Murder of a Bookstore Babe

“I’m willing to consult closely with him. But he needs to know that I’m doing so under orders from you. And if by the end of the year we don’t see any improvement, since he’s not tenured . . .” Skye hated what she was about to say, but her job was to be the children’s advocate, not the teachers’. “I would have to recommend that his contract not be renewed and he not be given a reference.”

“I agree.” Caroline sighed. “He has such promise. We don’t have enough young men wanting to work at the elementary level, especially in PE. I hope you can help him see the error of his ways.”

“Or at least get him to do what he’s told.” Skye was pragmatic.

Caroline nodded, indicating their discussion was over. As Skye walked out of the principal’s office, she wondered what in the world she could do to convince Todd Grind her philosophy was the correct one.

Skye headed down the hall, mentally reshuffling her schedule. She had intended to test a fifth grader that morning but needed at least a two-hour block of uninterrupted time for that. And since she was due at the junior high at twelve thirty, it was too late to start now. She couldn’t do any observations, because she hadn’t made appointments with the teachers. That left report writing. There was never any shortage of paperwork, and she tended to do it in dribs and drabs, whenever she had a spare moment.

Preoccupied, she didn’t register that her usually locked office door was open, and as she stepped inside, she gave a tiny yelp. Sitting on one of the two metal folding chairs was Simon. As always, he was dressed impeccably, in an elegant dark suit.

He had spread the desk with a white linen tablecloth and placed a vase containing yellow roses in the center. Arranged around the bouquet were plates of fruit, cheese, French bread, and two flutes of sparkling grape juice. At least she hoped it was sparkling grape juice, because alcohol on school grounds was cause for immediate dismissal.

Skye sniffed. Her office had started life as a storage room for the cafeteria, and a faint odor of sour milk usually hung in the air, but today there was a pleasant floral scent. Was it the roses, or had Simon brought air freshener?

Simon had stood up when she entered, and a grin lit his handsome face. “Surprise!”

“What are you doing here?” Skye forced herself to frown even as her stomach growled at the sight of the food. “I told you to stop it.”

“And I told you I wouldn’t. Haven’t I convinced you of that yet?” He indicated the other chair. “Sit down. What’s the harm of a little brunch? It’s not as if I’m going to ravish you in the middle of the grade school. Although you do look good enough to eat.”

Skye ignored his compliment. He was obviously exaggerating. She was wearing a pair of old black slacks and a pink twin set that had seen better days, and she hadn’t even bothered to straighten her hair, just scraped it back with a headband.

Simon’s tall frame took up most of the small space, but she managed to edge past without brushing against him. She dragged the other folding chair back behind the desk and asked, “How did you get in here?” She was sure she’d locked the door. She always did because of confidentiality issues.

“Fern gave me the master key.”

“Why would she do that?” Skye glared at him. “She could get into a lot of trouble.”

“I helped her out when her mom died.” Simon nudged a plate of fruit toward her. “Come on. Eat something. It’s no big deal, and I know you won’t give Fern a hard time for trying to further true love.”

“You’re right,” Skye acknowledged. “I won’t tell on her, but you’ve got to stop this.”

“I can’t.” Simon was suddenly serious. “Look, when that psycho almost killed you last October, I realized that I didn’t appreciate you when we were dating. That I tried to change you, when you were perfect the way you were. That the reason you’re the one for me is because of who you are, not who I want to make you into.”

“Simon.” Skye swallowed the lump in her throat. “Don’t.” It was hard to hear the genuine love in his voice.

“I’m not going to say that I can’t live without you, but the truth is, there is only one person who completes me, and that’s you. I know for certain that my life would be infinitely richer with you by my side.” Simon’s expression was bleak. “It’s like I woke up one day and finally saw that with you the world is a wonderful place full of color and adventure, and without you, it’s like a black-and-white movie.”

Skye sat stunned for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry. Maybe if you had realized all of this sooner, but . . .” She shook her head. The pain in his voice tore at her. “I can’t do this for a lot of reasons. You have to leave.”

“I will, but I’m not giving up.” He smiled sadly. “And before I go, I need to tell you about Xavier.” Simon’s voice was grave. “Frannie told me last night that he’s been gone a lot lately. Either he won’t say where he’s going, or he lies to her about where he is.”