Maizy the Bear Charmer(Diving Creek Ranch 16)(147)

Woody Porter stood to all six and a half feet of his white-haired glory, a mild smile on his face, and walked slowly, with dignity, to the podium as though he was about to give an inaugural address. He’d even dressed in his stately black Western suit for the occasion.

“Many things are wrong with this world, folks, and it’s no secret that it’s trickled down to our institutions of learning. Schools with metal detectors and security guards. Babies having babies. Violence. Drugs.” He paused, letting his words settle, gazed at each board member, and then scanned the crowd, seeming to enjoy the way some of the attendees squirmed under his attention before he continued.

“But it’s a damned crying shame when a quality teacher who is widely admired by her peers is forced to quit her job because some anonymous person doesn’t like how she expresses love, or who she loves. Miss Owen thought more of her elementary school than she thought of the years she spent earning her master’s degree, or the time that she spent learning how to teach young children, or the time, and money, and effort, and heart she put into her job every day. She was the first teacher my granddaughter Ruby ever had and she was wonderful. Ruby told me every day how much she loved being in Miss Owen’s class.

“Having known Miss Owen myself for quite some time,” he said as he turned and looked right at Maizy with a smile on his aged-but-still-handsome face before looking back at the board members. “I can tell you this young woman has a special and unique gift for teaching children. If we let her go, she’ll still teach elsewhere because it’s the work she was called to do. Her talent is God-given. It shouldn’t be squelched from its best expression, in a classroom full of young minds ready to learn, because of fear of anonymous reprisal.”

The last two words were practically shouted and several school board members seemed to shrink under his scrutiny, while others nodded in agreement. The crowd broke into conversation until the president called the room back to order. Doug Woodworth got the president’s attention and he recognized Doug and welcomed him to speak.

“Can someone please tell me the specific circumstances that are under question? I know Miss Owen resigned but didn’t know the issues involved. I understand, from whispers up here, that there was an anonymous threat and that there were incriminating photos taken on private property. What did she do that was so bad to warrant this action?”

Heat filled Maizy’s cheeks and she prayed the floor tiles would split wide and swallow her up. The last thing she wanted was for her love life to be discussed in a school board meeting.

Woody looked at Doug, leaned toward the microphone, and said, “She fell in love.”

Doug blinked. “She fell in love, Woody?”

Woody nodded. “Evidently falling in love is a crime when it suits some people, who prefer to remain anonymous.”

Doug leaned his elbow on his desk and rubbed his forehead. “Is she married? Are we talking about adultery?”

“No, sir.”

At his wit’s end, Doug finally said, “Can someone please tell me why this is an issue at all?”

Cody, Spencer, and Heath all stood and Doug squinted at the three of them and said, “Woody, do these men have something to do with this issue?”

Woody turned and looked at them, grinned, and said, “Ah, there they are. The root of our dilemma.” Cody laid his hand on Maizy’s shoulder and stroked her, obviously aware of her nervousness.

Growing exasperated, Doug said, “What? Are they fighting over her? Causing problems?”

Maizy jumped from her seat. She couldn’t allow them to take the brunt of everyone’s scrutiny alone. “They love me! And I love them. We’re committed to each other. Engaged. That’s all.”

Doug’s eyebrows rose a bit. “This is over a ménage?”

Woody cleared his throat and chuckled. “Crazy, ain’t it? Can we put a stop to this silliness and ask this young lady if she’d like to be reinstated?” Several attendees clapped and voiced approval while others turned curious looks to the four of them. A few looked a little disgruntled.

Beverly Dumphrey got Doug’s attention and he put his hand over his microphone. They talked for a minute while the audience waited. Maizy heard her ex-sister-in-law Elizabeth mentioned, along with the words “local church secretary,” and “breach of confidence.” The only troublemaking church secretary she knew of was Tabitha Lester.

Mrs. Dumphrey paled as she spoke and looked quite ill by the time she was done. Several board members kept glancing at the audience and it was obvious that more was being said than needed to be shared in a public meeting. It was possible that some of the board members were drawing the same conclusions that her friends Ace and Kemp were drawing in their investigation. That Tabitha Lester had taken it up on herself to rid Divine of one of a growing number of ménages, without success, and had cost them a devoted teacher in the process. The din of voices grew until the meeting was called to order again.