Episode 40 - The Art Show

“I guess this is what passes for date night at our stage of life,” Edward remarked as he and Alma walked into the high school together.

“It is when you have four children and a career,” Alma replied coolly.

Edward held his tongue. He had made enough remarks about her career and his retirement to know that saying anything further about it was not going to be productive. He was resigned to suffer in silence and hope this whim of Alma’s would pass on its own if he left it alone.

As soon as they entered the gymnasium, they spotted Judith who was waving them over to where she was waiting, eager to show off her artwork.

As Judith happily chatted about her art projects, Alma found her attention being diverted from Judith to Mr. Clark as she caught glances of him walking among the exhibits. As soon as Judith had finished showing off her projects, Alma excused herself and made a beeline to her coworker.

Edward's frown deepened as he watched the two teachers chat from a distance. The way Alma smiled and played with her hair as she spoke was a little too flirty for his comfort. He couldn’t recall ever seeing her behave in that way or speak with such animation, not in all the years he’d known her.

“Who is your mother talking to?” he asked Judith.

His daughter looked over and rolled her eyes. “Oh, Mr. Clark.”

“The teacher she’s been working on the play with?”

“Yeah.”

He studied the pair a moment longer, just long enough to watch as Alma giggled at something Mr. Clark had said. Finally, he’d seen enough and marched over to the pair. Judith, sensing something was up, hurried behind.

Mr. Clark was mid-sentence when Edward approached.

Standing close to Alma, Edward interrupted by extending his hand to the young teacher. “You must be my wife’s colleague that I’ve heard so much about, the one that’s been keeping my wife so busy with extracurricular projects.”

Alma turned to gape at her husband in disbelief. She could feel her cheeks flush hot with embarrassment.

“I’m Edward Wilton, Alma’s husband.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Wilton. I'm Mason Clark." He accepted the Edward's handshake briefly, yet firmly. "Your wife and I were just discussing details about the school play. Alma has contributed so many great ideas and been such a tremendous help, I'm not sure where we would be without her."

Edward looked skeptical, but Alma was beaming at the praise.

"You’ll be sure to come and watch the finished project, won’t you? I'm sure you'll be very proud of your wife when you see all of her hard work come to fruition for yourself.”

“Oh, of course,” Edward answered coolly. He looked to Alma. “That is if you want me to go.”

“Of course, I do,” Alma replied, her tone neutral.

“Opening night is coming up soon. Hopefully once you see it, you’ll think the time you wife has spent working on it has been worthwhile.”

* * * * *

While the Wiltons were speaking with Mr. Clark, Lucy entered the gymnasium. Just off from her shift at the hospital, she made a quick change out of her scrubs at work and headed straight to the school. Vince had made such an effort to turn himself around that making time for this event, which she knew was more important to him than he would admit, was the least she could do to support him.

As she wandered around the room, she looked for her son, but she didn’t see him anywhere. She turned around to see if she missed him in another hallway behind her and nearly bumped into Mr. Gregory.

“Dr. Stuart,” he greeted her with a smile. “I’m glad you could make it. Vince has been working so hard on his projects this year. Has he shown you his work yet?”

“No, I just arrived and I haven’t seen him yet. Do you know where he might be?”

“No,” he admitted. “But I’m sure he’s around here somewhere. I’ll help you find him.”

As they walked along together, they talked about Vince’s progress.

“I’m really impressed with how he’s been doing, not just in my class, but he’s been sticking to the deal and making sure he’s passing all of his classes.”

“I knew he was into art, but I had no idea it would be such a motivator for him,” Lucy admitted. “I can’t tell you what a relief it is to see him going in the right direction and making good choices. If the art class has anything at all to do with that, I have to thank you for your part, Mr. Gregory.”

“My part was very small, I promise you.” He called out to one of his students that happened to be walking past. “Karissa, have you seen Vince?”

The student shrugged. “Ask Judith. She’s his girlfriend. If anyone would know, it would be her.”

The Wiltons, who had been standing just a few feet away, were close enough to overhear. They quickly turned their attention to Judith.

“Girlfriend?”

Judith was about to protest and deny what the other girl said was true, but it was too late. The damage had been done.

“Ohhh . . . Sorry," Karissa apologized quickly and hurried away.

When her parents stared at her, Judith wanted to sink into the floor and disappear.

“Have you seen Vince, Judith?” Mr. Gregory asked, calmly cutting through the tension, and bringing everyone back to the matter at hand.

It took some effort for Judith to make her voice work again, but when she spoke, directing her words to Mr. Gregory and avoiding her parents’ glares helped. “Not since this afternoon when we were setting up for the art show.”

“Then he hasn’t been here since it started?” Lucy asked. Her voice wavering with concern. “Do you know where he went?”

“He got a text and said he had to go, but that he would be back. He didn’t say where he was going or who texted him.”

"Thank you, Judith." Mr. Gregory said before he and an obviously worried Lucy turned to walk away. "I'm sure Vince will be here soon."

Left alone with her parents, Judith braced herself as she ventured to look at them. She knew before she saw their faces that they would not be pleased.

Edward looked back and forth between his daughter and his wife and then said firmly. "I think we're done here. It's time to go home."