banged shut behind Bob. “Polly, that was mean. Plumbing problems down there…?”
Polly grinned, unapologetic. “It worked, though.” She fished a noodle out of her cup, managed to get it in her mouth before snapping her fingers. “Almost forgot. Sounds like we might have a new student soon. Heard Vera on the phone,” she said, referring to the school secretary. “Our classes are already so full. Can’t believe we’d take another midyear.”
“We can’t. One of my sophomore comp classes has thirty-eight students in it. Thirty-eight. Way too many.”
Polly shrugged. “Vera didn’t discourage the mother. She told her where to buy uniforms and what the girl would need in terms of a supply list.”
“So it’s a girl?”
“Mm.”
“What grade?” Shelley asked, sitting back in her chair, arms folded across her chest.
“Not sure. I got the feeling she’s a freshman or sophomore, as there was no mention of graduation requirements or testing dates.”
Kit wasn’t happy about the news. Her freshman and sophomore classes were her biggest. “Let’s be honest. There’s no way I can effectively teach writing, and properly grade all the necessaryessays, with thirty-five-plus kids per class. There aren’t enough hours in the day.”
“That’s why I teach PE,” Shelley said, balling up her paper lunch bag and rising. “I just make them run.”
Fiona entered the lunchroom as Shelley left and took Shelley’s empty chair at the table. Her pale face looked blotchy and her eyes were pink. “What did I miss?” she asked huskily, taking a seat at the table and opening a plastic baggie filled with slender apple slices
“What happened?” Kit asked.
Fiona selected an apple slice and toyed with it. “Nothing,” she answered, breaking the apple into two pieces.
Polly leaned forward, concerned. “Did Sister Marguerite complain to Sister Elena about your messy room again?”
Fiona struggled to smile but couldn’t. “Wish it was that. But it’s Chase. He sent me a text that we’ve got to postpone Carmel so he can take the kids to Tahoe this weekend to ski.”
“What?” Polly cried.
Fiona shrugged. “Apparently Julie got invited to go to Cabo with some girlfriends and Chase wants to show her he’s a good guy, so he told her we’d take the kids and she could take her trip.” Fiona flung the apples down, furious. “It didn’t even cross his mind to call me and see what I’d like. Why didn’t he stay married to Julie? She’s more important to him than I am!”
The five-minute warning bell rang shrilly. They all ignored it.
“So what are you going to do?” Kit asked.
Fiona shrugged again. “Go to Carmel.”
Kit wasn’t sure this was the best plan. “Without him?”
“Why not?” Fiona said hotly. “The hotel’s already booked and paid for. I’ve always wanted to go there—”
“Because you know Chase won’t take it well,” Kit interrupted. “It’d be a slap in his face.”
Fiona’s eyes flashed. “And canceling our weekend together so his ex-wife can go to Cabo isn’t?”
She’d made a good point, and after a moment they wordlessly rose and headed back to their classrooms.
T he light was fading as they reached Highway 17, the twenty-six-mile-long highway that wound through the Santa Cruz Mountains, and gone by the time they reached the exit for Capitola off Highway 1.
The Brennans’ narrow two-story beach cottage, built in 1903, was one of six identical houses facing the beach on Esplanade and known to locals as the Six Sisters. The clapboard cottage had been in the family since the late 1930s, and growing up, Kit and her sisters and brother had spent virtually every summer and holiday there. As Polly parked on the street adjacent to Historic Lawn Way, Kit felt a little thrill of pleasure. She was back. Home.
Kit was upstairs in the girls’ bunk room, changing out of her teacher clothes into something more relaxed when her phone rang. “Hey, Dad,” she said,
Polly grinned, unapologetic. “It worked, though.” She fished a noodle out of her cup, managed to get it in her mouth before snapping her fingers. “Almost forgot. Sounds like we might have a new student soon. Heard Vera on the phone,” she said, referring to the school secretary. “Our classes are already so full. Can’t believe we’d take another midyear.”
“We can’t. One of my sophomore comp classes has thirty-eight students in it. Thirty-eight. Way too many.”
Polly shrugged. “Vera didn’t discourage the mother. She told her where to buy uniforms and what the girl would need in terms of a supply list.”
“So it’s a girl?”
“Mm.”
“What grade?” Shelley asked, sitting back in her chair, arms folded across her chest.
“Not sure. I got the feeling she’s a freshman or sophomore, as there was no mention of graduation requirements or testing dates.”
Kit wasn’t happy about the news. Her freshman and sophomore classes were her biggest. “Let’s be honest. There’s no way I can effectively teach writing, and properly grade all the necessaryessays, with thirty-five-plus kids per class. There aren’t enough hours in the day.”
“That’s why I teach PE,” Shelley said, balling up her paper lunch bag and rising. “I just make them run.”
Fiona entered the lunchroom as Shelley left and took Shelley’s empty chair at the table. Her pale face looked blotchy and her eyes were pink. “What did I miss?” she asked huskily, taking a seat at the table and opening a plastic baggie filled with slender apple slices
“What happened?” Kit asked.
Fiona selected an apple slice and toyed with it. “Nothing,” she answered, breaking the apple into two pieces.
Polly leaned forward, concerned. “Did Sister Marguerite complain to Sister Elena about your messy room again?”
Fiona struggled to smile but couldn’t. “Wish it was that. But it’s Chase. He sent me a text that we’ve got to postpone Carmel so he can take the kids to Tahoe this weekend to ski.”
“What?” Polly cried.
Fiona shrugged. “Apparently Julie got invited to go to Cabo with some girlfriends and Chase wants to show her he’s a good guy, so he told her we’d take the kids and she could take her trip.” Fiona flung the apples down, furious. “It didn’t even cross his mind to call me and see what I’d like. Why didn’t he stay married to Julie? She’s more important to him than I am!”
The five-minute warning bell rang shrilly. They all ignored it.
“So what are you going to do?” Kit asked.
Fiona shrugged again. “Go to Carmel.”
Kit wasn’t sure this was the best plan. “Without him?”
“Why not?” Fiona said hotly. “The hotel’s already booked and paid for. I’ve always wanted to go there—”
“Because you know Chase won’t take it well,” Kit interrupted. “It’d be a slap in his face.”
Fiona’s eyes flashed. “And canceling our weekend together so his ex-wife can go to Cabo isn’t?”
She’d made a good point, and after a moment they wordlessly rose and headed back to their classrooms.
T he light was fading as they reached Highway 17, the twenty-six-mile-long highway that wound through the Santa Cruz Mountains, and gone by the time they reached the exit for Capitola off Highway 1.
The Brennans’ narrow two-story beach cottage, built in 1903, was one of six identical houses facing the beach on Esplanade and known to locals as the Six Sisters. The clapboard cottage had been in the family since the late 1930s, and growing up, Kit and her sisters and brother had spent virtually every summer and holiday there. As Polly parked on the street adjacent to Historic Lawn Way, Kit felt a little thrill of pleasure. She was back. Home.
Kit was upstairs in the girls’ bunk room, changing out of her teacher clothes into something more relaxed when her phone rang. “Hey, Dad,” she said,
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