The Christmas Cookie Wars

Chapter Eighteen

Eighteen

In the hallway, Finn and Tate both moved quickly, as if they’d really be able to get away from her.

“What were you thinking?” She caught up to them in two strides. “What would ever possess you to throw your macaroni and cheese at another kid?”

“Blake was being a jerk,” Finn grumbled.

That was it? His entire defense? “Blake is always rude.” In this case, the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. Charlene’s son thought he ran the place. “Who cares? If he was bullying you, you tell an adult. You don’t take matters into your own hands. That’s what I taught you.” Or maybe she hadn’t. Maybe she hadn’t taught them anything. “I was right there. You could’ve come and told me.”

“No, I couldn’t.” Finn stalked ahead.

“Why not?” She pulled him to a stop. “Help me understand what just happened.” Because she was at a total loss.

“Melody?” Jonathan called her name, and a whole new humiliation washed over her.

She tried to smooth her hair out, but it was too sticky. “There’s been…there was an incident.”

“I know. Gail called down here to say you were on your way.” He met them outside the office. “Are you okay?”

No. She wasn’t okay. Tears scorched her eyes, and the smell of warm chocolate milk was starting to make her nauseated.

“Let’s get into my office and figure this out.” He looked around the hall nervously and kept his distance from her all the way there.

Nancy grimaced when they walked past but didn’t say anything.

Jonathan closed the door, and the boys immediately moved to the other corner of the room. At least their heads were hanging with an appropriate amount of remorse.

“You boys want to tell me what happened?” Jonathan stood between her and them, almost as though he was unsure what to do.

“Blake was being a jerk so I shut him up,” Finn muttered.

Jonathan blinked at him. “Um. Okay. How was he being a jerk?”

“He was—” Tate started, but Finn shook his head at his brother.

Melody looked back and forth between them. They’d always had this way of silently communicating with their expressions. What weren’t they saying out loud?

“I got mad at him and I threw my macaroni and cheese at him, but I shouldn’t have. I know that.” Finn turned to her. “I’m really sorry, Mom.”

“There has to be more to the story—” she said at the same time Jonathan said, “Sorry’s not good enough this time. It sounds like there’s a huge mess in the cafeteria.”

“We can clean it up,” Tate offered. “We’ll mop and everything. That can be our punishment.”

Jonathan sat down at his desk, rubbing his temples. “I don’t think you two realize how serious this is. Someone could’ve gotten hurt in there. Did you think about that?” He didn’t give them a chance to answer. “Of course not. You weren’t thinking.”

Melody shook her head in disbelief. They still didn’t know exactly what happened and Jonathan was already starting in with a lecture? “I want to know what Blake said to you, Finny.” Her voice wobbled.

“Nothing.” Her younger twin wouldn’t even look at her, so she focused on Tate. But he only shrugged. “I didn’t hear what he said.”

Tate shifted because he hated being dishonest, and Finn couldn’t even make eye contact. They were lying right through their teeth.

“Well, I have to suspend you both.” Jonathan had hardly looked at her once since they’d come in here. “I mean, that’s my only option.”

“Suspend them? Clearly they were baited into this.” She pointed at the boys lest they get any ideas about her defending their bad behavior. “I’m not making excuses for you. You both know better, and trust me, there are going to be all kinds of consequences. But I want to know what Blake said to you.”

“He said I was dumb.” Finn still couldn’t look at her, which meant he was lying again.

Jonathan checked his watch. He checked his watch! “I have a meeting with the superintendent. You need to take them home.” He walked past her and opened the door as though shooing them out. “This is grounds for a three-day suspension, so they’ll have to wait to come back to school in January.”

Finn and Tate made a hasty exit out of his office and disappeared, but Melody hung back. “Are you serious?” He wasn’t even going to try to get to the bottom of this? “Are you going to talk to Blake too?”

“I can talk to him, but everyone saw Finn start the fight, Melody.” Where was his soft, open smile that he usually saved for her now? “I can’t give them special treatment. You know that.”

“Fine. That’s fine.” She tightened the towel she still held around her shoulders. “I guess I’ll see you around.” She hurried away from him before he could get a good look at the tears in her eyes.

“Wait.” He followed her to Nancy’s desk. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a choice.”

Melody whirled. “You do, actually. You know them. You know this is completely out of character, so the least you could do is try to get to the bottom of it.” But he had a meeting. So she walked away from him and found her boys engaged in a heated discussion outside the school.

They immediately stopped talking when they saw her.

“Get in the car.” Melody trudged behind them not saying one more word. Because if she even opened her mouth right now, an avalanche of anger would come barreling out. Instead of completely losing it with them, she did every technique in the parenting books on the drive home. Slowly count to ten. One full minute of deep breathing. Reminding herself of five things she loved about each of her boys. By the time she turned onto their street, she had at least reined in the anger and the shock and humiliation. Only utter sadness remained. “You know what hurts the most?”

Neither boy spoke up. They were both staring out their respective windows.

“You’re lying to me.” She pulled the car into the driveway but not into the garage. “We don’t lie to each other in this family.”

“Oh really?” Finn snapped. “Then how come you didn’t tell us you’re dating our principal?”

An icy panic slithered through her, bolting her hands to the steering wheel. “What?” It came out as a gasp.

“That’s what Blake was saying.” Tate undid his seat belt and leaned between the seats like he wanted to gauge her face. “That you and Mr. Braxton are dating and it’s only because you want us to stop getting in trouble at school.”

“No.” The ice had spread to her throat, freezing it over. “That’s not true at all.” Her knuckles ached from gripping the steering wheel so hard, but she couldn’t seem to let go.

“You’re not dating him?” Finn demanded as though he already knew the answer. “Because you have been spending a lot of time with him. You got him that mixing bowl. And you wanted him to give us special treatment in his office just now.”

Melody’s head shook. She finally broke free of the dread gripping her muscles. “Yes, we have spent some time together.” She turned to face them. “But I wasn’t asking him to treat you differently. I just wanted him to get to the bottom—”

“You didn’t tell us.” Her younger twin’s lips twitched. He was on the verge of tears. “We looked really stupid in front of all of our friends.”

Melody closed her eyes. Tears leaked out when she opened them. “I’m sorry. That must’ve been a horrible feeling. But I was only trying to protect you. I didn’t want to say anything until I knew if we liked spending time together.”

“Whatever.” Tate pushed open his door. “We’ll send ourselves to our rooms.”

Finn climbed out of the car too, and both doors slammed in unison.

Melody let them walk away, into the house, before easing the car into the garage. Then she trudged into the kitchen in time to hear both of their bedroom doors slam too. They likely wouldn’t be talking to her for a while, so she headed to her room too. She should’ve known Charlene would find a way to ruin things for her and Jonathan. Melody shed her chocolate-milk-stained clothes and stepped into the shower, letting a few tears fall under the stream of water.

While she was blow-drying her hair, her mother busted into her room. “I heard what happened at school. Are you okay?”

Melody backed to the bed and slumped to the mattress. “No.” What a disaster she’d created.

“So it’s true?” Her mom sat next to her. “Finn and Tate started a food fight in the cafeteria?”

See? She couldn’t believe it either. “Because Blake was teasing them about Jonathan and me.” Ugh. How had she gotten so caught up in her feelings that she’d neglected to consider what would happen if someone found out? “Charlene knows. I have no idea how. But who tells their kid something like that?”

“She’s a piece of work, that one.” Her mom patted her cheek. “She’s just put out because the cookie committee is functioning much better without her, thanks to you.”

“It doesn’t even matter why she’s causing problems.” Melody pushed off the bed, a heaviness weighting her body. “You were right. This is exactly what you were worried about and look what happened. I should’ve listened to you.”

“You should know by now never to listen to me, darlin’.” Her mom stood too, pulling her into a comforting hug. “If you’d listened to me, you never would’ve realized how far you’ve come—that you’re ready to open your heart again.” She lifted Melody’s chin so she’d look into her eyes. “What you did wasn’t a mistake. It was brave. You put yourself out there. Maybe it didn’t go the way you wanted it to, but never feel bad about pursuing something that makes you happy simply because you’re afraid of how your kids will handle it.”

“They handled it exactly like they should’ve.” She shrank out of her mom’s embrace. “They were humiliated and upset. And hurt. And I can’t be the cause of their hurt.” She should’ve known this would happen. Melody headed for her closet, pulling on a sweater and stepping into her boots.

“Jonathan is a good man.” Her mother stood by the door, watching her. “One of the best I’ve ever met, in fact.”

“Our timing doesn’t work.” That was the only thing that mattered. “Look at how this affected Finn and Tate.” And they were supposed to come first. “Can you stay with them for a while?”

A sigh deflated her mother against the wall. “I suppose I can. But you shouldn’t do anything rash. Wait a few days and let your emotions cool off.”

“I can’t wait.” Both she and the boys had been completely humiliated today. She couldn’t sit here and do nothing about it. “I’ll be back.”

Before her mother could try to talk her out of it, she left and drove to Jonathan’s house.

Ainsley answered the door, her smile bright. “Hi, Melody!”

“Hey.” She didn’t even try to smile back. “Is your dad home yet?”

“Yeah. He just got home.” Concern brought a guarded hesitation to her tone. “I’ll go get him. Do you want to come in?”

“No. Thank you.” This would be a quick, one-sided discussion. “I’ll wait out here.”

The girl nodded, her forehead creasing before she disappeared.

A minute later, Jonathan appeared at the door. “Melody, come inside so we can talk.”

“We can talk out here.” She crossed her arms to hold herself together. “Do you know why they threw the mac and cheese? Because of me. Because of us.”

His expression fell.

“Rumors are already going around. And Charlene told her ten-year-old son all about them. Blake was teasing Finn and Tate at lunch.” She refused to let any more tears fall.

Jonathan slipped all the way outside and closed his front door. “Why didn’t they say something in my office?”

“Because Blake accused them of getting special treatment from you.” And there’s only one place that kid would’ve gotten that idea. “What was Charlene there to meet with you about?”

She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Jonathan truly angry until now. His entire face turned to stone and his mouth pinched. “She asked me if we’re together. And she said the same thing. That people are starting to talk, and they’re concerned the rules aren’t being applied fairly across the board.”

A humorless laugh slipped out. “I’m sure she’s very concerned.”

“I told her it’s none of her business or anyone else’s who I date.” He stepped closer but Melody raised her hands, holding him off. She couldn’t do what she had to do if he touched her.

“There’s no policy against me dating a parent.” His eyes were imploring her. “I don’t care what people think or what they say. I’ve always treated all of my students fairly—including Finn and Tate—and that won’t change because we’re dating.”

“You weren’t exactly fair with them today,” she said quietly. That was the truth. “I know you had to discipline them as their principal, but you could’ve tried harder to understand what happened.” Instead he’d sent them off.

“You’re right. I should’ve.” He uttered a frustrated sigh. “The truth is, Charlene got to me. So I called the superintendent and asked to meet. I explained the situation to him. That’s why I was distracted when you three were in my office. He was going to be there any minute.” Jonathan reached for her hand. “I’m really sorry. I messed this all up. But he confirmed that we haven’t done anything wrong. Us dating might not be ideal but—”

“Things would’ve gotten messed up anyway.” She withdrew from his grasp, unable to hold back the tears any longer. “They’ve already been through too much, Jonathan. And I don’t want to put you in a bad position either.” God, it wasn’t worth losing his job over. “Things need to go back to the way they were. That’s the only solution. I’m sorry.”

She stumbled down the porch steps and got into her car, refusing to look back at him before she drove away.