caution she had set aside for a while Thursday night was fully in place this morning. What did Flynn want? If he was just looking for a friend, he could turn to any man or woman on campus. Why her? She wasn’t the prettiest, or the smartest, or the most influential woman on campus.
Did he think she’d be the easiest? Did he think that because her job was intellectually undemanding she’d be flattered that he was paying her this extra attention? So flattered that she’d fall on her back when he smiled at her and uttered a few kind words? If that was the case, he was in for a surprise.
Jack had taken advantage of her, making her believe that he cared about her. That he loved her. All along, he’d been using her, taking advantage of what she’d thought had been love. Well, she wasn’t eighteen anymore, and she hadn’t been easy about anything for a very long time.
“This is nice,” Flynn said, glancing into the woods on the right side of the track. Like her, he had dressed in jeans and a T-shirt for the morning’s exercise, though his clothes fit in a different way than hers did. His T-shirt was a little too tight. His jeans fit him almost too well.
Her jeans and T-shirt were both loose-fitting, easy to move in and chosen for comfort, not to make an impression on the opposite sex. So why was Flynn looking at her like he was impressed by what he saw? Sometimes just the way he looked at her made her anxious.
They left the wooded portion of the track behind and moved into sunlight. From here, it was a few minutes to the main building. She’d planned to walk the track a couple more times, but suddenly the peace of the morning turned tense and uncomfortable.
“Enjoy it,” she said, veering off the track and heading toward the parking lot. “It’s going to be a pretty day.”
There was a moment, she knew, when Flynn thought about following her. But after a moment’s consideration, he continued walking briskly around the track and allowed her to make her escape.
Maybe she did like him, but there was no room in her life for a man. All she cared about was getting her daughter back, and nothing, not even Flynn Benning, could distract her.
Laura Stokes had her hand up again. Great. “Yes?” Flynn said in a decidedly unfriendly tone of voice.
The girl’s hand drifted down. “How long are we going to spend on the American Revolution? Usually we just spend a week on each chapter. We’re getting behind. It’s Monday, so we should begin a new chapter.”
“We’re going to study the American Revolution until you get it,” Flynn said sharply.
“I get it,” she said in soft exasperation. A couple of girls near her agreed.
“Not to my satisfaction, you don’t.” It didn’t make any sense to him that the teacher who was currently sun-bathing in Florida had skipped from chapter to chapter as it suited him, not studying American history in chronological order. Moron.
His other classes were more well behaved than this one. At least, they did their work quietly and didn’t ask so many questions. He might growl at her, but he liked the fact that Laura Stokes had the guts to question him. The others didn’t, for the most part, though he had caught one brave high school girl trying to nap through European History.
Flynn was about to assign another paper when the students were saved by the ringing of his cell phone. Sadie came up on the caller ID. He stepped into the hallway, ignoring the whispered voice that informed him cell phones were not allowed in class. Laura again, he knew it.
“Benning,” he said as the door behind him closed.
“Is Cal with you?” Sadie asked.
“No. If you want Cal, call him. I’m not a freakin’ messenger service.”
“Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Sadie said, a smile in her voice. “I asked about Cal because I don’t want him to know we spoke. Not yet.”
Flynn leaned against the wall beside his classroom door. “Kelly?”
“She was right here in Georgia, and I missed her by two days.”
Flynn uttered a softly spoken single word that would have Laura reporting him to Dr. Barber, if she heard him.
“But this time, she told someone where she was headed. A woman she worked with. I explained things as best I could, and she gave me an address. Truman and I are headed that way.”
“Where?”
“Colorado.”
“Great,” Flynn muttered. Every lead they found for Kelly Calhoun took them nowhere, and he didn’t have great hopes for this tip.
“I just wanted to let you know where I’d be. Don’t say anything to Cal until I come up with something solid.”
“Got it.”
“I’d drive straight through,” Sadie said, exasperation in her voice, “but Truman won’t allow it. He says I need my rest. For the baby,” she added, a touch of wonder and joy in her voice.
Flynn’s heart did a sick flip. “I can’t believe you’re letting any man besides me tell you what to do, but in this case McCain is right. Get your rest. Cal wouldn’t want you to make yourself sick.”
“Don’t mention sick to me,” Sadie said with a groan. “I’d heard about morning sickness, but—”
“I gotta go,” Flynn said abruptly, interrupting his one and only female agent. “I left a class of whiny little girls alone, and I hear ’em getting out of hand. Wanna trade jobs?”
Sadie laughed. “No thanks. Have fun.”
Flynn ended the call and dropped his cell phone into his pocket. He opened the door on a classroom full of well-behaved students, who waited for him with an unnatural patience. A few of them whispered to friends, but they weren’t anywhere near getting out of hand.
But that excuse was better than telling Sadie, or anyone else, that pregnant women were as tough for him to take as little girls.
Flynn Benning had obviously taken her abrupt flight from the walking trail as a rejection of some sort. He hadn’t done more than nod and say hello for the past four days. In a way Tess was relieved. In another way, she kinda missed talking to him.
Maybe she should make more of an effort to get to know the other teachers. It was possible that Flynn was right, and what she really needed was a friend. After all, if Laura was here next year, odds were Tess would be here, too. Might as well make things as pleasant as possible.
Tess carried a plate of brownies and clean mugs into the middle school teachers’ lounge. There was only one teacher present, Stephanie McCabe. That was a disappointment, since Tess was pretty sure she and the English teacher had nothing in common. Nothing at all.
But she might as well give it a shot.
“Hi,” Tess said as she laid out the brownies and arranged the coffee mugs. She turned around and leaned against the counter. “I love your skirt. It’s so…colorful.”
Stephanie smiled widely. “Thanks. I made it myself.”
