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that the female portion of the Eden Academy staff was clearly besotted with Frank Ubermann, even Junebug. The only woman at the table who didn’t seem impressed with him was Emily and that was probably because of the age difference between them, although I didn’t doubt for a second that Frank would figure out a way to win her over too.
    “Not that I asked for your input, but it seems rather odd to me that Junebug failed to realize that this party is in honor of her retirement if Frank spoke to her about leaving,” Claudine snarled at Monica. “Why would she think that any of us even know when her birthday is?”
    “What are you guys whispering about?” Junebug shouted toward the small knot made up of Frank, Claudine and Monica. “Don’t you know it’s rude to whisper in front of other people? Are you talking about me?”
    The three pulled their heads apart quickly like a gone-to-seed dandelion that someone blew on. “Let’s get this over with,” Claudine murmured, sounding tired.
    “Brilliant idea, Claudine,” Frank said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. “After all, this whole party was your idea.”
    Claudine got to her feet again, a surprisingly warm smile on her face. “Junebug, I—oops! I mean we —have prepared a short toast to you as Eden Academy’s way of saying ‘thank you’ for all your years of service and dedication to our students. And also to say happy birthday, of course.”
    “Don’t say that!” Frank whispered, tugging frantically at Claudine’s sleeve. “Don’t encourage her!”
    Claudine yanked her arm away and gave Frank a cool stare. “We have to soften the blow since you didn’t do your job!” she hissed.
    “How can we toast her with coffee?” Jack Mulholland questioned. “That seems downright un-American to me. Didn’t anyone bring a bottle of something?”
    “I’ve got some tequila in my room,” Emily offered.
    Frank leaned forward to fix an angry glare at the student teacher. “Need I remind you that we are a school? We shouldn’t be imbibing on school premises. Do you have any idea of what would happen if someone from the state department of education walked in here and found us drinking?”
    “We aren’t a monastery, Frank,” Simpson snapped. “And we’re all over twenty-one. Especially Junebug. Besides, I bet every single desk at the state department of education has a drawer with a bottle of mood enhancer in it.”
    “Hold on. I’ve got something right here.” Junebug reached into her hip pocket and pulled out a silver flask. “One hundred and one proof,” she announced. “Wild Turkey. Who wants some?”
    The air was immediately filled with waving coffee cups and half-filled iced tea glasses. I watched as Junebug jumped up from her seat and went around the table putting a slug into everyone’s cup from the seemingly endless flask. It reminded me of a book I used to read to Tyler and Jane about a never ending pot of porridge. When she got back to her own seat, Junebug looked around the table. “Did I get everybody?”
    “Yes, we’re all fine,” Frank told her.
    I didn’t expect to be included so I wasn’t insulted that Junebug hadn’t offered me any Wild Turkey but I suddenly remembered the school’s receptionist, the one who had informed Junebug that she was missing her own party.
    “Would you like me to go get the receptionist?” I asked the room in general.
    Half a dozen pairs of shocked eyes swung in unison up at me. “Why would you go get Ruth?” Jack asked, truly sounding dumbfounded. “Do you need something cleaned up?”
    “To join the party,” I replied. “She must not realize it’s already started.”
    “Ruth is the receptionist ,” Claudine said.
    “We never include her in anything,” Monica added in a tone that implied that DeeDee was an idiot not to have realized her faux pas . “Our get-togethers are only for the salaried staff, not the hourly employees.”
    “I see.” And I did see. I saw that the entire