Take Me Home for Christmas

16

Sophia kept her earphones jammed in her ears, her iPod on high and her hands busy. She didn’t want to worry about anything—not what her little girl might be facing at school, whether her car would be repossessed today or why she felt so sick every time she thought of Ted with Eve. She just wanted to zone out to the music while she worked, fill the hours with so much industry that they passed with lightning speed. Then she could go home and be with Alexa and reassure herself that her daughter was safe. Her car would be in more jeopardy at home—it could disappear anytime it was located where a repo company could easily find it—but maybe getting away from Ted would enable her to gain some perspective on his unexpected relationship with Eve. She knew better than to hope she could ever get him back. But she’d been so happy to think she’d finally found a friend in Eve. Although Eve had been wonderful to her the past week, Sophia could never be close to someone who was sleeping with Ted. She’d feel too guilty about her own thoughts and feelings.

She spent the morning vacuuming, dusting and cleaning closets. Ted kept his house picked up and somewhat organized but, like most men, he didn’t do much deep cleaning. She felt she was making some real headway with that, but she had to break away to fix lunch.

Once she was back in the kitchen, she decided to serve him a grilled panini sandwich with sliced fruit on the side.

It didn’t take her long to prepare it. She tried to deliver his lunch and leave without his noticing so she could return to her music and her war on dirt. But he stopped her just as she was about to shut the door and said he wanted to go over some clerical work he needed her to do.

“Sure. I’ll give it my best,” she said and transferred his meal tray to the coffee table so she could sit down.

He took half his sandwich and came over. “You know how to boot up a computer, right?”

She gave him a look that said she wasn’t an idiot and turned on the laptop. He ate as it went through its paces but he didn’t say anything. He grabbed the rest of his sandwich while she searched for the Excel document he asked her to locate.

“This is delicious,” he said.

She didn’t look up. “Glad you’re enjoying it. You should tell me when you like one meal more than another so I can make a list of your favorites.”

“So far, the salad and sandwich have been perfect. Maybe you could try some sort of pasta tomorrow.”

“I can do that.”

She managed to open the document he wanted, but she’d never worked in Excel, didn’t know the first thing about it, so the nerves she’d experienced during her typing test began to reassert themselves.

“This won’t be as hard as it looks.” His voice was encouraging; he could tell she was a bit overwhelmed.

He brought over a thick stack of paper slips and explained that these were from people who’d signed up to be on his mailing list at the state fair and various other events. He wanted her to add them to an Excel spreadsheet so he could send out a newsletter.

“I’m just inputting names and email addresses?” she asked.

“That’s it. Data entry. Be careful not to type the name or email address incorrectly, though.”

She didn’t think that would be a problem, as long as she could read the handwriting. She’d double-check each one. “What column should I put the names in?”

“I’m about to show you.” He helped her format the page. She could smell his cologne, even feel the warmth of his body as he bent over her and used the mouse to demonstrate how to title the columns and widen them when necessary.

Fortunately, he was right. It took only a few clicks to get her going. Then the work was tedious and repetitive but easy.

As soon as she was sure she had the hang of it, she put a rubber band around the slips and started to close down the computer.

He’d gone back to his own desk by then, but turned when he heard the squeak of her chair. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“I haven’t finished cleaning up from lunch. I thought I’d go do that and wrap up a few other things. But don’t worry. I’ll take this home with me so you’ll be able to send out your newsletter tomorrow.”

“There’s no need to work at home if you have time here. The cleaning’s not going anywhere.”

She felt she should at least put her sandwich in the fridge until she could eat it, but figured it would be okay for a while. With a nod, she opened the computer again and went back to work.

More than an hour passed with Ted sitting about eight feet away from her. She’d glance up every once in a while, thinking about how handsome he was and how different her life would’ve been if he’d been Alexa’s father—and then she’d catch herself. There was no guarantee they would’ve had a child or even gotten married. And she couldn’t change the decisions she’d made. She had to live with the results, especially now that he was seeing Eve. Eve seemed to be everything a man could want. Why would he walk away from her?

At two, Sophia began to watch the clock. Alexa would get out of school in an hour. Then, hopefully, she could breathe easier where her daughter was concerned. But it was only five minutes later that her phone rang.

Caller ID indicated it was the school.

She didn’t want to disturb Ted while he was writing. He’d already looked back at the noise. So she answered softly as she let herself out of the room.

“Hello?” Anxiety roiled in her stomach but she tried to sound like her usual self.

“Mrs. DeBussi?”

“Yes?”

“This is Mrs. Vaughn, the principal at Whiskey Creek Middle School. I’m afraid we need you to pick up your daughter as soon as possible.”

The nails of her free hand curved into her palm. “Why? She’s okay, isn’t she?”

“Physically she’s fine. But she’s been suspended from school.”

“What?” When Alexa was part of her former group of friends, she’d had the tendency to socialize too much and not pay enough attention in class. On Back to School night in September, several teachers had commented on how much she talked. But Alexa had never done anything that had gotten her sent to the principal’s office.

“She attacked another girl in her fifth-period class,” Mrs. Vaughn explained. “You should see how badly she scratched her face.”

Sophia wanted to ask if Mrs. Vaughn had seen the damage to her own daughter’s face from yesterday but was still trying to get over the word attacked. She couldn’t imagine Alexa being the aggressor. “Who was it?”

“A student who’s only been in the area a couple of years. Her name is Connie Ruesch.”

Maybe Connie hadn’t been in the area long, but from what Sophia had heard, she’d been causing trouble since the day she moved in. “That’s the girl who jumped Alexa yesterday after school,” she said. “Lex was walking to the corner where I pick her up when it happened. So...are you sure she’s the one who started the fight?”

“According to witnesses, this was an unprovoked attack.”

“Connie hit her several times yesterday. That hardly makes it unprovoked!”

“Whatever happened yesterday happened off school grounds. There’s nothing I can do about it, even if events unfolded exactly as your daughter claims.”

The skepticism in Mrs. Vaughn’s voice really bothered Sophia. “Claims? You doubt her word? You think she’s lying?”

“I think she’d rather Connie be the one to get into trouble.”

“She’s not like that, not...conniving.”

“Trust me, I’ve seen it all.”

“But you know me, know her.”

“She’s well-loved. I applaud you for that, but no child is perfect. And I do not allow parents to rescue children from the consequences of their actions. That’s not how discipline works here at Whiskey Creek Middle School.”

Sophia pressed her fingertips to her forehead. “You mentioned witnesses.”

“Most of the class saw what happened.”

“Including the teacher?”

“The teacher had stepped out for a moment. But she saw what was going on when she returned and pulled Alexa off Connie. We have the accounts of several students to verify what occurred before that. Ella, a child I trust, was one of them.”

But Ella was part of the popular crowd, and she’d been among the girls snickering at Alexa that Sunday at Just Like Mom’s. “Was Babette in that room, too?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t even have mentioned Ella’s name. We can’t give out that kind of information on someone else’s child.”

“What kind of information?”

“Private information.”

Sophia couldn’t help laughing. Mrs. Vaughn would’ve given her the entire class roster if she’d asked for it a month ago. The school had had no trouble coming to her when they were short of computers in the learning center. Or for the annual crab feed, when they’d needed an organizer and some large-ticket items for the live auction. Last year, she and Skip had donated a trip on their yacht.

The principal’s voice grew even starchier when Sophia didn’t seem to be taking her seriously. “Those are the rules, Mrs. DeBussi.”

“When they’re convenient,” Sophia muttered.

“I didn’t call you to argue. I’m merely trying to inform you that your daughter started a fight, and now she has to be punished just like anybody else.”

Sophia was so close to letting the anger inside her erupt, but she ordered herself to override that impulse. She had to consider how her actions would affect Alexa.

Keeping a tight rein on her temper, she tried a different approach. “Mrs. Vaughn, I don’t have to tell you that Alexa recently lost her father. Whatever you hold against him, or me, please don’t let that influence how you treat her.”

“I’m offended that you’d even suggest I could be capable of taking out what I feel for a child’s parents on the child,” she responded.

But that was precisely what she was doing. Couldn’t she see it? Before Skip cheated everyone, this wouldn’t have been a problem. Mrs. Vaughn would’ve believed Alexa immediately. “I’m not suggesting anything,” she said. “I’m just asking you to be aware of the potential for prejudice and to guard against it. I mean...isn’t there something else you could do to punish Alexa? Give her a detention after school or—or have her come in during lunch? I know she’s not responsible for that fight. I know it. It doesn’t seem fair that she’ll be punished so harshly. For one thing, she’ll fall behind in her classes if she misses the rest of the week. She’s already struggling...in more ways than one.”

“Maybe that’s why she acted out. Makes sense, doesn’t it? I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

When Mrs. Vaughn hung up, Sophia wanted to throw her phone. Instead, she pounded it against her forehead. “Damn it,” she whispered as she lost her battle with the tears that had welled up. “Can’t anything go right? Can I really be so terrible as to deserve all this?”

“What’s going on?”

Dropping her hand, she whirled to see Ted standing behind her. She hadn’t heard him come out. How long had he been listening?

She dashed a hand across her cheeks. “Nothing. Alexa needs to be picked up from a school a little early, that’s all.” Hoping to escape the scrutiny of those dark eyes, she moved away from him. “I hope you don’t mind if I go now instead of in forty minutes.”

She couldn’t even make herself wait for an answer. She hurried down the stairs and out the front door as fast as she could without breaking into a full run. But before she could get in her car, Ted came jogging out after her.

At the sound of his footsteps, she glanced back and he gestured toward the passenger side door. “Unlock it. I’m going with you.”

Ted took a seat in the principal’s office next to Sophia while Mrs. Vaughn closed the door. Alexa was already there, in a chair set off to one side, looking like a condemned prisoner. She didn’t get up and rush into her mother’s arms, as Ted thought she might. She didn’t plead her case. She just peered up at them through her brown bangs with swollen eyes and a tear-streaked face.

Certain injuries were evident. Ted suspected the scrape on her cheek was new—it was bleeding—but the swollen lip and the bruise didn’t seem as recent.

“I’m sorry to have to call you in under these circumstances.” Mrs. Vaughn looked at him as if she couldn’t fathom how he was involved, but he didn’t trouble himself to explain. He wasn’t sure he could. He just acted as if he had every right to be there, and she didn’t try to shut him out.

When Sophia turned to her daughter and started to blink rapidly, he knew she was fighting tears, just as she’d been fighting them on the way over. She opened her mouth to respond to the principal, but Ted squeezed her arm to tell her he’d handle this. “It’s unfortunate. Has Alexa been in trouble often?”

Alexa’s gaze shifted to him. She seemed confused by his presence, too, but didn’t say anything. She just bowed her head and stared at the floor.

Mrs. Vaughn took her seat behind the desk. “Never.”

“So this is her first infraction?” He knew it was. Sophia had explained the whole situation in the car. He merely wanted to remind Mrs. Vaughn that this was a kid who’d never caused trouble before. Maybe she’d see that suspension was a bit extreme, that maybe there’d been more provocation than she’d been told, since this wasn’t typical behavior for Alexa.

“Yes. But as you know—” Mrs. Vaughn’s eyes cut to Sophia “—there’s been a lot of disruption at home.”

“None of which is Alexa’s fault,” he pointed out.

“Oh, no,” she agreed. “I wasn’t implying that.”

He addressed Alexa. “Lex, can you tell me what happened?”

She didn’t say anything until Sophia encouraged her. “This is a friend of mine, honey. Can you answer him?”

“She kept shoving her pencil into my back,” she mumbled.

“She being...Connie?” Ted said.

A nod confirmed this.

Sophia made a sound that led him to believe she’d jump in, but he squeezed her arm again. “And she poked you before the fight broke out?” he asked.

Another nod.

“Did it hurt?”

“Yes!” Alexa spoke louder. “It was the pointy end!”

“Then it probably left some marks. Do you know if it did?”

“No,” she said. “I can’t see my own back.”

“Can we take a look?”

After a silent confirmation from her mother, she got up, turned around and let Sophia lift the back of her shirt. Sure enough, there were several red marks, one where the point had broken the skin.

“Did you tell the teacher?” Ted asked.

She tugged her shirt down. “I couldn’t. She wasn’t there. It wouldn’t help, anyway.”

“Because...”

Her voice filled with indignation. “Then Connie and the others would be even meaner. A bunch of them followed me off campus yesterday, and Connie hit me lots of times.”

“So you’d already had a bad experience with this girl.”

Her chin bumped her chest as she nodded.

“What did you do when she kept poking you today?”

“I asked her to stop. But Babette and Ella kept laughing and egging her on. They said they’d give her a dollar to do it again. Then they offered her a cookie and a bag of chips. She was pulling my hair when she wasn’t poking me.” Alexa held out her white blouse. “She even marked my shirt with her pen and said I’d have to get another one from a thrift store since we don’t have money anymore.”

Ted knew this wasn’t his battle, but he was glad he’d come. Sophia was so emotional. She’d break into tears if she tried to speak.

When he looked up, Mrs. Vaughn cleared her throat. “A sympathetic story. But the other kids say most of it isn’t true. They maintain that Connie made some comment about Alexa having to get her clothes from a thrift store and that was all it took.”

Ted stood and gestured toward Alexa. “And those marks on her back? How did they get there?”

The principal couldn’t argue with that. Alexa couldn’t have hurt herself in that way. “She should’ve gone to the teacher, like you suggested.”

“Tell me something, Mrs. Vaughn.” Ted rested his hands on his hips, knowing it made him seem more imposing. “What would you have done in her shoes?”

“Stop baiting me, Mr. Dixon. I can’t condone her actions. Fighting doesn’t solve anything.”

“That’s true. So what’s Connie’s punishment for instigating this?”

She straightened her blotter. “I’ve assigned her after-school detention.”

“And Babette and Ella?”

“Babette and Ella?” she echoed. “This is the first I’ve heard of their involvement.”

“Now that you know they have some culpability, I mean.”

“Unfortunately, it’s impossible to be perfectly fair to every child who might have been involved. I wasn’t there. I can only go by eyewitness accounts, and I have to draw a hard line when students get physical. Alexa’s the one who crossed that line.”

“She just showed you the marks on her back. That looks pretty physical to me.”

“But I have no idea how they got there. Maybe she poked first, because what she’s saying goes against everything I’ve heard so far.”

Ted caught Alexa’s eye. “Lex, could you wait outside and let your mother and me have a few words with Mrs. Vaughn alone?”

After the door closed, he lowered his voice so she couldn’t hear him in the anteroom. “I’m sorry to learn that you condone bullying here, Mrs. Vaughn. With my mother being a principal herself, I expected more from you and our school system.”

She drew herself up taller. “I don’t...condone bullying, Mr. Dixon!”

“Then why are you punishing the victim instead of the perpetrator?”

“Consequences follow behavior. One child struck another, and now she must face the consequences.”

“It doesn’t matter to you that the child you’re suspending is the one who was first teased, poked and tormented?”

Her nostrils flared, but she didn’t answer.

“I believe I’ve committed a sizeable amount to funding the new gymnasium. As disappointed as I am in the way this school is being run, however, I’m afraid I’ll have to withdraw my support from that project.” He motioned to Sophia. “Let’s go.”

Mrs. Vaughn hurried around her desk. “You’d penalize the kids for something you feel I’ve done?”

“Why not? You’re penalizing Alexa for something Connie did.”

“But we’ve already lost the money Mr. DeBussi pledged to the project!”

“That explains a lot, doesn’t it?”

They glared at each other for several seconds, until she lowered her gaze. “I apologize if you feel I’ve been unfair.”

“I don’t feel anything. I’m convinced of it.” Whether she’d acted consciously or not, she’d known that Sophia was in no position to defend her daughter. In his opinion, Mrs. Vaughn thought she’d be able to get away with punishing Sophia and Alexa for Skip’s sins, just like Chief Stacy seemed eager to do.

“What do you suggest as a more fitting punishment?” she asked grudgingly.

“You assigned Connie detention. Maybe Alexa should have the same.” Ted turned to Sophia. “Don’t you agree?”

She nodded.

“I don’t mind telling you that it’s a mistake to keep rescuing a child,” Mrs. Vaughn said, her voice and demeanor full of reproach. “It teaches the wrong principles.”

Ted straightened the nameplate at the edge of her desk. “Didn’t you admit to me that this is the first time Alexa has ever been in trouble?”

She didn’t reply to that question. With a sigh, she wadded up the sheet she had ready for Sophia to sign and threw it in the wastebasket. “Fine. She’ll serve detention for five days after school, starting tomorrow. But it’s not my fault that she’ll be doing it with Connie. And I will not tolerate either one of them acting out again.”

“Will a teacher be present at all times?” Sophia asked. “I don’t want her left alone with that girl ever again.”

It was easy to see that Mrs. Vaughn was loath to reassure her. She preferred to insist that the way she’d chosen to handle the situation would’ve been better. But Ted wasn’t about to back off. He was tired of the prejudice and injustice that’d been heaped upon Sophia, and he was angry that everyone else’s reaction to what Skip had done kept drawing him into her life. He wouldn’t have gotten involved with one of his best friends if not for Sophia. But he didn’t want to think about that, didn’t want to feel any regret because it was too late to change anything.

“There will be a teacher,” the principal said.

Sophia lifted her chin. “Thank you.”

Mrs. Vaughn followed them into the reception area, where they waited for Alexa to retrieve her backpack. “Does this mean we can count on you to help with the gymnasium?” she asked.

Ted could see Alexa in the principal’s office, wiping her eyes before pulling her backpack over one shoulder. “We’ll see how school goes this coming week,” he replied. “As long as Alexa remains safe, I’m happy to donate.”

Her lips pursed. “So...are you and Mrs. DeBussi...seeing each other?”

She was still perplexed as to why he was there, was trying to put it into some sort of context. “No, Mrs. DeBussi is working for me.”

“Since when?”

He pretended not to hear her. Alexa joined them at that moment, and they walked out.

“Thanks for your help,” Sophia murmured as they navigated the front steps.

He didn’t respond to that, either. He was drifting closer and closer to her; he could feel it. But he didn’t know how to stop what was happening between them. Being with her, standing up for her, felt too damn...natural.