"Good. You asked my dad to come," Sarah said in Logan's ear, but loud enough to be heard in the room. She squeezed his shoulder to let him know she was there for him. David noticed his cheek brushed her hand in acknowledgment.
"You're defending him? Where are his parents?"
"His mother was unable to be here." David's manner was short, taking note of the distaste creeping onto Marion's expression.
She sneered. "I suppose Mr. Biesterman is out of town and his mother is 'sick' as usual?" Her sarcastic emphasis on the word sick echoed in the room.
David saw Logan flinch, and saw Sarah reach for his hand. Apparently everyone knew about his mother. It must be hell for him to be this embarrassed. His temper rose.
"That was uncalled for, Marion." The rigid stance of his body conveyed his unfavorable opinion of this woman.
She backed off, alarmed, looking around for support, seeing only censure on the faces of the adults present.
David read her indecision easily, as well as the moment when she began to doubt the wisdom of her attack.
"Why are you here, Mr. Martin?" she asked, again.
By now, David was sure of what had happened. "I am Sarah's father and I understand that your son has been making some untrue, in fact, decidedly slanderous, remarks about my daughter's character that prompted Mr. Biesterman to come to her defense." Sarah's gasp of dismay spurred his anger further. Apparently what Logan had told him was true.
"He had it coming," Logan said, removing his ice pack to speak. Sarah gently pushed his hand back to his face.
"Stupid loser," Jim shot back. "Nerd."
Enraged, Sarah shouted, "You shut up, dog vomit."
"He broke my nose."
"Yeah, and I'll break it again!" Sarah started for him. David leaped for her, barely able to stifle a laugh, but Logan grabbed her arm first. He noticed that Logan's grateful smile calmed her instantly, and felt his authority as a parent slip a notch.
Miss Anson stood immobile, looking wide-eyed and stunned, speechless at the uproar.
David immediately went postal.
"Sarah," he roared, "settle down. You two boys sit there quietly, and don't say another word." His glare settled on Marion Holder with predatory menace.
"Mrs. Holder, I suggest you get your son under control, and explain to him the serious legal ramifications of slander. He's been causing my daughter trouble, and I won't stand for it." It didn't escape anyone's notice that he had changed to the more formal 'Mrs.' nor did they miss the word, 'legal.'
There was a pause while the woman recovered enough to turn her wrath on Caro Anson. "My son has been assaulted by that… that gangster. What are you going to do about it?"
Caro hesitated before responding, so bemused by her thoughts that she hadn't been listening closely. Sorting it out in her mind, she was stunned to realize D.G. Martin, the man Lynn dated and was already in love with, was Sarah's father. Sarah was the girl Lynn was so high on—teaching her to make perfume. Could it be that Lynn didn't know Sarah was D.G.'s daughter? How could that be? Well, of course, he must not have mentioned it. His last name was Martin and Sarah went by Graham. Lynn never made the connection.
"Miss Anson, I want an answer now." Jim's mother's face was flushed, livid with anger.
Startled out of her reverie, Caro saw them looking toward her for resolution. She realized it was time to take control.
"Mrs. Holder, I have heard of the crude, sexist remarks your son made about Sarah, and the nasty rumors he has circulated. Mr. Martin is well within his rights to be angered about this. Regardless, we can't condone fighting on school grounds. I'm going to suspend both boys from school, beginning today, for three days. They will not be able to make up missed assignments or participate in school activities until Wednesday morning."
"But," Jim's mother cried, "it's Friday. There's a soccer game tonight."
"Well, Jim will just have to sit this one out. I'll notify his coach."
"You know my husband is the president of the school board. He'll hear about this, and then we'll see."
Caro noticed the feral smile on David's face and his narrowed eyes. He'd make a formidable enemy.
"By all means, Marion, tell Phil to call me tonight, and we'll have a serious talk about the possible legal consequences of your son's behavior."
"I'm going to get you, you little turd," Jim said to Logan as his mother pulled him out of the room. He glared at Sarah with hate in his eyes.
David turned to his daughter, determined to be obeyed this time, saying, "Sarah, you will go home immediately and wait for me. Logan and I will be along as soon as I take care of the formalities."
Sarah patted Logan on the shoulder and left the room, while David signed some papers, and accepted a notice of suspension from Miss Anson.
"Let's go, Logan. I'll take you home. Thank you, Miss Anson," he added.
"Call me Caro."
"Thank you, Caro. We probably haven't heard the last of this, but call me if anyone is making trouble for my daughter or Logan."
"I certainly will."
Logan handed the ice pack to Miss Anson and followed David out the door.
The crowd gathered in the hallway outside the door started to disperse, the news about the suspension already known. Two boys and a girl rushed to surround Logan, Sarah right behind them. David realized they were the same kids with Sarah earlier.
The girl was tall and thin, her light brown hair parted in the middle and resting on either side of her glasses. She was dressed modestly in a plain, denim jumper. Beside her stood the boy—a Harry Potter look-alike, with dark hair and glasses. The third member of the trio was the boy with the bright red, buzz-cut hair.
"Sir," Logan said, "I'd like you to meet my friends." He indicated the girl. "This is Karen Coy."
"Hi. Logan says some of our resident morons are giving Sarah a hard time. She can sit with us in the cafeteria Monday, since Logan won't be back until Wednesday."
David marveled at how, in the seconds it had taken for them to leave the office, the suspension was known. Small town grapevine, again.
The tall boy next to Karen offered his hand to David. "Hi, I'm Anthony Green. Nobody ever calls me 'Tony.'"
"Hello, Anthony."
David acknowledged him with a smile, shaking his hand, and looked inquiringly at the third boy.
"Hi. I'm Dakota Standard, resident computer geek. My mom was in North Dakota when I was born. That's how I got my name. My dad is a geologist for an oil company and they traveled a lot in those days. I must say, sir, that is one killer car."
David had been heading toward the entrance while they were talking and they finally reached the door and went outside.
Dakota's eyes were riveted on the sports car parked at the curb. "Wow. A 1967 Jaguar XE Series. Awesome."
Anthony's voice reflected reverence usually reserved for religious miracles. "Man, that's a cool color."
"Awesome," Dakota repeated.
An idea had formed in David's mind. "Sarah, why don't you and Logan's friends meet us at home. Have some cookies."
"Logan, what do you say we make a dramatic exit?" He was enjoying himself, anticipating what was to come.
"How will we do that?"
"Let's give them something to really talk about. You weren't kidding, were you, when you said you knew how to drive a stick shift?"
"No, sir. Even my dad thinks I'm pretty good."
"Well then, we'll put the backpacks in the trunk and let you drive home. How about that?"
"Oh! Wow! Oh, gee, Mr. Martin!"
David laughed and opened the trunk. When he had everything stowed, he said, "Here you go, son," and threw the keys to Logan, who caught them with a dazed look on his face.
His expression reminded David of the year he was eighteen and drove his first classic Jaguar. One of his dad's friends, a collector of vintage cars, decided to give him a thrill. He could remember the sensation of power when the engine purred to life. He was in command of two hundred and sixty-five eager horses, pawing restlessly, waiting for orders.
Logan's face mirrored that moment for him. Smiling delightedly, David saw the pure joy on the boy's face as he eased the car from the curb, and the envy and awe of a dozen kids who would never again regard Logan with scorn. Once in a while, life could be better than good, it could be awesome.
~ * ~
Later that evening, David sat beside Sarah in the living room, sharing a bowl of popcorn while they watched TV. He had taken the night off from the Kensington, feeling the need for a father-daughter talk, but now that he had set the scene, he didn't know how to begin. Guilt lay heavily upon him. He hadn't realized the depth of Sarah's unhappiness, or how much difficulty she had fitting in. She was growing up so fast, and he hadn't been paying attention.
"Sarah, I'm sorry. I didn't know how bad things were at school. Tell me about it."
With a deep sigh, she told of her first day as the new girl—about her problems with teasing, the painful slurs, and the trouble Jim Holder's unwanted attention had caused.
"You know, it sounds like this boy wanted to get to know you, and when you blew him off, he got nasty. You probably embarrassed him in front of his friends."
"So that gives him the right to spread lies? Logan told me what he said—about me being willing to put out sex for any boy that would pay attention to me. A lot of the girls do, but that's not true about me, Dad. I've never… you know. I don't do that."
"A lot of the girls? You're only fifteen." Grimly, he realized he was in over his head. Discussing sex with Sarah was akin to walking across a minefield, waiting for the explosion that would change his life.
He wished Lynn were here, but she wasn't and he needed to know what was going on between Logan and Sarah. Sighing helplessly, because he could see tears in his daughter's eyes, he put his arm around her shoulders.
"Dad, at my old school the kids were starting in eighth grade, at parties and stuff. It's called friends with benefits. Sometimes they don't even know the name of the person. I don't do that. Even if I wanted, Logan wouldn't."
"Sarah, has this ever come up between you and Logan? I mean the… you know. You two have a pretty strong attraction to each other, and it's easy for things to get out of control."
Teen pregnancy. Oh, my God.
Expecting heated denial, he was disgruntled at her amused, tolerant smile. Clearly she thought him without a clue.
"There's a lot of pressure on the girls from some of the guys to have sex. Some of the girls feel they have to do it or they won't be popular. I don't do that. Even if I wanted, Logan wouldn't." Her naive trust in Logan alarmed him. Logan was a teenager, for God's sake.
"Pressure? My God, Sarah, you're in the ninth grade. Is being popular that important?" He felt sick. He should have been paying more attention.
With an obvious show of patience, she explained. "It's not as bad as in Chicago. There we had all the grades in the same school. There was a lot of hooking-up and stuff."
"Stuff? Hooking-up?" His voice rose to near panic as he caught on to what she was talking about. "Sarah, you mean to tell me this is everyday behavior with you kids?"
"Not everyone, Dad," Sarah admonished, as she drew away. "But a lot of the girls worry that they won't be popular with the boys if they don't, you know, do it." She stopped, embarrassed.
"What about pregnancy?"
Her eyes rolled. "Geez, Dad. Not that kind of sex."
Her look of disbelief made him feel like the dumbest parent to ever walk the planet.
"It's just…well, the boys like it, but the girls hate it, but they have to or the boys won't go out with them."
He froze as he processed this last bit. Christ. She was talking about oral sex. He gazed at her, feeling helpless, and humbled at her concern.
"Dad, please. Not everybody gets into it. You don't have to worry about Logan. He's not like that. He loves me and wouldn't ask for that." Her face flushed as she stared at her hands.
"He's a teenage boy. I used to be one. That's all they think about."
She shrugged and replied, gently, "Dad, Logan and I have talked about this. We love each other, but it's not part of his plan."
"He has a plan for this?" Disbelief made him dizzy.
"Logan has his whole life planned, down almost to the day. We're going to be together forever, but the—that stuff—has to wait until we get to college. He says that once you start that stuff, it's all you think about. We don't have the time for it now. Logan's not like me. I have a trust fund for college from Mom. Logan has to get a full scholarship. We have to focus all our energy on school, without any distractions."
He wanted to believe this. He remembered not being close to girls at this age, but, hell, he was too damn busy to have time. His daughter spent more time with Logan in a day than he would have had in a year.
Distractions? Sarah used the love word, which was a whole lot more than a distraction. "You and Logan have already had this discussion? My God, Sarah, I don't know what to say. How can I protect you from all this?" His emotions reeled, but Sarah was pulling at his arm, trying to get his attention.
"Dad. Daddy?"
"What?"
"Kids are more grown-up these days than they were back when you were a kid."
"It wasn't that long ago and boys are boys today exactly the same as they were then. Logan might have good intentions, but when the hormones kick in, they're hard for young people to manage. Your brains aren't ready to deal with it."
"Daddy, Mom and I talked before she got sick. I was already twelve and had to know this stuff. After, when she knew," she swallowed clearly trying to hold down the memories, "how it was going to end, we talked again. I promised her that, no matter what, I'd hold off until I was sure."
It would have to do. That was all the reassurance he was going to get. Inadequate as it was, he'd have to accept it for now.
"I'll have to trust you, Sarah, to use your common sense, but you can be sure I'll have a talk with Logan."