The Other Man in My Wife's Tent novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: The Board Meeting

The district boardroom held a hundred and twenty chairs, and by ten to seven there wasn't a free one.

Parents stood along the walls.

Teachers sat in a block by the windows.

Dean had filled the front rows with his people, and they wore little green ribbons that said Principal of the Year.

I stood at the back with Freja, and my mother, who had brought a bag of knitting.

"Where's Eli?" Freja asked.

"With my lawyer's mother."

"Is she good?"

"She raised four boys and she has a whistle."

The board chair, a heavy man with a gray mustache, banged a gavel.

"We're here to consider the principal's leave of absence," he said. "Public comment first. Three minutes each."

Dean was the first up.

He took the podium.

"Friends," he said. "Eleven years I've given to this school."

Applause, loud and warm, from the ribbons.

"I've missed holidays and paid for supplies out of my own pocket."

"I gave my whole self to your children."

"In return, a bitter spouse and a jealous teacher accuse me of things I won't repeat."

He let his voice catch.

"I'm asking only for fairness."

More applause.

I felt Freja go stiff beside me.

"Wait," she muttered. "Just wait."

A parent stood up from the middle.

"Mr. Tolland, we all know you. You can't have done what they say."

"Thank you, my friend."

"I've had my kid in your school nine years."

"I know you have."

"But I also saw you on Friday at the elementary school." The man didn't smile. "I was in that hall, and so were four other parents. We all heard how you talked to that teacher."

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