“Forever?” He shook his head in answer. He was running out of words.
“The board of health recommends that we close for sixty to ninety days, depending on whether or not we get any new cases. We have to send everyone home. It’s dangerous for any of us to be here. We were all exposed to Abby. We notified everyone an hour ago. Several of the parents have already picked their children up. I’m expecting a dozen more tonight. The rest are leaving in the morning. Above all, we want to avoid an epidemic.”
“What will happen to the kids?” Blaise asked in a shaking voice.
“We’re going to send as many monitors home with them as we can. But I have a problem, Blaise,” he said, eyeing her squarely. He had always been honest with her, for the past eleven years, and she considered him a friend. “None of the monitors who’d be suitable for Salima can leave here. None of the female ones, that is. They’re all married and have kids, and live nearby, and they won’t go to New York. I’ve talked to them all.”
“What about Lara, the girl who’s with her now?”
“She has a husband and two kids. She won’t go. She had a hell of a time even finding someone for them for tonight. She doesn’t usually live in,” which was why Blaise had hardly ever seen her and didn’t recognize her at first. And she didn’t work weekends. “I have someone terrific for you. But not a woman. He’s a great guy.” Blaise looked horrified by what he said.
“I can’t take a guy with me. I travel all the time. He can’t get Salima dressed or in and out of the bathtub. What am I supposed to do with that?”
“Make it work. It’s all I can do,” he said honestly. “He’s the best teacher I’ve got. I would have sent him home with Timmie Jenkins, but they’re putting Timmie in another school now in Chicago, closer to home. They’ve been wanting to for a while. So that frees up Simon. I asked him, and he’s willing to go to New York.”
“I can’t take a man,” Blaise said stubbornly. “You have to get me someone else. A man won’t work.” She was desperate. He had to help her.
“He’s all I’ve got.” Eric looked at her unhappily, and Blaise looked panicked. “It’s him or no one. Don’t you have a woman who can help you out? A housekeeper of some kind?”
“I have a housekeeper, but she only works days. She doesn’t live in. And I travel for work, at least half the time. This will be very hard on her.”
“It’s hard on us having to close the school. We all have to make the best of it. When are you taking Salima out? You can leave tonight if you like.”
“She’s asleep. We’ll leave in the morning. When is Abby’s funeral?” Blaise asked. She had never met Abby’s mother and knew it must have been devastating for her to lose her daughter.
“It’s the day after tomorrow,” he said grimly. It had been the worst day in the history of the school.
“I’d like to stay till then, for Salima’s sake,” Blaise said quietly. “She’ll want to go. I guess we can stay at the bed and breakfast till then.”
“I’ll tell Simon to be ready in the morning,” Eric said, looking harried. He had fifty students to send home, with monitors to go with them, and a school to close.
“Can I at least meet him?” Blaise asked, sounding skeptical.
“Of course. I’ll have him in my office at nine o’clock tomorrow morning. I think he’d be great for Salima. In a way, better than Abby, although I loved her too. But Simon has excellent training, and his skills are very strong. He went to Harvard. He has a master’s in special ed, and another one in psychology. He’s been here as long as Abby, and I’d trust him with my life.”
“He’s a guy,” Blaise said, looking unhappy. She left Eric then and went back to the cottage. Salima was still asleep, and Lara had gone to sleep on the couch in a sleeping bag. She didn’t want to use Abby’s bedroom and was nervous about even being there. Blaise was planning to sleep with her daughter.
Blaise called Charlie on her cell phone while standing in the kitchen, and lowered her voice so she didn’t wake anyone up. The last thing she wanted was Salima awake and crying all night.
“How’s it going?” he asked her.
“It’s a mess. The only monitor they can give me for her is a man. I don’t know how we’re going to work that.”
“You’ll figure out something. Maybe you can find someone here.”
“Yeah, maybe. But I’d rather have someone from the school. I just don’t know what to do with a guy. I’m not set up for that.” She was convinced it wouldn’t work.
“Do you know when you’re coming back yet?” Charlie sounded worried.