Page 21 of Stone Promises

She holds a finger out to me as she finishes her conversation with whomever is on the other end of the phone. She places the handset in the receiver and drops her folders. “Shoot,” she says, crouching down to pick up the strewn papers. “Are you on the approved volunteer list?”

Shit. There’s a list?I look around at all the signs on the walls and see one in particular. I get an idea. “I’m here for career day,” I say.

“That’s not until tomorrow.” She looks up when someone comes through the door behind her. “Don’t open that!” she yells as a student walks through, toppling more stacked folders onto the floor. “Oh, gosh. I’m sorry, I don’t normally run the front desk, but our secretary called in sick today. I’m the assistant principal.” She finally looks up at me. “What did you say your name—” Her words trail off and her mouth slowly forms the shape of an O as she once again drops the papers in her hand. “Uh, you’re . . . um, you’re . . . who are you here to see?”

I reach my hand over the desk. “Thad Stone. I’m here to see Mallory Schaffer, Mrs. . . .”

“Ms. Blanchard,” she says, shaking my hand with her trembling one. “Call me Carly.”

“Nice to meet you, Carly. You seem awfully young for an assistant principal,” I say to the middle-aged woman, hoping flattery will get me beyond the front desk. “Ms. Schaffer invited me for career day. I must’ve gotten the days wrong.” I look down at the floor in sadness. “Darn. I’m leaving for L.A. shortly. I was hoping to get to talk to her great group of fourth-graders. She can’t say enough about them. And this school. Man, she really does love working here. Well, my bodyguard is waiting for me outside. I guess I’ll go tell him the bad news. It was really nice meeting you, Carly.”

I turn around and take a slow step when she says. “Mr. Stone?”

I smile before looking at her over my shoulder. “Call me Thad, Carly.”

She blushes. “Okay, Thad. I’m not supposed to do this without you being on the volunteer list.” She looks over her shoulder to see the student walk out the door, leaving us alone in the front office. She writes my name on a visitor’s badge and peels the backing off before handing the sticker to me. “But seeing as you’re only in town today, I would hate to deprive Ms. Schaffer’s class of meeting you.”

She buzzes me through the door to the back. “That’s very kind of you, Carly. Thank you.”

“I’ll show you the way.” She presses a button on her phone. “Can you please cover the front desk for a minute, Martha?”

Martha comes out of another door and smiles at me. Martha is about seventy-five years old. She doesn’t recognize me. It’s refreshing.

Carly asks me all aboutDefcon Oneas she escorts me to Mal’s classroom. I’m happy to answer her questions. After all, she’s doing me a solid. We come to a door that is decorated with several different-sized paper cutouts of shoes. The shoes lead to a sign at the top that reads ‘Step into learning.’ Mallory’s full name is on a nameplate next to the door.

I laugh to myself. I can’t believe she’s a teacher. I remember her as the fifteen-year-old girl who would cut class with me to get ice cream. And now she’s a grown-up with a real job. A normal job. And I find myself jealous of someone who probably doesn’t even make in one year what I make in one week.

Carly peeks in the window next to the door. “Good, it looks like we caught them at a good time.” She knocks once and then opens the door. She goes in first. “Ms. Schaffer, you have a visitor.”

“Oh?” Mallory looks up, probably confused as to why her class is being interrupted. She sees me and freezes. She looks at her students and then to Carly and then to me again. “Uh . . . hi.” She walks over to me and I have to keep myself from laughing. The expression on her face is priceless. She has no idea why I’m here. She’s scared. She’s confused. She’s excited. Yup, even after all these years, I can still read her like an old familiar book.

“What are you doing here?” she whispers through her pasted-on smile.

“He’s here for career day,” Carly says. “He mixed up the days a bit, but since he’s going back to L.A. tomorrow, I told him he could go ahead and talk to your students today.” She turns to walk back out the door. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

“Thank you,” I tell her. “I appreciate your help and I trust you can keep this a secret?”

“Can I get a picture with you on your way out?” she asks shyly.

“Of course.”

“Then consider my lips sealed,” she says with a huge smile before closing the door.

Mallory and I are left standing at the front of the classroom, her jaw still agape that I’d have the gall to show up. “Why are you here?”

I shrug. “You wouldn’t answer my text,” I say quietly.

“I answered you this morning,” she whispers.

“It wasn’t the answer I wanted.”

“Chad, you can’t just show up unannounced.”

“I didn’t. Ms. Blanchard announced me.” I wink at her. “Plus, I’ve heard sometimes you have to make a grand gesture in order to get noticed. And I’m not Chad today.” I motion to her students. “I’m Thad.”

“A grandwhat?”Her forehead forms these adorable wrinkles as she questions me.

I glance at the students who have all been very quiet as they watch us. I take it they aren’t used to visitors. “Well, come on, teacher,” I say. “It’s career day, are you going to introduce me or what?”

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