My Dad's Boss(3)

And then it was just me and the hot, handsome older man with his hand  resting lightly on my ass. This was totally surreal. I didn't know what  to say, but I knew that I owed him a big thank you. He'd come to my  rescue and played his part beautifully.

Turning, I was suddenly face to face with him-except I had to look up to  see him. And saw the twinkle in his eyes. My words of thanks were lost  as we both stared at each other for a long moment and then dissolved  into laughter.
         

     



 
We didn't stop for quite some time.





Chapter Three





"OH, HONEY, YOU look fantastic."

I smoothed down the skirt of my slinky red dress as my mom walked into  my bedroom. I'd been half afraid she'd say it was too short, but then  again, I was an adult. Okay, so I was staying in my parent's house over  summer break, but I was in college and could do what I wanted. Still, it  was a relief that she approved. I didn't want to upset her on her big  day.

"Your hair just looks so grown up in that up-do. And sexy," she said, with a little laugh.

"Mom!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but it does. Too bad there won't be any boys your age here tonight."

I groaned inwardly. In the past month since I'd been home from school,  Mom had mentioned quite a few of her friends' sons. But she never pushed  too hard. I think she knew how difficult this last year had been for  me. "Don't worry about me," I said. "This is your big night."

"It really is a pretty special event," she said, coming over to stand in  front of the mirror with me. She looked great, especially for a  forty-three-year-old. She was wearing a blue dress that was perfect for  her. Her blonde hair, a little darker-and less real-than mine hung loose  around her shoulders. In contrast, mine was up in a carefully arranged  "messy" bun that still allowed a lot of loose tendrils to dance around  my neck. I'd done my makeup with extra care, too. Even from here, I  could see the way my eyes popped with the dark mascara and dramatic eye  shadow. Mom had lent me some jewelry, so my earrings and necklace  sparkled. The spaghetti straps of my red dress ended in a low-cut  neckline. In short, I looked like a grownup.

Funny how I always wanted to look older and Mom always wanted to look  younger. But she looked really vibrant and beautiful tonight. "I'm  really happy that you and dad get to celebrate tonight."

"I am, too," she said. This party was supposed to happen last year for  their twentieth anniversary, but it hadn't worked out. Mom's father had  been gravely ill in the hospital, and then my dad tripped and broke his  leg. So, they'd canceled the party. It had been a really hard time. Mom  practically lived at the hospital, and my grandfather passed away a few  weeks later. I'd just found out about Brad and Stephanie, and I was so  miserable that I wasn't as much help to my mother as I should have been.  I'd always regretted it. But now things were better for all of us.

"Not everyone gets a lavish twenty-first anniversary party. Only the really special couples," I told her.

She smiled, gave me another little squeeze, and released me. I moved  forward to squint at a small black fleck on my cheek, and in the mirror,  I saw her sit on the bed and turn toward me. "Any luck finding a summer  job?" she asked.

I groaned as I dabbed at the little mark on my skin. Mom and I usually  got along well, apart from a few years when I was in high school. Now I  was no longer a rebellious teen, and I appreciated her a lot more than I  used to. However, questions like that drove me nuts sometimes. "Not  yet. I'm looking, but there's not much out there." Both parts of this  were true. I'd applied for a dozen jobs, but so far, no one had even  contacted me for an interview.

"I'm sure you'll get something soon. I told you that the supermarket is hiring, right?"

"Yes, you did." Twice. But surely I could find something a little more stimulating than that for the summer?

"I just hope you can find something soon. It's not good for you to spend  so much time hanging out here or that coffee shop. You need to be with  people your own age. It's too bad St-" She froze, and I knew she'd been  about to say Stephanie. We'd been so close in high school, best friends  for the whole four years. We'd grown apart a little last year when we  went to different universities, but I still never would have dreamed  she'd go after Brad like that. Sometimes it felt as if she'd cheated on  me every bit as much as he had.

"I'll find something soon, but in the meantime, I'm good. It's nice to relax a little now that classes are over."

"I know you will, honey." She rose and headed to the hallway. "I'm going  downstairs. When you're ready, maybe you could give me a hand with some  last minute things?"

"Sure. Be down in a minute." After she left, I thought about what she'd  said. Or almost said. It really was quiet around here. Last year, it had  been the three of us, Brad, Stephanie, and me. We'd done a lot together  in May and the beginning of June-before I found out that they were  sleeping together. Then I pretty much retreated inward for the rest of  the summer, rarely emerging from my room. No wonder my mom wanted me to  get out and do things, meet people.         

     



 

In the kitchen, my dad was examining the list of guests who had RSVPed.  The printout had been up on the fridge for a week, but he'd ignored it  until now. "Why aren't the Harpers on here, Gwen?"

"They've been in Michigan all week, won't get back until late tonight."  That was a relief. Mr. and Mrs. Harper were nice people, but they  reminded me too much of their son, Brad. And I'd already had one  reminder of him this week.

"Mr. Conner's coming?" Dad refused to call his coworkers by their first  names in front of anyone under thirty. "Who invited him?"

"You did, dear." Mom was doing about ten things at once in the kitchen, even though the bulk of the food was being catered.

"I most certainly did not." Dad returned the list to the fridge and slapped a magnet for a local pizza parlor on top of it.

"Rob, he's the principal at the school where you posted an invitation in the teacher's lounge."

"He's not a teacher," Dad grumbled, and I saw my mom roll her eyes in  exasperation. When I'd attended Sago Palm High School, the principal had  been a horribly inflexible woman named Mrs. Wright. But she'd left a  year after I'd graduated, and Mr. Conner had arrived. According to my  mother, who had always been very involved in the school and seemed to be  some kind of honorary PTA member for life, everyone thought he was  doing a great job. My father, however, felt otherwise.

Mom was digging out some trays from a lower cabinet, and I went over to  take them from her. "Your dad will be fine once Mr. Conner gets here,"  she said in what she thought was a quiet whisper. "He just doesn't like  him because he's younger than us."

"Age has nothing to do with it," Dad said, proving that at forty-two,  there was nothing wrong with his hearing. "I respect people of all  ages-if they know what they're doing. The man's never even taught. No  advanced degree in Educational Administration can make up for classroom  experience. Nor being an assistant principal at that middle school. If a  high school student ever had a real problem, he'd have no idea what to  do."

"He's not even forty yet," Mom whispered as he straightened up. "That's  always bothered your father." At some point, I probably should take my  mom aside and explain to her that her quiet voice was not very quiet.

"No, it doesn't," Dad said. "It's just how he's made so many changes.  Stuff he probably got from some conference where a bunch of suits talk  about best practices in education. Probably one in five have actually  set foot in a classroom."

Mom straightened up, and I took the trays into the dining room where the  buffet would be set up on the large dining room table. When I got back,  Dad had his arms around Mom, and was murmuring in her ear. "We've been  married twenty-one years, hon. Haven't I earned the right to have my  loving wife hate my boss?"

"Yes, you have." Mom stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss.  "Principal Conner is a horrible man, and in the year he's been there,  the graduation rate has plummeted to fifteen percent, the average  student reads at a second-grade level, and the entire senior class is  pregnant."

"There, was that so hard?" Dad said with a grin. Mom returned his smile  as he pulled her closer. I took a step back, intending to leave them  alone, but then I paused. Seeing them there tugged at my heart a little.  I loved them both, desperately, but it was more than that. They were  good together. I'd always thought that, even when I was younger and they  embarrassed me by being so affectionate. But now that I was older, and  now that I had a failed relationship under my belt, I realized how rare  that was. How special.