knew he’d behaved badly. But honestly? He didn’t care. Speaking his mind to the teacher hadn’t exactly been his best move, but if she didn’t hang around, then their town was done for. He’d needed to say it now because if she changed her mind they’d have to find someone else fast. The future of Bellaroo Creek meant more to him than anything. Because otherwise he’d lose everything he’d ever worked for, just to keep his children close.
He swung open the passenger door. “Kids, this is your new teacher.”
They looked out—all angelic blond hair and blue eyes. A constant reminder of their mother, and probably the only reason he didn’t still hate the woman.
“I’m Ms. Carter.” Harrison listened to the new teacher introduce herself, watching the anger disappear from her face as soon as she locked eyes on his children. “Your dad found me in the middle of planning your classroom.”
“Planning?” he asked.
She smiled and leaned against the open door, but he had a feeling her happy expression was for his children’s benefit, not his. “I can’t teach young children in a room that looks like the inside of a hospital,” she told him. “I don’t have long, but in the morning it’ll look deserving of kids.”
“You’re making it look better?”
Harrison grinned as his daughter spoke. She played the shy card for all of a minute with strangers, then couldn’t keep herself from talking.
“I want us to have fun, and that means putting a smile on your face from the second you walk through my door in the morning.”
So maybe she wasn’t so bad, but it wasn’t exactly evidence that the teacher would hang around for the long haul. He’d had enough experience to know that an isolated rural town wasn’t exactly paradise for everyone, especially for a teacher expected to teach children of all ages.
“If you need a hand...” he found himself saying.
She smiled politely at him, but he could see the storm still brewing in her eyes. “Thank you, Mr. Black, but I’m sure I can manage.”
He stared at her long and hard before walking around to the driver’s side. “I’ll look forward to seeing in the morning what you’ve done with the place.”
The teacher shut the passenger door and leaned in the window. “Your wife won’t be dropping the children off?”
Harrison gave her a cool smile. “No, it’ll be me.”
He watched as she straightened, a question crossing her face even though she never said anything.
“I’ll see you kids tomorrow,” she called out, walking backward.
Harrison touched his hat and pulled out into the road, glancing in the rearview mirror to see her standing there still, one hand holding her long hair back from her face, the other shielding her eyes from the sun.
She was pretty, he’d give her that, but there was no way she was going to stick it out here as their teacher. He could tell just from looking at her. And that meant he had to figure out what the hell he was going to do if she left. Because staying in Bellaroo wasn’t going to be an option for him if the school closed down, nor any of the other families who loved this town as much as he did.
“Daddy, don’t you think we should help our teacher?”
Harrison sighed and glanced back at his daughter. “I think she’ll be fine, Katie,” he told her.
She sighed in turn. “It’s a pretty big classroom.”
Harrison stared straight ahead. The last thing he needed was to grow a conscience when it came to their new teacher, and he had errands to run for the rest of the afternoon. But maybe his daughter had a point. If he didn’t want her to up and leave, then maybe he needed to make more of an effort. They all did.
“We might go back later on and see what we can do. How does that sound?”
“Great!” Katie was elbowing her brother, as if they’d both somehow managed to pull the wool over his eyes. “We could take her dinner and help her do the walls.”
Harrison stayed silent. Helping Ms. Carter redecorate? Maybe. Taking her dinner? Hell, no.
CHAPTER TWO
HARRISON LIKED TO think of himself as a strong man. He worked the land, could hunt and keep his family alive and comfortable in the wilderness if he had to, and yet his seven-year-old daughter managed to wrangle him as if he were a newborn calf.
“Dad, I think she’ll like this.”
He stared at his pint-size kid and tried to look fierce. “I am not buying a cake to take her.”
Katie wrapped one arm around his leg and put her cheek against his jean-clad thigh. “But Daddy, it wouldn’t be a picnic without a cake.”
“It’s not a picnic,” he told her, “so there’s no problem.”
His daughter giggled. “Well, it is, kind of.”
He looked at the cake. It did look good and they were being sold for charity, but what kind of message would that be sending if he arrived to help with cake? Taking sausages, bread and ketchup was one thing, because he could let the kids help their new teacher while he used the barbecue out back. But this was going too far.
“Daddy?”
He tried to ignore the blue eyes looking up at him, pleading with him. And failed. “Okay, we’ll take the cake. But don’t go thinking we’ll be spending all night there. It’s just something to eat, some quick help and then home. Okay?”
Katie smiled and he couldn’t help but do the same back. His little girl sure knew how to wrap him around her finger. “Come on, Alex,” Harrison called.
His son appeared from behind an aisle and they finally reached the cashier. Harrison had known old Mrs. Jones since he was a boy and was still buying his groceries from her and her husband.
“So what are you all doing in town today?”
He started to place items on the counter. “Had a few errands to run, so we’re a bit out of sequence.”
“And now we’re going to see our new teacher,” announced Katie.
“So you’ve already met Ms. Carter?”
Harrison frowned. He didn’t like everyone knowing his business, even if he did live in a small town with a gossip mill that ignited at any hint of something juicy. “We’re going to help her make some changes to the classroom, aren’t we, kids?”
Katie and Alex nodded as he paid for the groceries and hauled the bags from the counter.
“It’s mighty nice to have someone like Poppy Carter in town. Like a ray of sunshine when she came in this morning, she was.”
He smiled politely back. He didn’t need to feel any worse about how he’d spoken to her earlier, because
