Chapter 9
“Rowan!”
Rowan sighed and dropped her head forward. Setting her book down on the end table in the den, she called, “Yes, Mama?”
“I need you to do something.”
Rolling her eyes, she pushed out of the chair, grateful her flight was tomorrow.
The tumor had been benign, but her mother was milking the doctor’s orders to “take it easy” for everything it was worth. She’d only gotten out of bed to go to the bathroom and move to the couch, so finding her in the kitchen was a surprise.
“You’re up,” she said.
“Don’t be sassy. Of course, I’m up. I can’t stay in bed forever. Not all of us are on vacation.”
Rowan raised her eyebrows and pressed her lips together. Yup. Her mom was definitely feeling better.
“What do you need?”
“Your father forgot his lunch. Again. I need you to take it to him.”
“Sure.” It would give her a chance to get out of the house. She’d agreed to help take care of her mom for a few days after she’d been released from the hospital, but being home had reminded her there was a reason she’d goneawayto college.
Nostalgia set in on the drive to her old high school. Even being away for so long, the muscle memory took her past the dilapidated barn a mile from her parent’s house, then down Main Street with its two stop lights to the high school, which was directly across the street from the combined elementary and middle school. The school’s mascot, the Hollerin’ Hillbilly, still boldly painted on the side of the gymnasium.
She rolled her eyes as she pulled into the visitors’ parking lot, the uneasy embarrassment of being a Hollerin’ Hillbilly making her neck flush. She grabbed the insulated lunch bag from the passenger seat and made her way to the front door of the school, surprised that she had to wait to be buzzed in.
The receptionist was new—at least it wasn’t the same woman that had been in the position the entire time she attended Flat Holler Junior and Senior High School. She looked up from her computer with a polite smile. “Hi. Can I help you?”
“Hi. I’m here to see my dad.” She held up the lunch box. “He forgot his lunch.”
The woman’s eyes widened. “Oh! You’re Rowan! I recognize you from all the pictures on his desk. Hang on a minute and I’ll see if he’s free.” She stood and walked to the last door on the left behind her, knocked, and poked her head in. On the way back, she spoke to a young girl waiting in one of the chairs outside the office door.
Rowan watched the girl work up a tear while the woman was looking at her, but as soon as she turned around the girl sneered at her back.
Some things never changed…mean girls especially.
“He’s free. Go on back.” The woman resumed her seat.
Rowan walked around the counter to her dad’s office. The girl in the chair was sniffing as if she was truly crying. Rowan paused with her hand on the door handle. “Don’t bother,” she said.
“What?” the girl asked.
“If you think tears are going to save you, this must be your first time here. He has two daughters—tears aren’t going to do anything except annoy him.” She entered her dad’s office, not bothering to wait for the girl’s response.
“Hey, Dad.”
He came around the solid wood desk. “Hey, sweetie. This is a surprise. What brings you here?”
“I brought your lunch. Mom said you forgot it.”
“Oh, darn.” He took the bag and placed it in the small refrigerator near the door. “This whole week has blown my routine to pieces. I feel like I’m drowning in reports.”
“Isn’t the Assistant Principal supposed to pick up some slack for you?” she asked, taking one of the chairs across from his desk.
“Normally, yes, but she’s on her two-week training with the National Guard.”
“Ooh, a military woman. I bet the students love that.”
