Most often people talk about being in the right place at the right time. Maybe they achieved a beautiful photo of a sunrise, or the antics of children or animals. Maybe they found something someone lost and received a big reward when it was returned. But how often do they talk about being in the wrong place at the right time? If they do, it’s often about the death of someone or maybe witnessing a crime. And if this is the case, they are sad or horrified. Walter Williams often is in the wrong place at the right time, though his reaction to the incidents he encounters is much different than anyone would expect. And, life-changing.

As Margot and Peter walk back towards his office, Peter asks her to notify the girls’ teachers to let them know about the incident with Charlene’s father. Peter also had a feeling what Kathy and Marge were going to do, and asked her to notify Kathy and Marge’s teachers and explain the girls would be helping Charlene Chapman for a few minutes in each of her classes. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but he had a feeling Charlene would need their support for what she might be going to do. As it turned out, based on what he saw during his meeting with her in the conference room, he was right.

Charles Miller watched as Charlene came into his algebra class, followed by Marge and Kathy. He had received the notice from Margot, so wasn’t too surprised to see Marge. After the second bell rang, and he took roll, he saw Charlene had raised her hand, something unusual for the girl who always spoke without waiting to be recognized. “Yes, Charlene?” He could see the fear etched on the girl’s face, and her trembling lips, before she said, “Mr. Miller. I’d like to say something to the class, if I may.” Marge was standing next to Charlene, her left hand on the girl’s right shoulder. Kathy regularly sat to the girl’s left, and had reached out to take Charlene’s left hand. As he examined the scene before him, both Marge and Kathy were nodding their heads, while Charlene looked like she was about to cry.

The young girl he now saw was not the cocky girl he saw on a regular basis. The girl who always looked down her nose at everyone. Something had happened to that girl, and there was only one way to discover what she had experienced. “Of course, Charlene. Won’t you come up to the front of the class, please?” Charles had expected only Charlene to come to the front of the class, but wasn’t really surprised when both Marge and Kathy came with her. When the three reached the front of the class, it wasn’t hard for anyone not to see the once overly bold girl actually shaking. Marge and Kathy had their arms around Charlene’s waist, offering words of encouragement to the scared girl. The whole class watched as Charlene took several deep breaths before she started speaking.

“I need to apologize to everyone in this class for the way I had been acting. I had been threatened by my father to have some of his ‘friends’ rape me if I didn’t do everything he ordered me to do. And he’d ordered me to act like I was better than everyone, above everyone, or…” She stopped speaking as the tears fell and she hung her head and cried. One of her classmates, sitting in the back of the room, was heard to say, “Damn, what a bastard.” All Charles said was, “Language, Tommy, language.” Tommy’s reply was, “Sorry sir, but it isn’t right what her dad threatened to do.” Charles simply said, “No, Tommy, it isn’t.”

When Charlene could go on she told the class, “I was scared what my father would do if he learned the truth about why I got in trouble yesterday, so I lied. I blamed it all on Kathy, and I was wrong to do that. Because of my lie, my father came storming to the school this morning, made me point out Kathy, and he grabbed her arm and was trying to pull her with him as he went to the office.” She turned to face Kathy, tears still falling from her eyes, and said, “Oh, Kathy. I’m so sorry for all this. I was so scared he was going to have me raped if I didn’t do what he said.” Kathy pulled Charlene to her and replied, “Charlene, I know exactly how you felt. I faced that very thing a few days ago. Only then it wasn’t a threat.” Charlene turned back to the class and continued with, “My mom tried to talk him out of coming to the school, but he slapped her and told her to mind her own business. It wasn’t the first time he’d hit her, but it was going to be the last. My mom is going to serve my dad with divorce papers and we’ll be living with my grandmother. Maybe I shouldn’t have told all of you this much, but I felt you were owed the truth about me.”

The classroom was silent for several minutes, Charlene sniffing her nose the only sound heard. “Charlene Chapman, that took guts to stand up there and say what you did. You’re one hel...ah, heck of a girl.” Tommy then stood up and started clapping, and it wasn’t long before the entire class followed. Charlene had feared if she told the truth, because of how she acted in the past, the entire class would scorn her, tell her she had it coming for the way she acted. What she didn’t expect was the applause and the smiling faces. Kathy and Charlene then returned to their seats, and Marge left for her class.

When the applause ended, while Charles looked at Charlene, he told the class, “None of your parents has the right to threaten you with anything as drastic as Charlene faced. If they threaten you with anything drastic, like locking you in a room, tying you up, or like the threat Charlene faced, even though you’re scared, tell someone. I can guarantee something will be done, and you will be kept safe. And if a certain Principal hears about it, you best hope your parents, or parent, has a one way ticket to some place far far away.” Charles chuckled after he said, “Now, let’s talk algebra,” and the entire class groaned.

When the bell rang to end third period, Charles noticed several things. One of his students in the front row had already got up and opened the door to leave, only to find it necessary to walk around Marge as she stepped into the room. Standing outside his room, he saw the football players, standing across the hall against the lockers. He also saw Tommy rush up to Charlene, and caught a bit of their conversation amongst the noise of the students leaving. “Um, Charlene. Do you mind if I walk with you to our next class?” Tommy was the first boy to ever show an interest in her, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. “Um...sure...I guess..if...you’re...sure.” Charlene was used to hearing derogatory remarks aimed at her, and cringed before hearing, “Yeah, I’m sure. Charlene. And here, this is my phone number, just in case you need someone to talk to.” Charlene and Kathy watch Tommy’s expression change, not as harsh as Charlene’s had been before she stood up before the class, but in that range. “I’d, um...um...I’d like to explain some things to you.” Their short meeting was interrupted when Charles told them, “You four need to get to your next classes. Right?” Charles watched as the four left the classroom, with Marge going first, followed by Kathy, and Charlene walking next to Tommy. He chuckled to himself as he watched Charlene reach over and take Tommy’s hand in hers. He didn’t know where the feeling came from, but he felt those two had a lot to talk about. And would in the coming days.

Fourth period is when half the school went to class, and half went to lunch. When fifth period arrived, the reverse happened. The football escorts, Marge, Kathy, Charlene, and Tommy were in class during this time, the last time Kathy and Charlene were in the same classes. As Charlene did during the first part of her algebra class, she received permission to speak during the beginning of her fourth period class. And Kathy and Marge were standing with her. Her reception was cold to start with, but the mention of the threatened rape, attitudes drastically changed. It wasn’t a boy who spoke up first this time, but a girl, and she was blunt about what should happen to Charlene’s father. And like Tommy, their teacher understood the emotions flowing in the class and simply cautioned the girl.

Robert was standing with Peter at the start of the fifth period lunch. Both wanted to be there to make sure Charlene was alright. Both were surprised when Charlene walked in ahead of Marge and Kathy, holding Tommy’s hand. “Seems she has had a secret admirer,” Robert told Peter. Robert just nodded his head when Peter told him, “For Tommy’s sake, he best treat her right.” As they watched, Charlene began a discussion with Marge and Kathy, one which seemed to get heated before the three girls hugged and Charlene and Tommy, followed by Marge, Kathy, and the football players, walked to the microphone kept in the cafeteria in case announcements needed to be given only to the students in the cafeteria.

With Kathy standing on one side, Tommy next to Charlene, Marge next to Tommy, and the six football players standing behind all four, Charlene reached up to the microphone and slid the on switch and said, “May I have everyone’s attention, please. May I have everyone’s attention.” The droning of conversation upon conversation, and laughter upon laughter stopped, as all eyes turned to see who called for their attention. When the cafeteria was quiet Charlene said, “My name is Charlene Chapman.” She didn’t get another word out before hearing, “Yeah, we know who you are bitch.” Robert saw who called Charlene a bitch and was about to go and remove the boy from the room. But Peter put a restraining hand on the man’s arm and told him, “Wait, Robert. Let’s see how this plays out.”

Charlene squeezed Tommy’s hand hard, as she felt him start to move, nodded her head and said, “Yeah, I was a bitch wasn’t I? And I don’t blame any of you for thinking that, because that’s how I was ordered to behave by my father.” There had been a low key rumbling when Charlene started talking, but even that stopped when she told why she acted as she did. “I need to apologize to all of you for my past behavior, because if I hadn’t done what my father ordered, he threatened to have some of his ‘friends’ rape me. I think every girl in here can understand how scared I was at the thought of being repeatedly raped, so I did what he ordered me to do. He even physically assaulted my mother, when she stepped in to try and stop him from coming to school this morning. I learned she’s going to divorce him and we’ll be living with my grandmother. I wanted all of you to hear the truth from me, not from some rumors. If you’re still mad at me because of my past behavior, then all I can offer all of you is, I’m sorry.”

Every eye shifted to a boy who stood by himself, the boy who called Charlene a bitch. “Um, Charlene, I owe you an apology for what I called you. It took a lot of courage to stand up there and tell us your truth. I’m sorry you had to go through something like that.” Peter turned to Robert and smiled, causing Robert to roll his eyes. He bent down and whispered in Peter’s ear, “Don’t get cocky, Peter. You could have guessed wrong.”

The applause started with a scattering of girls, who stood up and began clapping. Girl after girl stood until every student, and teacher, were standing and clapping.

Because of orders from her father, and his threat hanging over her head, Charlene had been a royal bitch since the beginning of school. But under the acting was a moral character which was kept in check by way of his threat. When her father was arrested, and her mom told her about the divorce, and where they’d be living, that moral character had been released to do the right thing. And it started with her algebra class. She had no illusions that everyone would accept the reason for her actions, she even felt sure there’d be more than a few who would outright scorn her. What she wasn’t ready for was the overwhelming recognition for her courage to stand up and admit she’d been wrong, and why. Even now, as the entire cafeteria was clapping, her tears flowed freely, as her emotions were overwhelmed by what she was witnessing. Tommy reached up and shut off the microphone, before leading Charlene and the rest of their group to the lunch line.

Peter and Robert left the cafeteria after seeing Charlene was better than alright. Robert started his walk around the school and Peter returned to his office, to call Toni.

The afternoon matched that of the morning, with Marge and Kathy standing up with Charlene as she apologized for her past behavior and why it occurred. The reaction of the girls in her classes was immediate, they were the first to stand and start clapping. The boys, who wouldn’t understand the fear girls had of being raped, did admire her courage to stand up in front of the whole class and explain herself. By the end of the school day, every student in West High had heard why Charlene had been such a bitch, and more than a few had their own ideas of what punishment her father should face. And more than one was cautioned about language.

When Toni and Gerald’s mom pulled up to the loading zone, they were surprised to see such a large group standing with Charlene. And Charlene holding the hand of a boy. Peter, Robert, Marge, Kathy, the football players, Tommy, and a host of other students were there with Charlene, to make sure she was safe. Gerald’s mom stayed in the car, but Toni couldn’t get out of her car fast enough to embrace her daughter. “Oh, sweetheart, are you alright? Your Principal called and told me everything. He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Charlene smiled, shook her head and told her mom, “No, mom, he didn’t hurt me. But he grabbed Kathy, here,” and she pointed to Kathy. “And even after what daddy did to her, and after my being such a bitch...yes mom I know, language,..she still came and hugged me, letting me cry on her shoulder. And I had to do the right thing, mom, and apologize to those in my classes and those at lunch for how I’d been acting, Marge and Kathy stood with me while I spoke. And mom, I told all of them about daddy’s threat.” Toni looked into her daughter’s eyes, and saw a strength she’d lacked with her father’s threat hanging over her head. She wasn’t positive, but she felt it would be the last time any man threatened her. Toni saw Charlene blushing before she said, “Um, mom. This is Tommy. He’s been secretly chasing me since the beginning of school. I don’t know why, after everything I’ve done.” Toni shook Tommy’s hand, watched as he shrugged his shoulders, then said, “Because I could tell it wasn’t the real you. There were little signs that said so.” Toni then thanked Robert and Peter for all they’d done for Charlene today, before watching Tommy give her daughter a kiss, as she opened the rear passenger door for her daughter. As she walked around the car to get in by the driver’s door, she told Peter, “I’ll be in tomorrow morning to give the school our change of address.” Everyone standing there waved as Toni drove off to their new home, and her thoughts of finally having a peaceful life for a change.

Robert and Peter were the last two watching Toni drive off. As they watched the car drive out of sight, Robert said, “First the right shoe dropped. Today the left one dropped. Do you think both will ever drop at the same time?” Peter thought for a minute, then told Robert, “Robert, if the right shoe dropping caused that much trouble, and the left shoe dropping caused this much trouble, think about the trouble both shoes dropping would cause. No, thank you, my friend. Let’s stick to one shoe at a time.” Robert chuckled before both men went back to their work. Peter and Charles still had to go down to the police station to give their statements, so Peter returned to his office to quickly finish some work which needed to be completed by the end of the school day. And Robert calmly strolled in and out of the buildings, checking for this and that, and any lovers who decided to take the opportunity to express their love to each other.

Robert’s both shoes event was about to occur because Peter had neglected to call Terry and tell her about the morning’s events, and let her know Kathy was all right. So, when a few minutes later, after Toni drove out of the high school parking lot, Terry pulled into the loading zone, and Kathy and Marge got into her car and Kathy said, “Wow, what a day, sure hope that doesn’t happen again any time soon.” As Terry was pulling away from the curb she asked Kathy what she was talking about, and when Kathy finished telling her story, Terry slammed on the brakes, put the transmission in park, left the engine running, and stormed into the school and to Peter’s office.

Margot all but put on her flack jacket when she saw Terry coming, the look on Terry’s face said it all. “WHERE IS THAT BROTHER OF MINE,” she yelled at Margot, not realizing her voice carried into Peter’s office. Margot used her right thumb to indicate his office, just as the door to Peter’s office opened and he yelled, “TERRY! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!” Margot tried not to smirk, at least not let Terry and Peter see her smirk, as she watched Terry storm down the short hall and the door to Peter’s office slam shut. She knew if she got caught, she’d get some of what was about to happen in that office, but she didn’t care. She had to hear what the two bulls were about to say. Silently creeping to the door to Peter’s office, she stood so her silhouette wouldn’t be seen against the frosted glass in the door.

Brother and sister eyed each other, she was pissed because her daughter had been in danger and her brother failed to tell her. He was pissed because his bull headed sister had come into the school office acting like she was out in the middle of nowhere yelling her lungs out. Terry then got toe to toe with Peter and growled, “How dare you not call me after what happened this morning. What were you thinking, that I wouldn’t find out? That I wouldn’t be upset if I heard it from Kathy and Marge? Were you even thinking, or just being the jerk you have a tendency to be? WELL?”

Pointing to the three chairs in front of his desk, Peter growled back, “You will sit your ass in one of those three chairs. You will then listen to what I have to say with your ears, not your mouth. GOT IT, sister dear?” Peter often acquiesced to Terry, but she saw something in his face that told her today was not one of those times. She backed away from Peter, turned and sat down in the chair to the left of Peter’s desk, and watched as Peter walked around his desk and sat down in his desk chair. Her brother was more often than not, very laid back, handling things with a mild manner. But she could see he was anything but mild mannered right now, as she watched him try and get his emotions under control before he spoke.

When Peter had calmed down, he looked at Terry and said, “Terry, I didn’t call you and tell you about what happened this morning because I knew you’d come charging up to the school and want to get into Gerald’s face. May even rearrange it a bit. I knew if you did that, or something worse, you’d compromise the entire case against him, and make matters worse. Kathy hadn’t been hurt, she might have a bruise on her arm where Gerald grabbed her, but that was it. Did she tell you Gerald’s daughter, Charlene, flipped him off after he walked off, not helping her to her feet when she tried to punch Robert? Did she tell you it was her who helped Charlene by going up to the girl and hugging her, letting her cry on her shoulder. Did Kathy tell you why Charlene had been acting like a bitch since the beginning of school? Did she tell you that that asshole, Gerald, threatened to have some of his ‘friends’ rape Charlene if she didn’t do as he ordered? Well, did Kathy tell you all of that? Did she also tell you that she and Marge had stood up with Charlene as she told her classes, and the whole cafeteria, why she’d been acting like a bitch? Or did she just give you the highlights? Had you have heard the WHOLE story, you wouldn’t be in here right now, you would be praising your daughter, and her girlfriend, for what they did for another student. But nooo...not you. You act first and listen after you’ve beat the hell out of the person who’s hurt your baby. Sister dear, have you talked with Jenny about this propensity of yours to act before listening? Spouting off before you have all the facts? One of these days, dear sister, you’re going to act before you get all the facts, and it’s going to be you who needs the lawyer to get you out of jail.”

In a small voice, Peter heard, “Um, no, I didn’t know about most of what you said. I’m sorry.” She then dropped her head.

In a calmer voice Peter replied with, “I thought so, or you wouldn’t have come storming in here as you did.” Terry’s hands were in her lap, and Peter watched as she played with her fingers. In a soft voice he said, “Sis, I love you more than I can express in words. You’ve helped me through some very trying times in the past, especially when mom and dad died. I don’t feel closer to anyone more than I do to you. But I can’t have you rushing up to the school every time something happens that involves Kathy. You’re like a mother bear protecting her cub, except when you act that way it causes more problems. Problems we’ve had plenty of this school year. I’m not totally ignorant why you act as you have. Walter is now a girl, a girl who hasn’t grown up being told everything other girls are told. She doesn’t know all the pitfalls a girl can run into, or of all the bastards out there who’d only want to get between her legs. Whether she wanted it to happen or not. And maybe you feel a bit guilty because all of this happened to Walter, that you weren’t there to protect him, and now Kathy. Terry, you need to discuss this with Jenny, ask her for help. Because if you can’t get your impulse to rush up to the school every time Kathy is involved in a situation, I’ll have to ban you from the high school. You’ll leave me no other choice.”

He got up from his chair, took the two steps to the window and looked outside. He chuckled, turned to Terry,then told her, “I think you have a problem of your own right now,” and he nodded towards the window and outside. Terry got up out of her chair, walked to the window and looked out. The girls were still sitting in her car, only Kathy was dangling the car keys out the window and pointing to herself. The message was clear, she wanted to drive. Kathy may have seen Terry shake her head, or she may have not wanted to see her mom shake her head. No matter, she kept dangling the keys and pointing to herself.

As they stood watching Kathy’s antics, Terry put her arm around Peter’s waist, leaned her head on his shoulder and told him, “You’re right, Peter. I do blame myself for not being able to protect Walter or Kathy when all this started. And you’re right, Kathy is a very ignorant girl right now. She hasn’t had the years of teachings that help a girl learn how to be cautious. And if you try and ban me from this high school, little brother, I’ll kick your ass so far up your body you’ll be eating and shitting out of the same orifice.” Peter only smiled at this comment.

This banter between the two siblings began shortly after their parents were killed in a traffic accident. A semi truck was approaching a red light at a controlled intersection. The driver down-shifted and stepped on the brake pedal for the air brakes. Only nothing happened, the brakes didn’t engage. He down-shifted again and continued stepping on the brake pedal. Because the load the truck was carrying gave the truck so much interia, the driver knew the truck wouldn’t be able to stop using the gears alone. The traffic light for the Stepel’s traffic turned green, so they proceeded into the intersection, just as the semi barreled into the intersection and drove right over the top of their car, killing the couple instantly. It was discovered during the investigation that the truck’s brakes had been tampered with, the linkage from the brake pedal had been cut just enough for the brakes to work several times before the cut caused the linkage to completely fail. Further investigation found security tapes showing when the sabotage was done, who did it, and by a rival trucking company. With insurance payments, and lawsuits, Peter and Terry lacked for nothing for the rest of their lives. Except their parents.

“If you remember, sister dear, the last time you tried to give me one orifice I put your head in the toilet. Despite all your best efforts. Gawd, did we make a mess that day. I thought grandma was going to kill both of us. I miss that lady.” Peter felt Terry shaking, and looking down at her face, saw tears falling from her eyes. “Yeah, we sure did. And I miss her too.”

Peter then raised his voice and said, “The storm is over, Margot. You can return to your desk. There was no blood shed.” Terry turned her head to look towards the door when she heard, “Damn,” coming from outside the door. She turned back to Peter with a question written on her face. Peter shrugged his shoulders and said, “She’s a bit protective of me. She would have come in here and tried to kick your ass if you’d gotten physical. Though I don’t think she would have stood a chance.” He kissed Terry on the forehead then said, “You better get out there and explain to your daughter how old she needs to be before she’s allowed to learn how to drive. And put more gray hairs on your head.” The two turned to face each other and pulled each other into a tight hug, telling each other, “I love you.”

Peter had put the idea of Kathy learning to drive into Terry’s mind so she wouldn’t see what he believed Kathy was trying to do. And while he couldn’t understand what was being said, the exchange between mother and daughter was clear. And it was only when Kathy gave him a thumbs up that his belief proved true. Kathy was drawing attention to another subject pertaining to her in order to help calm her mother down. And it had worked. Kathy would make one hell of a psychologist some day, Peter thought to himself, as he went out to thank Margot for her consideration of his health. He also considered having a word with Jenny, and the two exploring that possibility with Kathy.

Things at school seemed to have calmed down, the students having talked themselves dry about the previous events. But that didn’t stop them from finding something else of interest, like who was going with who, why this person was wearing ‘this’ or ‘that,’ what fashions were in style, which were now lame, and the list went on and on. Peter kept the football players escorting Marge and Kathy one more day before thanking them for their help and dismissing them to their regular routines. He would, though, have Robert’s team keep an eye on the girls, eyes that, this time, wouldn’t be drawn off even if an emergency occurred.

Because of the previous events, Peter started making it part of his school routine to walk around the school during class changes, and when classes were in session. The students knew Peter was no pushover, and would administer punishment when warranted. But because of the previous events, they also discovered how much he cared for them, so they would say hi to him as he walked the halls during class change. Walking the halls after classes started gave Peter a chance to listen as he walked by the classrooms. And he liked what he heard, the energetic voices of the teachers, the energetic voices, and sometimes silliness, of the students, and the calmness he felt rather than heard. It also gave him time to speak with Jenny, and work through some problems he was still having because of his wife’s death. Namely, was he doing the right thing by marrying Tina? Was he betraying Pamela’s memory? Was he trying to take the place of Tina’s husband?

Jenny had been sitting behind her desk as Peter fired questions at her, almost as wound up as Terry had been when Walter had been taken to the hospital after the accident. She got up out of the desk chair, walked around the desk, and sat down next to Peter, taking his hands in hers. “Peter, STOP! You have been talking non-stop since you came into my office, now, stop. Listen to me for a few moments. Okay?”

The suddenness of Jenny’s voice when she told him to stop the first time, actually shocked Peter into silence. When Jenny saw she had his attention she said, “Peter, you’ve been a widower for what, five years? You haven’t dated in all that time. You haven’t met anyone you wanted to follow around like a puppy following its mother. You’ve closed yourself off to any possibility of finding another love in your life. And you really haven’t dealt with the death of your wife, either, have you? Like your nephew, you put it into a box and now with your impending marriage, the box opened and you’re full of doubts. Now you’re considering what Pamela would think of you getting married again. Now you’re wondering if you’d be replacing Tina’s husband or if she is using you to replace the love she once had in her life. They may seem like valid questions, to you Peter, but in a way they’re you trying to find excuses not to do what you need to do in order to again be happy. Peter, there is a flow in this world that begins with conception. Then development, birth, life, and as hard as we don’t want it, death. None of us can escape that path. It was Pamela’s time to die, why, that can’t be answered. It was also time for Tina’s husband to die, again why can’t be answered. But the two of you have a chance to make the other happy by being in this life together, until you too follow life’s path on this planet. Or you can continue using the deaths of your spouses as the reason to remain unhappy. Neither of them can answer your questions on this Peter, but I strongly feel they’d want you both to be happy.”

She watched Peter chew on what she just told him, and she was not allowed to tell him Tina had asked Beverly basically the same questions. Or that Beverly told Tina basically the same as she told Peter. Privately, though, both women wanted to shake some sense into these two lonely people, they both could see they were perfect for each other. And as Beverly told Tina, Jenny told Peter, “Peter, I suggest you and Tina go out to dinner somewhere cozy, where you two can share your concerns with each other. Given you’re asking me these type questions, I can make an educated guess Tina has asked them as well. But as your friend, don’t let her get away. I see how she looks at you, how her eyes light up when you’re around. Peter, she’s been alone just as you have. She was devoted to her husband, and like you, has never dated since his death. And something else, my friend, your eyes light up just as bright when you’re around her. So as your friend, get your butt out of here, make dinner reservations and take your woman out and talk with her. Share your concerns with her. Share your worries with her, I think you’ll find hers are the same.” Jenny watched as Peter just sat there, mulling over what she just told him. So she put a bit of muscle in her voice and said, “DIDN’T I JUST TELL YOU TO GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF HERE AND GO GET YOUR WOMAN?” Peter cracked a smile and replied, “Yes, mother.” Jenny stood up as Peter did, and got the shock of her life as Peter kissed her on the cheek then said, “Thanks, sis,” and walked out of her office. She would have to meet with Beverly and talk more about these two people, and find out if Tina said anything shocking to her.

Peter was virtually bouncing when he came into the school offices. Margot watched as he walked toward her, a light in his eyes that had been missing when he’d gone to walk the halls. “So, Peter, was Jenny finally able to get through that thick skull of yours? Did she convince you to do what a lot of people have been trying to get you two to do for some time? If I wouldn’t have gotten fired, I’d have kicked some sense into your mushy brain weeks ago. But I don’t have a Ph.D. after my name so you would have just fired me instead of listening to me.” Peter just smiled at her, kissed her on the cheek, then said, “Guess we’ll never know now, will we.” He just reached the door to his office, when Margot said, “The number for the restaurant is lying on your desk. It’s cozy, and both of you like the type of food served. Plus, I get a free meal if I send them some business.” Peter chuckled, shook his head, then opened his office door and went into his office, closing the door behind him. Peter found the phone number for the restaurant, but something more on the note Margot left him. “Tina needs you as much as you need her. Her memories, like yours, are still raw with the emotions you both have held for the loves you both have lost. Be gentle with her, Peter, and she will help you fill the need you’ve had for far too long. And you her. Margot” It wasn’t long before Peter’s tears started spotting the note lying on his desk. The answers he looked for from Jenny were answered by the note Margot left him on his desk. He picked up the phone and made two calls, one only after he spoke with the woman he was going to marry.