Nic shook her head. “You’re kidding. Where did Bear get a mirror ball?”
“I don’t know. Even more curious is where he keeps it. He lives in a yurt.”
Nic pictured a year-round universal recreation tent with its circular wooden platform, lattice framework, and conical roof covered with heavy wind- and waterproof canvas. “If his yurt has a mirror ball, I want to see it.”
As Nic and Sarah shared a grin, Reverend Hart introduced Maurice Chevalier singing “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” and the dance floor swelled with daddies and daughters. Nic watched Alton Davis lift his five-year-old into his arms and twirl her around, and from out of nowhere, emotion hit her like a truck. She closed her eyes and fought back tears.
“Nic?” Sarah touched her arm, concern clouding her eyes. “What is it? Are you okay?”
“Sure. I’m fine.” She tried to smile, but her lips began to tremble and she finally gave up. A tear spilled from her eyes and trailed down her cheek. She grabbed a napkin off the refreshment table, wiped it away, and began to babble the disjointed thoughts that spun through her mind. “You’ve done such a great job. I can do it, too. I love my mom. Truly, I do. I just never wanted to be like her. At least I won’t have to worry about the cost of braces.”
Sarah frowned. “I saw you drinking punch. Someone must have slipped past you and spiked it. You’re talking nonsense.”
“I’m not drinking spiked punch,” she replied, a hint of hysteria in her voice. “I can’t. I’m pregnant.”
As her friend’s jaw dropped in shock, Nic fled, pushing past Sarah and heading for the gymnasium doors. Out in the hallway, she spied a group of people congregated in front of the building’s exit, so she turned in the other direction and walked toward the classrooms.
Eternity Springs Community School served grades K–12 and currently had a student body of 102. The building was new, less than five years old, with three separate wings that housed younger grades, middle grades, and high school, each wing connected to the gymnasium. Nic had fled into the high school wing.
She turned a corner so that she wasn’t visible from the gym doors, stopped, and put her back against the wall. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, trying to find her composure and will away the tears. She’d held it together after Gabe left and all day yesterday, but now it appeared that her composure had evaporated. She hung on the brink of a full-fledged meltdown.
“Here she is, Sarah,” she heard Sage say.
Of course they’d followed her. Sarah, Sage, and Celeste rounded the corner, looking worried. Well, good. Maybe they could talk her down off this ledge. “Approach at your own risk,” she warned them. “I’m borderline crazy at the moment.”
Celeste said, “In that case, I suggest we find a more private place to talk. Sarah? You know the school, do you not? Where can we go?”
“Right here.” Sarah nodded at the nearest door as she dug in her pocket and pulled out a large ring full of keys. She searched their labels, saying, “It’s the chem lab.”
“Why do you have keys to the chemistry lab?” Sage asked as Sarah fitted a key into the lock.
“I’m here so much doing such a variety of volunteer work that the principal figured it was more efficient just to give me a set of keys.” She opened the door and flipped the light switch.
Sage took hold of Nic’s arm and pulled her into the classroom, then froze. “Oh, my. This is frightening.”
Celeste clicked her tongue. “I’m glad I didn’t wander into this room alone.”
The note of alarm in her friends’ voices distracted Nic and made her smile. “This is part of the local wildlife collection Bear donated to the school. He’s a taxidermist.”
Celeste made a slow visual survey of the room. “Why do they keep the animals in the chemistry lab? Why not the biology lab?”
“They do keep them there,” Sarah explained. “This is the overflow.”
“Bear is one interesting man,” Sage observed, approaching the stuffed bear standing on its haunches.
“Yes,” Sarah agreed. “But I’m more interested in a polecat. Nic? You ready to talk?”
“Yes. No.” She grimaced. “I think I need to sit down.”
“Of course, dear.” Celeste took Nic’s arm and guided her over to a table with four chairs. “Can I get you some water?”
“No, thank you.”
Sage took the chair next to Nic, saying, “I’m gonna sit here where I can keep an eye on