was out of earshot, heading toward the back room where the restroom and the small lunch room were located, Cassie turned to Beau.
“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted honestly as she set Sofie’s winter coat down on one of the empty salon chairs. “Except…thank you.” She hesitated, a chill skating over her skin. “If you hadn’t found her, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Sofie had been running away.
Pure, unadulterated fear settled into an icy pit in Cassie’s stomach. She simply couldn’t bear to think about what might have happened if Beau hadn’t found Sofie.
“You’re welcome,” Beau said with a smile. “I close the office early on Wednesday,” he explained, “and I just happened to be driving down Main Street when I saw Sofie trudging along all by herself.” He loosened his cashmere overcoat and stepped closer. “I knew something was wrong because I didn’t figure you were the type to let your six-year-old go wandering around town by herself.”
“No, of course not,” Cassie said, fighting the instinct to step back away from him. It was foolish, she knew, especially considering how kind he’d been, but she couldn’t help it. The man made her incredibly twitchy and nervous. He was just too charming, good-looking, and a tad too slick and smooth for her comfort. Everything about him was a painful reminder of Sofie’s father, right down to his fancy, expensive sports car. The painful similarities simply irritated her and reminded her of her youthful inexperience and naivete.
“Pretty fast work about the first-grade rule,” Cassie admitted, forcing herself to meet his gaze and be polite.
Beau shrugged away the compliment. “Dealing with kids every day, you have to learn to be quick and to think on your feet,” he said, watching her carefully.
He’d been right about her the first time he’d met her, he mused, letting his gaze slide over her in pure masculine appreciation. She didn’t like or trust him. She’d made that very clear. It wasn’t the usual response he got from women and although he hadn’t a clue why she felt that way it amused him to no end.
What he didn’t know was if it was just him, or men in general, that Cassie Miller had a problem with. If his uncle had his way, all the single women in Cooper’s Cove would be lining up outside Beau’s office door, taking numbers for a chance to become the next heir-bearer for the future generation of Bradfords. Compared to that, Cassie Miller’s apparent prickliness and standoffishness were more than just a bit…intriguing.
And that was saying nothing about how attractive she was with glossy black hair that fell like a dark halo to her shoulders, and gorgeous creamy skin that begged to be stroked. But then again, he’d always had a weakness for petite, slender women who looked fragile and frail, but were really built and backed with steel.
When she’d brought Sofie in for her physical, his attempts to be friendly had fallen on tin ears. And not just that day in his office, he remembered, but later, at her aunt Louella’s wedding as well. He’d tried to make pleasant, polite conversation while Cassie had merely stared at him coolly, making it clear she didn’t think he was either pleasant or polite…and that she wanted absolutely no part of him. It had tickled him to no end. His interest in her had been snagged simply because it had been so long since a woman had been so blatantly rude or downright cold toward him. Usually they were falling all over themselves trying to impress him. And he wasn’t easily impressed.
But judging from Cassie’s cold response to him, if he didn’t know better, he’d think he was losing his touch.
“I do appreciate everything you’ve done,” Cassie finally said, as she glanced toward the back of the shop for Sofie. “I don’t know what brought this on. Sofie’s been doing well in school. She’s been making friends and getting along with all the other kids so I don’t know when or how this started. More importantly, I’m not sure I know how to handle it,” she admitted honestly, feeling grossly incompetent all of a sudden. “Sofie’s always gotten along so well with everyone. And she’s certainly never been teased before.”
“This isn’t Sofie’s fault, and I don’t think this teasing has gone on much beyond today,” he said, trying to reassure her. “The school is far too aware of teasing and bullying to let something like this go on for very long. I’ve spent the past five years or so working with school officials to develop a strict no-tolerance policy for bullying in order to make the school a place where every child feels safe and comfortable, and is praised for their individual talents, not ridiculed.” He sighed. “But once in a while, kids will be kids and something like this happens. The kids forget or someone is feeling hurt or inferior or disconnected from their parents, and teasing and bullying can be the result.”
“Do you think that’s what happened?” It sounded a lot less dramatic than she’d originally envisioned. “I mean, the idea of my daughter being bullied or teased at school is not a pleasant thought.”
“I know, Cassie,” he said quietly, sincerity shining in his eyes. “And I’m really sorry. But we know a lot more about this now than we ever did before and I’m certain with a little help from all of us Sofie will be able to handle this situation and be just fine.” He hesitated, meeting her gaze. “That is, if you’ll let me help?”
“Let you?” Shaking her head, she laughed, but the sound held no humor. “I’d be grateful for anything you can do or suggest.” When it came to her daughter or her daughter’s welfare, Cassie had no pride. She’d do anything and everything she could to keep her daughter happy, safe and secure, and if that meant dancing with a devil, well, all someone had to do was play the right music and show her the proper steps.
Giving another quick glance toward the back, wanting to make certain Sofie wasn’t within earshot, Cassie shoved back her dark hair with a shaky hand. “I don’t want my daughter thinking that the solution to any problem is running away.”
“No, of course not,” Beau said. “One of the most effective tools we can use right now to help Sofie through this is something we call the three C’s.” He smiled at her look of confusion. “It stands for caring, cooperation and conflict resolution. The caring obviously comes from you and all the adults in Sofie’s life. She needs to know that you understand this is a difficult time for her, and that she should feel free to tell you when anything has upset her, especially at school.”
“That’s fine from my end, but where does the cooperation come in?” Cassie asked, crossing her arms, simply to hide her nervousness. “How do we go about getting the cooperation of the kids who are teasing her?” Thrashing them probably wasn’t a viable option even if it did sound appealing at the moment.
“Why don’t you let me work with Sofie on that?” he asked, and she hesitated, but finally nodded. Beau was thoughtful for a moment. “Generally, Cassie, when a child is teasing or bullying someone else, it stems from their own lack of self-esteem or their own feelings of inferiority. Or perhaps it has to do with an emotional crisis they’re going through. A divorce, a death, any number of things can trigger these feelings in kids, especially when there’s a decided disconnect between the child and his or her parents. If a child feels powerless in a situation, then he tends to gravitate toward behavior that will make him or her feel powerful.”
“Teasing and bullying?” Cassie asked, suddenly understanding, and he nodded.
“Exactly. Sofie’s new at school and the science fair is really a big deal here. Maybe someone felt a bit intimidated by Sofie’s knowledge, maybe they were afraid she might have a better project or show them up. As a result, they began teasing her.”
“And
