Page 67 of A Convenient Heart
He’d gotten lucky. He knew it.
“I’m sorry he came after you”—she’d never know how sorry—“and interrupted your special night.” He’d seen the raw fear in her expression as he’d walked down the stairs.
Her hand squeezed his. “I can’t believe you came back?—”
“Miss Harding.”
Merritt blinked, accepting the interruption as three pairs of footsteps clomped on the boardwalk.
It was her school board members. In the dim light thrown by the open doors, Jack saw the smirk worn by Polk.
“I am sorry to say that what happened tonight has shown us clearly that you are no longer fit to be the schoolteacher of the Calvin school.”
“That’s not what we discussed,” said Mr. Goodall, a man with a gray mustache and bowler hat. From his position next to Mr. Polk, his gaze flicked to Jack.
If anything, Polk’s smile grew wider. “When we discussed Miss Harding’s tenure earlier today, we had only taken into account her dallying with a known gambler of ill repute. But it’s clear by what happened tonight that her actions have endangered the children in her care?—”
Jack let go of Merritt’s hand to take a step in the man’s direction. “Merritt used her quick thinking to get those kids out of harm’s way.”
Polk’s lip curled. “They wouldn’t have been in harm’s way if not for her connection with you and youracquaintances.”
“You can’t take away Miss Harding’s job,” Jack insisted, though he knew it was well within their rights.
Merritt came beside him, her hand snaking around his arm. “It’s all right,” she said softly.
“It’s not all right.” His sense of justice was riled, and he felt righteous anger pouring through him.
“It’s not going to matter in the end.” Polk glanced at the other two board members. “Unfortunately, I’ve been in talks with Ernie Duff from the land office, and he’s combed through the record books. There’s no official record that the land where the school building was constructed was ever purchased by the township. In fact, only yesterday, Burns filed a deed for that tract of land.”
Merritt went still beside him. Jack’s chest expanded, but before he could speak, Mr. Goodall said, “What do you mean, no record of the original deed?”
“Just what I said.” There was such a slimy tone in Polk’s voice that Jack wanted to slug him. “The title for that piece of land has been bought and paid for. When I asked Duff where we might rebuild the school, he told me that every parcel in the township was spoken for, unless we can have the town council expand the borders of our town.”
“The school is centrally located,” Merritt said. “Easy for any child living nearby to walk to. If it’s relocated outside of town, some children won’t be able to attend.”
“That’s too bad,” Polk said. “Ifthe school is rebuilt before the spring semester ends. You know how the town council can be so terribly slow about passing legislation.”
Another pair of boots hit the boardwalk, and Jack was deeply relieved as Nick headed their direction.
“Gentlemen.” Nick shook hands with all three school board members. If Jack wasn’t mistaken, he squeezed Polk’s for a prolonged moment. The other man flexed his hand at his side, as if Nick’s handshake had hurt, and Jack felt an inordinate amount of happiness in that.
“I couldn’t help but overhear your lively discussion.” Nick pulled a sheaf of papers from an inside coat pocket.
“I just came in on the train from Cheyenne, where I had a visit with the state superintendent. Mr. Beauchamp has been remitting a report on our county school each year. But did you know that his predecessor wrote terribly detailed reports? The superintendent sent me with a handwritten copy of this one.” Nick held out a paper to Mr. Goodall, who took it. “As you can see there, it shows the detail of the land parcel where the school was, before it burned.”
“Regardless, if the school was occupying the land illegally?—”
Nick interrupted Polk. “It was legal, even if the records have been lost. There are six years of reports just like that one. The state office also told me about state legislation passed just last year reserving a parcel of land in each township specifically for a school. The superintendent was going to wire Mr. Duff over at the land office so he’d have an official reminder.”
Mr. Goodall stared at the paper with a frown. “The sale to Mr. Burns can be reversed. It’s clear he was trying to take advantage of the situation.”
Polk started to argue, and Mr. Beauchamp joined the conversation.
“Nick!” Merritt moved past Jack and threw her arms around her cousin. Over her head, Nick’s stare bored into Jack.
Thank you, Jack mouthed.
Take care of her, Nick replied in kind.
