It was the best idea she could come up with, anyway, and Annie had reluctantly agreed. Otherwise, she was going to have to move to Alaska. Tomorrow.
For the first half of the day, all was well. She managed to use whatever volunteers were available to get the heavy work done right up front. All of the tables were set up and several of them had their booths constructed on top of them. Decorations were in the hanging process, and for the first time this Christmas season, Emma felt as if she might just pull off another fantastic Winter Carnival.
Then after their lunch break—which she had taken alone in her locked classroom—all hell broke loose.
The commotion came from the big double entry doors to the gym. What kids were there scampered off first. The adults lifted their gazes a little more slowly as the word spread.
“Cupcakes,” someone said.
“Cupcakes!” Another proclaimed, louder now.
“Cupcakes! Cupcakes! ” Came the chant once more.
Within seconds, all of her help had dissipated, converging on Harbor Falls’ own hostess with the mostess, Suzie Hart Matthews, Miss Matchmaking Chef herself—the best damned cupcake baker in town who was holding one humongous box of delectable cupcake confection. Her sister, Shelley, followed with another just like it, and her cousin, Sydney, brought up the rear with a third.
“Great.” Emma stared her way. “It will be hell getting these people back to work later,” she said aloud, although there was no one near to hear. Sugar rush and a nap was what she could see in their futures.
She crossed the gym and sidled up to Suzie, who had placed her box on a table and lifted the lid. They both stood there for a few minutes, watching the kids and a few adults snatch up cupcakes.
Suzie crossed her arms over her chest and smiled. “Nothing better than watching people get enjoyment from food.”
Emma mimicked her actions. “Oh, I don’t know,” she began. “Perhaps watching people be embarrassed to death is a little satisfying too? Hmm?”
Suzie turned toward her, feigning shock. “Excuse me?”
“You know what I’m talking about, Suzie.” She narrowed her gaze.
“I’m sure I don’t.” Smiling at the kids, she stepped forward and handed out some napkins, then looked back over her shoulder. “Unless you’re talking about Saturday night?”
Emma stepped forward. “Of course I’m talking about Saturday night. You set me up. I was not prepared for what you had planned. And I definitely was not prepared for Will Craig!”
Turning, Suzie studied her. “Will? I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“You fixed me up with him. Right?”
Suzie shook her head. “No. He was a last minute invite by Annie’s husband. I had hoped that you and the other women and I could get a little girl time in while the guys watched the basketball game in the den.”
Emma pulled in her lower lip. “Oh.” Then I have made a complete fool of myself. “You’re sure?”
“Absolutely. Well, sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“Well, once Curt suggested it to Annie, and then Annie suggested it to me, and because everyone else there were couples, and because Will would be a third wheel, it just seemed that perhaps it could be a natural thing. But I swear, it was not planned as a hook up. Not at all.”
Emma glared and re-crossed her arms. “I don’t believe it.”
“Well, it’s true.” Suzie paused, her eyes darting back and forth. “Mostly. But now that you and Will have had a little time together, what do you think about…”
“No!”
“Now, Emma…”
Suzie’s voice droned on in the background but Emma’s attention was suddenly diverted elsewhere. As her gaze lifted over Suzie’s shoulder, her eyes connected straight-away with the one set of eyes she did not want to see this day, not at all—Will’s. It was all she could do not to jerk away, break the stare, and go running blindly out of the building, mortified. As it was, she simply slipped her gaze sideways, lingered for a moment, and then quietly and efficiently turned the opposite direction, exited the gym, strolled down the hallway, and locked herself inside her classroom—in the far, way back corner of her classroom, sitting tucked between the wall and a very old and tall storage cabinet.
Then she cried the most confused tears she’d ever cried in her life.
****
Well he had avoided the inevitable long enough.
All weekend he had mulled over the situation, and after taking some time to ponder, he finally figured it all out. After he talked with Suzie, and had cajoled Curt and Annie into confirming his suspicions, he knew at some point he was going to have to have a serious talk with Ms. Emma Jo Baker.
Today wasn’t the day on his list, but heck, why put it off? And seeing Emma go skittering off out of the gym after her glance met his, well, it seemed like the appropriate time.
He had to talk to her, set some things straight. Now. Otherwise, they were both going to be miserable.
Assuming she’d gone to her classroom, he moved down the hallway. Empty. His sneakers squelched on the newly mopped and waxed floor as he walked. Her classroom was about halfway down on the right. He arrived and jiggled the door handle. Locked.
He gave a quick glance inside. The room appeared empty. About to turn away, a slight movement across the room caught his eye. He angled his gaze toward the rear of the room. Yes.
There. A foot. Twitching and moving about. Behind the cabinet.
“What in the hell.”
Will reached into his pocket for his keys, found the master, slid it in the lock, and quickly slipped inside the classroom. As quiet as he could muster, he shut the door and locked it behind him. With soft footfall, he crossed the room to where he stood directly in front of Emma, who at that precise moment inhaled deep and let out a big sob.
“What in the world.” He crouched before her.
She jumped, flattened herself further into the corner, and wailed, “Will! What are you doing here?”
“Just trying to figure out what is going on with you. Come on out of there, Emma. We need to talk about this.”
Her head gave a brisk shake. “Nothing to talk about, Will.”
He moved a little closer. “Why are you crying?”
She swiped both hands over her face in a downward motion. “I’m not crying. Who said I was crying?”
Stifling a chuckle, he reached for her hand, grasped it, and pulled her to her feet as he stood. “I said you are crying, and you are.”
Steadying her in front of him, much like he would do one of his students when he wanted their full attention, he peered down into her face and said, “Don’t move.”
Surprisingly, she obeyed.
He reached into his pocket for a handkerchief, looked into her eyes as he wiped away fat tears from her face and beneath her eyelids, and said, “Now if those aren’t tears, I don’t know what are.”
Emma sniffled. “Oh, all right. I was crying.”
“Why?”
She glanced off. “Because.”
He caught her chin between thumb and forefinger and pulled her back to look at him.
“Because why.”
Sniffling, again.
“Emma…”
“Oh, geez, Will. This is so embarrassing. I’m serious. I don’t know what to do here. I mean, we kissed. I can’t work here now.”
He studied her for a moment. “Perhaps that’s not a bad idea.”
She froze. “What?”
“I said, perhaps that’s not a bad idea.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about. I’d have to quit, Will. Find another job. Move to Alaska maybe.”
She was so cute, and bewildered, it was very difficult for him to not chuckle at her sincerity, even though it was ridiculous. Slowly he moved closer to her. She backed into the corner. He took another step. She was flat against the wall now.
“Will. Stop. We…”
“Emma, I want you to transfer to the mi
ddle school. You have a middle school certificate, right?”
She blinked. “Yes, but…”
“Put in for a transfer. There is a sixth grade position that just opened up. You are perfect for it.”
“Why? Oh, shit, Will! I swear, it was Suzie, not me! It was not my idea. Please, please don’t make me quit my job because of some silly thing. I swear, I didn’t know she had invited you…it wasn’t my doing. Don’t make me quit because I was an idiot. It was all Annie’s idea to begin with, the matchmaking thing instead of the online dating services and all, so really, please don’t make me…”
Will had quite had enough. He crowded closer, into that tight space between cabinet and wall, and looked square in her eyes. “Transfer, Emma, because I have this rule. I don’t date my teachers, and that complicates things because I don’t want to stop kissing you.”
Chapter Seven
In all of her days, Emma was pretty darned certain she had never seen a more serious look from a man.
“Oh?”
“Oh.”
“Will, this is all sort of weird and confusing.”
He didn’t respond, but what he did do confused her even more. His hands went to her waist and he snaked them around to her back, pulling her snug up against him. She had to admit that felt pretty darned enjoyable, for Will was tall and nicely built, and he had fine broad shoulders that she had never really noticed before, until now, and, the real unsettling thing was, that his gaze had traveled to her lips, and he was watching them move as she spoke.
She couldn’t help it. She licked those lips while he was watching.
“Forget weird,” he said, and she closed her eyes as he moved in for the kiss.
A kiss that they weren’t supposed to be having since there were “rules.”
A kiss that felt quite possibly like the best kiss she’d ever had in the world. His lips were firm, moist, and all over hers. He tasted like wood smoke and salt, and every time those lips scraped over hers, her tummy turned to jelly and quivered, sending little sparks down to her toes. And all she wanted was to get closer and put her arms around his neck, which she did, and thread her fingers through his hair, which she did, and let him kiss her more and more and more and more and more….
After a moment of feeling as if she were stealing kisses in the barn in back of the football field, she moved her hands to his face and pulled away.
“Will,” she said. “I need to go.”
She hated the defeated look on his face, and it seemed his stature dropped about four inches at her words. “Emma, please… I know this kissing thing is new, but we’ve known each other forever, and, please, let’s just…”
This time she placed her fingertips on Will’s lips. “I need to get over to the school board office before it closes. Today is the last day they are open before the holidays. And if I want to put in that transfer to possibly get into the middle school by January, I need to get moving.”
With a dumbfounded look on his face, Will stepped back and let her pass. Emma went to her desk and retrieved her purse, then ran back into his arms for one last, lingering kiss.
“Just one more…” she whispered. Then she turned and left.
****
Watching her go was like witnessing a tornado pass through your neighborhood. You weren’t sure in which direction the thing was going to go, whether you should take cover or run, or simply just stand there in fascination unable to take your eyes off of what was happening.
Will decided he didn’t have time for any of it. Emma was gone, headed off to the school board office. Asking for a transfer?
He wanted to smile. There was some part of him that wanted to be elated. Her revelation meant that she was interested in him. And he, well, of course, was interested in her.
Wasn’t he?
But shit. She was going to ask for a transfer. In the middle of the school year. And they would ask a reason. And what would she say? Surely she wouldn’t say it was because they had been kissing in her classroom, would she? Certainly she would make something up. Right?
Suddenly his nerves made him a little queasy.
What would she make up?
Teachers don’t just leave, or ask for transfers in the middle of the year, unless something is really, really wrong with their job, and he didn’t need something like that coming down on him and the school.
He couldn’t afford rumors. And the receptionist at the board office was eager for gossip and could squeeze information out of a turnip if she wanted to….
Oh, hell.
But what worried him even more than all of that, was that it was unfair of him to ask Emma to leave a job she loved—even if she was willing to do so. She was the perfect fourth grade teacher and the children loved her. What he’d asked wasn’t fair to her or the children. Why in the hell had he asked her to give that up?
Will raced out of Emma’s classroom and toward his office. He glanced at this watch. Emma had been gone only a few minutes. If he was quick about it, he could get to the phone in his office before she got to the board office. Racing hell-bent-for-leather, he turned the corner on those newly waxed tile floors, skidded around a water fountain, and made a beeline for his office where he shut the door real quick, ran to his phone, and made the call.
He relaxed when the person on the other end picked up the phone, and he could say, “Hey, it’s Will, and I need a huge favor.”
Chapter Eight
Too busy to think much about it, Emma sailed through Tuesday and worked her ass off all day on Wednesday. The carnival started at five o’clock in the evening with a chili supper until six. After that, the short Christmas caroling session would begin, with the games and other fun stuff to follow.
Exhaustion was Emma’s middle name, but she kept on going like the Energizer Bunny. No time to stop. No time to think.
About kisses.
About Will.
About stupid transfers to the middle school.
What had she been thinking?
For forty-eight hours, she’d swept it all out of her mind. For the first twenty-four, she’d been elated. Will’s kisses were to-die-for and made her feel really tingling and special inside. Over the next twelve, she was beginning to falter. And all day long today, she was very much regretting having even said anything to Will about asking for that transfer.
Because, well, she had never made it to the school board office. She’d gotten caught at the light on Jacobs and Main, and by the time she had gotten there, they’d closed up shop early and had gone home.
But she’d never told Will that because she’d not talked to him, not that she was avoiding him—but she assumed that he assumed she had gone and done it.
That confused feeling settled over her gut again.
And to make matters a little more complicated, he’d not been at school for two days. They’d kissed, she’d run off to do the thing, and for forty-eight hours, no additional contact.
That was a little disturbing. Had he just been kidding about the transfer?
What should she do? Call him? Tell him the truth? That she didn’t make it there in time? Because in all honesty, she wasn’t even sure that she wanted to transfer to the middle school. She loved her fourth graders!
But then if she didn’t transfer, and if she told him what she’d not done, she wouldn’t be able to sample his kisses anymore, and in all honesty, she wasn’t quite ready to give them up yet.
They were too new and exciting and needed time for additional exploration.
Later, after the chili and the caroling, the fun stuff began. There were face painting booths, snow cone machines, lots of games with the kind of crap that kids loved, and moms hated, for prizes, a dunking booth, and various and sundry other kinds of fun to be had by all.
Emma had just put out the sign on her booth when Suzie and her family stepped up in front of her.
“Hey, Emma, I just wanted to say…”
“No worries, Suzie. I’m fine. I don’t really know what hap
pened on Saturday night, but it is okay. I guess you’re off my case then officially, huh? Since I sort of screwed things up the first time. ‘Cause, you know, I don’t wanna ruin your track record.”
She watched Suzie glance up to her husband, then back to her. “Oh, um, Emma, of course we’re not through! We barely got started. In fact, I may even have a blind date for you, if you’re up for it.”
What? No. Not this, not now….
“Blind date?” She glanced about, having said that a mite too loud and she had no clue who was standing around her. In fact, it sort of made her nervous to talk to Suzie out in public, at all, her being a matchmaker and all. Were people talking? Thinking that she had to stoop so low…
“You mentioned New Year’s Eve. I have a bite, if you are interested. Small group of my friends, and we have a singleton, a male of course, and well, if you would like to round out the group. We’re having dinner at the Lodge and then a private party in one of the suites. Let me know, and I’ll make all of the arrangements.”
So was it as simple as that? Apparently.
She bobbed her head. “Okay. Well, let me think on it. Thanks, Suzie.”
The chef smiled back, and then herded her family off in another direction. Emma returned to her booth, finally ready to get things started, and tacked up her sign good and straight on the left support.
“My God, I cannot believe you are doing that!”
Emma spun at the words, only to face Annie, who was staring aghast at her sign. “What’s wrong?” she asked her.
“Emma, you’ve got to be kidding me. This is the kids’ Winter Carnival. A kissing booth?”
She squared herself in front of her friend. “Yes. Why not?”
“Why not? Why? You can’t pass out kisses here like some hooker on the street. This is a school and community function! There are kids here. What were you thinking?”
What was I thinking? It’s charity, that’s what I was thinking.
“You don’t understand, Annie, it’s not what you think. Just hang around for a few minutes, and you’ll see.” She glanced over Annie’s shoulder. “In fact a line is already forming, so if,” she grasped her upper arms and scooted her aside, “you could slide over to your right just a little bit…”
One More Kiss: Sweet Hart Inn (A Harbor Falls Romance Book 14) Page 5
