Chapter 12

The following weekend, she walked into Books Beans to meet Ashlynn for coffee and ended up facing her entire family.

“Um…what’s going on?”

Ashlynn stepped forward first. “We’ve all given you space because we didn’t want to upset you, but it’s obvious that that was a mistake. You’ve had excuses for not going over to Mom’s, you blew off our last two coffee dates…”

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” she interrupted.

“And this is a small town and news travels fast whether you like it or not,” her sister said. “You and Tanner broke up and we’re all worried about you, okay? If you didn’t show up here today, we were all going to your house.” Then she leaned in close and whispered, “Be very glad it didn’t come to that. We’ll all have to behave here in the coffee shop.”

That made her chuckle a bit. “Okay, fine. Let’s get this over with.”

And while she wasn’t really in the mood to have such a public intervention—for lack of a better word—she was also seriously impressed that they had given her this much time to herself.

Ashlynn took her hand and led her to a cluster of tables that were already set up with food and pointed her to the corner chair.

Harder to get up and escape that way, she assumed.

Chloe took her seat and then looked up. They were all there—Ash, Billie, Reid, Levi, Jade, and…her parents. Inwardly, she shuddered and just forced herself not to focus on them being there together.

Her shoulders sagged as she asked, “Okay, now what?”

“How are you doing?” Billie asked carefully.

She shrugged. “I’m sad, I can’t deny that, but…it’s for the best.” Then something occurred to her. “I guess I’m confused about why this is such a big deal. People break up all the time—heck, when Evan and I broke up a few months ago, no one staged an intervention about it. I said I was fine and that was that. Why are you all making such a fuss about this?”

“Because there was a huge difference in the way you were with Evan and the way you were with Tanner,” Jade replied. “I think you were fond of Evan, but it never seemed like a relationship you were particularly invested in.”

That was…surprising.

“Really?” She glanced around at her family. “Why didn’t anyone ever say anything to me about that?”

“What was the point?” Ash asked. “You were happy and we just thought it was a casual relationship and no big deal. And apparently, we were right. But you were different with Tanner. It looked serious. Like…really serious.” She gave Chloe a sad smile. “Chlo, you are my other half and whenever you would talk about things with Tanner, I just…I knew. I knew he meant something to you. What happened?”

“Ash, come on,” Levi murmured. “Some things are personal and don’t need to be aired in public like this. As much as you might think this is helping, Chloe deserves some privacy.” He looked at Chloe. “There is literally zero pressure for you to share anything that you don’t want to. We all just want to make sure you’re okay.”

And for some reason, that was exactly the right thing to say, because the next thing she knew, she was telling them everything. From all her doubts and insecurities over teaching and competing with him to the awful PR dinner at Summit Ridge. She’d kept the entire thing bottled up and had said none of this out loud for over a week, and it felt fantastic to just say it.

Seven pairs of eyes simply blinked at her for several moments and she feared that maybe she had overshared. But then…

“What a dick!” Ashlynn declared. “I mean…seriously, what a dick. What was the point in even bringing you along if he was just going to star in his own damn parade?”

“Okay, to be fair,” Reid interjected, “I doubt he knew how that night was going to go. Chloe said that he’d never done anything like that before.”

But her sister wasn’t buying it. “He didn’t have to know exactly how it was going to go. He behaved like a total egomaniac! When everyone greeted him, he should have been holding Chloe’s hand and not letting go! According to her, he let them sweep him up and left her standing there to follow along! I would seriously kick your ass if you ever did anything like that to me!”

“Again with the ass kicking,” Chloe mumbled, but no one was listening. Apparently, they all had something to say.

“It was completely rude of him…”

“Inexcusable!”

“But he apologized…”

“Some people just can’t live if they’re not in the spotlight…”

That last one came from Billie, and Chloe looked over at her and nodded. “That’s the one that was the breaking point for me. It gave me a glimpse into his world and…that’s not me. I’m not a spotlight person, but I’m also not a…shove-me-out-of-the-way-so-you-can-be-in-the-spotlight person either. Does that make sense?”

“Absolutely,” Billie assured her. “I’m so sorry you had to feel that way. Just know that it’s not you. There is nothing wrong with you. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much you care about someone; some things are just…not compatible.”

“Bullshit.” This came from their father, and everyone turned to look at him. Ronan was sitting at the opposite end of the table, his arms folded, his expression stony.

“Dad,” Billie hissed. “What the hell?”

He leaned forward, bracing his hands on the table. “I am tired of that attitude,” he said firmly. “Yes, sometimes people aren’t compatible. I believe that. What I don’t believe in is throwing someone away because things get tough.” Then he looked directly at Chloe. “Do you care about Tanner?”

“Dad…” she whined.

“Do you? Did you see yourself having a future with him or was it something casual like that Evan person?”

Ugh…

“I don’t know,” she said weakly. “I guess I didn’t let myself think about the future because the present was such a mess.”

He looked at her oddly. “What in the world are you talking about? What was messy?”

“This!” she cried, pointing to everything around her. “Mom’s accident! New teachers at school! Moving into a new house and hating the fact that I was trying to do it all on my own! Having to prove myself as a teacher all over again while everyone praised everything Tanner was doing! You showing up and moving back in with Mom! I mean…how can the two of you get along now when you couldn’t do it when it was really important, huh? Why are we all supposed to be happy about you showing up to help now when we all needed you years ago?”

You could have heard a pin drop. The entire coffee house went silent, and Chloe wished a hole would open up in the floor and put her out of her misery.

“Maybe we should move this to our place,” Levi said diplomatically, but she wasn’t having any of it.

“Oh, no. You all wanted to talk, so let’s talk,” she argued as her heart hammered like thunder in her chest. “It didn’t seem to be a big deal to ambush me when I walked in here, but when I’m the one asking a tough question, we need to hush up and move the discussion someplace safe.” Then she glared at the group defiantly. “And to that, I call bullshit!”

Ashlynn burst out laughing even as she started to clap. “Yes! Preach! It’s about time this side of you came out!”

“Hush,” she snapped. “Now is not the time for that.”

“Oh, I think it’s the perfect time. I think you’ve been bottling up so many things for so damn long, and you’re right. We’re all used to just keeping our own stuff private, but trying to make everyone else deal with their shit publicly.” Then she looked around the table. “Anyone have anything to add?”

“I can’t help that I was in an accident,” her mother said stiffly. “Believe me, this wasn’t something I’d wish on anyone.”

Rolling her eyes, Chloe said, “I didn’t say I blamed you for being in an accident. What I’m saying is that it contributed to me feeling overwhelmed.”

“Okay, but you’re easily overwhelmed,” Billie reasoned. “We all know that about you and we still love you. But…” Pausing, she huffed. “Sometimes it’s kind of annoying to coddle you when you’re upset over things that you shouldn’t be! The town’s growing, and it’s been great for everyone, and yet it overwhelms you. The school had to hire more teachers, but you still have a job. You moved into a house that you can totally afford to buy on your own—something so many people can’t, and you don’t see that as a good thing. I mean…come on! Do you not see what a downer you are? Everything to you is like the glass is half empty!”

“That’s not true! I am everyone’s cheerleader! I always try to help people to look on the bright side of things!” she countered.

“Yeah, you do that for everyone else, but not yourself,” her mother said. “You’re the hardest on yourself, Chloe. You don’t have faith in the person you are. You don’t see what we see.”

“Apparently you all see me as being a whiny crybaby,” she murmured.

“Sometimes you are,” Ash said, and when Chloe gasped with disbelief, she said, “Sorry, Chlo, but it’s true. Sometimes, that’s exactly what you are. Hell, sometimes that’s what we all are, but not all the time. If there was something really horrible going on—like when Levi lost his job and had to move back home or when I was accused of burning the salon to the ground—yeah, it was okay to be a whiny crybaby. But your life is freaking amazing and yet it’s like you just keep looking for a reason for it not to be. Why?”

“I…I…”

“Because I left,” her father said miserably. “I wasn’t there to lift you up and encourage you. I wasn’t there to wipe away your tears and tell you that everything was going to be okay.” He sighed. “I failed you. A child deserved to know they are loved and special and have people around to guide them when they’re scared, and…I wasn’t.”

“I was there,” Marie said primly, but everyone just sort of groaned and waved her off.

“So not the time to go down that rabbit hole,” Ashlynn said wearily.

“Chloe, we’ve all experienced self-doubt, but there has to come a point where you embrace all that’s good in your life and realize all the possibilities,” Levi said. “When I came back to Sweetbriar, I thought my life was over. And for a good reason. But it turned out to be the greatest thing to ever happen to me.” He smiled over at his wife. “The people we were when we met shouldn’t have made sense. We were opposites in every way, but when you love someone, you find a way to make it work.”

“I struggled so much with letting Levi in,” Jade explained. “My life was structured just the way I liked it and I didn’t want anyone changing that. But once I realized how much I missed him and needed and wanted him, we made it work.” Then she laughed softly. “That’s not to say that every day is perfect, but at the end of the day, I get to be with the greatest guy in the world.”

“It sounds a lot like you and Tanner,” Levi went on. “You have this structured world and he disrupted the balance that you feel you need to be happy. But…are you happy now that he’s not in your life? Did ending the relationship make everything better?”

“Um…”

“The town’s going to continue to grow,” he said, not letting her say anything. “At some point, they’re going to have to build another elementary school because they’re going to need that many more classrooms. You’re an amazing teacher, but you can’t expect to be the only amazing teacher. That’s just not reasonable.”

“People are going to get hurt,” her mother interjected. “You can’t control that. Life—and relationships—get messy. And just because a relationship didn’t work out at one point in your life doesn’t mean that you can’t forgive and try to make things right.”

“I swear, if you are telling me that you and Dad are back together, I’ll…”

“What? No!” Marie cried and then laughed a bit. “What I’m saying is your father and I have been working on communicating with each other and forgiving each other. We both made mistakes—mistakes that hurt all of you. But we are always going to be in each other’s lives because we have the four of you. It’s time to stop being bitter and try to move forward in a healthier relationship.”

It was crazy how much of a relief that was.

“All I’m trying to say,” her mother continued, “is that life is going to pass you by if you are determined to stay in one place, in your own little bubble. I don’t want that for you. It’s okay to love living in a small town and being a teacher, but it’s not okay if anything outside of that frightens you to the point of hiding out in your house alone.”

Letting out a long breath, Chloe looked over at her twin. “Why didn’t you come and talk to me? Like…you never had a problem just showing up at my place and demanding that we talk. What made this different?”

“Honestly? I felt like you needed to work some of this out yourself. I thought you’d eventually call or show up at the salon or text, but…you didn’t. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be there for you; I just felt like maybe you needed some time to yourself first.”

Nodding, she said, “I thought I did.”

“And now?”

Looking up, she smiled sadly. “Now I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.” She paused. “No, that’s not true. I know that I miss Tanner. So damn much.”

“Have you spoken to him at all?” Jade asked.

“No. Obviously, I’ve seen him at school, but he sort of stays out of my way—so much it’s almost painful. And I didn’t want to bring any of…you know…this…to school. When I’m there, my students are all I’m focused on.”

“Okay, but it’s not like you couldn’t call him or text him or just go to his house,” Ashlynn said. “He only lives like two minutes away.”

“And what was I supposed to say, huh? Until a few minutes ago, I was perfectly fine living in my own pity party!”

“That’s fair,” Billie said. “But what about now? Do you think you could call him and talk to him?”

“I want to say yes, but…I’m not ready. I’m not sure what I’d even say. That night was a big deal to him and even though he was partly to blame, I wasn’t exactly understanding and I certainly didn’t even try to be a part of what was going on. I just shrank into a corner and let it happen. So really…”

“The whole thing was an unpleasant experience and you need to chalk it up to a one-time thing,” Levi said. “Now that he knows how you feel, I doubt he’d allow that to happen again.”

Tanner’s words came back to her.

“That will never happen again. I promise. I’ll make sure that you are front and center at every event moving forward! That you get treated like a VIP! I can totally work that into any contract for any promotional event I do!”

Now she realized he meant it.

Just like some other things he said to her that night.

“Do you want me to beg?” Because I will. I think we’re worth fighting for. I think we have something good here, Chloe. Something that has the promise of an incredible future.”

“I’m willing to give you the space that you need, but I’m not giving up on us. I’ll always be there if you need me. For anything.”

And she did need him.

For everything.

She just had no idea how to ask.

“Mr. Westyn! Mr. Westyn! My mom signed me up for skiing lessons and I saw your picture in the ski store!” Alex Maynor told him on Monday morning. “I told everyone you were my teacher and they said that maybe you would teach my ski lessons! Will you?”

He smiled patiently. It seemed a bit early for ski lesson sign ups since it would be at least another month before the snow started, and even then, the prime skiing time wasn’t until January. “I didn’t think they were doing sign ups yet since we don’t know when it’s going to snow,” he said.

“I’m going to the kiddie ski camp,” Alex explained. “It’s inside with a little hill, and my mom said it’s gonna be fun!”

For a moment, Tanner racked his brain to remember if he saw that facility or if anyone had even mentioned it. It wasn’t something he’d be interested in participating in to teach, but it could be a fun field trip option. Perhaps he should call them and see about it.

“I’m sure it will, Alex. And I promise to let you know if I’m going to be one of the instructors!”

“Yay!” And as the boy ran back to his seat, Tanner looked around the room and couldn’t help but smile. All his ski-themed stuff was on the walls, his shelves were now almost completely full of books, and the room looked great. He’d been doing this for almost two months, and this was the kind of classroom that would make any teacher proud.

But it especially did that for him.

This wasn’t the grade he wanted, and it certainly wasn’t the situation he had always envisioned for himself, but it was better—so much better. The only thing that would make it perfect was if he and Chloe were still together.

Eleven days.

The longest eleven days of his life. She was literally so close and yet so far away. He could see her every damn day, but he didn’t want to do anything to upset her, so he kept his distance.

And it was killing him.

Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that—again. It was time to take his class down to lunch. “Okay, everyone!” he said cheerily. “Let’s put our pencils down and grab our lunches. Line up by the door and let’s see who’s going to be the best listener today!”

They all silently scrambled over to their cubbies and grabbed their things while wiggling their way into a straight line. It was so damn adorable that it made his heart feel lighter than it had in days. As soon as they were all ready, he led them down to the cafeteria and left them with the aide.

Quietly, he walked back to his classroom and decided to call Summit Ridge and inquire about a field trip and what it would involve. Once he had some information, he could go to Principal Kincaid and see if it was something they could make happen. It wasn’t like he wanted to take the entire elementary school there, just his class. That was allowed, wasn’t it?

Back at his desk, Tanner took out his own lunch and set it out before grabbing his phone. Between bites of his sandwich, he spoke to several people who explained that the indoor ski and snowboard facility was indeed open to field trips, and they were emailing him all the forms he would need. And he had shamelessly used his name and connection to the pro shop to negotiate a lower price per student and was already planning to reach out to his publicist to see if she could put a spin on it for PR for both the lodge and the school district. And the best part? They could realistically have a date as early as next week if he wanted.

Which he did.

“No time like the present,” he said, popping the last bite of his lunch in his mouth. He still had fifteen minutes before he had to get his students, so he headed down to the office to see what he had to do next.

On the walk down the hall, he spotted Chloe walking his way, but there was no way he could just dive into a closet without looking like an idiot, so he simply nodded and kept on walking. Actually, all she did was nod too, so…clearly this was how they were going to be now.

“This sucks,” he murmured before opening the door to the front office.

“Hey, Tanner,” Susan said with a smile. “What can I do for you?”

“How do I go about scheduling a field trip?” he asked.

“Well, you can tell me where you want to go and when you want to go, and I’ll help you with the permission slips and scheduling transportation.”

His eyes went wide. “Really? You do all that?”

She laughed softly. “We’re a small school and there’s not a lot going on. I like to help where I can.” She laughed again. “So, what are you thinking?”

“There’s an indoor ski school up Summit Ridge,” he told her. “They actually do ski and snowboard lessons, but they also do special events like field trips and they have equipment and instructions geared for the kindergarten age group. We’d obviously need a bus and several parent volunteers, but I’m just looking to take my class—not the entire school.”

“Hmm…what about Chloe’s class? It would be great if it were a kindergarten field trip.”

Crap. He hadn’t thought about that.

“Um…I’m not sure it fits in with her lesson plans,” he said carefully. “You know how my room is all about skiing and I just thought…”

She held up a hand to stop him. “I totally get it. Let me make some calls and see what I can find out and I’ll talk to you at the end of the day. I’ll have to see about the cost per student…”

“Already done,” he told her before breaking down the financing he’d secured.

“Oh…well, that’s amazing! I’m sure they have some forms we’ll need…”

“Already have them,” he said confidently. “They just emailed them over. I can forward them to you. And I’m sure they’ll include the cost per student we discussed.”

“Perfect! Okay, I’ll get things together and talk to Principal Kincaid, and you should be all set.” Another pause. “Wait, when did you want to do this?”

“Um…next week?” he hesitantly replied.

“Ooh…that’s ambitious. I’ll call the transportation department and see if I can work some magic. See me before you leave for the day.”

“I can make some calls too…”

“Tanner?”

“Hmm?”

“We’re a team here at Sweetbriar,” she told him with a serene smile. “You’ve come a long way from the guy who steamrolled his way into a faculty meeting with a frittata and cookies, but there are things that literally take a village to pull together. Go and teach your class and let me handle what I handle, okay?”

And for the first time, he didn’t argue. He simply nodded and thanked her. “I really appreciate the help, Susan. Thank you.”

Her smile was radiant. “I think this sounds like a very cool field trip and I can’t wait to help make it happen!”

The alarm sounded on his phone to remind him it was time to head back to the cafeteria. He thanked Susan one more time before heading out of the office with a bit of a spring in his step.

How cool would it be if he actually pulled this off? It would be the perfect way to tie in all the work he put into his classroom while doing something he knew his students would enjoy. As he approached the cafeteria, he spotted Chloe again out of the corner of his eye and felt a twinge of guilt. It would have made for a great kindergarten field trip, but he was fairly certain she wouldn’t want anything to do with it. So, he’d keep it to himself. And when she found out—because he knew she would—he’d just chalk it up as another reason for her to be mad at him. He hated it, but that was how things were going to be, and he had to accept that.

And maybe someday he would. Right now, it hurt just to look at her and know that he was the last person she wanted to see.

At least…he thought he was, but she seemed to be heading straight for him. Did this mean…?

“Hey,” she said a bit stiffly when she was close enough. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up about the firefighter assembly this afternoon.”

“O-kay…”

“Reid’s leading it and he might have mentioned wanting to…um…have a few words with you.”

It took a moment for that to make sense. “Ah. Got it.” Nodding, he did his best to put her mind at ease. “I’m sure he’s not going to start a fight with me in front of all the students, but I appreciate the warning.”

“I told him to just leave you alone, but…”

“But he’s going to be your brother-in-law and he’s protective of you. I’d do the same thing in his position.”

That seemed to give her pause. “Well, I think it’s ridiculous. This doesn’t have anything to do with anyone else, and if we’re fine, then they should all be.”

Sliding his hands into his pockets, he asked, “Are we? Fine, I mean?”

Chloe let out a shuddery breath that told him that maybe she wasn’t. It was wrong for that to give him hope, but…it did.

“I…I think so,” she said quietly. “This isn’t an ideal situation, but we’re both adults and we’re handling it, right?”

With no other choice, he nodded. “Right.” There was more he wanted to say, but the aide was lining up their students and now just wasn’t the time. “Thanks again for the heads-up. Reid’s a reasonable guy. I’m sure he’s going to just do what he feels he has to do. Although I really thought Ashlynn would have been the one to come at me first.”

She let out a mirthless laugh. “Yeah, she likes to throw around the threat of kicking people’s…you know…um…”

Now it was his turn to laugh because she was trying not to say anything offensive that little ears could overhear. “I know what you’re saying and I was already warned about that where she’s concerned.”

“You were? Really?”

“The day we were all at Levi and Jade’s. Reid and I had gone outside and were talking, and he mentioned it. Your sister is definitely a bit scary and intimidating, and I’m not gonna lie, I’ve looked over my shoulder a time or two since you and I…um…since we…”

“Broke up,” she said miserably, and again, the way she said it gave him a little hope.

How twisted am I that her misery looks positive?

Well, maybe not her misery, per se, but the fact that she seemed as miserable as he was. That was better, wasn’t it?

“Miss Donovan, my belly hurts,” one of her students whined pitifully. “I don’t feel good.”

“Oh, Kimmy…”

“Listen,” Tanner said, “why don’t you take her down to the nurse and I’ll take both our classes back? Your students can come into my room for a few minutes until you’re back.”

“I don’t know, Tanner…”

“You’ll only be a few minutes,” he reasoned. “It will be fine.”

“Miss Donovan…” Kimmy whined again.

“I’ll only be five minutes,” Chloe assured him before whisking the little girl off toward the nurse’s office.

“Okay, everyone!” he called out with a big smile. “Miss Donovan’s students, you’re all going to come with me and my students to our room. Miss Donovan will come and get you in a few minutes. Now let’s all walk quietly in a super straight line, okay?”

It was crazy how that worked, but he had forty kindergarteners following him without a peep.

Well, maybe one or two peeps, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

In his room, he instructed his students to take their seats and Chloe’s students to line up by the cubbies. Then he talked to them all about the firefighter assembly they were going to attend soon.

“We’re going to learn about fire safety, and see how a fire truck works,” he told them. “What is something you want to learn about the truck?”

A flurry of little hands went up while shouting out questions.

“How does the ladder work?”

“How much water can the truck hold?”

“Do they have a dog?”

“Can we go for a ride in the fire truck?”

“These are some great questions,” he said enthusiastically. “And I’ll bet all the firefighters are super excited to answer them! Has anyone here visited the fire station before?”

Everyone seemed to say no to that one, so he supposed this was really going to be a great assembly for them all.

“Does anyone know a firefighter?” he asked.

They all shook their heads, and that’s when Chloe breathlessly came into his room. “Sorry about that,” she said, and then smiled at her students. “Did everyone behave for Mr. Westyn?”

“Yes!” they told her.

“Very good! Now let’s go next door and finish up our coloring sheets before the assembly, okay?” Looking over at Tanner, she smiled. “Thank you for the help. Kimmy made it to the nurse just in time. We had to call her mom to come and get her.”

“Poor kid,” he said as he walked closer. “I guess we’ll see you at the assembly in a little while.”

She nodded. “Yes, we will. And…really. Thanks again.” With a small smile, she led her class out of the room and back to hers, and it felt like a big step for them. Sure, they could be coworkers and it would be okay.

But that didn’t stop him from still hoping for more.