six weeks.” Living in Evergreen, close to the prison—but a two-hour drive from Salem—Kenzie often missed seeing her grandmother regularly.
“Oh, she…she decided not to come on this trip. It’s mostly just meetings and election items on my agenda. Your grandmother would have been bored, tagging along on this trip.” Mac cleared his throat and adjusted his silverware. He seemed a bit stiff, oddly uncertain of himself.
He was probably worried about his opponent, Claudia Suarez.
Kenzie reached out and covered Mac’s weathered hand with her own, much smaller one. “You’re thinking about Claudia Suarez, aren’t you?”
Mac looked a little bit guilty. “I’m afraid so. I can’t stop wondering what her advertising lies will do to my election.”
“But she can’t just lie and get away with it, can she?”
Mac’s broad shoulders beneath his suit jacket rose and fell with his sigh. “No, she can’t outright lie. But there’s nothing stopping her from twisting the truth and making it look like I’m not doing my job, or have taken advantage of my position.”
“But you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to the state of Oregon! Just think about how much this prison education reform is helping the inmates and their families on the outside.”
A broad grin spread across Mac’s lips. “Thanks for the support, honey.” He squeezed her hand, and in that moment, Kenzie was never more proud to carry his name.
“Now,” he said, suddenly looking stern, “your grandmother tells me that you met a young man.”
Kenzie burst into laughter, her cheeks turned a bit red as she answered Mac’s questions about her virtually nonexistent dating life. The only men she had time for these days were her students.
Like Myles Parsons.
Something about the inmate intrigued her. His arrogant smirk and cocky attitude warned her that he could be trouble if she wasn’t careful. But the unsteady rhythm of her heart during their first encounter hinted that he already affected her more than she cared to admit.
Mac’s brow wrinkled. “You know, if you moved to Salem, there would be more single men for your consideration. And I can guarantee you a position at Northgate Academy. I went to college with the headmaster there.”
Kenzie smiled and patted Mac’s hand across the table. This wasn’t the first time—today—they had discussed her leaving the prison. “I do love kids,” she began, before she was interrupted by the waiter delivering their meals. She bowed her head and offered a quick, silent prayer of thanksgiving.
God, thank You for this food. And please soften Mac’s heart toward You. In Your name—Oh! And please take care of the men in my classes, and help them to follow the rules and stay out of trouble with the guards. Especially Myles.
The moment she lifted her head, Kenzie saw Mac’s knowing smile. “I know you love kids. So why not work with them? Think how wonderful it would be, being close to your grandmother and me.”
“Well…it would be nice to be closer to you. But what about these inmates? They deserve to have someone believe in them. Why shouldn’t it be me?”
“But why does it have to be you? There are plenty of other qualified teachers that could take your place.”
Kenzie tried to keep the sting of those words from showing on her face. How could she explain how much she loved working with the men at the prison—teaching them, offering them hope beyond the walls of the prison? Would another teacher pray for the inmates, care for them as she did? She took a bite of her prime rib and chewed slowly on the succulent meat, buying some time.
“I like children, but I really love my job right now. I’m not going to leave.”
“But think of the pay raise and the budget for your classroom in a private school like that.”
Kenzie looked directly into Mac’s gray eyes and said, “No. I’m not leaving.”
Mac’s shoulders slumped as he shoveled a chunk of steak into his mouth, his whole face morose.
“So tell me about the campaign. What have you been up to, other than dealing with Claudia Suarez?” As she’d hoped, Mac was easily distracted with the details of the campaign. He quickly obliged, falling into stories from the electoral trail.
As he regaled her with tales, Kenzie’s mind drifted for just a minute to another man in her life. Blue eyes and a handsome face flashed through her thoughts. She fought the smile that Myles’s memory brought and had to physically shake her head to clear away any thoughts of him.
This night was about her relationship with Mac, not some strangely intriguing new inmate.
TWO
Two days later, Kenzie sighed softly as she waited for the guard to open the front gate far enough to pull her maroon sedan into the bus barn inside the prison walls. She slipped the gear shift into Park, turned off the engine, but remained seated behind the wheel.
Her stomach felt like it was tied in knots, and she took two cleansing breaths. But the uneasy feeling remained.
Usually she only felt this way the day of the GED exam, which was still three days away for her most advanced class. Forcing herself to be honest, Kenzie admitted to herself that today she feared facing a set of piercing blue eyes and an arrogant smirk. Oh, she had really done it this time. She had crossed the line of professionalism that was to be strictly adhered to at the prison, for her own safety, and now she had to face up to her mistake.
Leaning her forehead on her steering wheel and closing her eyes, in her mind she replayed the scene from the day before.
“Great work today, guys.” She took a sip of water from the cup on her desk as the men shuffled papers into a pile for her to collect after they left. “Now, don’t forget that we have a review of the math section tomorrow and an English review the next day. The following class I’ll be taking your questions, so make sure you have plenty to keep us busy. And the next class—the following week—is your test.”
Per their usual, the men mumbled unintelligible responses.
Larry, her usual guard, stepped forward from his location just inside the door of the room and the men began lining up to exit. Kenzie started erasing the chalkboard, white dust billowing around her head.
“Ms. Thorn.”
She jumped at the sound of her name. Larry stood on the other side of her desk.
“Yes?”
“Superintendent Ryker wants to meet with Inmate Parsons. He just radioed that he’s been held up at another meeting and will be here in just a few minutes. He said to have Parsons wait here for him. I’ll be right here at the door if you need anything.”
“That’s fine. Since he was late today, it’ll give us a chance to make sure he’s ready for the exam in a few days.” As the guard motioned to Parsons to return to his seat, she knew she hadn’t spoken the whole truth. The whole truth was that Myles Parsons was more ready to take the GED than any other student she had taught in her two years at the prison.
