Winds of Change: A Sweet, Inspirational, Small Town, Romantic Suspense Series (Heart Lake Book 1)

by Jo Grafford

  As Hope traversed the lengthy wooden floor, she noted the Pioneer logo painted on both sides of the basketball court. The new school logo would need to be painted over it, just as soon as she knew what that logo was going to be.

  Trace was waiting for her behind the podium on stage. A frustrated wrinkle rode the center of his high forehead as he unclipped a microphone from his collar and examined it more closely.

  Hope couldn’t fail to note that his gray polo shirt depicted the retired Pioneer logo. She made a mental note to address the topic of selling updated school gear with the PTA, after the new school mascot was voted on, of course.

  “I don’t know what’s up with the clip-on mike.” Trace tapped the small black box against his palm a few times, as if hoping to coax it into working. “It was just fine yesterday.”

  “Did you check the batteries?” she inquired with a patient smile. She’d dealt with more than her fair share of technical difficulties over the years.

  He nodded glumly. “They’re new, so it’s gotta be something else I haven’t figured out yet.” His frustrated features tightened in sudden suspicion. “When I get back to my office, I’ll see if my new assistant from the south side knows anything about the sudden death of your mike.”

  Really? A simple microphone is on the blink, and you assume somebody on the other side of town has it in for you? Man, but she had her work cut out for her! Not just with the students, but with the staff, also.

  “So what are our options?” Hope had never been a fan of being told the bad news, and nothing but the bad news. She preferred it when her fellow employees volunteered solutions, another training issue she would be addressing soon. The next teacher planning meeting would take place Friday afternoon, after the early release day she was going to announce shortly.

  “This.” Trace stooped to remove a traditional, ice cream cone shaped microphone from a shelf inside the podium. “You’ll have to hold it, though.” A prickle of sweat was forming on his forehead.

  “I think I can manage.” She took the instrument from him, flipped the ON button, and gave it a few taps. Holding it to her lips, she said, “Testing. Testing.”

  “You’re in business,” Trace noted in relief, scrubbing a hand over his salt-and-pepper goatee.

  She turned off the mike and lowered it to her side. “Thanks for getting this all set up for me.”

  He nodded and hurried away, still muttering something about the microphone that wasn’t working the way it was supposed to.

  The first school bell rang, warning the students they had five minutes to get to class. Or to the school assembly, in today’s case.

  Laura’s voice wafted over the loud speakers, reminding students that they were to report to the gym right away. The trickle of students became a massive herd. It quickly became apparent to her that they weren’t just sitting in their class sections. From the number of outdated school t-shirts and sports jerseys being worn, they were segregating themselves into north and south clusters. Too bad. She wasn’t surprised, though. It was going to be an uphill battle getting the students to study and play sports together. Fortunately for them, she enjoyed a challenge.

  Glancing toward the entrance doors, she saw Elmer Remington step inside the gym and greet Josh, who was standing against the wall in a military parade rest position. His partner, Decker Kingston, was parked on the other side of the door, unsmiling with his arms akimbo as he surveyed the noisy room. He was several inches shorter than Josh, a bit on the stocky side, and sporting a blonde buzz cut. He was the solid kind of stocky, though. From her angle, he looked capable of bench pressing an entire bleacher full of students.

  As she studied him from the corner of her eye, he moved sharply across the room to the freshman bleachers to wave down a pair of scuffling boys. They trudged down the stairs to face him sullenly. Whatever he said to them, made them duck their heads and move to opposite sides of the bleachers.

  Nice. It suddenly dawned on Hope that having two security firm partners doubling as her football coaches wasn’t a bad thing at all, even though one of them happened to be Josh Hawling. Thank you, Elmer Remington. The superintendent was a longtime family friend, a man who’d stepped in when her father had died and mentored her professionally from long distance. Apparently, he was still on a mission to look after her.

  The tardy bell rang, and the students entering the gym slowed back down to a small trickle.

  “Good morning, and welcome to Heart Lake High.” Hope started speaking right away, moving out from behind the podium and moving down the stairs from the stage. Walking up and down the gym in front of the bleachers, she used her presence to finish quieting the students down. “I know it’s been a really tough last couple of months for many of you and your families. As you are aware, the amount of storm damage we’re still dealing with is exactly why we have students from two different high schools sitting in the same gym this morning.”

  Her opening remarks were met with a few boos, but they weren’t very energetic ones. The students were mostly silent. The fact that she’d recognized there were two distinct student bodies present had gotten their attention. They were curious about what she was going to say next. Though she’d written the points she intended to cover on a notecard before the assembly, she mentally shredded the card. Her gut told her that her students didn’t need a prepared speech today; they needed someone to take charge and help them find their new normal. They needed to know how a combined student body under one high school roof was going to affect the things that were most important to them, like football, marching band, student council, and choir.

  “The first thing I’d like to do is hear a big shout on the count of three from all the Range Riders we have present today,” Hope announced cheerfully.

  They didn’t wait until she finished counting before sending up a cheer that rocked the rafters. She waited until they quieted down before speaking again.

  “I’d also like to hear a big shout from all the Pioneers in the room.”

  Not wanting to be outdone, the students from the north side of town clapped and shouted themselves hoarse for the next ten to fifteen seconds.

  “Okay, this one’s going to be a little harder to pull off, because…” She paused a second, then spun dramatically toward the freshmen section of the bleachers. “What I need next is a shout-out from all of our shiny new freshmen.”

  Since their stands were full of nervous teens fresh from middle school, their response to her call-to-action was a half-hearted, disjointed sound that made the older students in the room dissolve into laughter. She’d kind of been counting on that.

  “Really?” Hope folded her arms and pretended to frown for a second, which resulted in more chuckles. “Okay. I’m thinking the best way to fix that…” She quickly faced the sophomore section. “…is to have our sophomores show ‘em how it’s done.”

  Quickly catching on, the sophomores were much more prepared than the freshmen had been. They even added a few wolf whistles to the mix. From behind her, she could hear the juniors muttering amongst themselves, having figured out what was coming next.

  “Better.” Hope tapped the microphone against her chin. “But I still wouldn’t mind having the junior class weigh in.” She swung her microphone in their direction. To her surprise and delight, they started a halfway decent wave that worked its way fairly smoothly across their section. At the same time, they sent up an ear-popping shout.

  Hope kissed her fingertips and blew kisses in their direction. “Wow! I mean…woooow! That was so great, that I’m half-tempted to end our assembly right now,” she teased with a glance in the direction of the seniors.

  Her words were met with a loud “No!” from the student body as a whole.

  She moved to stand in front of the senior class. “I mean, who in the world could top that?”

  In response, they started to stomp and clap out the rhythm to a beloved old rock song that everyone recognized. They continued to stomp, stomp, clap for about half a
minute, even managing to get a decent number of students from the other classes to join them, before breaking into uproarious cheering.

  Hope tapped her ears a few times as if they were ringing, which earned her a few chuckles. “I may not recover my hearing for a few hours, but that’s exactly the kind of energy our football team needs you to bring to their opening game in two weeks.” She spun in a full circle while she spoke to include each class section in that statement, “They need you to buy tickets at your awesome fifty percent student discount that you’ll get all season long at the ticket booth in the cafeteria. They need you to show up, and they need you to get just as loud for them out there on the field as you were in the gym this morning.”

  Hope hadn’t meant to, but she accidentally caught Josh Hawling’s eye. His arms were still folded and his hard mouth unsmiling, but there was no mistaking the admiration in his dark gaze. Knowing that she had his approval lit her up on the inside.

  Holding his gaze a moment longer, she added. “I’m not really sure how anyone could keep quiet, anyway, after our Heart Lake High players run the ball to a touchdown and show those Fairfax Red Devils who’s boss!” she shouted. It was her first mention of the Heart Lake High football team playing as one school. One team. Since she’d sorta slipped that detail in, she got nearly as big of a cheer as before. Only a few students eyed her warily.

  “Which brings me to one of the biggest questions every one of you had when you stepped foot onto campus this morning. How in the world are all those stinking tornadoes you survived last summer going to affect your freshman year?” She pointed at the freshman class as she spoke. “And your sophomore year.” She pointed out the classes one by one. “And your junior and senior years. I know you’re wondering when the high school on the south side of town is going to be rebuilt. Here’s the best, most honest answer I can give you at…” she glanced pointedly at her watch, “eighty forty-five this morning. I don’t know. But what I do know is this. You and I are going to work very closely together to make sure you have the best high school experience possible for however long we’re under the same roof.”

  There was a great deal of murmuring about that. However, an undercurrent of excitement remained in the room from their earlier cheering.

  “And how are we going to do it?” she asked them. “By voting, first of all, for a new high school mascot that will represent all of us for however long we’ll be spending together. You’re still welcome to wear your Pioneer and Range Rider spirit gear to school. You will always be welcome to wear it. It is part of our history and part of who we are. But it only makes sense to put a new face on the unique challenges you’re facing this year. Right now.” She went on to describe the upgrades coming to the Sports Hall of Fame in the entry foyer and encouraged the students to donate and lend their Pioneer and Range Rider items to put on display there.

  “As for the vote on our new mascot, I know you’re going to have to put some thought into it, so here’s how it’s going to work. All week long, our combined student council members from both high schools…” She paused and grinned. “Yep, you heard that right. We have two student councils working together right now, which means you’ll be governed this year by a set of co-presidents, co-vice presidents, co-secretaries, and so on. They’ll be collecting your mascot suggestions all week long in the cafeteria during lunchtime. Then they’ll compile your best and most popular suggestions over the weekend, which will take a little time. That’s why I’m authorizing an early release day this Friday.”

  The announcement was met with a slightly delayed cheer that crescendoed into a louder one.

  “On Monday morning, you’ll return to vote on our school mascot by secret ballot in your homerooms. Then we’ll meet back here on Friday, the following week, to hear the results of the vote and enjoy our first spirit rally.” Hope planned to pull out all the stops and make their next assembly one of the most memorable school events the students had ever attended. She’d have the cheerleaders lead the school in a few cheers, and the marching band would be invited to play some spirit songs.

  Hope loaded the students down with a few more fun announcements, such as her first “executive order” to fulfill a student council wishlist item for a designated Pizza Day. Short of circumstances outside of the school’s control, they would have a pizza line in the cafeteria every Friday in addition to the other menu options.

  Figuring that the topic of pizza was as high of a note as she could hope to end on with a group of teenagers, she brought their first assembly to a close. Instead of a formal dismissal, she ordered her staff to dismiss the students one class at a time, starting with the seniors.

  Not waiting for the students to finish filing out, Hope slipped from the gym via a side door by the stage and joined the herd of students pouring into the hallway. She received a bunch of friendly nods and grins as they scurried off to class. There were some uncertain looks, too. And suspicious ones. Hope greeted all of them, regardless of their wide range of expressions, with the same welcoming smile and nod.

  She wasn’t surprised when Josh caught up to her a few minutes later. He was escorting Superintendent Elmer Remington in her direction through the crowded hallway.

  “Good gracious gravy!” the older gentleman exploded when he reached her. “Am I good, or am I good?” He lightly tugged on the lapels of his gray blazer.

  She gave him a quizzical smile.

  He leaned in for a quick hug. “I made one of the best decisions of my career when I hired you. You had those kids hanging on your every word. So much so that they hardly batted an eyelash about the mascot change.”

  She made a face as she stepped ahead of him inside the main office. “They may not be as supportive of it tomorrow, after their parents have a chance to weigh in on the matter.” She led him to her office, wondering if Josh would follow them.

  He didn’t. He merely remained standing in the doorway, always on guard, eyes forever scanning their surroundings. Hope had never seen this side of him before. Was he just doing his job? Or was there something he and Elmer Remington weren’t telling her? Did they have reason to believe her personal safety was at risk?

  “Maybe.” The aging superintendent waved an unconcerned hand. “Maybe not. Your typical high schooler is in their rebellious teen years. Let’s just hope this is one issue they don’t mind rebelling on.”

  “Encouraging a rebellion, eh?” Hope chuckled, taking a seat and waving the superintendent into one of the chairs in front of her desk. “I’m not sure that puts me on any moral high ground, but you’re probably right.”

  After briefly updating her on a few budget items, Elmer made noises about being late for another meeting and left in a rush, shaking Josh’s hand on the way out. He sure didn’t appear too worried about her or her safety. Staring after him, she shrugged off her earlier concerns.

  Josh stepped farther into her office after Elmer disappeared. “Just a quick heads up. A lot of the former north campus staff members have been all but ignoring us security guys, like we’re not even in the room.”

  “Aw, does that hurt your feelings?” she teased, without thinking, then bit her lower lip. For a moment, she’d lapsed back into the easy camaraderie they’d shared in the old days. Before...

  He shot her a sour look.

  She swallowed a sigh. “I don’t ignore you, Coaching Hawling.” I’m trying to, but I can’t. “What’s on your mind?”

  His shoulders relaxed a few degrees. “I honestly couldn’t care less about what the upper-crust from Snobville think about me and my business partner. Believe me, there are benefits to being invisible. Folks like that will say just about anything in our presence.”

  “Such as?”

  “Enough to conclude you have a mixed range of support on the mascot issue. And by mixed range, we’re talking everything from foaming-at-the-mouth resentment to mild caution.”

  She nodded gravely. “I was expecting that.” She appreciated his concerns, though. “We can expect the sam
e push-back from the parents.”

  His dark brows shot up. “You’re not even going to ask who’s foaming at the mouth?”

  She made a face. “I’m not sure I want to know.”

  He gave a huff of disbelief, slapping his hands down on her desk and leaning in her direction. “I don’t think you can afford to play nice about stuff like this. You need to know who’s on your side, and who’s not.”

  She caught her breath. “Does this mean we’re finally on the same side, Josh?”

  His glare turned ferocious. “I’ve always been on your side.”

  “Really?” Her voice was bitter. “Guess you have a funny way of showing it sometimes.”

  He glanced over his shoulder, as if to ensure they were still alone, and lowered his voice. “Can we not do this right now?”

  “Fine.” She hadn’t been expecting to have such a raw exchange with him again. Pressing a hand to her rapidly beating heart, she murmured, “I believe you were getting ready to tell me who’s actively campaigning against me.”

  “Daisy Peterson and her besties, Roni and Peg.”

  The entire twelfth grade English department? She grew still. “That doesn’t make sense. All four of us have been friends for years.” Of all the teachers she had to worry about, they didn’t even make the list. “We were on the cheer team together, and—”

  “Not so sure they’re your friends any longer, Hope. Or if they ever were. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”

  “Josh!” She regarded him in troubled silence. “What do you mean?”

  He jutted his chin. “I know guys from both sides of town who’ve sampled the honey from that swarm of bees, if you know what I mean. And those particular bees have never been very good at hiding their rabid jealousy of you.”

  “Jealous of me?” She was shocked. “Why?”