Page 3 of Mr. B

He turned to her. “Polly, it’s one thing to read my emails from the district office. It’s quite another to listen in on my phone conversations.”

She raised a hand. “I didn’t. I wouldn’t.”

“Then, what are you sorry for?”

“She’s here. Dr. Jordan.”

Wes dropped into his desk chair. “Is she expecting me to come out and welcome her?”

“I don’t think so. She went right to Mr. Bishop’s…or ah, her office.”

He turned to the computer and brought up his calendar for the day. “Good.” He glanced at Polly when she didn’t move out of the doorway. “Something else?”

“Well, you probably should…” She held her hand up again. “You’re the boss. You know best.” She backed out of the door and closed it.

Wes glared at it. “I’m the boss?” He leaned back in his chair and swiveled back and forth. “Dammit.”

Cassandra was sitting behind Brian’s cluttered desk, holding a small ceramic frog in her hand. Wes leaned against the door frame.

“Brian was a bit obsessed with frogs.”

She looked up at him as she returned the frog to the dozen others sitting on the corner of the desk. “Are you here to fire me?”

He nodded. “I’m very tempted, but no. I guess I owe you one for helping Justin with the fire thing.”

“I wasn’t much help. He seemed to have worked things out on his own.”

“Still, you tried.” He straightened up. “But now we’re even.”

“Good to know.” She looked around the office, filled with retro McDonald’s toys, superhero references, an eclectic collection of child psychology books, and a lot more frogs. “What am I supposed to do with all this junk?”

Wes smiled. “We should pack it up and store it for a while in case he sends for it.” He took a step into the office. “And by we, I mean you, of course.”

“Of course.” She looked at him for a moment. “You’re smiling, but underneath your head is about to explode.”

Wes straightened his shoulders and cleared his throat. “That would imply you have some sort of power in this situation. You don’t.”

“Okay, boss.”

He sighed. “Why are you even here? What happened to your practice?”

“I’d rather not discuss that with you.”

“Okay.”

She placed her palms on the desk for a moment, then stood up. “I don’t like this situation any more than you do, but—”

“Then why are you here? I didn’t have any say in it, but you certainly did. You could’ve said no.”

She cocked her head. “I guess I just wanted to ruin your day, Wes.”

“Mission accomplished.” He took a step back. “I’ll let you get to it.”

“Um…boxes?”

“Polly can sort that out for you.”

Wes returned to his office, then closed the door harder than he should’ve. He paced for a moment, then took out his cell phone and called Gentry.