“You have Zumba tonight, don’t you?”
The Zumba lessons Shayla began teaching at The Jazzy Bean last year had become so popular that a third night had to be added to meet the huge demand.
“So maybe I was coming to throw you all out,” her sister-in-law said. “But I also wanted to make sure no one needed anything from the kitchen. Lucinda is shutting down in just a few minutes, so if you have any requests this is your last chance to get them in.”
“I need to get home and do some cooking of my own,” Simone said. “My boys will be getting in from baseball practice soon, and if the steaks I left defrosting aren’t cooked, they’ll eat ’em raw.”
“Teenage boys are ridiculous, aren’t they?” Celeste said. “Our monthly grocery bill is almost as much as the mortgage. Be grateful you have girls, Leslie.”
“My problem is getting my five-year-old to eat anything, but I don’t want your problems, either.”
Leslie remained seated at the table they’d occupied for the past hour while the other three ladies packed up their things. Once they were gone, she dropped her head on the lightly distressed wood and thumped it several times.
“Why? Why? Why?” she said over and over again.
“Aw, you poor thing.” Shayla said. “If the volume of their voices was any indication, it sounds as if things got a bit heated. What’s going on?”
“GEMS’s new assistant principal is making a nuisance of himself.”
“I didn’t even know there was a new assistant principal. What happened to Mr. James?”
“He’s off to Australia. You didn’t hear about that?”
“No,” Shayla said, taking the seat Celeste had occupied. “When did this happen?”
“About a month ago. Where have you been?”
A lazy smile stretched across Shayla’s lips.
“Never mind.” Leslie laughed. “I know where you’ve been. The honeymoon phase is nice, isn’t it?”
“Heavenly,” Shalya said. “If I had known married life was so nice I would have tried it years ago. But back to Mr. James. What’s he doing in Australia?”
“His wife got a huge job promotion but it required her to transfer to Melbourne. Mr. James put in his resignation and they were gone within days. They’ve moved the new science teacher into the assistant principal position for now. He’s doing double duty, because he’s still teaching.”
And making her life more complicated than necessary.
“That’s Mr. Franklin, right? Cassidy loves him. She was just telling me about some experiment they did using balloons and empty water bottles.”
“He’s a great teacher, but he’s not making many friends as an assistant principal. There are rumors that he wants to cancel the school Lock-In,” Leslie explained. “It’s the PTO’s biggest fund-raising event and, needless to say, some parents are not happy about this.”
“Back up a sec. What’s a lock-in?”
“You really are out of touch, aren’t you?”
“I’ve been in the coffee business for the last twenty years. I am completely clueless when it comes to this stuff. Now, what’s this lock-in thing?”
“It’s an event at the school where students are locked in the gymnasium overnight. There’s food, movies and games. Many of the kids stay up the entire night.”
Shayla grimaced and scrunched her shoulders in an exaggerated shudder. “Sounds noisy.”
“It is.” Leslie laughed. “But the kids love it. And they spend lots of money in that twelve-hour period. The money raised from last year’s Lock-In accounted for over half of the PTO’s funds last year.”
“So why does Mr. Franklin want to cancel it?”
“I don’t know if he wants to cancel it or not. Until I hear it directly from him it’s still just a rumor. But I need to find out if there is any truth to it.” Leslie sighed and took a sip of her caramel latte. “As president of the PTO, the other members of the board expect me to approach Mr. Franklin.”
“Ah.” Shalya nodded, then frowned. “How did you become PTO president again?”
“Don’t ask.”
Shayla barked out a laugh. “You poor thing. Why don’t you let me treat you to an early dinner? It sounds as if you’ve earned it.”
“Thanks, but I can’t. The girls’ babysitter asked me to be home by seven.”
“Oh, how is she working out?”
“She’s only watched them a couple of times, but Kristi is already in love with her. Cass, on the other hand, misses coming over to her auntie Shayla’s after school.”
Shayla slapped a hand to her chest. “Don’t. I feel guilty enough as it is that I can no longer watch them after school.”
“Oh, stop it,” Leslie said. “You know I’m just teasing. You’ll be able to watch them for me tomorrow, though, right? It’s Parent/Teacher Conference night at the school.”
“Of course,” Shayla said. “Xavier is more excited than I am. He just bought a bunch of board games. He’s going to be so disappointed when all Kristi and Cass want to do is watch YouTube videos of cats doing tricks.”
Shayla had married Dr. Xavier Wright a few months ago. A transplant from Atlanta, Xavier had settled into life in Gauthier much easier than Leslie had when she’d first moved here. He’d charmed the pants off everyone in town, including her sister-in-law.
Shayla plopped an elbow on the table and rested her chin in her upturned palm. “Sooooo,” she said, stretching the word out in a singsongy voice. “What’s this I hear about you and Sawyer Robertson chatting after church?”
“Oh, please don’t start,” Leslie said. She pushed up from the table.
“I just want to know what was said.” Shayla whined. “Come on, Leslie. This is huge.”
“No, it’s not. And I hope the nosy, meddling people in this town will just let it go.”
Shayla caught her wrist, halting her exit. She waited until Leslie turned to face her before she asked, “Is it that you’re just not ready to date yet?”
Leslie’s eyes fell shut. “I just...” But she didn’t know how to put what she was feeling into words. So she went with the easiest cop-out. “Yes. I want to take my time,” she said. “And I don’t need the pressure of knowing that everyone around here is looking at my every move.”
“Okay, okay,” Shayla said. “I will put the word out that everyone needs to back off.”
“Including my well-meaning sister-in-law?”
“Do I have to?” Shayla pouted. Leslie just stared at her. “Oh, okay,” Shayla grumbled. “No more talk about Sawyer, even though he was at one time considered the biggest catch in Gauthier. Used to drive us girls crazy back in high school. He’s also—”
“Shayla!”
“Sorry,” she said. “Anyway, since you won’t allow me to take you out to dinner, at least let me order a pizza so you don’t have to cook tonight.”
“I can order a pizza.”
“Can I at least pay for it?”
Even though their once-stony relationship had vastly improved over the past year, there was one area where she and Shayla still butted heads. Leslie had lost count of the number of times she had to remind her sister-in-law that she and