Page 9 of Gifted

“Not happening, man,” I muttered and headed toward a small seating area situated in a turret-shaped alcove on the other end of the hallway. Windows were set into all three sides, giving a good view of the blizzard still raging outside. I sank into one of the wingchairs and peered down at the street. I couldn’t really see it through the storm, though I could just make out a few of the illuminated street posts.

Pulling out my phone, I found I had a couple bars up here. I wasn’t sure I could get through to Shirley, but I could at least leave a message. I’d like to know if I had to call the school’s headmaster, too, though.

“Hello? Mr. Kessler?” she answered. I wasn’t sure why she insisted on calling me that, given she was a good thirty years older than me.

“Hi, Shirley. Yeah, it’s me. I finally got some bars to be able to call. I have Poppy with me, and I found us a place to stay until the storm blows over and we can get a train out. I’ll try to get us a ride to London on the twenty-sixth then a flight out that night or the next day.”

“Oh thank God! I was so worried about her.”

My eyes rolled, because she hadn’t seemed anything more than annoyed back on the train platform. “She’s fine. We found dinner, and she’s in her room now.”

No way was I going into the details of a single room. It might come out at some point, but Shirley wasn’t the one to explain it to.

“Good. Good. I’ll let Mr. Rutgers know. He’s been calling me every half hour since I let him know the problem. He couldn’t get through to you. You must really be in a dead zone.”

“I don’t think the storm is doing the cell towers any favors. Do you want me to call him; I probably should.”

“No,” she cut in. “Let me.”

Because she had a not-so-secret crush on the guy, which kind of cracked me up since he was my age and we’d gone to school together. Whatever floated her boat. I had no problem not talking to the man who hated me and wanted to drive me into the dirt whenever he could. I couldn’t understand it really. It wasn’t as if we were competition or he had anything to be jealous of when it came to me. I’d pretty much just decided he was an asshole, because he always had been. He hadn’t been the headmaster at Canton School when I’d started there. If he had, there was no way in hell I would have set foot in the place.

Of course, if I crossed the line with Poppy, he’d finally have a reason to have my ass. Some days, I really didn’t care what he did. Other days, I worried I’d have to tuck tail and go work for the family company.

“Thanks, that’ll be great. I’m not sure how long I’ll keep a signal.”

“Not a problem. Just keep our girl safe and make it home in one piece.”

“On my honor,” I quipped and after a brief goodbye, disconnected.

I hadn’t been away from the room long, so I settled back in the armchair and stared out the window. Since there was nothing to see, it allowed my mind to wander. And it wandered right to Poppy. Annoyed with myself, I pulled out my phone and started looking for things to do around here.

The town was too small for a website, so I headed downstairs. Hopefully, Niles was still around, and I wouldn’t be pulling him from his family.

“Mr. Kessler,” he said, looking up from the sweeping he’d been doing. “Everythin’ alright, lad?”

“Yeah.” I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans. It occurred to me it was a good thing Niles hadn’t been the one to check in our class trip, or he’d know this whole thing with Poppy being my wife was bullshit. “She’s just doing girl stuff up there. She’s still a little shy since it’s only been a couple days.”

“Aye, she’ll come out of that.” He chuckled, and I wondered if he was thinking of his own wife.

“So, I was just wondering, since we’re stranded here and all, do you have any suggestions for what we can do here in town? Besides holing up in our room and doing the obvious. I want this to be a trip for her to remember.”

He tried to bite back a smile, and even though I knew I shouldn’t have said that, I was glad to make him laugh. I’d always liked “seeing” people. I worked hard to do that for my students, because growing up, I was damn sure most of my teachers couldn’t have cared any less than they had.

“Do you think anything will be open, even with the blizzard?” I added.

“We’re hardy folk ‘round here. There’ll be ice skating in the square, near the Christmas village. That’ll be runnin’, too. I’ll write down a few things, along with directions, and leave it for you. Just ask in the morn.”

“Perfect. Thank you.”

Niles nodded and went back to his sweeping. Figuring I’d wasted enough time, I headed back upstairs to ready for my unbearably long night on the floor.

---