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“I want us to have fun, and that means putting a smile on your face from the second you walk through my door in the morning.”
So maybe she wasn’t so bad, but it wasn’t exactly evidence that the teacher would hang around for the long haul. He’d had enough experience to know that an isolated rural town wasn’t exactly paradise for everyone, especially for a teacher expected to teach children of all ages.
“If you need a hand...” he found himself saying.
She smiled politely at him, but he could see the storm still brewing in her eyes. “Thank you, Mr. Black, but I’m sure I can manage.”
He stared at her long and hard before walking around to the driver’s side. “I’ll look forward to seeing in the morning what you’ve done with the place.”
The teacher shut the passenger door and leaned in the window. “Your wife won’t be dropping the children off?”
Harrison gave her a cool smile. “No, it’ll be me.”
He watched as she straightened, a question crossing her face even though she never said anything.
“I’ll see you kids tomorrow,” she called out, walking backward.
Harrison touched his hat and pulled out into the road, glancing in the rearview mirror to see her standing there still, one hand holding her long hair back from her face, the other shielding her eyes from the sun.
She was pretty, he’d give her that, but there was no way she was going to stick it out here as their teacher. He could tell just from looking at her. And that meant he had to figure out what the hell he was going to do if she left. Because staying in Bellaroo wasn’t going to be an option for him if the school closed down, nor any of the other families who loved this town as much as he did.
“Daddy, don’t you think we should help our teacher?”
Harrison sighed and glanced back at his daughter. “I think she’ll be fine, Katie,” he told her.
She sighed in turn. “It’s a pretty big classroom.”
Harrison stared straight ahead. The last thing he needed was to grow a conscience when it came to their new teacher, and he had errands to run for the rest of the afternoon. But maybe his daughter had a point. If he didn’t want her to up and leave, then maybe he needed to make more of an effort. They all did.
“We might go back later on and see what we can do. How does that sound?”
“Great!” Katie was elbowing her brother, as if they’d both somehow managed to pull the wool over his eyes. “We could take her dinner and help her do the walls.”
Harrison stayed silent. Helping Ms. Carter redecorate? Maybe. Taking her dinner? Hell, no.
CHAPTER TWO
HARRISON LIKED TO think of himself as a strong man. He worked the land, could hunt and keep his family alive and comfortable in the wilderness if he had to, and yet his seven-year-old daughter managed to wrangle him as if he were a newborn calf.
“Dad, I think she’ll like this.”
He stared at his pint-size kid and tried to look fierce. “I am not buying a cake to take her.”
Katie wrapped one arm around his leg and put her cheek against his jean-clad thigh. “But Daddy, it wouldn’t be a picnic without a cake.”
“It’s not a picnic,” he told her, “so there’s no problem.”
His daughter giggled. “Well, it is, kind of.”
He looked at the cake. It did look good and they were being sold for charity, but what kind of message would that be sending if he arrived to help with cake? Taking sausages, bread and ketchup was one thing, because he could let the kids help their new teacher while he used the barbecue out back. But this was going too far.
“Daddy?”
He tried to ignore the blue eyes looking up at him, pleading with him. And failed. “Okay, we’ll take the cake. But don’t go thinking we’ll be spending all night there. It’s just something to eat, some quick help and then home. Okay?”
Katie smiled and he couldn’t help but do the same back. His little girl sure knew how to wrap him around her finger. “Come on, Alex,” Harrison called.
His son appeared from behind an aisle and they finally reached the cashier. Harrison had known old Mrs. Jones since he was a boy and was still buying his groceries from her and her husband.
“So what are you all doing in town today?”
He started to place items on the counter. “Had a few errands to run, so we’re a bit out of sequence.”
“And now we’re going to see our new teacher,” announced Katie.
“So you’ve already met Ms. Carter?”
Harrison frowned. He didn’t like everyone knowing his business, even if he did live in a small town with a gossip mill that ignited at any hint of something juicy. “We’re going to help her make some changes to the classroom, aren’t we, kids?”
Katie and Alex nodded as he paid for the groceries and hauled the bags from the counter.
“It’s mighty nice to have someone like Poppy Carter in town. Like a ray of sunshine when she came in this morning, she was.”
He smiled politely back. He didn’t need to feel any worse about how he’d spoken to her earlier, because no matter how much he tried to think otherwise, he did care that he’d been rude. It wasn’t his nature, and he realized now it might have been uncalled for. Did he doubt that she’d stick it out? Sure. But maybe he should have been more encouraging, rather than sending her scurrying back to wherever she’d come from before she’d even started.
“So what do you think?”
Harrison looked up and squinted at Mrs. Jones. He had no idea what she’d just asked him. “Sorry?”
“About whether she has a husband? Suzie Croft met her and was certain she had a mark on her finger where a ring had been, but I told her it was none of our business why she’d come here without a husband.” The older woman tut-tutted. “We advertised for someone looking for a fresh start, and that’s what we can give her. Isn’t that right?”
Harrison raised an eyebrow. Mrs. Jones liked to gossip better than all the rest of them combined. “I’d say we’ll just have to wait to find out more about Ms. Carter, once she’s good and ready to tell us her business.”
Who cared if she was married or not? Or whether she had a husband. All he cared about was that she was kind to his children, taught them well and stuck around to keep the school from closure. Tick all three off the list and he wouldn’t care if she was married to a darn monkey.
“Thanks,” he called over his shoulder as he carried the groceries out the door. “See you later in the week.”
The little bell above tinkled when he pushed the door open. He waited for his kids to catch up and race past him.
An hour at the school, then back home—that was the plan. And he was darned if he wasn’t going to stick to it.
* * *
Poppy was starting to think she’d taken on more than she could cope with. The room was looking like a complete bomb site, and she didn’t know where to start. It wasn’t as if she could just pop down to a paint store and buy some bright colors to splash on the walls. Here it was do it yourself or don’t do it at all.
She sighed and gathered her hair up into a high ponytail, sick of pushing it off her face each time she bent down.
Right now she had a heap of bright orange stars she’d cut out from a stack of paper, ready to stick together and pin across one wall. Then she planned on decorating one rumpty old wall with huge hearts and stars made with her silver sprinkles, before drawing the outline of a large tree for the older children to color in for her. She had stickers of animals and birds that could be placed on the branches, but for everything else she was going to have to rely on her own artistic skills. And her own money.
She didn’t have as much of that as she was used to, but at least being here meant she didn’t have anywhere to spend it. Groceries from the local store, her measly one-dollar rent and enough to keep the house running—it was all she needed, and she was going to make it work.
“Hello?”
Poppy jumped. Either she was starting to hear things or she wasn’t alone. Again. But surely it wasn’t...
Harrison Black. Only this time he brought his children with him into the room.
“Hey,” she said, standing up and stretching her back. “What are you guys doing here?”
Harrison held up two bags, a smile kicking up the corners of his mouth. “We come bearing gifts,” he said.
She grinned at the children as they stood close to their dad, both smiling at her. So this was his way of apologizing—coming back with something to bribe her with.
“You’re not here to help me, are you?” she asked them, crouching down, knowing they’d approach her if she was at their level.
It worked. Both children came closer, shuffling in her direction.
“Now, let me try to remember,” she said, looking from one child to the other. “You’re Alex—” she pointed to the girl “—and you’re Katie, right?”
They both burst out laughing, shaking their heads.
“No!” Katie giggled. “I’m Katie and he’s Alex.”
Poppy laughed along with them before glancing up at their dad. “I’m glad that’s sorted then. Imagine if I’d got that wrong tomorrow?”
The children started to inspect her bits and pieces, so she moved closer to Harrison. She wasn’t one to hold grudges, and with two happy children in the room, it wasn’t exactly easy not to smile in his direction. Even if he had been beyond rude less than a few hours earlier.
“So what’s in the bag?” she asked him.
“A peace offering,” he replied, one hand braced against the door as he watched her.
Poppy just raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to continue.
“Dinner for us all.”
Her eyebrows rose even farther at that. “Your idea or theirs?” she asked, hooking a finger in the kids’ direction.
Harrison sighed, and it made her smile. She guessed he wasn’t used to apologies or to being questioned. “Theirs, but it was a good one, if that makes it sound any better.”
Poppy was done with grilling him. “I’m just kidding. It’s the thought that counts, and I’m starving.”
He held up the paper bags and cringed. “I just had a really bad thought—that you might be vegetarian.”
She shook her head. “I’d like to be, but I’m not.” Poppy took the bags from him and placed them on an upturned desk. “I love that they still use paper bags here.”
“Plastic is the devil, according to Mrs. Jones, so don’t even get her started on that topic.” Harrison stood back, letting Poppy inspect the contents. “Although she has an opinion about most things, so that kind of applies for any questions you throw her way.”
Poppy laughed and pulled out the cake. “Now, this is what I call a peace offering!”
A hand on her leg made her turn.
“The cake was my idea.” Katie pointed at it. “Daddy said no, but...”
“Uh-hmm.” Harrison cleared his throat, placing a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “How about you help Ms. Carter and I’ll head out and fire up the barbecue?”
Poppy grinned and let Katie take her hand and lead her back to the pile of things she’d been working on.
Harrison Black might be gruff and forthright, but his daughter had him all figured out.
Poppy looked over her shoulder as he walked out the door, bag under one arm as he strode off to cook dinner. His shoulders were broad, once again nearly filling the doorway as he passed through. And she was certain that he’d be wondering why the hell he’d let his daughter talk him into coming back to help her.
* * *
Harrison was starting to realize he hadn’t planned this at all. They had no napkins, no plates and an old pair of tongs was his only usable utensil. His one saving grace was that the ketchup was in a squeeze bottle.
He looked up to see his children running toward him. It was still light, but that was fading, the day finally cooling off. He usually loved this time, when he came in for the day and settled down with his kids. And he was thinking that tonight they should have just stuck to their routine.
Poppy appeared then, walking behind his children.
“They couldn’t wait,” she called out. “Their stomachs were rumbling like they’d never been fed!”
He grinned, then tried to stop himself. What was it about this woman? She had him smiling away as if he was the happiest guy in the world, her grin so infectious he couldn’t seem not to return it.
“Dad, is it ready yet?” Alex was looking up at him as if he were beyond starving.
“We have a few technical issues, but so long as you’re okay with no plates and wiping your fingers on the grass—” he nodded toward the overgrown lawn “—then we’ll be fine.”
Poppy came closer and took out the loaf of bread, passing a piece to each child. “Sounds fine to me,” she said. “Sauce first or on the sausage?”
“Both,” Katie replied.
“Well, okay then. Sauce overload it is.”
Harrison tried not to look at her, but it was impossible. Even his children were acting as if they’d known her their entire lives.
He knew he should be happy. A teacher who could make his children light up like that should be commended. But there was something about her that worried him.
Because there was no going back from this. If she left, then...it wasn’t even worth thinking about.
All he could do was get to know her and make sure he did everything within his power to convince her to stay.
He cleared his throat and passed her the first sausage, which she covered with lashings of ketchup.
If only he could stop staring at the way her mouth had a permanent uptilt, the way her eyes lit up every time she spoke or listened to his children or the way her ponytail fell over her shoulder and brushed so close to her breasts that he was struggling to avert his eyes. Because none of those things were going to help him.
Just because he hadn’t been around a beautiful woman for longer than he could remember didn’t give him any excuse to look at her that way. Besides, he was sworn off women...for life.
“So what do I need to know about Bellaroo?”
