Page 40 of What You Wish For

But he certainly wasn’t carrying a light saber now. What the hell had happened to him? Was it that he’d married that boring admissions girl? Had she told him he needed to grow up and stop being fun? Or maybe it was becoming a parent. Or maybe some mentor had given him the very bad—and very wrong—advice that he had to change his entire personality to be successful.

Or maybe he was just having an off day. It was possible.

But an off day that wasthatoff?

I couldn’t fathom it. And I didn’t want to.

When I reached Mrs. Kline’s desk, her little reception area was stacked to the ceiling with boxes. She was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

“It’s all Max’s stuff,” she said, as I took in the sight. “I spent the weekend boxing it up.”

“Oh, Mrs. Kline,” I said, getting a little teary myself. “I bet that was hard.”

“Better me than Babette,” she said, and I had to agree.

I nodded. “I guess he really had a lot of stuff.”

“Thirty years’ll do that.”

“Yes,” I agreed.

“I’m just going to have maintenance take it to storage.”

I nodded. Good plan.

Then Mrs. Kline took a slow breath and shifted gears. “Are you here for”—she checked her appointment book—“your ten-thirty meeting?”

I glanced at the wall clock above her head. It was nine forty-seven. “Yes,” I said.

“Would you care to wait?”

“Not really,” I said.

She tilted her head toward Max’s closed office door. “Principal Carpenter said he didn’t want to be disturbed.”

“Okay,” I said.

I didn’t want to be disturbed, either. None of us wanted to be disturbed.

I looked at the closed door, hesitated for one second total, and then I marched over and knocked on it.

Loudly.

No answer.

I knocked again. Nothing.

But I knew he was in there.

Finally, I just started knocking and didn’t stop. Short, insistent raps:tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.Like a woodpecker. A loud, you-better-come-open-this-door kind of woodpecker.

Mrs. Kline just watched, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Finally, Duncan yanked the door open, growling: “Mrs. Kline, I said I’m—”

When he saw me, he stopped.

Then he finished with, “Not here.”

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