Chapter 30
The rest of the week and despite the good news that Daniel had not made a single move to come after her, Carly was in a foul mood. Dr. Crawford was in her room more than usual, and each time the sour-faced woman found something to mark Carly down for. Carly was beginning to get worried. If things continued, her year-end evaluation might be in jeopardy, and she could be at risk of not having her contract renewed. After finding out from Rachel and Sophie last night that Dr. Crawford’s walk-throughs of their classes were few and far between with no low marks, Carly was at an even further loss about what might be going on.
Whirling the wheels of her chair away from the computer screen and the troubling notes from Dr. Crawford’s latest visit, Carly grabbed the classroom phone on her desk and dialed Mr. Andrew’s office deciding to act on Rachel’s advice to talk to him.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Owens. What can I help you with?” Mrs. Carlson, the school secretary, answered cheerfully, reminding Carly that she did have a few people on her side as the pounding of her heart eased.
“Hi, Mrs. Carlson. I was wondering if Mr. Andrews was available?” Carly asked, letting out a breath and hoping he could help her figure out the problem.
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Andrews is in a meeting right now. But what a coincidence. He asked a few minutes ago if I would call to see if you could stop by this afternoon,” the kind secretary replied. Carly sat up straight, her heart picking up speed and her mind racing.
“Sure. I can do that. I’ll be there as soon as I can after my last class,” Carly said, wondering if Mr. Andrews had already seen the walk-through notes.
“All right. See you soon,” Mrs. Carlson said and ended the call.
Carly was a nervous wreck by the time she made her way to Mr. Andrew’s office later that afternoon, worried he wanted to talk to her about the poor marks or something else she wasn’t aware of.
“Hi, Ms. Owens. He’s ready for you, so go on in.” Mrs. Carlson smiled, waving Carly down the short hall to Mr. Andrews office as she walked through the door.
“Thanks,” Carly answered, giving her a small smile as she walked past the secretary’s cluttered, but organized in its own way, desk. Stopping in the office doorway, Carly was shocked to see Gage sitting in one of the two chairs across from Mr. Andrews’ desk.
“Come on in, Ms. Owens, and have a seat,” Mr. Andrews said, waving her in and pointing to the vacant seat next to Gage. She relaxed a little knowing he wouldn’t talk to her about her evaluations in front of another staff member. However, she was curious why he had called them to his office. He had to know by now they were a couple.
“How are you today, Ms. Owens?” Mr. Andrews asked, a tight look on his face as he waited for her to sit down.
“I’m good, thank you. What did you need to see me about?” Carly asked, giving him a small smile in return and easing down onto the empty chair next to Gage.
Laying the pen in his hand down, the usually friendly principal cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I had to call you both in here today, but I’ve gotten reports the two of you have been displaying some inappropriate behavior on campus…”
Carly jumped as Gage exploded out of his seat and barked in a tight voice, “What are you talking about?”
“Calm down, Gage.” Mr. Andrews grimaced, looking first at Carly then Gage. “I’m not saying I believe these reports. In fact, that’s why I called you both in here. Rumors can run wild, especially on a high school campus. I wanted to give you a chance to explain. I understand you’ve been dating, which is fine, but I need one of you to tell me what’s going on.”
“Do you mind telling me who’s made these reports?” Gage asked, his nostrils flaring in his scowling face as he retook his seat.
“All I can say is Dr. Crawford said she’s seen the two of you in a compromising position. She also says she has a reliable witness who’s voiced the same concerns,” he answered with an apologetic look, confirming Carly’s suspicions Dr. Crawford was behind it.
After Gage carefully explained the incident right before school had started last August where Dr. Crawford had caught them kissing in Carly’s classroom and reassured him they were very careful on campus where students might see, Mr. Andrews sat back in his chair his shoulders relaxing and the tight look on his face easing.
“I believe you. I have no problem with the two of you dating and wish you the best. Just make sure you keep everything off campus,” the tired-looking principal said, letting out a relieved breath, but Carly could tell he was still bothered by something from the troubled look in his hazel eyes.
“No problem,” Gage answered, standing and reaching over to shake Mr. Andrews’ hand.
As he sat back down, Carly cleared her throat and scooted to the edge of her chair. “Mr. Andrews, can I talk to you about Dr. Crawford?”
“Of course. Are you having problems with her?” Mr. Andrews asked, sitting up straighter with his brows scrunching in concern.
Carly took a breath. “Yes, I am. I don’t know if you’ve seen the notes on her walk-throughs, but she’s marked me down on a lot of little things. I’m starting to get worried about my evaluation for the year.”
“No, I haven’t, but I will as soon as I can. I’m sorry Dr. Crawford’s causing you problems, and I shouldn’t say this, but it might make you feel better to know I have some concerns about her too. I suspect she ran off Katherine Taylor, and she’s been trying to do the same to Mr. Jones and Mrs. Randall. Normally, I would’ve already gone to the school board, but I’m in an awkward position with her husband being the superintendent. In my opinion, she never should’ve been allowed to be an assistant principal with her husband as her direct supervisor. That’s why we have nepotism rules, and it’s too bad our school board chose to wave those for them.”
He gave them a small smile as he stood up from his chair and walked around to lean against the front of his desk. “I tell you what, Ms. Owens. I’ll do a few walk-throughs in your classroom and add my notes into the system. You’re a good teacher, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure you get a fair evaluation this year.”
“Thank you, Mr. Andrews. I appreciate it.” Carly stood up and extended her hand, feeling better.
“Why didn’t you tell me Dr. Crawford’s been bothering you?” Gage asked as they walked down the nearly deserted main hall.
Carly turned to Gage, her heart flipping at the worry written all over his handsome face. “I wasn’t too concerned until she came back in today and gave me more low marks. I don’t know what she has against me, but I intend to find out.”
“Be careful. You have enough to worry about. Hey, before I forget, who do you think her reliable witness is?” Gage asked, reaching for her hand. Catching herself as she nearly placed hers in his warm palm she snatched it back and giggled softly at the low growl emanating from his chest.
Patting his arm, Carly smiled. “Remember no touching at school, especially since we don’t know who is reporting things to Dr. Crawford.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t help it when all I want to do is touch you and show you how I feel,” Gage rumbled as they stopped in the stairwell. Carly’s heart swelled at the heated look in his eyes, wishing they were anywhere but in the main hall so she could pull his head down and show him just how much his words meant.
“Are you still going to work out?” he asked as she swatted the hand he had poised near hers.
“Yes. I need to get a couple of things ready for class tomorrow then I’ll be over,” Carly answered, placing one foot on the first step.
“Okay, see you when you get there,” Gage said as he smiled and stepped away.
While Carly was setting out the measuring devices her classes would be using the next day, her mind drifted to who Dr. Crawford’s witness was. It had to be someone who was using the weight room as it was the only place she could think of where she and Gage might have touched on school grounds beside the parking lot.
Turning out the lights and locking her classroom door, Carly headed for the stairs eager to be near Gage again. They would have to be extremely careful because Mr. Andrews’ warning and Carly was prepared to sternly warn him if he forgot and tried to touch her.
Thankfully, Gage was a perfect gentleman, and she didn’t have to say anything. Although he kept his distance, Carly did catch a couple of looks he threw her way causing her body to tingle with her involuntary reaction to his heated gaze.
Thinking of one more thing to be careful about after she finished her workout and was getting her things from the locker room, Carly picked up her phone to send Gage a message.
C: Hey, it’s probably better if you don’t walk me out.
G: Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll call you when I get home later.
C: Okay, sounds good. Talk to you then.
Heading out the door of the girl’s locker room, Carly was surprised to find Vicky leaning casually against the wall by the water fountain as if waiting for her. Adjusting the strap of her bag, Carly continued to walk, trying to act nonchalant as she headed to the door at the end of the hall.
“I’m surprised to see you out here by yourself. Is everything okay with you and Coach Wilson?” Vicky asked as she bounced over and fell into step beside Carly. Carly gritted her teeth, wondering what the irritating blonde wanted.
“Everything’s fine. Why do you ask?” Carly asked, trying to keep a pleasant smile on her face.
“Well, I noticed he stayed away from you today and here you are walking out by yourself. I hope nothing’s wrong,” Vicky said in a much too sweet voice as she flipped her hair back across her shoulder.
Carly turned to answer but stopped short when she finally paid attention to Vicky’s outfit. Something twisted inside her gut at the sight of the tight tank top stretched tight over her surgically enhanced breasts with her nipples blatantly pressing through the thin material. Carly almost missed the quick smirk of Vicky’s lips and a flash of something weird in her eyes she quickly hid behind a concerned look. Carly’s stomach dropped with the sinking feeling of who might be Dr. Crawford’s reliable source.
As they reached the outside door, Carly plastered a smile on her face and said, “We’re great. Thanks for asking though. See you tomorrow,” before heading to her car.
Later that evening, as she slid into bed, Carly’s phone lit up on the bedside table. Happy he hadn’t forgotten his promise to call, she smiled at Gage’s face on the screen and pulled the charger from the base then put the phone to her ear.
“Hello, handsome,” Carly breathed into the phone. She pictured him laid out in his king-sized bed, the blue and white comforter slung low across his hips exposing his tight abs and muscular chest.
“Hello, beautiful,” he replied huskily, and her nipples tightened against the silky fabric of her pajamas. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, but I’m just frustrated that right when we thought everything was going great, especially with Daniel, all this starts with Dr. Crawford again.” Carly sighed, sinking further down on her pillows.
“Hopefully, things will cool down with Dr. Crawford soon. I want to talk to you about your ex though. Have you thought about what you want to do with the private investigator?”
Carly felt a small stab of fear at his words. They’d had talked about scaling back the amount of time Mr. Griffin was putting in to keep an eye on Daniel. She knew it cost Gage a fortune, especially since he hadn’t made any moves, but she still wasn’t convinced he wouldn’t try something. She’d lived with him for several years, and learned quickly he never let a grudge go, often losing friends over it.
“I haven’t had time to think about it with all the problems Dr. Crawford has been causing me,” Carly said, hoping he wouldn’t push her on it.
“There’s no hurry. When will you be talking to Mr. Griffin again?” he asked, not sounding upset at all, thankfully.
“I have an appointment with him Saturday morning,” she answered.
“Good. Do you want me to go with you? I could pick you up and then we could have lunch after the meeting?” he asked, and Carly could hear the hope in his voice. She knew he’d been just as disappointed as she was that things hadn’t worked out with Jonathan going over to visit his grandparents for the weekend.
“Sure, sounds wonderful.” Carly replied, quickly making plans to surprise him at their lunch date that Rachel and Sophie were going to go shopping in Dallas for the day, meaning she had the house to herself for the afternoon.
“All right, go to bed and get some rest and I’ll see you at school,” Gage chuckled over the line as she tried to quiet her yawn.
“Okay, see you tomorrow.” After plugging her phone back into the charger, Carly pulled her covers up, reminding herself to mention the suspicions she had about Vicky on Saturday.