time to face her past....
Time to apologize to Morgan McDermott.
As if God was in agreement, this opportunity dropped in her lap and here she was.
“Is this where you want it...Jolie?” Joseph asked.
She’d told them right off to call her Jolie. She was just too laid back for anything else, even if she was their teacher. Besides, the ranch was home to the boys. Informality made it all the more true.
“Perfect,” she said to the earnest young man.
“You got it, then.” Joseph grabbed the edge of the monstrous desk and she was pretty sure he was about to try and move it himself. Not to be outdone, Wes was eyeing the floor-to-ceiling bookcases with determination.
“Hold off over there, Wes,” Morgan demanded, coming in the front door and taking charge. Jolie’s insides jangled as his presence filled the large room.
So much hung between them. She’d hoped to talk to him yesterday when she’d arrived, but he’d been working cattle at the far edge of the ranch. And so here they were in a room full of bright-eyed students, unable to talk about the fact that today had been their first meeting since she’d given him back his engagement ring.
“We’ll get the desk moved first and then the bookshelves, Wes,” Morgan said as he grabbed the other side of her desk.
“Thanks.” Joseph grinned at Morgan. “We’re putting it over there.” He nodded his brown head toward the windows.
With Morgan’s strength, the two were able to move the mammoth desk with ease. Once that was done they attacked the ten-foot-tall bookshelves. It ended up taking Morgan and most of the boys to move them.
Everyone’s eagerness touched Jolie’s heart.
She was smiling so much that she was almost able to ignore the fact that being around Morgan was causing her some heavy-duty stress—she could suddenly feel his presence like a weight.
“Where’s our desks gonna sit, Jolie?”
Jolie looked down into the big, brown eyes of a wisp of a boy. “Sammy, right?” she asked, and he nodded. Sammy seemed like a nervous little fella. Uncertain of himself.
“We’ll need to turn them all to face my desk. That way the light from the windows will stream across your desks. I love light and want y’all to enjoy it while you work.”
“Can my desk be this one?” His words were as timid as the light touch he laid on the desk closest to hers, almost as if he were certain she would say no.
“Sure. It’s got Sammy written all over it. Matter of fact, everyone can pick their desk.”
Unsmiling, Sammy nodded and slipped into the wooden seat. “Only till my dad comes and gets me,” he added in a quiet voice barely audible over the noise of the chaos breaking out behind him as the other boys began slamming into desks two at a time.
Jolie hardly even glanced at what was happening around her as her heart latched on to Sammy, who was so clearly suffering. “Sure,” she assured him. “You can have that desk as long as you’re here.”
She wasn’t sure what else to say. There were times when kids were on the ranch short-term. But most boys were here for the long haul—Sunrise Ranch had always been geared toward boys who had been totally abandoned by their families. The ranch became their home; the people, their family.
The poor kid got a wistful look on his face, then patted the desk next to him. “You can have this desk, Joseph,” he called to Joseph—obviously Sammy’s hero—as Joseph watched the rodeo going on over who got which desk.
“I’m too big to sit on the front row.” Joseph brushed his brown bangs out of his eyes. “One of the shorter kids can sit there, and I’ll sit in the back so I can make sure all you goofballs behave. Hey, goofballs!” he yelled, drawing all eyes in his direction. “One of you to a desk.”
“Yeah,” Wes barked loudly, crossing his arms and stepping up beside Joseph. “What kind of animals are y’all anyway?”
It looked as if Wes and Joseph had decided they were going to make certain the boys behaved for her. Jolie hid a grin—and then her gaze met Morgan’s. Morgan’s eyebrow hitched upward, his dark denim eyes cool.
He has no confidence in me, she suddenly thought. Jolie was fairly certain Morgan would think she needed help in that department—if, that is, he even remembered how she’d let her class get out of control on her first day of student teaching. It had been a long time ago, and he might have easily forgotten the laugh they’d shared over the little boys letting the mice out of their cage and the hysterics that had ensued. Meeting his sardonic gaze, she hiked a brow of her own. “It’ll be okay, guys. They’re just excited. We’re going to be fine,” she said to Wes and Joseph, assuring all of them, as well as herself.
“Can you ride a horse?” Sammy asked, drawing her attention. She was grateful for the change of subject.
“Yes, I can. Can you?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Never been on one.”
“He helped us work cattle yesterday, though.” Morgan stepped up beside the boy, giving him a smile that sent an arrow straight to Jolie’s heart. Morgan McDermott had a soft spot for these boys.
He placed a hand on Sammy’s shoulder. “You did good, Sammy.”
“It was scary. I almost got trampled, too.” Sammy’s eyes were huge.
“Aw, come on, kid, it wasn’t that bad,” Joseph called from the back of the room where he was trying out his new desk. “If you stick with us, you’ll learn not to be scared.”
Sammy didn’t look too sure about that.
“I ride,” yelped Tony, a skinny kid around fifteen or so who looked like a young Elvis Presley with his swath of black hair, blue eyes and a crooked smile that made his eyes twinkle. He skidded to a halt in front of Jolie.
This led each boy to reveal he could ride. Jolie caught the flicker of fear in Sammy’s expression as he realized he was the only one who couldn’t ride. She glanced at Morgan to find his guarded eyes staring back at her.
“We’re gonna learn to mug steers tomorrow after church,” Caleb said, his freckles crinkling with his smile. “You can come, too, Jolie.”
Sammy slipped his hand into hers and looked up. “Would you come?”
Jolie melted right there in the middle of the room. Turned right into a pool of liquid. “Sure I will,” she said. She was pretty sure she would have jumped from an airplane if he’d asked her. “I love to calf wrestle, and scramble, too. But muggin’ is my favorite! I used to be one of the best here on the ranch, you know.”
“Seriously?” Joseph jerked to his feet, gaping at her from across the room. He and Wes exchanged disbelieving looks. “You can take down a steer?”
Jolie nearly shook her head. Males.
“Hey, y’all look like you don’t think I can do it!” she
