Single with Kids by Lynnette Kent

Author:Lynnette Kent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2004-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE TUESDAY NIGHT after Labor Day was the first meeting of the Parent-Teacher-Student Association. Rob always attended to learn what issues were being addressed and whether he and Ginny had a stake in them.

Tonight, Jen had volunteered to watch the kids so he and Valerie could drive together—conservation of fossil fuels, and all that. The different fund-raising projects for the year were displayed on tables around the cafeteria, with chairs set up in the center for the actual meeting. Roaming past the exhibits, Rob and Valerie traded irreverent comments in their quietest voices. They agreed they’d rather just write a check than try to sell wrapping paper or roasted nuts.

“Rob Warren, how are you?” Kellie Tate, wife of the former mayor, caught his arm and kissed his cheek. “I haven’t seen you all summer. But you look like you spent some time at the beach.”

“No, just mowing the yard.” He disengaged from Kellie and stepped back to include Valerie in the conversation. “Have you met Valerie Manion? Valerie, this is Kellie Tate, wife of our former mayor.”

Valerie offered a handshake, which Kellie returned with a limp wrist. “Oh, yes—I heard we had somebody new at the school this year. You came from New York, is that right?”

“We lived in Ohio last but, yes, we’re originally from New York.”

“Must have been fascinating.” She turned a shoulder to Valerie and spoke to Rob. “How’s your little girl? I always feel so sad when I see her.”

“Ginny’s great. Valerie has started a Girls Outdoors! troop for the school and I’m the assistant leader. Don’t you have a daughter between eight and ten? She’d probably love what we’re doing.”

Kellie took a step back, putting up her hands to ward off contamination. “Oh, no. No, thanks. Marcia is a real girl’s girl—she loves dance and modeling.” She wiggled her fingers in a goodbye wave. “See you later, Rob.”

He unclenched his teeth and turned to Valerie. “Don’t worry—she’s a witch to everybody. That’s one reason her husband lost the election.”

But over the next few minutes, they encountered several other parents, and the reactions were all similar.

“You’re from up north?” Rita Jones asked. “That’s so…interesting. You must feel really out of place down here.”

“Hey, Rob.” Lee Franklin shook his hand. “Good to see you. I hear you’re a troop leader these days—for the little ladies. You teaching them the latest hairstyles…or are they teaching you?”

Valerie’s hand on his arm kept Rob from shoving that comment right back down ol’ Lee’s throat.

Then there was the meeting itself. Welcome, Reading of the Minutes, Treasurer’s Report, Old Business… Rob thought the reports would never end. When the president asked for items of new business, several people in the audience raised their hands, Valerie among them. Some of the issues involved considerable debate, and the meeting dragged past its allotted time by half an hour, then forty-five minutes.

Finally, when all other speakers except Valerie had been acknowledged, the president banged her gavel. “I’m afraid that’s all we have time for tonight,” she said.

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