tinkling sound that had taken me hours to decide on.
“Saved by the bell,” Hailey whispered before turning to our new guest. “Welcome to Solitude! You must be Mr. Henderson. Your cabin is all ready for you and your wife.” Her smile was wide and mirrored by the hipster-looking twentysomething.
Summer hiking season was almost upon us.
I took my opportunity, and the binder, and escaped out the front door.
It was 10:31 when I pulled in, but I parked in the elementary school’s designated spots like a good parent and took the extra minute hit to my already tardy arrival.
“Ella!” Jennifer smiled out at me through the glass. “They’re all set up for you.”
“Hey, Jennifer.” I signed in on the clipboard and opened the door when the buzzer sounded.
“How is Maisie feeling?” she asked as she walked me into the offices that sat just behind the reception desk.
“She’s good, thank you. Surgery went well, and she’s ready to return to school on Monday.”
“Really? Already? That’s amazing!”
“You’d be shocked to see how quickly kids bounce back, and as long as her levels are good, she’s safe here.”
“I just can’t believe she beat it that quickly!”
Oh, no. I saw that look in her eyes, and I hated to be the one to dash it. “No, Jen. She had the tumor removed, and they got it all, but she’s Stage Four. Her bone marrow is still overwhelmingly cancerous. She just made it through the first step.”
Her face fell. “Oh. I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t understand.”
I offered her a smile. “Don’t worry. Not many people do, and I hope you never have to. She’s fighting.”
Her lips pressed together in a flat line before she nodded her head. “Of course.” She opened the door to the conference room, and I squeezed her hand as I passed, reassuring her that she hadn’t said anything worthy of embarrassment.
“Ah, Ms. MacKenzie, I’m so glad you could make it,” Principal Halsen said from the head of the table. His tie was as straight as his face.
Apparently we were all business today.
“Ms. May.” I smiled at Maisie and Colt’s teacher. She was in her late twenties, and Colt had only the best things to say about her. A pang of guilt smacked me square in the chest at how absent I’d been from school activities this year.
Yeah, I definitely wasn’t winning PTA Mom of the Year over here. Not even Okayest Mom. I was pretty much the Nonexistent Mom.
“And this is Mr. Jonas, who is our district superintendent and will be joining us today.” Principal Halsen motioned toward the older gentleman at his left. The man nodded at me with pursed lips that morphed into a forced smile.
“Mr. Jonas.”
I took the seat at the end of the conference table, leaving two empty seats between me and what felt like the army that had gathered against me, or rather Maisie. The loud sound of the binder’s zipper opening was almost obscene in the silence.
“So, Ms. MacKenzie—”
“Ella,” I reminded him.
“Ella,” he agreed with a nod. “We needed to meet today because of Maisie’s attendance record. As you know, she needs to be present for a minimum of nine hundred hours to complete kindergarten. Right now, between her absences and times she’s needed to leave early, or come late, she’s at about seven hundred and ten.”
“Okay?” I flipped through the binder to her school section, where I kept record of her days, hours, and documentation.
“We feel at this point, we need to discuss her options,” Principal Halsen said, pushing his glasses up his nose and opening the manila folder in front of him.
“Options,” I repeated, trying to understand.
“She hasn’t met the legal requirement,” Mr. Jonas said, his voice soft, but his eyes telling me that the issue was cut and dried in his opinion.
“Right.” I flipped to the letter I’d kept in a page protector and took it out of the binder. “I absolutely agree that she hasn’t met the requirement, but the district assured us in this letter dated in November that you wouldn’t hold her to it. That rule is waivable in the regulations by the district due to catastrophic illness, and that’s what you agreed to.”
I slid the letter down the table. Ms. May caught it and passed it along, sending me a sympathetic smile.
“We did. And we’re not here to throw ultimatums at you, Ella,” Principal Halsen assured me. “We’re here to discuss what’s best for Maisie. We made this agreement without looking at her long-term future.”