Jan nodded breathlessly, enjoying this interpretation of herself.
Eden seemed rapt, too. She wasn’t blinking, anyway. But the corners of her blue eyes—blue like a spring sky after rain, blue like a favorite pair of jeans; he’d entertained himself with metaphors for them practically from the moment he’d seen her—scrunched a little in what looked like... wry amusement? Skepticism?
And as much as he’d like to linger in the beam of her gaze, his job, which he took very seriously, was to distribute wisdom and sympathy equally among the two of them.
He shifted his eyes back to Jan. “You both love your kids, of course. Who wouldn’t? They’re terrific kids! They’re both incredibly bright and hungry to learn. This school is lucky to have them attending. And you know, happy kids are going to sing and dance, especially if a song is dramatic. If Caitlynn is curious about what the song means, maybe you can use this as a teaching moment—an opportunity to make sure she knows that not only should a woman value herself, she deserves to be respected and cherished, which the poor woman singing the song in theMan of La Manchapatently was not.”
It was quiet again.
Then before his eyes, rosy spots slowly bloomed on Eden Harwood’s cheeks.
His heart gave a sharp kick—bam!—like a net taking a soccer ball. He stared at her, fascinated. What had causedthat?
Jan was nodding along, sagely.
“Or you could just tell Caitlynn it’s a song about a lady who’s going to the go-kart tracks,” he added idly. “Save the rest of the explanation for when she’s a little older.”
Eden made a little sound and looked down at her lap swiftly.
Jan heaved a great sigh, which evolved into a little laugh. “You’re very wise, Gabe.”
He shrugged modestly, with one shoulder. “That’s why they pay me the big bucks.”
Eden pivoted abruptly in her chair toward Jan Pennington.
“I’ll have a word with Annelise to let her know it’s not necessarily an appropriate song to sing at school, Jan. In front of a mirror with a hairbrush microphone, maybe. But not at school.”
“Thank you,” Jan said beneficently, a wounded party making a noble concession. “That would be most appreciated.”
And then Eden laid a hand gently on Jan’s arm. “And please feel free to speak to me directly about anything that concerns Annelise. We both know how busy Principal Caldera is, and wouldn’t it be lovely if we could make his job a little easier by not taking up more of his valuable time?”
She gave Jan a small but radiant smile.
Damn. Wellplayed, Ms. Harwood.
Gabe could have interjected self-deprecatingly—My time is your time! It’s no trouble at all!that sort of thing—but frankly, he wanted to see how Jan parried this. Because Eden had just turned leaving the principalaloneinto a virtue, when bothering the principal was Jan’s hobby.
And God only knew Jan wanted to be associated with the virtuous.
He could almost hear the fan blades powering Jan’s brain whirring.
“Of course,” Jan said finally. Rather creakily. “Thank you. I’ll do that.”
Eden’s little smile evolved into a full-on beam. She turned abruptly back to Gabe. “Thank you for your time, Principal Caldera, and I apologize for the inconvenience of holding you after school for a meeting. Good to see you, Jan. I’m so sorry to rush out, but I need to get going or I’ll be late to relieve my babysitter.”
Whoosh. She was out of there.
Eden’s purse had been vibrating for the last few minutes of the meeting.
Naturally it stopped the minute she got out into the hall.
She took a few more steps.
It started up again.
She screeched to a halt, the soles of her sneakers squeaking on the hall linoleum, and rooted for her phone, which in a fit of haste she had uncharacteristically chucked into the depths of her bag instead of utilizing the cunning little side pocket. Her hand swished through strata of Kleenex, scrunchies, hand sanitizer, a half-eaten Snickers bar—“Yes!” she exulted when she found that, then stuffed it into the pocket of her jeans—a pair of Annelise’s socks... aaand the phone stopped buzzing.
“Byeeee!” Jan Pennington singsonged cheerily as she breezed past her in a cloud of Chanel. Jan always smelled great; she’d hand that much to her. “See you at the carnival decorating committee meeting, Eden!”
