He stood at the door, scanning the room. She smiled and waved. His face lit and he headed in her direction.
“Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here this morning, I figured you’d be sleeping in while you can,” Thorne said.
Nancy chucked. “There is no sleeping in with a three-year-old, but that’s not why we’re here. Hayley and I went black Friday shopping.” She tilted her head toward her sister-in-law. “I thought you were spending the weekend with your family.”
“Just the holiday. I wanted to get home and work on my final. I’ve got some changes I want to make. Besides, they’re only a couple hours away and I’ll be going back next month.”
“Why don’t you join us?” Hayley offered motioning to the chair beside Nancy.
“I don’t want to intrude.”
“Not at all. We’re just grabbing something to eat before we go back and brave the kids.” Nancy slid out the chair beside him, inviting him to stay without words.
“We left them with Warren.” Hayley checked her watch. “If we time it right, he’ll have them fed and dressed and the mess from breakfast cleaned up. We’ll be able to come in and enjoy without having to do any of the work.” She shot Nancy a satisfied smile. Nancy could only shake her head and laugh.
“Are you sure?” Thorne asked.
“Sit.” Hayley nodded at the empty chair.
“Thank you.”
The waitress appeared, asked Thorne if he was ready and took his order before hurrying away at the ring of a bell.
“How was your thanksgiving?” Nancy asked.
“Good. I talked Ma in to sitting on the sidelines and giving me directions instead of spending all day on her feet.” He shook his head. “No one else ever helps her and I got tired of watching her do it all. So this time I did most of the work.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Did you say they live close? Where are you from?” Hayley wanted to know.
“Oh, you’re the cop right? No, wait, you said it’s Sergeant.”
“That’s right, though it was so long ago, I’m surprised you remember.”
“Honestly? I am too. I’m not good with names, though I’m pretty good with other details.” He smiled. “In fact, I know you gave me your name, but for the life of me, I can’t remember it.”
“Moreno. But call me Hayley. I’m not on duty or in uniform, there’s no reason to be so formal.”
“I’m Thorne, Thorne Whitman, it’s nice to meet you. Again.” He held out one hand over the table, Hayley took it and shook.
“Nice to meet you too, Thorne. Again.”
“And I grew up on a ranch outside of Garrett. My folks still own it though my sister’s starting to take over operations.”
“Is your sister older?
“No, younger. She’s the third of four.”
“You didn’t want it?”
Thorne shook his head. “I can do the work. I grew up working the place just like the rest of us, but it’s not where my heart is. I like math, I like teaching math. Oddly enough, I even like the teenagers I teach, most of the time.”
They all laughed, not because no one liked teenagers but because they all remembered difficulties they’d had with teachers, and parents when they’d been teenagers themselves.
“Dad wasn’t happy when I told him I didn’t want it. It was worse when my brother refused. I think that was because he wants to ranch, and has bought a place not far from my folks’ place, but he didn’t want to take over theirs.”
“That’s three, what about number for?”
“Yeats is only sixteen, he’s still in school.”
Hayley blinked. “Yeats?”
Thorne chuckled and explained about his parents and the names they’d given their kids. The waitress brought their food, surprising Nancy by bringing it all at the same time. They settled in to eat, only talking occasionally until they were done.
Nancy leaned back and pushed her empty plate away. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until the first bite, then she’d all but inhaled her food, even the hash browns, which she didn’t usually eat.
Looking around, she noticed the place was busier than it had been when they’d come in. Now there were only a couple empty tables. Apparently, they’d arrived right before the rush, and she hadn’t noticed until right now.
Now she needed to go home and unload and hide all the stuff they’d bought this morning before she could go back to her brother’s place and pick up the kids.
A yawn caught her by surprise and she covered it with one hand then reached for her coffee. It had been an early morning, but there was no nap in sight. The kids would be fully rested and ready to go. What she’d love to do was go home, put all her purchases away then lay across her bed and sleep for a few hours. Since that wasn’t going to happen, she might as well caffeinate so she could keep up until bedtime.
“You have your finals ready?” Thorne’s voice drew her attention back to the table.
“Hmm?” She blinked and looked at him a moment before her foggy brain registered his question.
“Oh, yeah. Advantage to being an English teacher is I don’t need a long test. I can have four or five essay questions and break up the scoring based on errors. I’ve got about a dozen questions and I’m working on setting the new system up to randomly populate the questions, so no two students get the same test.”
“Nice.” Thorne nodded. “It makes grading a little more complicated, but not hugely, not with the electronic system.”
“That’s what I thought. I’ve still got a few weeks to make but I’m pretty confident. Thanks again for helping me get it set up.”
“No problem.”
The waitress set their tickets face down on the table and thanked them for coming in before hurrying to the next table to refill coffee and check on the people seated there.
“Thanks for joining us this morning. I’ve enjoyed it.” Hayley picked up their ticket before Nancy had a chance. She hated to let anyone else pay her way, but knew Hayley wouldn’t hesitate to make a scene if Nancy pushed the issue, so she let it go.
“I enjoyed it too.” Thorne picked up his ticket. “It’s always more enjoyable to dine with two pretty ladies than by myself.” He glanced around the room. “Plus, it left a table for someone else. But I’ve got to get going. I have a few things I want to do this weekend and finishing touches on my finals is only the tip of the iceberg.” He stood and tipped his head at each of them. “Have a good day, ladies.”
He walked away without looking back, and for some reason, Nancy couldn’t stop herself from watching.
“I like him. I’d lay odds he likes you too.” Hayley waited until Thorne had paid and left before speaking. Nancy was glad there was no chance he could over hear her. She’d have been so embarrassed she sank into the floor if he knew he brother, and now Hayley, were, even hypothetically, fixing her up with him.
She liked him. Thorne was a nice guy. So far, she hadn’t known him long, he was a good friend. And she could only admit it to herself, he was attractive. Hell, she found him sexy as hell, but even thinking the words made guilt nearly overwhelm her. It felt like a betrayal of Thomas and his memory to even think about another man that way, even if she had no intention of acting on it.
Nancy opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again and shook her head.
“Let’s get going. It’s going to be a long day and we might as well get going.” Nancy stood and grabbed her purse from where it was looped on the back of the chair. Hayley joined her, stopping to pay the tab as Nancy went out to the car.
Chapter 14
Two days left until Christmas break and two whole weeks off. Technically it could be considered three weeks, because that’s how long the students were off, but Thorne liked to come in and make some changes to his classroom in that week before the second semester started.
The changes kept the students on their toes, and made things a little more fun for him. He’d pack away some of his decoratio
ns and pull out another box he kept just for the second half of the year.
Oddly though, he wasn’t looking forward to the break as he usually did. It would be nice yes, but he’d miss seeing Nancy so often.
The bell rang to signal the end of period, and lunch time, and the students rushed to stuff papers and books in their bags as they hurried out. Thorne remained at his desk, just in case one wanted to stop and ask a question or for help, but they all flowed past him and out the door. Once the last kid was gone, he pulled his lunch from the bottom drawer and headed for the teacher’s lounge. He loved that Nancy usually brought her lunch as well and he didn’t have to engineer a way to spend that little bit of time with her nearly every day.
He put his lunch bag on the table where he would sit, took out the left over pasta he’d packed for today and took it to the microwave. He’d just punched start when the object of his thoughts walked in.
“Good afternoon!” She was chipper and happy sounding, he would be too if he weren’t looking at three weeks of missing her. “Been a good day?”
“No complaints.” The microwaved beeped. Thorne took his dish out and back to the table. Nancy was busy unpacking her bag. He smiled. He’d long ago noticed the way she unpacked everything from her bag, every day, before heating or eating anything. Not him. He pulled out what he wanted now and left the rest until he was ready for it.
“Got plans for the holidays?” Thorne asked as Nancy took her dish to heat it.
“Nothing big. My parents are talking about coming for a couple days next week, then they’re off to Florida. My sister lives down there and they like to spend Christmas in shorts.”
Thorne turned and looked at her a moment.
“Does she have kids?”
“Yeah, two. I think they’re twelve and fifteen? I’m not sure. I have a hard time keeping up with my own, I can’t keep track of all my nieces and nephews too.” She laughed.
Thorne turned back to his bowl as he thought about that. Since he didn’t have kids of his own, none of his siblings did, it wasn’t something that had ever come up.
“What about the rest of the break?”
“I’m not sure yet. I’d like to take the kids to play in the snow, but I’m not sure where’s a good place to go. I guess I could head into the mountains and find a place once we’re up there.” She brought her food back and sat beside him at the large round table. “What about you?”
“I may go to my folks for Christmas, I’m not sure. It’s a little sad for a single thirty-year-old to be going back to their parents for every holiday, isn’t it?”
“I’m the wrong person to ask. I’d spend it with my folks if I could. They’ve got other plans. I’d spend all the time with them I could. You never know when they’re not going to be there anymore.” She turned her attention to her food.
Thorne felt bad. He hadn’t intended to remind her of her husband or losing him.
“I might can help you with the snow. There’s already snow on the ground at both my folks’ place and my brother’s. I’ll talk to them and see which would be better to take them to play. What do you have in mind exactly? Sledding? Running around and having snowball fights?”
Nancy stared at him a moment. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Tommy, Mason and Mia would love to sled. Jasmine is probably a little young yet.”
“Maybe but if the sled’s big enough, you could ride with her, or maybe Tommy if you think he’ll hold on.” Thorne fell quiet. “I would find a pretty gentle slope so they don’t get going too fast, then it shouldn’t be too big a deal if she falls off. The snow cushions the fall, trust me on that one.” He chuckled at the memory of some of the spills he and his siblings had taken. On his own he’d not been too bad, but once Frost and Charlie got involved, then the competition and wild dares had made it turn downright dangerous. He wasn’t going to tell her about that though, not yet. Not until after he’d talked her into it and the sledding was over. He didn’t want to give her an excuse to back out. Not when he’d figured out how to keep from having to go three full weeks without a Nancy fix.
“That’s a lot to offer, are you sure you want to do that? Voluntarily spend not just a few minutes or a couple hours but all day with four wild kids? And subject your family to them too?”
Thorne chuckled and thought Ma would be thrilled if he were to bring them around. He wasn’t sure he was ready for that yet but he’d have no problem taking them to Frost’s place, introducing him. Not that he didn’t want them to meet Ma, only that he didn’t want to get Ma’s hopes up when things simply hadn’t gone anywhere with Nancy, not yet. Then again, maybe showing her his family would go as far as anything else in softening her toward him.
“My family’s used to a bunch of wild kids. We spent half our lives out riding horses or four-wheelers, climbing trees and thinking up trouble.”
“Don’t give my twins any ideas. They think up enough trouble all on their own.”
“What did they do?”
Nancy closed her eyes, slowly shook her head and took a deep breath.
“Mia decided she needed her hair cut, so she talked Mason into cutting it for her. It was a hack job and she cried, so to make her feel better, he let her cut his.” She rubbed one hand over her face. “I thought I’d have to worry about this from Jasmine, but not them. I thought they were past the hair cutting stage.”
“How bad is it?”
Nancy sighed. “I called Hayley who got me in with her stylist friend for an emergency visit. We were able to rescue Mia with a cute little pixie cut, but Mason’s pretty much buzzed bald. He’s okay with it. His dad wore a similar cut, though a little taller on top so now he thinks he looks just like Dad, and he’s not wrong.” She shook her head again. “I just want to cry when I think of all her beautiful blonde hair gone.”
“Ma felt the same way when Charlie cut hers.” He smiled as he thought about the memory her words brought back. “I know it’s not much consolation, but it will grow back.”
“I know.” Nancy took a deep breath. “I didn’t let them see how much it bothered me, but I spent half the night crying about it after it was fixed and they were all in bed.”
He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to suggest that maybe the hair wasn’t all she’d been crying about but he didn’t want to upset her. Not again.
She took a shaky breath and let it out before going back to her meal. “Anyway. I’m mostly over it now. I miss her pigtails, but her new cut is just darling too, and it’s a lot less hassle to get her ready for school now.”
“Well, that’s something.” Thorne remembered Ma constantly telling Charlie to do something with her hair. He’d not had that problem as every couple months, Ma had gotten out the clippers and clipped four heads of hair, all three boys and Dad too. They’d never been given the opportunity for it to get too long, much less as overgrown and shaggy as it was now. Thinking about it, he thought he’d go get it cut before going home again. Ma would be so thrilled. She’d gotten to the point she didn’t even bother saying anything, she knew it wouldn’t help but she preferred it short. Thorne didn’t care, he just didn’t bother to get it cut very often. Truth be told it simply didn’t occur to him to do it very often.
“You know what? I think I’ll take you up on that offer to take the kids sledding. They’ll have a blast.”
“Great, when you want to do it?”
“I was thinking between Christmas and New Year’s would be best. That way my folks will have come and gone, and I won’t have to buy extra warm clothes for them, they can wear what they’ll get for Christmas.”
“Sounds good. I’ll give you my number before we let out tomorrow so we can make arrangements.”
She didn’t often bring her phone with her to lunch, he’d learned that a while back. Sometimes it was inconvenient but freeing too, or so she claimed. He had to admit, since he’d started spending lunch time with her, his phone usually stayed in his pocket, where it spent most of its day.
“Sou
nds good.” She scraped the last of the sauce from her bowl and licked her fork.
Thorne bit back a groan as he watched her tongue make the long swipe up the side of her fork, as he couldn’t help but imagine what that same motion might feel like elsewhere. His slacks were suddenly tighter. He couldn’t help but be thankful they still had a few minutes before they had to get back to their rooms, or he’d be embarrassing himself.
“What are your plans for the break?” she asked. It took her longer than he’d thought it might to turn the question on him.
“I’ll go see my folks for a few days, spend some time with a few friends here in town but I’ll be back here the week before we go back. I change up my room some between semesters.”
Nancy frowned and turned to look at him. He couldn’t help but notice the crease between her brows, but he had to fight the urge to press a kiss against it. What the hell was wrong with him today?
“Is that common? The redecorating between semesters?”
“No, it’s just something I like to do. Some of it’s academic, we get into a little harder formulas and stuff this semester so I’ll change out a couple posters, some’s just to keep things a little different and the kids from thinking they can get complacent.” He grinned and pulled a bag of almonds from his lunch bag, pulling a handful out, he popped a couple in his mouth. “Besides, I get tired of looking at the same thing day in and day out ten months a year.”
She turned slowly to give him a look he didn’t know how to interpret. After nearly five months of talks and lunches, that was saying something.
“You have a point,” she said after a moment. “I decorate the house for different seasons, why not my classroom too? I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before this. Now I feel kind of dumb.”
Thorne shrugged. “A lot of teachers don’t decorate for the different seasons. I wouldn’t call what I do decorating, but I change it up some. I’d have to or by the end of the year I’d be sitting in the corner going, ‘bu-bu-bu-bu’.”
“Did you just quote Overboard?”
Risking It All Page 9
