates, a major law firm. There was a firm located in Austin, Texas, another in Manhattan, New York, and a third in Los Angeles, California. Before his father had gotten sick, they had resided in Austin. His mother moved them there after her divorce from his father. The relationship between his father and himself was a little strained because of the distance and the bitter divorce, but it was getting better. It was mainly because he realized that there had been a lot more to his parents’ divorce than he’d originally thought.
His father felt that he’d been a horrible husband, and even more of a horrible father, and the reality was that his mother had been just as much at fault. He had to admit that up until he was an adult, he’d felt like his father
hadn’t wanted him. Unfortunately, he’d been with a mother who had been too busy trying to move on with her life to deal with a confused child. Not that Louis was a bad guy. He’d been a decent stepfather and had provided him with another brother and sister. He loved his brother and sister dearly, but there had been times when he’d resented them for having their father near whenever they needed him. Because of that, James hadn’t felt whole again until his high school graduation had rolled around, and he made a sincere effort to renew the bond between his father and himself. He was glad that their bond had grown stronger over the years, especially after he and Nicole had gotten married and started a family. His father loved his grandkids and tried to have a better relationship with them while they were still young. When James saw his father with his kids, he realized just how good his father was. How much he truly did care.
When his marriage with Nicole had started to fail, James had come to realize how much he and his father had in common. After his father had a heart attack, it seemed only natural that he go and take care of him. Having a job that was flexible enough to let him work from home had been a benefit. He’d taken a family vote, and with his children’s permission, he’d put the house that held good and bad memories for all of them on the market, and they moved to Baxley to take care of his father and hopefully to get their lives together in the process. So far, it had been a good move. Even with the events that happened tonight, everyone was in good spirits. He was just glad that the incident hadn’t escalated. Jamie had a big heart and always stood up for those who were being picked on. How could he fault her? Everyone needed a protector.
He looked over at his daughter who was looking back at him expectantly. “So you think that I should impose on someone else’s relationship and ask Ms. Smith out?”
Her Every Fantasy Page 2
