a decision about what to do next. Despite the attorney’s promise that she had at least three years before she needed to decide anything, Pia felt the pressure weighing on her.
Not that she was going to discuss her dilemma in front of Raoul. He’d already suffered enough.
“What were you doing here?” she asked. “At the school.”
He’d come to a stop and was staring back at the school. His gaze moved from one firefighter to another. The chief stood on a garden wall about three feet high, yelling out orders to her team.
“Are you worried about the kids?” Pia asked. “Don’t be. I’ve sat through plenty of preparedness meetings. They’re great to attend if you’re having trouble sleeping. Anyway, there’s a plan for each school, and a master list. Attendance is taken daily and sent by computer to the district office. A list of who is out that day is brought to the disaster site. Trust me. Every student is accounted for.”
He looked at her, his dark eyes bright with surprise. “They’re all women.”
“Most teachers are.”
“The firefighters. They’re all women.”
“Oh, that.” She shrugged. “It’s Fool’s Gold. What did you expect?”
He appeared both confused and lost, which on a tall, good-looking guy was kind of appealing. Assuming she was interested, and she wasn’t. If her natural wariness about guys wasn’t enough, Raoul was famous-ish, and she didn’t need the pain and suffering that came with that type. Not to mention the fact that she might soon be pregnant with another couple’s embryos.
A week ago her life had been predictable and boring. Now she was in the running to be a tabloid headline. Boring was better.
“There’s a man shortage,” Pia said patiently. “Surely you’ve noticed there aren’t a lot of men in town. I thought that was why you’d moved here.”
“There are men.”
“Okay. Where?”
“The town has children.” He pointed to the few students still waiting to be picked up. “They have fathers.”
“That’s true. We do have a few breeding pairs, for experimental purposes.”
He took a step back.
She grinned. “Sorry. I’m kidding. Yes, there are men in town, but statistically, we don’t have very many. Certainly not enough. So if you find yourself exceptionally popular, don’t let it go to your head.”
“I think I liked you better when you were having your breakdown,” he muttered.
“You wouldn’t be the first man to prefer a woman in a weakened condition. Full strength, we’re a threat. Being as big and tough as you are, I’d hoped for something more. Life is nothing if not a disappointment. You didn’t answer my question from before. What were you doing here?”
He looked distracted, as if he were having trouble keeping up. “Talking to Mrs. Miller’s fourth-grade class. I speak to students. Usually they’re in high school, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“She probably wanted to spend the hour looking at your butt.”
Raoul stared at her.
She shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
“You’re certainly feeling better.”
“It’s more a matter of not being on the edge of hysteria,” she admitted.
She turned her attention back to the school. It was obviously going to be in ruins when all this was over. “How big is your place?” she asked. “You seem like the mansion type. Could they hold classes in your foyer?”
“I rent a two-bedroom house from Josh Golden.”
“Then that would be a no. They’re going to have to put the kids somewhere.”
“What about the other schools in town?”
“Marsha said they were thinking about bringing in those portable classrooms.”
“Marsha?”
“Mayor Marsha Tilson. My boss. You know Josh Golden?”
Raoul nodded.
“He’s married to her granddaughter.”
“Got it.”
He seemed less stunned now, which probably made him feel better. With the smoke smudges on his face, he looked pretty attractive, she thought absently. Not that he hadn’t been devastatingly handsome before. He was the kind of man who made a woman do stupid things. Thank goodness she was immune. A lifetime of romantic failures had a way of curing a woman of foolishness.
“We should make another appointment,” she said. “I’ll call your office and set things up with your secretary.”
“There you go, assuming again. I don’t have a secretary.”
“Huh. Who sets up your calendar and makes you feel important?” she said with a wink.
He studied her for a second. “Are you like this with everyone?”
“Charming?” She laughed. “As a rule. Just ask around.”
“Maybe I will.”
He was teasing. She knew he was teasing. Yet she felt something. A flicker. Maybe a quiver, down low in her belly.
No way, she reminded herself as she waved and walked toward her car. Especially not with a man like him. Successful, handsome men had expectations. Blonde ambitions. She knew—she read People magazine.
Life had taught her many important lessons. The greatest of which was not to depend on anyone to be there for her. She was a strong, independent woman. Men were optional and right now she was going to just say no.
RAOUL SPENT THE NEXT hour at the school. The firefighters got the fire under control. The chief had told him they would have a presence for at least the next twenty-four hours, to control any hot spots. Cleanup would start when the remaining structure had cooled and the investigation was complete.
It was the kind of disaster he’d read about in the paper and seen on the news a dozen times over the years. But even the best reporting hadn’t prepared him for the reality of the heat, the destruction and the smell. It would be months, maybe years, before the campus was even close to normal.
The kids had all gone home, as had most of the spectators. Eventually he turned to walk back to his office. His car wasn’t in any danger, but it was blocked in by several fire trucks. He would return later and collect it. In the meantime, the center of town was only about twenty minutes away.
Raoul had grown up in Seattle, gone to college in Oklahoma, and then been drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. He was a big-city kind of guy, enjoying the restaurants, the nightlife, the possibilities. At least he had thought he was. Somewhere along the
