“I am going to call Ray Myers,” the principal said, her eyes steely and her tone uncompromising in a way that Nancy, at least, had probably never seen before. “And we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
Chapter Twenty Three
Ray
Swallowing his pride, Ray had contacted his parents, and they’d given him a lecture and enough money to keep going. He would pay them back, every last cent, he decided. That was the only way this would be okay. And then he would somehow find a way to never, ever have to borrow anything from them again. They had loaned him their extra car, too, which he was grateful for, although it had predictably come with another lecture about responsibility and how he deserved it for going to Paris instead of finding work.
He paid his phone bill right away, and he was told it would be a few minutes for it to be re-activated. It started to ring as he walked into his apartment, at the same time as Ashley was flinging herself at him, trying to get his attention. He dropped his car keys, then dropped his phone trying to get his keys, swore loudly, and waved Ashley off as he managed to get the phone to his ear.
When he heard who it was on the other end, his blood froze in his veins. Why was he being called into Ashley’s school? He could only think of one reason, but why did that need Ray’s presence? Was Ashley going to be punished because of what Ray and Simon had done?
Of course, he said he would be right there. But when he hung up the phone, Ashley was right there, waving her phone in his face so fast that it was a blur of light, and he had no chance at all of reading what was on it.
“Mandy says her mom said that you tried to kiss her,” Ashley said, horror on her face. “They’re going to try to fire Mr. Taylor because Mandy’s mom said that Mr. Taylor knew and didn’t do anything about it.”
Ray stopped in his tracks, turning to face his daughter. It took a while to sort through all of that, but he didn’t like what it added up to at all.
“What?” he asked, stunned. He had known that Nancy was not a nice woman, but he had never thought she would outright lie. But it seemed like she would do anything to get Simon in trouble. Why did she hate Simon so much, anyway? There didn’t seem to be any reason for it at all.
“Dad, she also said that you and Mr. Taylor got together in Paris. Mr. Taylor told the principal.” Well, this was all more information than he’d gotten over the phone. He was going to have to thank Mandy for reaching out to Ashley. But there was more going on than that.
“I see,” Ray said, his voice slow, trying to buy time. But it was time that he didn’t have. He was expected at the school. But looking at his daughter, at the determined look on her face, he wasn’t going anywhere until they’d had this out. Not that he would have expected anything else.
“Don’t lie to me, Dad,” she warned, her eyes flashing at him. “Did you? Did you really sleep with my teacher?”
He let out a heavy sigh. It might have been tempting to do just that, to lie to her, but he couldn’t have done it even if she hadn’t warned him against it. It just wasn’t his style. He’d tried to hide it from her, but now that he had been caught, he wouldn’t make it worse.
“Yes,” he admitted and then winced when he saw the look on her face. “I know you’re mad, but …”
“Damn straight, I’m mad,” she interrupted. “You didn’t tell me when you fell in love! Dick move, Dad. You should have trusted me if someone was important to you.”
“Look, it wasn’t like that,” Ray tried to explain and then sighed. “I’ll tell you everything in the car on the way to the school. But I have to go.”
With what Nancy was trying to pull, he needed to be there. It didn’t matter if he and Simon hadn’t exactly parted on the best of terms. Something shady was going on here, and Ray wasn’t going to sit back and let it happen if he had any say in the matter. And as it just so happened, it turned out he did.
* * *
By the time they’d gotten there, Ashley knew most of it. The parts that were appropriate for her to know, anyway. She was still a little miffed that he hadn’t told her, and the part where he had fallen in love with a man was a surprise to her, but everyone, she said, had known that Mr. Taylor was gay and no one had cared. She hadn’t expected it, but she was fine with it.
So the worst had pretty much happened, and he was still standing. He had his daughter by his side still, and she didn’t hate him for hiding things from her. With that victory under his belt, he figured that he could take on anything Nancy had to throw his way.
Not to mention that, even though it shouldn’t matter to him at all, even though he should have been busy moving on, it didn’t exactly break his heart that he was going to get to see Simon again.
“I’m not really happy that he basically used you,” Ashley said thoughtfully, as they got out of the car.
“Oh, honey,” Ray said, his voice wry. “He didn’t use me. We agreed from the beginning that it wasn’t going to be anything more than a fling. It’s not his fault that I did something stupid and fell in love.”
She lapsed into silence at that, but she was still brooding a bit. One thing you could say about Ashley was that she was intensely loyal to the people she cared about, which was touching. It did help his mood as they went into the school together.
Mandy was near the office waiting, and she ran over to them, worry on her face.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know all of this would happen,” Mandy babbled, as Ashley put her hand on her new friend’s shoulder to calm her down. “Did Ash tell you? About what my mom is saying?”
“It’s okay, Mandy,” Ray said gently. “You two wait here. I’m going in. But yes, Ash told me everything. Thank you for letting me know.”
“My mom, she just doesn’t like gay guys. She’s been looking to screw Mr. Taylor over since she found out he was gay. When my uncle came out, my whole family disowned him except for me. I talk to him on Facebook, but she’d kill me if she knew.”
Oh. Well. That made a lot more sense. Insofar as homophobia ever made sense. Even in this day and age, it seemed, some people thought that who other people fell in love with was some of their business.
