Once Kent and Grace were in Henry’s office with the girls coloring next door in a conference room, Kent took a close look at Henry Livingston. Grace’s dad was big, but of course, he wasn’t as big as his son, Matt. Still, he could be a rather intimidating man if he chose to do so. But Kent had been around the man a lot while he was growing up and he’d never seen the seemingly gentle pastor try to be intimidating in any way. Why was that?
Grace began by telling her dad what her mom had told her about how Payne wanted to get Kent fired at the meeting that night.
When she finished, Henry looked at Kent and said, “Is there anything that Dr. Payne could be presenting tonight that is not associated with your gambling, Kent?”
He paused to think before answering. “No, I don’t think so. Oh, he threw a bunch of stuff at me not too long ago about how the students and parents had been complaining to him about how I was not teaching right anymore. But I have no idea what he meant by that.”
Henry frowned and picked up his phone. Just a minute, let me check with my wife to see if she has an idea what he might be presenting against you.
A few minutes later, after only hearing Henry making one-word responses to whatever Linda was telling him, he hung up the phone and turned back to them.
“Well, she helped a little. But it seems that Dr. Payne hasn’t been confiding in her and has used his own computer to type up his notes for the meeting. But, she did say that she thinks that most of his argument is going to be based on your gambling and how it has supposedly affected your teaching.”
Grace almost came out of her seat. “Why, that’s ridiculous. Kent is one of the best teachers at that high school and I haven’t heard a word otherwise since I’ve been there.”
Henry held up both hands as if to fend off his daughter. “Now hold on Kiddo, I’m not the one saying those things.”
He seemed to be in thought for a moment, so they both waited for him to speak again. Finally, he looked back up at them and said, “How many teachers and parents can we get there tonight to support Kent?”
Kent went away from that meeting with hope. As he looked down into his fiancée’s eyes, he couldn’t help but be proud of her and the way she was rallying people to his defense. It made him feel great.
* * *
When she and Kent left her dad’s office at the church, Grace was suddenly eager to get things started. She’d been rather down before arriving, but now upon leaving, she felt good about Kent’s prospects at the meeting tonight.
They both took their daughters home and spent the next hour calling people they knew, both teachers and parents. Her dad had said he’d start calling some of the community leaders to enlist their support. She knew that would include Hal and the fact that he was the chief of police should carry a lot of weight with the school board.
Soon, they were all four gathered around her kitchen preparing their evening meal. Grace had a difficult time keeping the tears at bay when she looked around at the other three in the kitchen with her. Again, she noticed how much the girls looked alike, especially from behind. They were the same height and their long hair was not only the same length but almost the same shade of blond.
As she watched Michelle, it amazed her how much she already loved that little girl. Of course, she loved that little girl’s daddy even more and in a totally different way.
That made her think of all that had happened to them since she and Brianna had moved back to Strawberry. Oh my, could it really have been only a month? Yes! Everything had changed so much from what it had been like in St. Louis such a short time ago.
Then she looked at Kent, the man she was going to marry, her fiancé. Kent, who had been one of her best friends growing up but never more. How had all that changed? She knew that a lot of it had to be due to the fact that her mom and her brother, not to mention Judy and Trish, had been telling her for the past month that Kent had always loved her.
That had forced her to stop and really look at her old friend. When had he become so handsome and so kind and so considerate? When had he become someone she could love for the rest of her life?
When they sat down to eat, Michelle spoke up excitedly. “Could I pray please?”
Grace looked at Kent and he just smiled back at her. She smiled over at Michelle and said, “Why of course you may Michelle.”
Michelle held out one hand to Brianna and the other to her dad on her other side. Kent looked down at her hand and sheepishly took it in his own, then turned to Grace and clasped her hand to complete the circle.
Michelle took a long moment to get started but when she did, it brought more tears to Grace’s eyes.
“Dear God. Thank you for bringing me here to be with my daddy now and thank you for my new mommy too. Oh and thank you for this food. Amen.”
Kent squeezed Grace’s hand and as the tears started to stream down her face, Brianna started giggling at Michelle and both girls were soon laughing hysterically. Grace jumped up and grabbed a tissue off the counter then sat back down. She couldn’t believe how happy she was right then. If the big grin on Kent’s face was any indication, she wasn’t the only one.
They spent the next hour with the girls in her family room while the girls watched a kid’s show on TV. Finally, it was time to go to the school board meeting which was always held in the high school auditorium.
They took the girls next door to Mrs. Anderson and when they left, the dear lady was sitting on the floor playing a board game with the girls. My, how wonderful it was to have Mrs. Anderson right next door. Of course, that wouldn’t change at all when she married Kent and she and Brianna moved into his house. She could hardly wait.
As soon as they walked into the big auditorium, Grace’s spirits took a nose-dive. Her parents and Matt and Betty Sue were about the only people there. Had all of their phone calls been in vain?
They made their way up to the two couples and once hugs were shared all around, Grace looked at her dad. “Oh Dad. Do you think anyone will come?”
He smiled his all too familiar fatherly smile. “Of course they will Kiddo. They’ll be here. You wait and see. We’re just early, that’s all.”
Soon, her dad was proven right. First, Kent’s sister, Sheila and her husband Aaron came in. She was almost surprised to see Larry tagging along almost reluctantly behind them. Then shortly after that, the place began to fill up and Grace noticed that almost all of the teachers and parents she and Kent had called were there. She also noticed Hal and some of the other community leaders that her dad had called. Great! She hoped.
She turned to Kent, sitting next to her, and said, “Are you ready?”
He nodded but before he could say anything, her dad turned to them and said, “Why don’t we pray for God to have His will here tonight?”
The six of them held hands while her dad prayed and Grace felt so much better afterward. She almost giggled when she realized that it always made her feel this way when her father prayed with her. My how she had missed that while she was living in St. Louis. Well, no more. She looked forward to it being a regular occurrence from now on.
The meeting started then and the first half hour was spent dealing with administrative things and old business. Then when the board president called for new business, the clerk said, “Dr. Payne has a few items to bring before the board this evening.”
When the president acknowledged him, Dr. Payne rose and made his way to the microphone, which was setup for non-board members to use when addressing the board.
Grace reached over, found Kent’s hand, and squeezed it. He looked down at her and gave her a nervous smile. She could tell that he was almost frightened of the outcome. She wished she could reassure him that everything was going to turn out well.
* * *
Kent had been almost shaking from nerves and yes, he had to admit a considerable amount of fear, until Henry had prayed with them. Wow! That had sure calmed him down. Then, it had all begun building back up on him, as the meeting progressed until Grac
e took his hand, squeezed it, and gave him one of her beautiful smiles.
Great! Now, he knew he could face anything with Grace at his side. All he had to do now was to face up to Payne and get this all over with, hopefully for good.
When Payne finally began addressing the school board, Kent was surprised and somewhat disappointed when the guy spent ten minutes on other mundane things before finally mentioning Kent.
Okay, now he could start preparing a defense against his accuser.
Payne smiled what Larry always called his devious smile and said, “It was brought to my attention some time ago that one of our teachers, Kent Jackson, has been leading a much less than exemplary personal life which has drastically affected his teaching performance.”
Kent had to hand it to the guy. He seemed to know how to handle an audience. His pause here gave everyone there the opportunity to seek out Kent. Suddenly, it seemed like every eye in the place was on him, including every board member.
He almost laughed when he realized that Payne, who was facing away from Kent, was about the only person in the room who hadn’t looked at him. He hadn’t even looked for Kent. Did the guy really think Kent wouldn’t be here tonight?
From there, Payne went on to describe how Kent’s gambling and his headaches were causing him to miss work and not be any good when he was there. What was the guy talking about? He had only missed one day so far this year and that had been due to a toothache, which had turned into a root canal.
When Payne finally finished listing and describing all of Kent’s real and imaginary faults, he said, “I would therefore like to recommend that the board suspend Mr. Jackson until he can get his life back in order. And if that doesn’t happen in an expedient manner, I would further recommend dismissal.”
The place erupted in sound and the board president almost had to shout to get quiet in the room again.
Payne stood there as if expecting the board to do what he asked immediately and Kent could tell he was disappointed when the president said, “Thank you Dr. Payne. You may sit down for the time being.”
Kent didn’t know Alice Witherspoon very well since she was a fairly new lawyer in Strawberry. He hadn’t had any dealings with the school board since she’d been on it. All he knew was that she was a single mother with several kids in the school system.
He’d heard she was rather stern but fair. Well, it went without saying that he sure hoped she’d be fair tonight.
Ms. Witherspoon then turned toward the audience and said, “Is Mr. Jackson present this evening?”
Since she was looking directly at him, Kent knew she had been one of the ones who’d sought him out when Payne began talking. Again, every eye was on him.
He stood and then Ms. Witherspoon motioned for him to go up to the mike stand. When he did, she said, “Mr. Jackson, would you like to address the charges brought against you this evening by your principal?”
Kent had to clear his throat before he could speak then said, “Yes ma’am, I would.”
“Then proceed Mr. Jackson.”
Kent looked back at Grace who was trying to smile at him but wasn’t succeeding too well. Then he looked at Henry Livingston who was giving him an encouraging smile as he also nodded slightly.
Then Kent turned back to face the board and said, “It is true that I was spending too much time at the casino during this past summer and I did fall into debt somewhat.”
He paused to gather his thoughts. “But, with the help of Rev. Henry Livingston who has worked with numerous others with problems such as mine, I can honestly say that I no longer have a gambling problem and I am also out of debt.”
Well, he sure hoped that was all he’d have to say but was wrong.
The president looked straight at Henry and said, “Rev. Livingston, would you be willing to speak on Mr. Jackson’s behalf shortly?”
Henry stood and in a strong voice that carried all over the large room said, “Yes, ma’am I would.”
“Thank you. I may call on you in a moment then.” She looked back down at Kent and said, “Mr. Jackson, would you say that your teaching has suffered from your personal problems this year?”
Kent knew this was going to be the clincher, one way or another.
“No ma’am. I do not feel that my teaching has suffered. And incidentally, all of the student complaints that Dr. Payne mentioned were students that I had last year and each one of them put forth very little effort in class and their grades suffered because of it. They would, of course, say that it was my fault.”
Just then, all the teachers there and quite a few parents stood and began clapping. That caused chills to run down his back.
As soon as they all sat back down, Ms. Witherspoon said, “You may sit back down now Mr. Jackson.”
She looked back out at Henry and said, “Rev. Livingston, would you please come to the microphone?”
As soon as Kent sat back down, Grace leaned over and hugged him tightly. Man, did that ever feel great, better even than all the support he’d received from all the teachers and parents before.
All Ms. Witherspoon did with Henry was ask his professional opinion of Kent’s recovery. Once he said that he thought Kent was well on his way to a full recovery, the president thanked him and asked him to sit back down.
Then Ms. Witherspoon looked from one side of her to the other at the other board members and said, “Do any of the members of the board have any questions for Dr. Payne, Mr. Jackson, or Rev. Livingston?”
When no one spoke, she said, “Then we will now take a vote on Dr. Payne’s request that we suspend Mr. Jackson.”
Everyone voted against Payne and the whole place erupted in clapping and cheering again. This time the board president just let them go for a few minutes before she turned back to the rest of the business before them that evening.
As they were all leaving the auditorium later, Grace’s mom called out to those around them. “We would like to have a little gathering at our house in a few minutes to celebrate.” She looked at Sheila and said, “Of course, you and Aaron are invited too.” Then she looked past Sheila to Larry and said, “You too, Larry.”
Kent looked around him then. He was virtually surrounded by his family both old and new. It was the most fantastic feeling he’d ever had.
* * *
Grace was so excited that all the way from the school to her parents’ house, she must have chattered just like the girls had been doing so much of lately. But she didn’t care. She was happy. Kent had won and the final hurtle to their getting married had just been removed.
She turned to Kent as he drove. “Kent, I know you’ve been wanting to ask me about a date for our wedding but was probably afraid to push me.” She let that sink in for a moment. “Well, I think I’m about ready to talk about it. Are you?”
Kent laughed loudly and slapped the steering wheel with one hand. “I sure am. When?” He laughed again. “The last time I asked you that question, you threw it right back in my face.”
She giggled again. My, she sure had been doing a lot of that lately. “Not this time Kent. I’m finally ready.”
He seemed to be in thought for a moment then said, “Why don’t we find a calendar as soon as we get to your parents’ house? Okay?”
“Yes, that sounds good. That way we’ll be able to see which dates will work and which won’t.” Then she remembered that the girls were still at Mrs. Anderson’s house. “Oh Kent, why don’t we stop by Mrs. Anderson’s house and get the girls. They’d love to be with everyone tonight too.”
Since they took longer to get there, everyone else was already there when they walked into her parent’s house. They were all in the living room and broke into cheers when Kent and Grace entered.
Kent stopped with Grace beside him and drew her into his arms for a kiss. He whispered in her ear, “This way they won’t have any doubts.”
She heard the girls giggling behind them, then the whole group broke out into cheers all over again, with a few catcalls and whi
stles mixed in this time.
Soon, everyone had settled down and were scattered around the room talking. Grace took the opportunity to drag Kent into the kitchen where she knew her mom had a large calendar on the wall.
As soon as they agreed upon a date, Grace said, “Okay, Kent, now we need to see if the church and dad are free that day.” She stopped and had a second thought. “You do want my dad to do the wedding don’t you?”
He grinned back at her. “Of course I do. I’ve always admired your dad even when I wanted nothing to do with any church.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him again. “Okay then.”
She jumped up and sought out her parents. When they agreed with their date, Grace then said, “Now, you need to call your parents and make sure they can be here that day too.”
When Kent got off the phone, he gave Grace a sheepish grin and said, “You know what the first thing my mom said was?” When she shook her head, he said, “She said that it was about time. We should have gotten married nine years ago.”
For a moment, Grace felt bad until Kent laughed and said, “You must have been about the only person around who never realized that I loved you and have wanted to marry you for all this time.”
Her face fell further, but he quickly added, “But I do think the wait has been worth it though, don’t you?”
She tried to smile back at him through the sudden onslaught of more tears. She sure had been doing a lot of that lately too.
She looked up at him through her tears. “Oh, Kent, is is all right if I have three standing up for me?” When he nodded, she went on. “I’d like Trish to be my matron of honor and then Joanne and Betty Sue to be with me too.”
When he didn’t say anything right away, she prompted him. “Who would you like to have stand up for you?”
He grinned back at her. “That’s easy. Matt’s my best man of course. Then Larry and Wally will be the other two.”
“Oh Kent, that’s just great.” Then she grabbed his hand and dragged him back into the living room.
Walking Away (The Walking Together Series Book 2) Page 22
