Page 31 of Wolves' Midlife Reunion
“It wasn’t that scary,” she told him.
“Just enough to have fun?” he asked.
She thought about it for a moment. “Yeah. And there weren’t any chainsaws.”
“No, we didn’t need any of those.” Dex rolled his head from side to side, trying to work out some of the tension knots that were constantly in his shoulders. He worried so much about Sage, and her magical training had taken that up another notch. Right now, though, he was happy. He was close with his daughter, and this was a memory they’d share for a long time.
“Dex! How nice to run into you here!”
He looked up to see Vanessa, part of Debbie’s trio, approaching their table and holding a little girl’s hand. “Oh. Hello.”
“This is my daughter, Lily. Could we sit with you two?”
“Of course.” He gestured at the chairs on the other side. He didn’t know Vanessa all that well, but he didn’t want to be rude. “This is Sage.”
“How was it, Sage?” Vanessa asked. “Did you have a good time?”
“It was great!”
Lily, however, didn’t look quite as pleased with her experience. “I thought it was too scary.”
“Aw, that’s okay, honey,” Vanessa said, gently smoothing her daughter’s sandy brown hair. “It’s supposed to be scary.”
“But I don’t like it,” Lily replied, slumping in her seat.
“We’ll just have to do something not as scary sometime soon.” Vanessa looked back up at Dex. She put one elbow on the table and leaned toward him a little. “Wasn’t that reunion amazing? I can’t believe how many people came out! It was just like old times, but even better because there was no homework!”
Dex laughed politely. “Serena really put a lot of work into it.” Not that he’d stuck around to experience it for very long. The class reunion had merely been a prelude to a much more important reunion with Tina.
“That’s the thing,” Vanessa said, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Big events like that really do take a lot of effort to pull off. Did Debbie tell you that I’m working at the Academy now?”
“Are you? No, she hadn’t mentioned that.” Or if she had, Dex hadn’t been paying attention.
“Yes! For a couple of years now. It’s really great to be back on the old stomping grounds all the time and to see new batches of kids coming through.”
Where was she going with this? Dex hoped beyond all hope that Vanessa wasn’t trying to flirt with him. He didn’t want to have to turn her down, nor did he want to deal with Sage’s inevitable questions. “I’m sure.”
“I’m right in the front office, so I get to know all of them. Especially the ones who are always trying to go home sick!” she laughed. “Each faculty member has to volunteer to help out with a few extracurricular activities a year. Did you know that?”
“I guess that explains why Coach Chapman directed the school play that time,” Dex quipped.
“Yes! Exactly! That’s what you get for not picking your activity right away!”
Now he was starting to understand. “And what are you in charge of?”
“The fall dance,” she said, spreading out her hands to emphasize just how big and exciting it was supposed to be. “It’s going to be great! Straw bales and corn stalks, scarecrows, pumpkins, you name it.”
“I’m sure they’ll enjoy that.” He glanced at his watch, wishing he had some place he had to be. Right now would be the perfect moment to make his excuses, but Sage and Lily had scooted together and were playing with the little jointed plastic snakes they’d picked out of the treasure chest.
Vanessa tipped her head to the side and grimaced. “They will, but only if I can make it happen. You see, I’ve managed to wrangle enough staff members and parents to act as chaperones, but I don’t have any help with decorating. It’ssodifficult to get people to volunteer these days. Is there any chance you could come and help?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Dex replied uncertainly. “I’m not a staff member, and Sage doesn’t go to that school yet.”
“Oh, that doesn’t matter!” Vanessa quickly replied. She smiled widely, but desperation pinched her eyes. “It would just be for an hour or so to set up.”
His schedule was already so busy. Dex worked a lot of hours, and he devoted almost all of his free time to Sage. He scratched the back of his neck. “I’m not much of a decorator.”
“I want to do it!” Sage blurted out, suddenly no longer interested in the plastic snake. “I want to decorate for a party! Ireallylike parties!”
