Page 43 of Promises We Meant to Keep (Love in Massachusetts #1)

forty-three

“You ready?” Simone asked.

Kamryn was ready and not ready at the same time. And there was nothing she could do about it now. “As ready as I can be,” she muttered.

Simone opened the door to the conference room filled with board members. Kamryn swallowed the lump in her throat and begged the nerves that were taking over to dissipate sooner rather than later. She had advantages this time that she didn’t have last time, ones that no one else had.

The problem?

She was still in a relationship with Elia. And that could cause a conflict that the board wouldn’t want to continue to deal with.

Kamryn sat down at the head of the table and tried to plaster on a smile that meant she was calm and easy and ready for this interrogation—whoops, interview. Although it definitely felt like the former. The questions started easy, and Kamryn was readily able to lay out what her plans were for the future of the school.

Having been there the last six months helped drastically in how she made her plans. She was able to make them very specific, and she knew exactly where the majority of the problems were. Once Kamryn got into the flow of question and answer, she started to actually enjoy herself, and the outfit she’d worn that day didn’t feel confining or like it was trying to strangle her.

“The board wanted to ask a few questions that are a bit personal in nature,” Simone started, and she looked uncomfortable.

Kamryn had known these questions would come up. They had to, especially since she’d outed herself and Elia earlier in the school year so boisterously. If she was the permanent Head of School, then it was going to really come into question whether or not she and Elia could work together, especially if a breakup happened.

“That’s all right,” Kamryn answered. She and Elia had prepared for these questions and had planned answers ready. With some help from Abagail. It was a good thing that that relationship was going much better.

“We know that you’re in a relationship with Dr. Elia Sharpe. Thank you for informing us of that.” Simone sounded so professional. Kamryn had to hand it to her. The board she had met six months ago wouldn’t have been prepared for this conversation in the least. They were letting Susy run everything and had no interest in participating in the conversations.

“I am.” Kamryn smiled at just the memory of when she’d told them, and the fact that they’d all stayed three hours late to figure out some sort of temporary solution so they could both stay on for the rest of the year. Their support of her and Elia had been clear in that moment.

“The concern the board has is for reducing conflicts and conflicts of interest, and what ideas you had moving forward.”

“Understandable. Right now, Dr. Marshall Dean is in charge of all supervision concerning Elia. And that’s worked well for us. Though it’s only been in place a few months at this point.” Kamryn stilled, trying to ease herself into this conversation. “We would propose that the current processes in place continue, but also add in that Dr. Dean’s reports will be shared with the board, and that he will be mediator should any conflicts arise about my influence in Elia’s position.”

“And should your relationship end?” Simone asked.

Kamryn nodded. “I don’t anticipate that happening, but should it happen, both Elia and I have the experience and maturity to keep it away from the school. Marshall will continue to be her supervisor in that case. I wouldn’t want there to be any question of ethics or confidence in my position where it concerns Elia. I do think that what we have in place is sufficient for now, but I also believe that we can do better with our policies. Marshall and I have been working with other schools in the area to improve our policies surrounding these potential conflicts as they come up and prior to them arising. The policies at Windermere are seriously outdated, and they all need to be updated and brought into the twenty-first century.”

That was as much as Abagail had told them to give. Kamryn settled her hands into her lap, and Simone easily navigated the conversation back to more normal interview questions. Kamryn spent half of the day with the board, unlike the outside candidates who would spend the entire day with them.

As soon as Kamryn got back to her office, she sat down and stood right back up. Her nerves were on fire, and she just wished she had the answers now. Though it did feel like it had gone well. She wanted to call Elia, but she was in the middle of class. Which meant that she was stuck pacing her office with the lingering energy coursing through her veins.

Picking up her phone, Kamryn video-called Greer and held her breath that she’d be able to answer and not be busy.

“Hey!” Greer’s smiling face filled the screen. “Just so you know, I’m with some of the kids right now, so it might get chaotic.”

“Sure. Just hang up if you need to. I understand.” Kamryn held the phone away from her face so she could see her best friend. “How is the new job going?”

Greer pulled a face before she rolled her eyes. “ Chaotic is probably a very good word for it, honestly. I’m working on pulling together some kind of schedule that works for everyone, but it’s just not happening. There’s one particular holdout.”

Kamryn knew who that was already. She and Greer had spent time on the phone brainstorming how Greer could handle Nathalie Coeur. With three families sharing a nanny, Greer was overwhelmed. But Nathalie? She was an ice-cold queen who didn’t give an inch. She was Abagail’s pain in the ass, as well, so they could at least complain together.

“I don’t envy you on that one. I much prefer the school system. Structure is already built into my job.” Kamryn laughed lightly and set her phone against her computer so she could talk to Greer hands-free.

“And…?” Greer asked, getting more excited than Kamryn had at the very end of her interview.

“And what?”

“How did it go?”

“I think it went well.” Kamryn paused, glancing toward the main office where her new temporary office administrator was working. “I think it went really well, actually. I’m still concerned about the whole Elia-and-me thing, but overall, I feel really good about this.”

“Eek!” Greer waved her hand in the air excitedly. “I mean, I do wish you’d move closer to Boston so that we could spend more time together, but if you get the job of your dreams, I guess I’ll survive.”

“I only wish you could have the job of yours,” Kamryn countered, frowning slightly. She was worried with how much stress this was putting on Greer. The situation was way out of the ordinary for her, but the three families sharing one nanny did offer a safety net that Greer never had before. And it helped that all three of them were going to have to agree in order for her to be fired.

“Yeah. We’ll see. You never know where this job might lead me.”

“Yeah, you’re right. You never know.” Though Kamryn would definitely take closer together as the best option. She was about to say something when there was a loud crash that echoed through the phone. “What was that?”

“Shit,” Greer mumbled under her breath. She stood up, leaving the phone where she was and walked away.

Kamryn stayed on the phone, watching from a distance as Greer started to clean something up. She was just about to hang up to give Greer the time she needed when the phone suddenly moved. She was greeted with a curious face of a little blond boy who was missing his two front teeth.

“Hi,” Kamryn said, trying in vain to remember his name or which kid he was and which parent he belonged to. But there were a lot of kids there, and since she hadn’t met them yet, it was a struggle to remember. “Tell me your name again.”

“Alaric!” He giggled wildly as he held the phone so Kamryn was basically looking up his nose. Then he must have started running because it was like watching an episode of the Blair Witch Project with a shaky cam that was liable to make Kamryn want to throw up if she watched for too long.

“Hey bud! Slow down!” Kamryn said, trying to get him to calm down a little. “Where are you running off to?”

“I’m hiding from the babies.” He seemed to be crawling under something now, but Kamryn couldn’t quite be sure.

“Are they loud?”

“They spilled their cereal.”

“Ah.” So that must have been what Greer had gone to clean up. “You don’t want to help?”

“No! I’m not their brother.”

So this must be Nathalie’s kid. She was the only one who had one child while each of the other two families had two kids. “You know, even when my brother was little, I didn’t want to be his sister sometimes. Especially when he was loud and trying to get me into trouble.”

Alaric laughed wildly. “Leon tries to get me in trouble all the time.”

“Oh, no. That’s not good.”

“Especially at school.”

“Alaric?” Greer called, her voice quieter than it should have been.

Kamryn took the opportunity. “Alaric, let me finish talking to Greer, will you?”

“Sure.” He climbed out from wherever he had climbed into and handed the phone over to a frazzled Greer. “He’s a cutie.”

“Most days.” Greer sighed and pushed her hair away from her face. “There’s no school today.”

Kamryn glanced at her computer and all the emails that had come in. “So you have all five kids today?”

“I do, and it’s been chaotic since the twins woke up. Then again, it’s always chaotic.”

That must be her new word of the week, but Kamryn wasn’t going to mention anything about it. “I’ll let you get back. Call me tonight if you want to. I’d like to talk to you without little ears that can hear everything.”

“That sounds amazing. Maybe a video call date later?”

“Absolutely.” Kamryn looked at the screen and smiled at Greer. “Let me see if Elia was planning anything tonight and then I’ll let you know if I can.”

“Planning something?”

Kamryn shrugged. “I’m not sure. We haven’t had a second to compare schedules in a while.”

“Sure.” Greer laughed when there was another crash. “Crap.”

“Catch you later, Greer!” Kamryn hung up without waiting for a response. Greer had bigger fish to fry.

Kamryn spent the rest of the day in her office working, trying to ignore the fact that her interview had only happened a few short hours ago.

The knock on her door wasn’t the knock of her administrative assistant. When Kamryn looked up, she wasn’t surprised to find Elia filling the doorway. “You didn’t call or text.”

Kamryn winced. “I didn’t want to bug you while you were teaching.”

Elia hummed and walked into the room, not bothering to shut the door. She immediately stepped close to Kamryn and kissed her. “How did it go?”

“Excellent.” Kamryn cupped Elia’s cheeks and pulled her in for another, deeper kiss. “I really do think it went well.”

“Good.” Elia sat on the edge of Kamryn’s desk. “This office won’t feel the same without you in it, you know.”

Kamryn canted her head to the side and squinted. “Are you saying that I won’t get the job?”

“No.” Elia crossed her arms. “I’m saying that you better get the job because this school won’t be the same without you.”

“You said this office.”

“You know what I meant.”

“Maybe.” Kamryn stood up and took Elia by the hand. “Do we have any plans for tonight? I was talking to Greer, and she could really use a drunk video call.”

Elia laughed lightly. “I had thought that I would take you out to dinner, but if you’d prefer to drink with Greer, that can be arranged.”

“Dinner? As in a date?” Kamryn walked over to the wall where she’d hung her jacket that morning.

“Yes, a date.”

Kamryn raised her eyebrows. They hadn’t been on a proper date in a long time. The busyness of the new year had swept both of them off their feet, especially with Kamryn’s interview and the time she needed to prepare for it.

“Hmm, a date with my girlfriend or drunk video calling my best friend. Such choices are these.” Kamryn slid her arms into her jacket and buttoned up the front of it.

“You can always do both if we call it an early night.”

“Oh, perfect.” Kamryn went back to her desk to pack up her laptop to bring it home to work on it later. She still had a ton to get done before the long holiday weekend.

As Kamryn was ready to leave, she took Elia by the hand and closed the door behind her. She never wanted to stop touching Elia like this if she could. She’d found so much comfort in the simple touches that they could have now that there was no need to hide their relationship, at least in front of faculty and staff. Students were another thing entirely. They tried to stay as professional as possible when they were around the students, especially their Speech kids.

Kamryn kept Elia’s hand in hers until they stepped outside into the cold winter. Snow still covered the ground, and it looked like a warm blanket with tracks through it from the students running from one building to the next. Kamryn hiked her satchel up higher onto her shoulder as she started walking back with Elia toward her small house at the end of the row for faculty.

“So where are we going for dinner?” Kamryn asked. She hadn’t realized just how hungry she was, but she hadn’t managed to eat breakfast or lunch that day because her nerves had taken over her entire body.

“I was thinking Italian.”

“Carbs. Perfect.” Kamryn grinned at her. “We probably should talk about what we’re doing if I don’t get the job.”

“What do you mean?” Elia frowned. “Of course you’ll get it.”

“I love your positive attitude, but let’s be honest for a minute. I might not.”

“Kam—”

“Just humor me, please.” Kamryn clenched her fingers. “I’ve been looking at schools around here to see if they have any openings, but you know how hard it is to find jobs like these.”

“Especially if you want to stay in administration.”

Kamryn hummed her agreement. “So I also widened the search to the Boston area.”

“You’d be closer to Greer.”

“Yeah, I would be.” And farther from you. Though Kamryn didn’t say that. It was something that weighed heavily on her. “I could find another kind of job so that I can stay close by.”

“Kam… wherever you end up, you and I will figure out what we’re doing then. I’m not going to let you go now.”

Relief flooded through her. She hadn’t realized just how worried she was about that. That without the constant contact they currently had that their relationship would shift and change to the point that it would break them down. It still worried her, but at least having Elia thinking about it made her feel far less afraid of the reality she didn’t want to experience.

“Like I said before, I’m not sure what this place would be without you.” Elia let them into her house, but she didn’t take her jacket off. “Now, let’s celebrate your interview, and distract ourselves from the future what-ifs that we can’t answer.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Kamryn said as she dropped her bag onto the kitchen table. “Are you driving, or am I?”

“Me,” Elia answered. “I’ve ridden with you before. Trust me, I’m driving.”

“I’m not that bad!”

“Sure you’re not. Maybe you should start teaching driver’s ed so you can learn a thing or to.”

“Elia!”

But Elia was laughing as she stepped back outside the house. Kamryn shoved her hands into her pockets as she followed. She’d let Elia drive—this time. It wasn’t worth it to fight it.