24. Montana

“What?” The girls” jaws all dropped open. It would have been funny if I wasn’t so churned up inside. We were sitting on the picnic bench in the garden for lunch. The kids were scattered around in groups having the sandwiches they had prepared themselves.

“What-,” Kelly started, sounding absolutely confused. “His daughter is here? Right now? He’s a parent here? Like an actual parent?”

I nodded morosely, and I slipped a potato chip into my mouth.

“Oh my God. So he’s the guy who was doing all the renovation work on Duck’s Pond,” Natalie deduced.

“So is he like a stalker?” Pearl asked. “I mean, you have to consider that he is giving stalker vibes if he’s suddenly so close to you.”

“He’s not a stalker,” I groaned. “He just brought his daughter here.”

“Now that you mention it, is she even really his daughter?” Pearl asked. “Maybe she’s a paid actor in all of this, and he really just came after you.”

“I really think he came here because of you,” Pearl said in a hushed voice.

“Stop it, you guys. Him being here has absolutely nothing to do with me. Dad said he’d already enrolled his daughter here last term, but he couldn’t get here before that.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe in coincidences. This is fate,” Pearl declared.

I gave her a dry look.

“Going to the Chapel and we’re gonna get married,” Kelly sang and the others snickered.

“I’m leaving,” I said exasperated by their antics, but they pulled me back down.

“Stop being so serious,” Natalie scolded. “But let us get serious about this though. I mean, now that he’s here and his daughter is in our school, how do you plan to navigate this potentially explosive situation? Are you going to use your Aikido technique?”

Another bout of laughter followed.

“No,” I said with a long-suffering sigh, “I’m not bringing any drama into school and definitely not my classroom with his kid’s welfare at stake. We’re going to keep it all very professional. Strictly teacher and parent relationship.”

“Look,” Kelly said. “We’re all adults here. Trust me, everything can be navigated easily when clear boundaries are set.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” I said.

But she shook her head. “No, we’re not saying the same thing. Your boundaries mean ‘don’t go there’, mine is a bit more porous. ‘Go there outside work hours, in your free time’. You’re just behaving this way because you’re pissed that he didn’t call. But think about it. Life is short. Why deprive yourself of clean good fun? Why not keep it going with him? I certainly would. You say it was the best night of your life so why blow out the flame when it’s still burning so bright, why not let it die out naturally when all the wax is gone? At that time, you can both mutually agree to revert back to a strictly professional relationship as teacher and parent?”

“Wow,” I looked at her. “Are these kinds of sticky personal matters usually this easy for you?”

“Yeah,” she replied, and I had to smile.

“I agree with Kelly,” Pearl said. “For me, I say don’t cross your heart when there’s no reason. I mean, how many things happen the way we want them to? Maybe this could still develop into something special. You shouldn’t walk away so fast because it didn’t fit what you expected?”

I was so confused. “So, what are you saying I should do, go after him?”

“No,” Pearl replied. “What I’m saying is that if he’s coming after you, then let him and embrace that scenario until it comes to an end.”

“That, I must admit, is solid advice,” Natalie put in. “You’re brave with everything else. Why chicken out on this matter?”

“By the way, Dad has invited him to dinner tonight,” I said glumly.

“Way to go, Mr. Moore,” Kelly approved with a chuckle.

“Methinks Principal Moore is trying to play matchmaker.”

I could feel my whole face blaze while the girls cackled like a clan of hyenas at my discomfort.

* * *

While the rest of the day wore on, no matter how I tried, I couldn’t take my mind off the impending dinner. I wondered if the girls were right. My dad had taken a shine to Cole and thought he would make a suitable suitor for his daughter.

Eventually, the end of the day came to pass, and I grew even more horribly nervous. My stomach was in knots and I actually felt queasy. I usually waited in the playground with my students until they were picked up by their parents. Thus, more often than not, I was exchanging pleasantries and meeting a lot of their parents on a daily basis.

I wanted to avoid meeting with Cole, but I was sure it would start unnecessary gossip and speculation about why I was behaving so differently since Cole showed up. So, I sucked it up and stayed in the playground. My heart was doing somersaults when he arrived.

”Treat him like all others,” I chanted to myself over and over again, but I soon realized that might draw even more attention because the moment he arrived, he became an incredibly hot topic, actually, the only topic of conversation for the moms who had come to pick up their kids.

I’m not a materialistic person but when I saw him get out of his car, I felt there was something quite off to me, though. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but his car simply didn’t suit him. Why would a man as worldly and sophisticated as him drive a car like that? Was that his idea of what a small-town hick drove and he was trying to blend in?

But the moms, I noted very clearly, didn’t raise any brows at anything other than the man himself. They all turned from where they had gathered chatting and watched him until he came over to where I was with the kids.

“Daddy!” Anya called as she hurried over to him.

He lowered himself down to her height and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and I knew then that he was legit. At least with her. No kid was that happy to see their parents if they weren’t showered with all the affection and love in the world. With her hand tightly in his he straightened and looked at me.

“How was the day, Miss Moore?” he asked.

I could hardly believe this man had laid with me. Seen me naked. Eaten me out. Oh God! I pretended to brush away at a fluff on the sleeve of my top, so I didn’t have to look at him and could clear my thoughts.

“Um … it was good. Same old, same old.”

“How did Anya adjust?”

I smiled at her. “Pretty well. She’s incredibly active. She might still have some dirt under her nails from working in the flower bed with the other kids, so please wash her hands when she gets home. She’s already done so here, but I’ve taught them to do it again as soon as they return home.”

“Will do,” he said, his gaze once again meeting mine.

At that moment one of the parents detached herself from the group and sauntered over to him.

“Hello,” Marylin Davis greeted. She was a good-looking, slim, fashionable woman in her late twenties. She wore a tight-fitting pink T-shirt and a pair of low-waisted jeans that showed off the strip of flat golden skin on her midriff. Her son was in Pearl”s class.

“Hello, Mrs. Davis,” I greeted, but I had apparently turned invisible. Or perhaps she just hadn’t heard me since she was giving her full attention to Cole, I mean, fluttering her eyelashes and all that.

“Whatever,” I muttered under my breath.

I felt unreasonably jealous and irritated. I knew I should expect it though, given the specimen of a man standing before me. Mrs. Davis held out her hand, all sickly smiles, and googly doe eyes, but Cole only looked at her with cold detachment. He wasn’t scowling, but there was something about his demeanor that made him instantly unapproachable. Had she paid attention she would have realized it too, but she was too taken by his physical presence and to notice such nuances.

“You’re new here, right?” she cooed. I noticed she had retained his hand in a handshake. “I’m Arnold’s mother. He is in third grade along with the older kids.”

“Oh, right.” He nodded and gently pulled his hand away. “I’m Cole, and this is Anya.”

“Nice to meet you, Anya. I’m Marilyn.”

Anya however, frowned at her. It was quite amusing and I was secretly happy the smart girl was not responding to Mrs. Davis’ fake overtures. I turned to look at Cole to see his reaction, and to my surprise, I saw him watching me. Marilyn looked up then too, and I don’t think she was particularly happy to see that Cole was watching me rather than her.

“She must be really shy,” she said to Cole, “but don’t worry, it’s because she’s new. She’ll loosen up soon and have a wonderful time with the other kids.”

Cole lowered his gaze down to his daughter. “Are you shy?”

“No,” she replied.

I choked down a laugh. I had to quickly cough to cover the laugh up. Marilyn turned to me, but luckily, I was saved from eye contact because a couple of the other moms had started to walk in our direction as well.

Jeesh, he was popular. I almost rolled my eyes.

“I’ll go join the other kids now,” I said. “See you tomorrow, Anya.”

“No, later tonight. We’re coming for dinner, remember?” she reminded loudly.

Ouch! She wasn’t supposed to have said that out loud for the other parents to hear and speculate about. I hoped they didn’t hear. The last thing I needed was to be the butt of their gossip sessions over coffee.

“Right of course,” I said awkwardly.

“It’s time to go home now,” her father said and tugged on her hand.

“See you later, Miss Moore,” she called.

Just as the other women arrived, her father gave a wave and kept going. Marilyn, however, refused to let it go and instead went after him.