Just like the rest of my week at Prism.

Emily pushed back from the table and picked up her plate. “Do we have to wear costumes?”

“What?”

“For the stupid lip synch thing,” she said, glaring at me again. “Do we have to wear costumes?”

“ Well, I don't think we should perform in the nude. That's not what we're going for here... ”

“Mom.”

“Yes, we should have some sort of costume,” I told her. “We can't just wing it.”

She stared at me for a long moment . , her eyes filling with tears.

“You know this is going to ruin my life, right?” she said. “Like, I might have to change schools or something.”

I tried not to feel like the worst mom ever. She was great at putting on guilt trips. “Or you'll be the most popular girl in school after we totally rock the talent show !” ,” I said, pasting a bright smile on my face.

She stared at me again . , then turned on her heel and headed for her room. But not before I heard the words she muttered on her way out.

Then she headed for her room.

“These are the days I'm convinced I'm adopted ,” she muttered . ”

THIRTY ONE

I fed the troops The other three kids woke up and Emily and I dished waffles on to their plates and chatted with them for a few minutes before Jake announced it was time to leave . Emily was already out the door and I waited until Jake's car left before grabbing my stuff and heading to the school. announced she was riding with me to Prism. I thought it might be so we could discuss costume possibilities, but it turned out she was just running behind and thought she might've already missed the bus.

I chose to pretend she wanted to ride with her mother.

She jumped out of the car before I'd even shut off the engine, therefore saving herself the trauma of being seen with her parent on school grounds. I made a mental note to find her at lunch and give her a giant hug.

The door to the counseling office was already open when I shuffled through the door , but Charlotte wasn't at her desk. I heard the copy machine in the back room running and assumed she was back there. I set my stuff on my desk and walked back toward the humming and clicking of the copier.

It wasn't Charlotte using the machine, though.

It was Harriet Hollenstork.

She looked back over her shoulder at me , her head bobbling . “ Good morning. The copier in the front office isn't working . , ” she said defensively. “ Ms. Nordhoff said I could use the one in here.”

“Okay ,” I said. “ . And good morning .” ,” I added, smiling.

She nodded stiffly and turned back to the machine.

I turned to leave, then stopped. I still felt a tiny bit of guilt over how Harriet and I had left things, expecially after speaking with her husband. I still wasn't sure I could help her, but I didn't want there to be any tension, either.

I turned back around leaned against the wall , deciding we needed to have it out once and for all . I didn't want to focus on any more negativity and I didn't want Harriet to be upset with me for reasons I couldn't control.

“I enjoyed meeting your husband last night .” .”

This time, she twisted all the way around so she didn't have to look at me over her shoulder. “You met Harold?”

“Yes. ” I smiled again. “ I stopped by your store.”

“Why did you do that?” she asked suspiciously.

“I was driving by,” I said. “I just thought I would stop in and...say hello.”

Her pudgy face screwed up with confusion. “Why?”

I decided to be honest. “Probably because I felt guilty about not being able to help more .” ,” I told her. “With the computers and the purchasing and stuff.”

Her eyes narrowed. “But you could,” she said. “If you wanted to.”

“I told Harold that I would absolutely recommend your store as the place to purchase the replacement computers,” I said, not wanting to get into the level of influence I did or didn't have. “That I'd let Mrs. Bingledorf know that I thought Data Dork was the best option for Prism.”

She blinked several times The machine beeped but her eyes were locked on me . “You did? You will?”

“Of course,” I said, offering her a smile nodding . “And if I were the one placing the order, I would absolutely order from your husband. He was very nice and I have no doubt he could get the school what it needs. So I will definitely suggest it.”

She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, a gnawing off some of the pink lipstick staining her lips. slight smudge of pink lipstick on her teeth. “Thank you, Daisy. I appreciate that. We appreciate that.”

Finally. A little peace with Harriet.

“Though I have to wonder,” I said, feeling brave after making peace now that we appeared to have established some sort of truce . “After what Harold told me about Mrs. Bingledorf, I'm really not sure what's going to happen.”

The lip untucked from her mouth. “What did Harold tell you?”

“He said that Mrs. Bingledorf might be leaving her position,” I said.

The corners of her mouth twitched and she glanced down at the ground copier . When she brought her eyes back up, they weren't happy.

“This is why women should never share things with men,” she groused. “They can't keep their mouths closed.”

I now felt guilty A fresh surge of guilt blossomed because I was sure I'd just gotten Harold into a small mountain of trouble.

“I think he thought I knew,” I said quickly. “He didn't really give me any details and s . He just s aid I should talk to you if I wanted to know more.”

Her sour expression remained. “And if he'd kept his mouth shut, he wouldn't have had to say any of that in the first place .”

“I haven't said anything to anyone,” I said . , trying to placate her. “Nor do I plan to.”

She eyed me and I knew what she was thinking. I'd seen that look before, specifically from other women, when they were trying to decide if the gossip they had was secure if shared with me. Could they trust me? Was it worth anything to me and would I be willing to repay in kind if the opportunity ever arose and I had something juicy to share with them? Gossip was like currency.

And apparently I looked like a safe partner in crime.

Harriet walked over and closed the door to the copy room. She tapped the touch screen on the copier and set it to work it whirred back to life, spitting out printed sheets . Then she turned around to face me again.

“Here's what I know,” she said, folding her arms across her ample bosom. “And none of it is confirmed yet. But I have it on excellent authority that Bingledorf is interviewing for the vacant president's position at Blue Lake Academy.”

I knew of Blue Lake Academy. It was a fancy prep school halfway between Moose River and the Twin Cities, where tuition was expensive and the sports programs were top-notch. Their students went to Ivy League schools and their parents went to charity balls and gave away vast amounts of money they apparently had to give away. simply because they could.

“The president of their PTA is Suzette Merdan,” Harriet continued. “She's a good friend of mine. We were at fitness boot camp last week and she told me about it.”

I tried to get the image of not to visualize Harriet doing any kind of fitness boot camp out of my head . “She knows for sure that she's interviewing?”

“She knows for sure that she was on campus,” she answered clarified . “She knows for sure that she Evelyn was on campus during the board of trustees monthly meeting. She knows their president retired last spring and the current president is only an interim one. And she knows that she saw a job description with salary requirements for the Blue Lake president position – the same morning Bingledorf showed up on campus.” She paused. “So for sure? No. But I don't think it's a huge reach.”