Adam had to laugh out loud to that one. That blunt gene was definitely from James’ mother.
“Thanks for the offer, James. And I’m really happy to receive your blessing on dating your mom. But, whatever’s happening between us right now, we’ve got to figure it out on our own. You cool with that?”
“Fo sho,” James answered, extending his hand to Adam. Impressed with the young man, Adam took his hand and James pulled him into a bro hug, slapping him on his back.
The gesture made Adam proud to know him and solidified that he’d have to do whatever he could to set things right with Janae. He wanted Janae, and now he realized that he wanted to be there to witness her son grow into the amazing man who was just on the other side of James’ horizon.
When they separated, James stepped back and turned to leave, looking over his shoulder one last time at Adam. “Just in case you were wondering, it’s my dad’s weekend again, and he’s waitingoutside for me. Now might be the perfect time to try to talk to my mom.”
My man!Adam thought to himself. Not that he needed any more encouragement. When Janae had texted him to come over and talk after the variety show, he’d cleared out his whole schedule. The added benefit of not having their conversation interrupted by James’ presence meant he and Janae could take their time wading through the choppy waters of this mess they’d created.
James exited the hall, and Adam continued toward the dressing room with a mission to grab his stuff and head for Janae’s. But the ringing of his phone in his back pocket stopped him in his tracks.
“Hello.”
His voice was gruff with a tad bit of annoyance, and he didn’t care. He wanted to get to Janae, and this was slowing him down.
“Hello, Dr. Henderson. This is Dr. Brent. I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”
“Is there something happening?”
“One, I wanted to congratulate you on your performance. I was in the audience, and I thought it was an exceptional display of how dedicated you are to the kids in this district. We need more administrators to understand it’s not just about the paperwork, it’s about the human beings whose lives we’re trying to make a difference in.”
Adam stopped in his tracks. He certainly was dedicated to his kids. But they weren’t exactly the only thing on his mind when Derrick had come up with the idea to put this skit together. It was a good thing Dr. Brent didn’t need to know all that, though.
“Thank you, Dr. Brent, I’ll do anything to help my kids.”
“It appears so, that speaks to my second point for calling. I wanted to congratulate you on your getting the district’s creative arts program fully funded.”
James did a bit of mental math and tried to figure out what the school board president was talking about.
“Thank you, ma’am. However, the final tally of tonight’s fundraising hasn’t been done. I’m not sure if we’ve actually reached our goal or not.”
“That’s because you don’t have the information that I hold.” He waited for her to elaborate. “Tonight, Ms. Vanessa Jared found me as I was entering the auditorium and told me she was part of a charitable foundation that looked for worthy causes to donate to. She informed them about our program, and apparently, they liked what they heard. Tonight, she handed me a check for enough money to fully fund the program for at least five years. The only caveat is that they’ve named you as the administrator of the fund.”
Adam was nearly weak when he processed what the school board president had to say. How had Vanessa done this without him knowing, without Michael knowing? He was certain if Michael had known, he would’ve told Adam about it.
“Dr. Henderson, are you still there?”
“Yes.” His voice was sharp, filled with shock. “I’m here. I can’t believe this. As an interim superintendent, how will this play out if the board decides not to keep me?”
“Dr. Henderson, you just brought in a multimillion dollar endowment to the district. I doubt very seriously there’s any chance any board member is going to try to vote you out. Besides, with your obvious dedication to our kids, the job was pretty much yours anyway. We just had to see how you worked this budget situation out before we made it official.”
“So are you saying—”
She interrupted Adam. “I’m saying welcome to Monroe Hills Area School District as the new and permanent superintendent. The official paperwork will be in your in-box on Monday. Enjoy your weekend, Dr. Henderson.”
The line went dead as the dressing room door opened and Michael and Derrick stepped into the hall.
“Everything okay, man?” Michael’s query shook Adam out of his fog. He looked at his friend as he contemplated the question.
He should feel over the moon. He should be ecstatic, doing a victory dance right where he stood. And although he was happy about the good news he’d received, he couldn’t find the joy that should’ve been flowing through him.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. He’d been so clueless, just as much as he had been when they were teenagers. He didn’t recognize it then, he didn’t even recognize it all this time that he and Janae had been dating. But in this moment when he was at his professional zenith, he couldn’t be as thrilled as he wanted to be because Janae wasn’t at his side. The woman he loved wasn’t there.
He turned to his friends with the widest grin on his face, grabbing them both in a hug.
“Everything will be perfect once I get my woman back.”
