CHAPTER FOUR

 

If Principal Chaplin or Mrs. Gorman heard the groans or saw the looks of horror out in the audience, they pretended to be oblivious.

“She’s just bursting with enthusiasm and ideas and plans and vision for how to strengthen the school and continue its many fine traditions. She has certainly devoted so much of her life to our institution. As some of you may know, she was an elementary school teacher thirty years ago, and then her hard work and aptitude landed her in the high school, where she has been for almost twenty-five years. This is the natural progression of her accomplished career, and I know alumni from all those past years will be pleased to hear of such a dedicated and beloved teacher being rewarded for her service.”

Austin Tanner snorted. “Beloved by whom?” he muttered loudly.

“So please, go back to your socializing and mingling and becoming reacquainted. If we don’t have a chance to talk tonight, we have a whole week of activities planned and all three of us will be there. Except for the camping trip. These old bones are a little bit too old for sleeping on the ground. But the lobster bake, and the bowling night, and the final dance . . . I know that this is your special event, but since I’m on my way out, I’m going to enjoy it as my last hurrah. So have a good time tonight, everyone.”

The chattering and the mingling got even more furious. Everyone had strong opinions about this turn of events. Regina Gorman! Who in their right mind thought that she would make a decent principal?

The word was also quickly spreading about Erin’s good fortune, and surprise, surprise—even the football hero prom king wanted to congratulate her. She could see that he wasn’t really used to chatting about anything besides sports, but she appreciated the effort.

“So, you still live here in Oyster Cove? Cool. If you ever have any kids, they’ll have a great school system to go to. Especially with all the money they’ve been putting into athletics. I’m really happy to see they made that a big priority. I mean, just look at this pool. It’s just what the school needed.”

“What a foolish notion,” a drunk and slurred voice said from behind them. It was Regina Gorman, future principal. “Waste of money, if you ask me. I really don’t see the point of it. If you want to swim, and I don’t . . . I don’t even know how to swim. But if you want to swim, there’s an ocean out there. Why build Olympic-quality facilities for students who are not going to become Olympic athletes?”

“You don’t know that,” Austin protested. “The right facilities and the right training can inspire great achievements. My daughter is only ten years old now, but in five years, she’ll be in this high school. And she loves swimming. Maybe she will become Oyster Cove’s first Olympic athlete, with the help of this pool.”

“That’s a lovely fantasy, but you know what I think? I think that your daughter may win a few state competitions and get a few cheap trophies to put on your mantel that you’ll be showing off to everyone who comes to your house, even after she’s given up the sport and wound up selling used cars.” Regina cackled with glee and staggered away.

“Hey! It’s not used cars. I have a new car dealership,” Austin shouted after her. When Regina was out of earshot, Austin’s wife chimed in.

“I can’t believe that you had to suffer through that woman.”

“It was unavoidable. She was the only history instructor and it was a requirement for graduation.”

“At least she won’t be in the classroom anymore.”

“But she will be the head of the whole school. Do you realize how much damage she could do?”

“She’s not young. Maybe she’ll be retired before Amy has to suffer through her.”

Erin left Austin and his family to commiserate with other parents who had children in the system, all of them hoping that Regina Gorman’s tenure as principal would be mercifully brief. Erin followed after the drunk Mrs. Gorman with morbid curiosity. It was just so unprofessional, allowing herself to get that drunk on an occasion when her promotion was being announced!

Regina was continuing her condemnation of the pool with vice principal Clay Metcalf.

“It’s just because you don’t know how to swim,” Mr. Metcalf said. “It’s a scary proposition. I remember it very well because I didn’t learn how to swim until my adult years. But I’d be happy to teach you how. We can do it this summer, when there aren’t any real demands on the pool yet. I think you’ll find it very liberating. It will give us an opportunity to talk about working together and creating a great school together. I’m so looking forward to that.”

They were approached by the janitor, Carter Dunn.

“Mr. Metcalf. Everything looks good. But I know the party will go on until eleven. Would it be okay for me to go home for a couple of hours? You know I like to say good night to my kids. Then I’ll come back and clean up and lock up.”

“Why are you asking him?” Regina chided. “I’m going to be the principal. I’m going to be in charge of things. I get to say what happens. Everything has to go through me now, and the sooner everyone gets used to that, the better.”

Mr. Metcalf gave Carter a small nod.

“Mrs. Gorman,” Carter said through gritted teeth, “Would it be all right if I go home for a few hours and come back at 11:30 for the cleanup and lockup?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Say good night to your kids. Say, do they know what you do for a living? Do they know that you mop floors and clean toilets and haul around garbage? That’s gotta embarrass them around their friends. And it doesn’t give them a whole lot to aspire to, does it?”

“My kids are not embarrassed of me. They are well-fed, they have a roof over their heads, and they know that their daddy loves them. And yes, I do try to inspire them. I’m taking adult ed classes right now. I’m learning how to code. It’s important for them to see that.”

“So, you think you’re going to become the next Bill Gates, is that it?” She laughed uncontrollably. “Stick with your talents, Carter. You leave the toilet squeaky clean. How would we ever replace you?” She stumbled away.

The janitor shook his head. “That is one mean drunk.”

“Mr. Chaplin must have lost his mind to give away a job that should have been mine. That I’ve been patiently waiting for. That I deserve,” Clay Metcalf fumed.

Carter nodded. “Of course you deserve it. You’re the vice principal. You should have been the next one up. And I deserve a little respect.”

“Why do you suppose Mr. Chaplin chose her?” Erin asked.

Both men were startled to see that Erin had been listening right behind them.

Mr. Metcalf tensed. “Perhaps he lacks confidence in me. In any case, I’m going to mingle for another half hour and then call it a night. There’s a long week ahead. And Carter . . . that’s fine. Just come back at 11:30. I think that’s when the security guards are leaving. I’ll be sure to let them know.” He gave Carter a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and left.

Carter gave Erin a polite nod and gestured that she had some company behind her. Oh, no, from mean drunk to mean girl. Erin found herself face-to-face with Mia Garland. This was certainly going to be the low point of the evening. Mia had the strangest look on her face—incredulous, tentative, with emotions crossing her features that were very, very difficult to read.

“Erin. So, you got a kidney?”

“Yep, I sure did.”

“And it happened very recently?”

“Yep.” Erin was not in the mood for mindless small talk. Certainly not with Mia Garland.

But Mia had a pretty good read on Erin’s cynicism and distrust. “You have no reason to believe anything that comes out of my mouth. But, from the bottom of my heart, I am so . . . happy . . . to see you.” She threw herself into a tight hug around Erin and started sobbing uncontrollably.

Mia’s mind was a jumbled torment of contrition and relief. Her adult self and values were continually aghast at the teenaged bullying brat she had been.

“How can I ever make up for all the unforgivable things I’ve done? Especially to this poor, sick girl. Thank God, she’s well. I just wish that when I had myself tested five years ago, that I had been a good kidney match for her. It would have given her her freedom and health five years earlier. And maybe I’d be able to forgive myself now.”

What? Mia had had herself tested! When Erin’s own so-called family hadn’t even bothered to get tested. Mia—mean girl Mia—had been prepared to give Erin a kidney! Aside from being told that she had witch powers, it was the most astonishing thing that Erin had heard in her entire life. No, she hadn’t believed Mia’s words. But she had to believe her thoughts. She let Mia hold on as long as she needed to.

Mia finally let go and wiped away her tears. “I’m so sorry.”

“You are so . . . forgiven.”

“Do you mean it?”

“Yes. Because I know you mean it.”

It was a good thing that Mia had a large packet of tissues. Her tears started flowing anew.

“Thank you. I don’t know if I deserve your forgiveness, but I sure need it. I need something right now. It’s been kind of a rough few months.”

“Yeah? What’s going on, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“It’s my mother. I don’t know if you remember her.”

“Yeah, I remember her at school plays and some of the spring fairs and the parent events. What’s going on? What happened?”

“She had a stroke. A pretty bad one. She can’t talk and she can’t walk and she’s over at the nursing home. And she could be there for the rest of her life. She’s only . . . she’s only sixty-four. And . . . and I can see that her mind is still there. I can see that she wants to communicate. That she has things that she wants to tell me. But now, the doctors are saying that she might never get better. And I’ll never be able to know what she’s thinking.”

How awful. Erin would have felt truly sorry even if it happened to a member of her ex-family. Even though she felt as distant from them as could be. But to have it happen to someone you truly loved . . . someone you were close to . . . that had to be horrible. But if Mrs. Garland’s mind was still sound and working, then it could be heard, couldn’t it?

“Are you going to be visiting her soon?” Erin asked.

“Probably every afternoon while I’m in town. And I’ll still be able to attend most of the reunion events.”

“Can I come with you? Just to say hello. And maybe it would help if she had someone who lives in town who could stop by occasionally after you go back home.”

There was not enough Kleenex in the world to handle Mia’s flood of emotion. That such kindness should come to her from someone she’d once given such grief. They quickly set up a time and a place to meet and parted for the evening, almost friends.

Erin was feeling wiped out, but the evening was far from over.

She next got a heartfelt greeting from an extremely shy boy, Mark Mahoney. She never would have recognized him without the name tag. His skinny frame had filled out nicely. He was a lawyer and had a very attractive female companion who was a smart and funny conversationalist. She left Mark and Erin alone and wandered over to the snack table.

Like most of her classmates, Mark was genuinely thrilled to hear about the new kidneys. But while he wanted to be polite and attentive, his eyes kept wandering over to the far corner of the room and landing on a certain Carly Grimes, who Erin remembered as being a quiet, mousy, painfully shy girl.

Like Mark, she had blossomed, and her life appeared to be on a winning track. Her husband was handsome and outgoing, and she herself looked terrific, although perhaps with just a little residual reserve.

“Have you spoken to Carly yet?” Martin asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Carly Grimes? You know, I never actually knew her very well. Although I’d certainly like to say hello tonight.”

“I wonder how she’s doing. Whether she’s happy. She looks happy, doesn’t she?” Mark looked miserable. “She turned out so pretty. I knew she would.”

“She did,” Erin agreed. “Your friend there is also very pretty. Have you been together long?”

Mark scoffed and excused himself.

What is every high school class if not a multitude of unrequited crushes? Erin wondered if Carly knew about Mark’s feelings. She could clue her in. But it might actually be an irritating and unwelcome burden to Carly, seeing as how she was married and her life seemed to be going pretty well now. Might as well meet her, though.

Carly was very happy to shake her hand—no former acquaintance was necessary. But the handshake revealed a bundle of misery. Her husband had already insulted her half a dozen times that day alone. “Why don’t I have the strength to leave him?”

Erin had to wonder the same thing. Why? Why was Carly staying in this terrible relationship? Surely, she could see that she had the strength and the maturity and the self-respect to pull herself out. Maybe she was afraid of being alone. She really needed to have a chat with Mark Mahoney.

But handshakes cannot last forever, and Erin was left with many questions about Carly’s unhappiness. She did notice that Carly stiffened and started backing away at the sight of someone over Erin’s shoulder. It was the prospect of Mia coming in their direction that was freaking her out.

“Sorry, I have got to get going. The last thing I need tonight is to hear what Mia Garland has to say.”

“Oh. Mia. You know, I actually spoke to her tonight, and I think you’d be surprised.”

“No, thanks. I’ve had enough of Mia Garland to last a lifetime. I almost didn’t come tonight because of her. But this room is just big enough . . . gotta go.” And with that, Carly scampered away.

Next up was the mysterious and unexpectedly friendly Orlando Wicks. He had been waiting a polite distance until Carly made her departure, and then he quickly swooped in.

“Are you getting tired of having everyone telling you how fantastic you look?”

Erin smiled. “It’s such a drag. But go ahead.”

Orlando reached out and held her hand. “Why didn’t I try to get to know her when I had the chance? Why was I so scared of girls in high school? Look at her. She’s probably got a husband around here somewhere.”

“I’m single,” Erin blurted out. “Not . . . not that you asked,” she stammered.

“Yeah? Me too. There’s not that many of us, right? And we’re both still in Oyster Cove. How about that?”

“Why haven’t we run into each other?”

“I spend a lot of time at work—strange hours,” Orlando explained.

“Oh, at the hospital?”

“No. I work at the walk-in urgent care clinic.”

“Urgent care clinic,” Regina scoffed.

Where had she come from?

She pointed at Orlando. “I remember you. Weren’t you supposed to go somewhere big, like Harvard, or Yale, or Princeton? And you wound up at UMass.”

“That’s correct. I sure did.”

“And then you were supposed to come out of med school and work at some fancy place like Cedars-Sinai, Beth Israel, or even Cleveland Clinic. But what ya gonna do? I guess they only take the best of the best. So, the urgent care clinic. You didn’t exactly set the world on fire, did you?”

“No, but I hope I make myself useful when people accidentally set themselves on fire. Happens rather often. Not to mention the havoc that scooters and avocados are causing in the general population.”

What on earth could he mean? Erin wondered. “Scooters and avocados?”

“Ton of scooter accidents—with the locals and tourists alike. Legs, arms, sprains, breaks. It’s a pretty unforgiving toy.”

“And avocados?”

“Very healthy for you. Good, healthy fats. Everyone who wants to be healthy eats lots of avocados. And two out of three don’t appear to know how to open one safely. Lot of knife cuts. I do stitches on ‘avocado hand’ two to three times a week. I’m serious. Do you remember an award show a few years back when Meryl Streep showed up with a bandaged hand? Yeah. Avocado hand.”

Erin laughed. Regina turned away in disgust. This was too much happy flirting for her tastes. She had tried to inflict a little shame on Orlando and it had backfired pretty badly. He was probably going to get a date out of it, for heaven’s sake.

Erin certainly wouldn’t have minded a date with Orlando. He may only have been moderately geeky cute back in the day, but now he was borderline dreamy, with a tiny cleft in his chin and a thick dark mop of unruly hair. And still as smart as could be. And saving lives. Or at least, saving avocado hands. Which, if it involved stitches, sounded like a pretty painful condition. Was he thinking about asking her out? Their departure from one another was a good opportunity for Erin to reach out and shake his hand again and get a read on what he was thinking.

“What am I thinking? I don’t deserve someone like Erin. She should be with someone who’s really worthy of her.”

What do you mean? Erin wondered. You’re plenty worthy. How could you be feeling so badly about yourself?

No matter how you sliced it, Orlando Wicks was a great catch. Maybe he just got through a bad breakup. Perhaps it was unfair of her, but Erin knew that she would have to use her newfound abilities to get to the bottom of this.

They were both pulled away, by his old science buddies and Isabel Ferreira, respectively. Isabel wanted to introduce Erin to Jasmine Plummer, another alum who was still an Oyster Cove resident and who’d had to be cajoled and bribed to attend the reunion.

Jasmine did not have a shining success story. She had dropped out of college and was still paying back student loans for a degree she had never gotten. She had been through a string of jobs that were all pretty low-wage and unimpressive. But Isabel was determined to put a happy spin on everyone’s life.

“You have persevered through some pretty tough times and you ought to be really proud of yourself,” Isabel said.

“That’s true. And I am proud of myself,” Jasmine said. She looked around at Erin, Isabel, and two other women around her, and decided to come clean. “I am four years sober this month. Four years of sobriety. I never thought I’d be able to say that. So, yes, I guess I do have reason to celebrate my life.”

Regina Gorman had an uncanny ability to stick her nose into every conversation at just the right moment for maximum intrusiveness.

“That’s an awful long time to be sober. But, you’re right, you should celebrate.” She held out a glass of champagne to Jasmine. “And take it from me, this bubbly little piece of heaven is the absolute best way for you to celebrate.”

Regina looked around at the horrified faces of the other women and laughed heartily.

“What? We’re all adults here. Can’t anyone take a joke?”

Mr. Chaplin joined the group. “Regina. Mrs. Gorman. I know the open bar is very tempting, and there are all kinds of things to celebrate tonight. But maybe it’s time to move onto the coffee for a while.”

“Coffee! That reminds me—I wouldn’t mind a shot of Kahlúa.” She left in the direction of the bar with Principal Chaplin right on her heels.

What an insensitive thing to do. Especially after Jasmine had just trusted some people who barely knew her and bared her soul. Erin pulled her aside for a little private chat.

“Four years of sobriety. That sounds as if was preceded by a lot of hard times,” Erin said.

“If that is a very tactful way of asking how long I was a drunk, then . . . it lasted almost fourteen years. Long time. Right about the time I was dropping out of college. It was a lot of wasted years. So many wasted years.”

“I know what you mean,” Erin commiserated. “I feel as if I lost so many years of my life. I mean, I was here. I was alive. But I was pretty hopeless. And I wasn’t fully living.”

“Yeah. That’s it. That’s what it was like.”

“And when I look back, I had no one to blame for that but myself,” Erin said.

Jasmine cocked her head cynically. “I do blame myself, I guess. But not only myself. There’s plenty of blame to go around.”

Hmm. What on earth could Jasmine mean? Probably too early in their acquaintance for a good, long hug.

Nearby, Vice Principal Clay Metcalf was pleading with Isabel Ferreira to drive the drunk Regina Gorman home.

“I’d love to. Well . . . maybe not ‘love.’ But I can’t do it. I have to stay. I’m the organizer.”

“It doesn’t have to be right now. And I’ll keep asking around. But if I can’t find anyone else, just take her with you at the end of the evening when everything is finished. It really would look awful if she got into a car accident on the way home.”

Isabel caught Erin’s gaze and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I guess I can give her a ride.”

What drama! Erin had to confess to herself that so far, she was blessedly free of the green-eyed monster and had yet to run into many classmates whose lives she would like to trade hers for.