The Best Is Yet to Come (18)

“Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked after Scott had left, wanting to issue a warning to Spencer and at the same time knowing it would do no good.

“I said I’m fine.”

Hope doubted that was true. “Does Scott know why Callie agreed to go to the dance with you…that you’re doing her a favor in return?”

He answered with a half-hearted lift of one shoulder. “Maybe. Maybe not. It doesn’t matter either way.”

“You should ask her to explain before there’s another incident.”

Spencer adamantly shook his head, and when he spoke his voice was tight with tension. “I don’t want Callie to know anything about this. It’s bad enough as it is; she’ll want to defend me, and that will only make everything worse.”

“I’m not sure that’s wise, Spencer. Promise me you’ll think about it.”

Holding her gaze, Spencer didn’t respond. “I can take care of myself, Ms. Goodwin.”

Hope wasn’t convinced Callie would do anything to spare Spencer from Scott’s wrath, especially if she felt she’d been coerced into attending the dance with him. Callie was using him, and once she got what she wanted, Spencer would be old news. Former good friend or not.

“I’ve got to go,” Spencer said, and fled as if he couldn’t get away fast enough.

The sound of the door closing echoed in the hall. Still processing what had happened, Hope slowly started toward the school’s office. Either by luck or by circumstance, Dean Wilcox was sitting at his desk with the door open.

Hope hesitated and then knocked against the door.

Gregory Wilcox glanced up and, seeing Hope, grinned. “Come in,” he said, and motioned toward the chair in front of his desk.

At this point, Hope was grateful to sit down. “I just had a run-in with Scott Pender in the hallway,” she said. “And I’m not sure what to do about it.”

Sitting up straighter, the dean said, “Tell me what happened.”

Hope explained what she saw and her speculation about Scott’s anger over being cheated out of his date. She didn’t go into the details as to why Callie had opted to let Spencer take her to homecoming. Just that she had agreed to go with him. Scott had apparently taken the news personally and was determined to make Spencer pay.

Dean Wilcox listened intently and asked a few clarifying questions. “This isn’t the first time Scott has shown aggressive behavior. I think it might be a good idea for me to have a little chat with him. If you hear anything more, let me know. And if there’s any further retaliation against Spencer, I want to hear about it.”

“I’ll make sure you do,” Hope said. She hesitated, unsure if she should mention another incident.

“Was there something more?” The Dean asked.

“I don’t know if it’s worth mentioning,” Hope said, feeling reluctant since it was a minor incident and one quickly forgotten. The following day Scott appeared as if nothing had happened and there hadn’t been a problem since then.

“Why don’t you let me decide that.”

“Last week, Scott failed a test. When I gave him the grade he deserved, he blew up at me. He said I had purposely failed him to keep him off the team.” His behavior had been aggressive to the point that Hope had been about to call security. A couple of his friends had dragged him out of the classroom before things had progressed further.

The dean listened and reached for his pen. “Thank you. I’ll make a note of this incident as well.”

Feeling relieved for having unloaded this burden, Hope dropped off the paperwork and left the building. She paused long enough to look out over the football field, where the team was busy with practice drills. She would have lingered a few minutes longer if she hadn’t already made plans to stop off at the shelter.

Hope hadn’t visited Shadow in four days, and she’d missed him. According to what Cade said, Shadow had missed her, too.

When she arrived, she noticed Cade’s truck was in the lot across from where she’d parked. A small sense of eagerness filled her at the prospect of seeing both Shadow and Cade.

As soon as she entered the kennel, Shadow barked a greeting, his tail wagging. This was a welcome, glad-to-see-you, why-were-you-away-so-long kind of bark.

“I missed you, too, fellow,” she said, squatting down at eye level.

“Good thing you’re here,” Cade said from the other side of the kennel. “Shadow was starting to think you were never coming back.”

“I’m so sorry, big boy,” she said, and opened the kennel. The door closed behind her, and she got down on one knee as Shadow immediately started licking her face. Rubbing his fur, she whispered, “You did miss me, didn’t you?”

Cade walked closer and Shadow tensed.

“Cade’s a friend,” she reminded the dog, looking at him squarely while petting his neck.

Shadow relaxed, and Hope rewarded him with a treat she had in her pocket. She wondered how many other high school teachers walked around the classroom with dog treats tucked away inside their pockets.

Sitting on the kennel floor, Shadow moved into her lap and laid his chin across her thigh. Content now, he relaxed, and so did she.

Cade moved until he stood outside the kennel. “Glad to see you’re feeling better.”