Page 71 of Past Tents

So. Many. Words.

So many warring thoughts. My mind buzzed at the sense of doom in his words. And the implications that there was something I didn’t know.

In all the time we’d spent together, I’d gotten to know Clay in a way that ran contrary to his reputation. He’d told me why he stayed away from relationships and explained to me why I was different.

And yet...was there something I didn’t know? Of course, I questioned why he suddenly made a move after all these years. He’d never quite answered that question—why now? Was it just the coincidence of being thrown together on the retreat? I did fancy myself to be a smart woman.

I also felt defensive. About myself as someone worthy of Clay. About Clay as someone who was much more than his shallow reputation allowed people to see. But mostly, I felt defensive ofour new relationship that didn’t deserve scrutiny from anyone else, especially not our school principal. It was none of his damned business.

“This is none of your damned business,” I said before I had a chance to edit my words.

Pindich’s surprise spread across his face like lukewarm cream cheese on a bagel. “Maybe, maybe not. But I like you, Ally, and I want the best for you. Selfishly, you being happy makes for a copacetic workplace.”

Oh, he was so full of crap. He knew he wasn’t making me happy right now with this tease of a scandalous story, yet he persisted with a smile on his face.

“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me at work,” I said. I didn’t want him to tell me more. The little he’d said already had me flushed and upset, but letting him see that would give him all the power. I needed to get out of here. Then I’d find Clay and he’d put an end to Pindich’s rumor, whatever it was. “I really should go.”

I scooted along the desk until I was far enough away from him to get up and make my way toward the door. But my bookbag and purse were stashed in a cubby at the back of the classroom, so I didn’t make it out the door before he leveled another verbal blow.

“Clay made a bet that he could get the Green Valley Spinster to fall for him.” He waited for my reaction and I did my best not to betray the heat rising in my veins, but my cheeks went rogue. “Didn’t know people called you that? Yeah. In case you thought he was interested in you for more noble reasons.”

I should have walked out of the room. I should not have let Principal Pindich see that he’d rattled me. But what we should do and what our brains and bodies direct us to do in a moment of crisis are rarely the same thing.

So I stopped before pushing the classroom door open and turned to face him. “Sorry, what?”

His face twitched. He was trying to suppress the world’s largest shit-eating grin.

“I think your hearing is fine, Ms. Dalbotten.” It annoyed me that he kept calling me Ms. Dalbotten, as though offering me some degree of respect. But I knew that was far from his intention. Normally, he called all faculty by their first names, even when he was referring to one of us in front of a student. Heck, the students called us by our first names half the time, even though they weren’t supposed to.

“It’s hard to know when you encouraged the district to go with the cheaper healthcare plan, Principal Pin Dick.”

He made the same face he always did when I drew out the syllables of his last name. It looked like he was smelling rotting cabbage and extruding it from his rear end at the same time. “Pi-en-deech,” he said with a strange accent. “It’s German. I shouldn’t have to remind you that accuracy is vital when you’re around today’s youth.”

“I never studied German. I’m unfamiliar with the pronunciation of certain words,” I said.

“It’s a matter of respect, making an effort. Which is why I call you by your proper name, with your chosen pronouns. Respect.”

No, this was his way of faking respect, as though he was providing information from one esteemed colleague to another. But Pindich always had an ulterior motive. In fact, I wondered if his insistence that I go on the retreat was somehow part of a larger plan. Not that he could have known Clay and I would fall for each other—on the contrary, he probably assumed I was the safest possible choice to throw in Clay’s romantic path because he’d never go for someone like me.

“I don’t know who he made the bet with, but I heard about it that night when the staff went to Genie’s. Thanks for the invitation, by the way. I just don’t want to see you get your feelings hurt when this all blows up.” He watched me for a reaction, and I did my best to school my features and give him nothing. “Which it will.”

He hadn’t budged from his position against the desk, as though he had all day to sit here until I gave him the reaction he wanted. I refused.

The one benefit of having been a wallflower for most of my life was that I didn’t allow myself to get bullied by jerks like Pindich because I had nothing to lose by standing my ground. Could they take away my social status? Not if I didn’t have any. Could they mess with my self-esteem? Not if I’d already been humbled. Could they make me doubt my intelligence? Nope, not ever.

Jerks like Pindich rarely understood this, so they kept on nudging, trying to get me to care about what they had to say.

I would not react. Instead, I calmly stared back at him, knowing he’d find nothing in my expression. “Who told you this?”

It certainly wasn’t the most important piece of information, but I did want to know the answer. In fact, it was the only thing Ireally wanted to know. He could have been making all of this up to mess with me. Get back at me—again—for turning down his advances over all these years.

And no, I wasn’t bulletproof.

A tiny part of me found it all too easy to believe what I felt certain most people knew to be true—Clay, with his pick of every woman in Green Valley, most certainly wouldn’t choose me.

Right?

“I was there that night, remember? Let’s leave it at that,” he said. If he’d had a mustache, no doubt he’d be twirling it.

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