Read Online No Weapon Formed (Boaz Brown) by Michelle Stimpson - Free Book Online

thing was a setup, really, but
in accordance with policy, I’d been placed on administrative leave during the
investigation.
    This time, we’d be meeting on
different grounds.
    I dropped Zoe off at
preschool. While there, I picked up the center’s brochure to acquaint myself
with part-time and drop-in rates. Thankfully, no one asked me why Zoe was late
or I would have gone into another crying spell.
    Dr. Hunt was expecting me.
Her secretary sent me toward a larger office.
    “LaShondra. Good to see you
again.” She remembered me.
    “Same here, Dr. Hunt. How
have you been?”
    “Counting down the days to
retirement,” she gave an I’m-dead-serious laugh.
    “Oh? When?” Her stay in
Plainview schools had become a running joke. Every year she said she was
retiring. Never happened.
    “At the end of this school
year, definitely,” she informed me. I got the feeling she’d shout it from the
rooftops if given the opportunity.
    Retirement. What would happen to my retirement? If I
stayed off work until Zoe started pre-k, would I have to work until I was darn
near seventy? Stelson and I hadn’t made it that far in our discussion.
    “Congratulations. We’ll have
a hard time filling your shoes,” I complimented her, taking the guest’s chair. Her
office décor hadn’t changed at all in ten years except to add more plaques,
certificates, and family pictures.
    Dr. Hunt won’t be here
when I come back! The
next H-R director might not remember me so fondly.
    I swallowed. Replayed the
video of Zoe’s life-saving cry on the big screen in my head. I’m okay. I’m
okay.
    “Jerry Ringhauser called
ahead. I’d like to hear straight from the horse’s mouth, though. What brings
you here?” She laced her fingers and leaned forward.
    “I’m going to take some time
off to be with my baby,” I said.
    She nodded. “Good idea. I had
three of my own. I hope to be able to do with my grandkids what I couldn’t do
with mine.”
    The sadness in her eyes
dissipated the lump in my throat. I didn’t want to wait until the next
generation to enjoy my offspring.
    “I’m sure your grandchildren
will love having you around.”
    “Yes, yes. And when do you
plan to return?”
     “Um…I guess late
spring, maybe? Or next fall?”
    Dr. Hunt laughed. She cut her
eyes at me and shook her head. “I’ll make note of it, but I wouldn’t be
surprised if you changed your mind and stayed home longer. Babies have a way of
rearranging plans. You thinking about having another one?”
    “Oh, noooooo,” I quickly
denied.
    Dr. Hunt laughed. “That’s
what we said after the second one. Things happen.”
    No, ma’am.
    I completed the necessary
forms and signed my name on the dotted line, so to speak. Dr. Hunt assured me
that I wasn’t the first person to leave with no notice. “It may be better for
them to start the year off without you. The new person won’t have to compete
with your legacy. Start off fresh, you know?”
    “Got it.”
    Dr. Hunt pushed off the table
as she stood. “Well, Mrs. Brown, if I don’t see you anymore before I get out of
here, it’s been a pleasure.”
    “Same here.”
    I walked back to my car
thinking, That wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be . I guess I
thought they were going to bring me before a judge or something. Rake me over
the coals. Maybe Peaches was right—nobody wanted me there if I didn’t
want to be there.
    My current predicament would
make me think twice about holding on to teachers who were ready to resign.
    I was planning to make the
news of my leave a surprise for Stelson, so I hadn’t texted him. Instead, I cut
a path across town to meet him for lunch. There was always the possibility that
he wouldn’t be available or even present in the office, but I took my chances.
    Brown-Cooper Engineering
occupied a good portion of the third floor of the Chase bank building.
Stelson’s office, of course, boasted breathtaking views of the surrounding
hills. Too bad I rarely got to see