Not My Daughter

The members returned to Susan, who knew enough not to call Neal a liar.

Duncan used the standoff to say, 'Well, you did get the NBC story killed. Did the fellow you're living with handle that?'

Susan smiled curiously. This was the second challenge. 'That fellow's my daughter's father. We've had a medical emergency with Lily and her baby. He's here to help.'

'Living with you.'

Hillary sighed. 'Duncan. His being there makes sense. These aren't the dark ages.'

'Now that,' the man said, 'is the attitude that gets us in trouble. I believe in marriage'-he held up a gnarled hand-'but fine, not everyone does. Susan Tate could live with a gorilla, for all I care, if she weren't principal of our high school.'

All eyes turned to Susan, who remembered Dan's legal opinion. 'Please explain your concern. Am I not carrying out my job?' She directed her appeal to Pam, who was in the unique position of having a child in the high school. Tell them, she begged.

But Carl Morgan spoke first. 'The issue is morals. It's been one offense after another.'

Susan couldn't be still. There was no morals clause in her contract. 'I don't see the offenses. I'm successfully doing the job I was hired to do.'

'You weren't here when a troubled student cheated for the third time,' Neal volunteered. The fact that he knew about Michael Murray spoke of Evan Brewer's loose tongue.

'My father died,' she said. 'My contract allows five days off for a death. I took three.'

'But now there's a problem with your daughter's baby,' Duncan said kindly. 'Wouldn't you be better off staying home to take care of her? Isn't that what a good mother would do?'

Susan was one step ahead. 'I considered it, but my daughter's doctor vetoed the idea. He wants Lily at school and says my hovering would be counterproductive. He wants her living normally. She has exams. He wants her to take them.'

'If you wanted to take time off, Evan Brewer could fill in,' offered Neal, clearly retaliating for Susan having named him the snitch. 'He has experience heading a school.'

'You and Evan are old friends,' Pam pointed out.

'Like you and Susan,' Neal said with a smile.

'That's why I haven't spoken out.'

Neal either didn't get the message or ignored it. 'But this would be a practical fix. Evan is already in place.'

When the board members turned to Susan, she looked at Phil. Naming a successor, whether interim or permanent, was his job.

'Evan doesn't share our philosophy,' he said. He sounded begrudging, but Susan didn't care. At least he had told the truth.

'He headed a school,' Neal pointed out.

Phil dismissed Evan with a wave. 'If he hadn't resigned, he would have been fired. My concern isn't Evan. It's our students.'

'Correct,' said one.

And another, 'It's a grave concern.'

'That's why Ms. Tate is here,' said a third.

Susan waited for more. When it didn't come, she murmured, 'So the purpose of this meeting is…?'

'To convince us you ought to stay,' Hillary said. 'Perhaps you'd share your latest thoughts on how to best help our students at this time.'

'My thoughts come from the faculty,' Susan replied. 'They say what we're already doing is working. Our kids are discussing the issues. They're understanding them and moving on.'

'That's not the sense of the town,' said Duncan.

'Didn't you read the Gazette?'

'Bet you thought you had more friends than that,' Neal gloated.

Susan didn't respond. She was grateful when Pam said, 'Most of those letters were unsigned.'

'But they were not in support of Susan,' Thomas Zimmerman remarked.

Harold LaPierre, the library director, had been sitting quietly with his hands folded. The overhead lights reflected on his bare scalp, spotlighting him when he spoke. 'For all we know, they were written by the same person.'

'There's a cynical view.'

'Can't rule it out,' Harold said.

Duncan grunted. 'Well, we have to do somethin'. You all know it, but won't say it, so I will. There's two choices. Ms. Tate can take a leave. Or she can be dismissed.'

Susan had feared it would come to this. 'Please tell me the grounds.'

There was a silence among the board. She guessed they were caught up by the word grounds. Finally, pushing up his glasses, the Realtor said, 'Would you sue us if we demand your resignation?'

'I haven't thought that far, Mr. Zimmerman. I love my job, and I do it well. I do not want to resign.'

'What if we pay you full salary to take a leave until the end of the school year?' rasped Carl Morgan.

'It's not about money,' she said. 'It's about the kids.'

'What about the sentiment of the town? Our citizens want you gone.'

'Do they?' she asked respectfully. 'I agree with Mr. LaPierre. I'm not convinced that what we see in the Gazette is a fair representation of town sentiment.'

Pam spoke with sudden enthusiasm. 'That's an easy problem to solve. What if we held an open meeting of the board? Parents could tell us directly what they think.'

'An open meeting is the perfect solution,' Pam told Tanner and Abby over dinner. 'We were at a stalemate. As soon as I made the sug gestion, everyone leaped at it. I mean, I was dying, not knowing what to say. I could feel Susan looking at me, wanting me to stick up for her, and I really wanted to do that, but how could I? I mean, this whole thing just looks so bad!'

'That sometimes determines it,' Tanner murmured around a piece of flank steak.

'Determines what?' Abby asked. Sullen, she hadn't touched her food.

Tanner finished chewing. 'The outcome. If the town thinks something's bad, it's bad.'

'Susan doesn't see that,' Pam complained, adding more mashed potato to her husband's plate, knowing he could eat all that and more without gaining a pound. 'She was polite, but she didn't give an inch. She kept saying she was doing her job.'

'Isn't she?' Abby asked, watchful now.

'Technically, yes. But what's happened here goes beyond her job.'

'It shouldn't,' the girl said.

'That's the way it is. You aren't eating, Ab. Is the meat too well done?'

'It's fine. I'm just upset.'

Pam, on the other hand, was relieved. 'An open meeting will be better for Susan.' To Tanner, she said, 'We really need to get new blood on the board. How can someone like me speak up, when I'm overpowered by men twice my age. They have no idea what's going on in the schools.'

'They've given a lot to the town,' Tanner advised. 'You can't just turn around and kick them out.'

'I understand that. But if they faced opposition, they might decide to retire. The key is getting some of our parents to run. There are a few who'd be good. I'll talk with them.'

'About Susan?' Abby asked.

'About running for school board. Convincing those men of anything new is like hitting a brick wall.'

'Did you try? Susan's your friend. You should be defending her.'

'I have to be impartial.'

'No, you don't,' Abby said sharply. 'You have to be loyal. She's your friend and business partner, and she's done nothing wrong.'

'It isn't as simple as that,' Tanner put in, but Abby wasn't done with Pam. She seemed to be picking up steam.