Read Online Maggie's Dad by Diana Palmer - Free Book Online Page A

working in the house, so that it was possible for her to be here.
    â€œThe new teacher likes Julie,” she said sullenly.
    â€œBut she hates me. She says I’m lazy and stupid.”
    â€œShe says what?”
    That was the first time her father had ever reacted in such a way, as if it really mattered to him that someone didn’t like her. She looked at him fully, seeing that angry flash of his black eyes that always meant trouble for somebody. Her father intimidated her. But, then, he intimidated everyone. He didn’t like most people any more than she did. He was introverted himself, and he had a bad temper and a sarcastic manner when people irritated him. Over the years Maggie had discovered that she could threaten people with her father, and it always worked.
    Locally he was a legend. Most of her teachers had bent over backward to avoid confrontations with him. Maggie learned quickly that she didn’t have to study very hard to make good grades. Not that she wasn’t bright; she simply didn’t try, because she didn’t need to. She smiled. Wouldn’t it be nice, she thought, if she could use him against Miss Hayes?
    â€œShe says I’m lazy and stupid,” she repeated.
    â€œWhat’s this teacher’s name?” he asked coldly.
    â€œMiss Hayes.”
    He was very still. “Antonia Hayes?” he asked curtly.
    â€œI don’t know her first name. She came on accountof Mrs. Donalds quit,” she said. “Mrs. Donalds was my friend. I miss her.”
    â€œWhen did Miss Hayes get here?” he asked, surprised that he’d heard nothing about her returning to Bighorn. Of course, he’d been out of town for a week, too.
    â€œI told you—last week. They said she used to live here.” She studied his hard face. It looked dangerous. “Did she, Daddy?”
    â€œYes,” he said with icy contempt. “Yes, she used to live here. Well, we’ll see how Miss Hayes handles herself with another adult,” he added.
    He went to the telephone and picked it up and dialed the principal of the Bighorn Elementary School.
    Mrs. Jameson was surprised to hear Powell Long on the other end of the phone. She’d never known him to interfere in school matters before, even when Maggie was up to her teeth in trouble with another student.
    â€œI want to know why you permit an educator to tell a child that she’s lazy and stupid,” he demanded.
    There was a long pause. “I beg your pardon?” the principal asked, shocked.
    â€œMaggie said that Miss Hayes told her she was lazy and stupid,” he said shortly. “I want that teacher talked to, and talked to hard. I don’t want to have to come up there myself. Is that clear?”
    Mrs. Jameson knew Powell Long. She wasintimidated enough to agree that she’d speak to Antonia on Monday.
    And she did. Reluctantly.
    Â 
    â€œI had a call from Maggie Long’s father Friday afternoon after you left,” Mrs. Jameson told Antonia, who was sitting rigidly in front of her in her office. “I don’t believe for a minute that you’d deliberately make insulting remarks to that child. Heaven knows, every teacher in this school except Mrs. Donalds has had trouble with her, although Mr. Long has never interfered. It’s puzzling that he would intervene, and that Maggie would say such things about you.”
    â€œI haven’t called her stupid,” Antonia said evenly. “I have told her that if she refuses to do her homework and write down the answers on tests, she will be given a failing grade. I’ve never made a policy of giving undeserved marks, or playing favorites.”
    â€œI’m sure you haven’t,” Mrs. Jameson replied. “Your record in Tucson is spotless. I even spoke to your principal there, who was devastated to have lost you. He speaks very highly of your intelligence and your competence.”
    â€œI’m glad. But I