She leaned back in her chair. “I like your enthusiasm, Jenny, and I’ll be happy to pass out the flyers to the upper grades.” She stood. “Since the bell is about to ring, I need to be out front. I like staying connected to my kids.”
“I used to do that,” Jenny told her. “Of course, my students were older. High school.”
Lily gave her a sideways glance. “You aren’t teaching any longer?”
Jenny didn’t want to go into details. “I’m taking a semester off for now.”
She hated that her attitude about teaching had changed, although never about her students. She would always stand up for the kids; she just didn’t always win the fight. “I’ll be returning in the fall.”
The bell sounded as they walked out the door. In the bright sunlight, chatty students hurried to meet their rides home, but many stopped to greet their principal, Jenny realized she missed that connection she’d once had with her students.
She heard her name called and turned around to see Gracie Rafferty.
“Jenny. Why are you at my school?”
“Hi, Gracie. I came to meet Mrs. Perry.”
The girl looked at her principal and smiled. “Hello, Mrs. Perry.”
“Hello, Gracie. Jenny came to tell me she’s going to have a young girls’ quilting class at her shop.”
Those big eyes widened. “Really?”
Jenny was glad that made the child happy. “Really. And maybe you can work on your quilt, too,” she told her.
The girl seemed excited, but before she could speak again, they heard someone call her name. Jenny glanced around and saw Evan Rafferty standing next to his truck.
The child’s smile faded quickly. “I can’t. It will make my daddy mad.” She turned and ran to the man who had been on Jenny’s mind since their first meeting.
“Excuse me, Lily. I need to speak to someone.”
Jenny stared over at the truck. She needed to get through to this man, but seeing the stubborn set to Evan Rafferty’s jaw, she knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
“Mr. Rafferty,” she called sweetly. “May I speak with you?”
Evan closed the passenger-side door, then stepped away from the truck and his daughter’s hearing. “I’m short on time right now.” He gave her the once-over. “Beside, we finished our business the other day.”
She ignored him. “Since it’s about your daughter, I thought you might spare me a minute.”
Evan adjusted the hat on his head and stared into her velvety, brown, dark eyes. He felt a surge of heat. He quickly glanced away.
“Well, you thought wrong. Look, I need to be somewhere right now.” Anywhere away from you. He stepped off the curb, climbed into his truck and drove off.
Jenny stood, feeling anger stirring inside. How dare the man … Okay, so she had to figure out another way to help the girl. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d fought for a child. She refused to give up on either one of them.
CHAPTER TWO
THE next afternoon, Jenny turned her compact car off the highway, and then along a narrow road until she came to the archway announcing the Triple R Ranch and Rafferty’s Vineyard.
This probably wasn’t the brightest idea. Yet, she wouldn’t stop fighting for kids. She knew what it was like to feel alone, to have no one on your side, especially not your parent. Her own mother had refused to listen to her pleas for help. The teasing, the abuse from stepbrothers who’d been older and should have protected her. They shouldn’t have been allowed to pick on an eight-year-old. And no one had done a thing.
Her mother had gotten angry because she’d caused a rift in the family. Family? They were never a family.
Jenny shook away the bad memories. Was that the reason she’d become a crusader for kids? Why she’d wanted to be a teacher? So the young and innocent would have someone to confide in? So they’d know someone was on their side? How many times had she gone the extra mile to help a student succeed? She loved helping kids realize their potential and dreams.
Then it had all fallen apart recently when she’d lost a battle over one of her students. Luis Garcia was excellent college material and she’d worked hard to help him apply for scholarships. Then Luis got into a fight defending another student, and they’d found a knife. Even though the small pocket knife wasn’t Luis’s, the principal took the word of the other boy and his friends—Luis was expelled immediately.
Jenny begged the principal to at least let him take his mid-term tests, but he’d refused to allow any special consideration.
Jenny knew Luis would never return to school. She was discouraged, too, and took a leave of absence during the spring semester. She needed the time to figure things out, to stop feeling as if she got too involved to be a teacher.
So what did she do now? She went storming into another conflict. She didn’t have any business nosing into Gracie’s life, but that had never stopped her before. If a child was crying out, she wanted to make sure someone heard. Gracie Rafferty was crying out.
She slowed as she approached the ranch. There were several head of cattle grazing in the pasture. On the opposite side of the road was a hillside covered in perfect rows of trellises heavy with grapevines. It was breathtaking.
She continued on until she came to a compound with a large barn and a fenced corral. Then a two-story clapboard house appeared, painted a glossy taupe with burgundy shutters and a large welcoming porch. The yard was thick with new spring grass and an array of colorful flowers edged the split-rail fence.
The place looked immaculate.
Jenny pulled up on the gravel parking area and got out. She released several calming breaths as she made her way up the walk. By the time she reached the porch, an elderly gentleman had come out of the house. Big and burly, he had a head of snow-white hair and a broad grin across his face.
“Hello, lass.”
She couldn’t help but smile back. “Hello. I’m Jenny Collins and I’m looking for Mr. Rafferty.”
Still grinning, the man nodded. “And which one of us would you be wantin’? I’m Sean,” he said with a slight bow. “Or my sons, Evan and Matthew?”
She could see where Evan got his good looks. Too bad he didn’t get his father’s charm. “It would be Evan.” She glanced around, feeling nervous. “If he isn’t busy I’d like to speak with him.”
“He isn’t here at the moment. Why don’t you come in and wait. We’ll have some tea.”
She hesitated. “I wouldn’t want to intrude. If he isn’t going to be long, I could wait out here.”
Sean motioned for her to step up on the porch. “A pretty lass like yourself would only brighten my day. Please come in.”
She
