PREVIOUS POST:

Mr. Frost passed the schedules to each teacher, but studied Katherine's. She held out her hand. "My schedule, please."

He glared at her. "There's no way you're qualified to teach these classes." Turning, he headed toward Mr. Edwards.

They spoke for a few minutes before Paul took the schedule and came to Katherine. "Sorry for the delay, but here's your schedule." He scanned it, grinned, and winked. "It looks good to me."

Katherine accepted the schedule. "Thank you."

As she studied it, Angie looked over her shoulder. "What was Frost so upset over?"

"I don't know. I think he doesn't like anything I do."

Over the intercom system came, "Mrs. Riley, please report to the office."

"Now what?"

TODAY'S POST:

Chapter 4 part 1

As Katherine opened the office door, Coach grinned. "I'd like you to meet my parents; Rebecca and Harold Hudson. Mom, Dad, this is Katherine Riley. She's a new math teacher. If she brings me coffee in the morning, I told her I'd make sure she and her son got lunch this week."

Rebecca offered her hand. "I'm glad to meet you. Harold and I have been fixing lunches for the coaches and Paul since Gabe started here. I'm glad our son included you. I hope you like it." She handed Katherine two sacks and set on the counter two glasses filled with tea.

"I'm sure it'll be delicious. I'm curious how did this get started?"

Gabriel moved closer. "I'll explain as I help you carry this. I'm sure Jordan's hungry."

"Thank you. He's always hungry."

Chuckling, Gabriel put both drinks in one hand and opened the door as he continued, "I'm sure that's true. I'll answer your question. I like to have the coaches meet during lunch. Games are so unpredictable that one can never plan enough. With all the coaches getting lunch, there wasn't time, so Mom and Dad offered help. Everybody seems to like what they fix; at least there haven't been any complaints."

"So after all these years football remains a town affair?"

"Things don't change much, do they?" He waited for her to enter the classroom and then he followed.

Jordan glanced up. "Mom, did you remember lunch?"

Gabriel grinned. "She did."

Jordan jumped to attention. "Sorry, Coach. Yesterday..."

"Not a problem," interrupted Gabriel. "She mentioned she'd forgotten it yesterday. We made a deal. She brings me my morning coffee, and I'll take care of lunch." He set the drinks on a desk. "I have a meeting to get to. Enjoy."

Katherine handed Jordan a sack, but called after Gabriel, "Or you should say your parents took care of it." She shook her head as she heard him laughing down the hall, and called after him, "Thank you again. I'm sure it's delicious."

Jordan opened the sack. "Mom, this has two chicken salad croissants, grapes, cherry tomatoes, carrots, celery, and two snickerdoodle cookies for dessert. Wow! Coach doesn't do anything halfway, does he?"

"No, he doesn't." Katherine stared at the door. "Let's eat, and then get busy. This classroom needs to be ready for students in one week."

*****
About 12:30, Katherine gave Jordan a few jobs to complete in the classroom while she attended her meeting and told him if he got hungry he could eat her second sandwich. Ten minutes later she crossed the hall to Angie's room.

Angie glanced up. "Have you had a chance to study your schedule?"

Katherine sat beside her. "I have. I wish I had a break before 2:00, but I'll work with it."

"Our breaks are often in the afternoon because on Friday's the athletes travel to away games. This way they won't miss a lot of class time, especially in the more difficult classes."

"Makes sense."

Rodney Frost walked in. "Of course everything revolves around sports. We certainly wouldn't want to do anything that'd actually increase the learning opportunity for students."

Frank Collins followed Rodney in. "Mrs. Riley, I heard your dad was Coach Beck, is that right?"

Before she had a chance to reply, Alan Green, an Assistant Principal, came into the room. "You heard right. Mrs. Riley's dad was none other than the famous Coach Beck."

Mr. Frost glared at Katherine. "I figured you got the job because you were sleeping with Coach. Then to secure the deal you slept with Edwards. Now, you really sealed the deal with nepotism. Nobody else had a chance."

Mr. Green raised his hand. "Stop it. This is totally..." His glare followed Katherine out the door. "Unprofessional." He used his walkie-talkie and notified Mr. Edwards. He stood in the door watching Katherine and then turned. "Mr. Frost, Human Resources will hear about this. I'm going to recommend a suspension."

"You can't do that. I spoke the truth."

"You better have evidence to back up your accusations."

Coach Hudson was the first to show up. Mr. Edwards was right behind him.

After hearing verbatim what had happened, Gabriel glared at Frost. "The venom you're spouting is even low for you." He left the room. "I'm searching for Mrs. Riley. You better hope she's not working on her resignation."

Paul checked his watch. "Mr. Frost, you need to be in my office in twenty minutes. I'll be on the phone to H.R." He left.

Gabriel checked the security cameras and discovered Katherine went toward the football field. Both he and Paul headed that direction spouting choice words about Frost.



CHARACTERS:

Katherine Riley: age 33 - widowed: husband died 6 months ago. She moved to Texas from NYC with her four sons.

Daisy: Katherine's yellow Labrador

Gabriel Hudson: more information later, owner of a very large English Mastiff

Reggie: a very large English Mastiff

Jeremy: Katherine's six year old son. He's in first grade.

Jordan: Katherine's fifteen year old son. He's a sophomore.

Paul Edwards: High School principal and Gabriel's friend.

Rodney Frost: Math department head, at least for now.

Angie Brooks Math teacher and Katherine's friend.

Frank Collins Math teacher.

Rebecca and Harold Hudson Gabriel's parents

Sarah and Bob Beck Katherine's parents, Bob is deceased

Frank Collins math teacher

Alan Green an Assistant Principal