The Cupid Caper
Port Provident: Holiday Hearts
Kristen Ethridge
Contents
Dear Reader
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Port Provident: Holiday Hearts
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Can I Ask You for a Small Favor?
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About Kristen
Acknowledgements
Dear Reader
I can’t lie.
There’s a lot of me in Amanda Marsh. I’m an English major and one of my favorite college classes was an entire semester on Shakespeare. I’m even going to start substitute teaching at our local high school pretty soon.
And obviously, I think there’s something pretty special about love. I mean…I could write post-apocalyptic thrillers. (Actually, no, I couldn’t.) But instead, I choose to write romance. I get to spend every day working toward a goal of happily-ever-after.
I had so much fun writing The Cupid Caper and going back to the halls of high school and creating a fun time to bring people together. I hope you’ll enjoy your trip to the halls of Port Provident High School and that you’ll find yourself smiling as you get to know Amanda and Luke. (And get to know Amanda’s best friend, Lisa Fleming, as her story is coming next!)
I’d like to invite you to join me in Port Provident as we celebrate holidays and happily-ever-after this year with the Port Provident: Holiday Hearts series. Keep up with all the stories on my newsletter at www.kristenethridge.com. You can also follow me on Amazon and BookBub to receive new release alerts every time a new book comes out.
All the best-
PS… I’d like to invite you to become a part of my reader community today. Just go to www.kristenethridge.com. You’ll see the box to join right at the top of the page.
One of my signature Sweet Escape Romances is Layla and Ridge’s story, A Place to Find Love. Layla’s spent her whole life searching for a greater meaning in her life. She comes to Port Provident running on fumes, but once she meets Ridge, she begins a journey that fills her with more than she ever hoped for—faith, family, and a place to find the love she’s always longed for. I’ll send you a copy just for joining my reader community, plus you’ll be able to keep up with the latest on my books and Port Provident through regular emails and more reader bonuses.
I promise these stories will lift you up and leave you with a smile.
One of the best ways to get to know Port Provident even better is to get your Passport to Port Provident. It’s a behind-the-scenes reader exclusive that’s available when you join me on Facebook Messenger.
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THE CUPID CAPER
Chapter One
“So, what are you going to do now that the cat’s out of the bag?” Lisa Fleming leaned against the doorway of Amanda Marsh’s classroom, her grin as feisty as another type of feline, the Cheshire Cat.
Amanda laid her red pen down and peered over the top of her glasses. “I have a thousand papers to grade before this weekend and you come to gossip?”
“Me? Gossip? I wouldn’t dream of such a thing.” Lisa feigned shock. “But tell me, Miss Shakespeare Teacher, what are you going to dream about when Luke Baker takes a leave of absence after Spring Break to go work on curriculum development for the new STEM Academy and then moves over there permanently next year?”
Port Provident ISD’s new STEM Academy was the talk of the local education world. When it opened next fall, it would bring together the best teachers from across the district to teach Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics to girls in a comprehensive format from Kindergarten through twelfth grade.
It would also take chemistry teacher Luke Baker away from the hallways of Port Provident High School and the daydreams of Port Provident’s junior and senior level English teacher.
“I’m grading Lisa. Hush.” She picked up her red pen. Maybe if she looked like she was focused on the piles of papers in front of her, Lisa would quit torturing her like a character from that Mean Girls movie.
“No you’re not. That’s People magazine on your desk. Not some AP test prep essay. You can’t fool me.” Lisa walked into Amanda’s classroom and sat atop one of the desks in the back, near Amanda’s own desk. “I know you got the email.”
No use denying that. The announcement about the STEM Academy curriculum leads came out almost an hour ago, before the start of fourth period. “I did. And really, I’m happy for Luke. It’s what he’s wanted to do.”
“Too bad all you’ve wanted to do for the past three years is go on a date with him.”
“That is not accurate.” Amanda could feel the tell-tale prickling in her cheeks, and knew she was beginning to blush the same color as the pen in her hand.
Lisa raised one eyebrow.
“It’s only been two years,” Amanda mumbled as she grabbed an essay off the pile at the corner of her desk. “He hasn’t been at the school three years.”
“Touché. My point still remains.”
“I guess I’m going to do what anyone does when the—ahem—object of their affections moves on. I’ll just move on too.” Amanda tried to throw some sarcastic syllables in as she did her best to sound strong in her convictions. If she was honest with herself, she needed convincing far more than Lisa did. “Besides, you know I am just not in to that whole dating scene. There are no more fairy tales anymore.”
“Really?” Lisa drew out the syllables. Amanda knew she was being baited.
“You know it and I know it. So, do you have any better ideas?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Lisa stood up and pointed to the hand-painted poster from Student Council on the back wall. “You’re just going to have to do what every other girl in this school is doing for the next week. The Cupid Caper.”
“The Cupid Caper? Really, Lisa. I’m not eighteen. And I’m not participating in some secret Valentine scavenger hunt type thing—I mean, what is it, really, anyway?—to ask Luke Baker to a high school dance.” The blush dropped from her cheeks like the mercury in a thermometer pelted by a cold front. “I should have known the resident drama teacher would have some kind of so-called solution with absolutely no basis in reality.”
Lisa quickly closed the gap between her and the teacher’s desk as she talked.
“Look, Amanda. Being the drama teacher means I can see through people’s masks. I know when someone’s pretending. And you’re pretending like you don’t care that Luke is leaving in a matter of a few weeks.” She placed her hands squarely on the fake wood grain top of her best friend’s desk. “Pretending poorly, I might add. You certainly aren’t going to win an Oscar with this performance.”
“I don’t want to win an Oscar. I might like to win a date with Luke Baker. And still keep my dignity. But if I have to choose, I’ll take my dignity every time.”
Amanda looked at the industrial clock on the wall, narrow black hand marking the passage of each second. Was her conference period over yet?
Some break this was. Amanda coveted the thirty minutes of peace and quiet she got in the middle of each school day. Usually she filled the time with grading or polishing lesson plans. But the key was always peace and quiet.
Not t
oday.
“I know you think I’m crazy. But you’ve had a crush on this guy for years, and now he’s taking a new job at a new school. If you don’t do something, you’ll never see him again. Don’t you think you ought to do something?”
Maybe Lisa was right. But if she made the wrong move, the gossip would spread like wildfire through the hallways of Port Provident High. And if there was anything more stressful than teaching about one-hundred-and-twenty seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds to love literature that wasn’t necessarily on their Kindle, it was trying to teach those one-hundred-and-twenty seventeen-and eighteen-year-olds while they were laughing at her.
“I just don’t think The Cupid Caper is the right answer. I know all the kids have a lot of fun with it, but I’m a teacher. It would be silly.”
Lisa continued leaning over the desk, invading Amanda’s personal space. Clearly, she thought she knew best, and she wasn’t giving up. “Linda and Bob do The Cupid Caper every year, so there’s precedent. Besides, insanity is defined as doing the same thing the same way and expecting different results, right?”
“Linda and Bob have been married for more than thirty years.” The two math teachers were close to retirement and the unofficial grandparents to almost every teenager who walked the halls of Port Provident High. “And yes, it is. I tell my students that often.”
“So…” A bright gleam twinkled in Lisa’s eye. Amanda knew grand plans swirled in her best friend’s head. And she knew she’d have to do some quick thinking to get them diffused. “Sometimes you just have to take Cupid’s bow and arrow into your own hands.”
“Dr. Baker?” The other students had raced out of the room when the final bell for the day rang, but Violet Clark lingered near the doorway.
“What’s up, Violet?” Luke Baker pinched the center ring of a three-ring binder closed, then looked up at the shy girl with the dark curls.
“Is it true that you’re leaving?” Apprehension spread clearly across her face. From the furrowed brow, to the dark stare, to the gentle chew on her lower lip, it was clear she’d heard the news somewhere—and it wasn’t sitting well.
Although the announcement had been made to only faculty and staff a few periods before, it didn’t surprise Luke one bit that word had gotten out to the kids. Information was the key commodity in the halls of any high school. Traded more furiously than stocks on Wall Street, there were no secrets that could be kept long.
“It’s true. I’m headed to the new STEM Academy.”
“But they said you’re leaving before the year is over.” The volume level of Violet’s voice dialed sharply downward.
Luke could have kicked himself. In all the excitement of getting the call notifying him of his new position, he’d glossed over the part about telling his students. Most of them wouldn’t necessarily care too much. Teachers came and teachers went. These kids rotated between seven classes a day. They were used to change, and as a whole, kids were resilient.
But still, there were some for whom attachments ran deep. And Violet Clark was one of them. The only child of a single mom who worked two jobs, Violet had blossomed in the chemistry lab. She’d found a world of rules and order, where things always made sense. A place where the giants like Marie Curie inspired young scientists even today with the promise of discovery.
And now, Violet had made a discovery which would change a very important corner of the world—the only secure corner she really possessed.
“Well, I don’t know who they are…” Luke hesitated just a bit, wondering if he should try and soften it or just come out and lay out the truth. “But that’s right. There will be a long-term sub in here after Spring Break. I’m being sent back to school in a way, myself. I’ll be taking some courses that pertain to curriculum development. Then I’m going to spend most of the summer heading up the committee to bring together the curriculum we’ll be using at the STEM Academy.”
Violet nodded. “Can I come with you?”
Luke fiddled with the pen in his hand. He wasn’t quite sure where she was going with this. “Where?”
“The STEM Academy.”
Of course, Luke. The school. He needed to quit listening to the women in the teachers’ lounge talking about students having crushes on teachers and all that stuff. Besides, Violet wasn’t that type. If he didn’t know himself better, he’d wonder if he’d been sniffing chemicals from the back cabinet of his chemistry lab.
“Well, there’s an application process.” Seeing the serious look that crossed her face, Luke made a decision. Violet was the type of girl who the STEM Academy catered to. Her whole life could be changed with exposure to the sciences and the higher-paying jobs she could have access to after college. “I’ll print out a copy for you and we can work on the application together. There are some essays too.”
Violet gave a shy smile. Luke felt good about making the offer. He’d spent time with a drug manufacturer before walking away to teach. No patent, no accolade, nothing in his former career gave him the same satisfaction as seeing the spark in a student’s eyes.
“Maybe Miss Marsh could help me with those. Do you think she would?”
Luke wanted to say yes, but he didn’t really know. Amanda Marsh always seemed to have a full plate. The students loved her English classes, and when she didn’t have her nose in one of the classics, she was running to Student Council meetings or working with the drill team. There were twenty-four hours in every day, and as best he could tell, Amanda Marsh scurried through every single one of them.
Quite frankly, he’d never seen the lights in her classroom off when he walked to his car—even late at night. He assumed she kept a futon in the back corner not for students to read, but so she could just sleep there and never leave.
“You could always ask her, Violet.”
“I’ll have to remember to do it tomorrow. I’m going to miss the bus if I don’t hurry.”
Luke gestured with his hands, a pushing motion toward the hallway. “Don’t miss the bus. The applications aren’t due for another two weeks. We’ll get it taken care of.”
“Ok Dr. Baker. Thanks.” Violet adjusted her backpack on her shoulders and turned to walk through the doorway. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“No problem, Violet. See you tomorrow.”
Luke walked down the quiet hallway toward the doors which led to the teachers’ parking lot at the back of the building. School ended about ninety minutes before, and without the jam-packed bustle of teenagers, Port Provident High seemed more in line with his old life at a corporate giant. People kept to themselves, just trying to finish the last of the day’s work so they could go home.
The students gave the walls and halls their heart, and even though Luke believed deeply in the order and rules of chemistry and the sciences, he knew the energy he got from these kids more than made up for what was missing out of his paycheck these days.
He could see the light on in the room at the end of the hallway. A faux thatched roof poked out from over the doorway and construction paper timbers framed it. Amanda Marsh took her responsibility to literature seriously—down to decorating the entrance to her classroom to resemble Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
Since she was still here, Luke decided to walk through the entrance to Shakespeare World and ask about the application essays on Violet’s behalf. That way they could start working on them as soon as possible.
“Amanda? You got a minute?” Luke opened the door quietly and stepped inside.
A Tiffany-style lamp sat on the corner of Amanda’s desk. It put a soft glow on her head, bent low tending to some of her grading. The light fell softly and gave her red hair highlights that sparkled like they could be measured in karats.
Amanda Marsh was one of those teachers everyone talked about—in a good way. Luke had always thought she was a bit scatterbrained, but as she lifted her head, light gray-green eyes upturned and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, Luke took a hard look at her.
And that lo
ok hit him hard right back, a punch to the gut.
It made him swallow hard, a roughness like sandpaper sliding down his throat. He’d worked with her for two years and had always thought of her as being Port Provident’s own personal Lucy Ricardo.
Maybe he’d been wrong to stereotype her. Those eyes were serious, studying the words in front of her with intensity. And that hair. Soft, layered gently over her shoulders, and sassy.
Cut it out, Baker. He’d come in here to ask a favor from a colleague on behalf of a student. Not to ask the English teacher out on a date.
“Sure. What’s up?” She’d looked up, but spoke before she really noticed who she was talking to. Her eyes flicked up to Luke’s face, then immediately darted down toward the papers scattered across the desktop.
Scratch all that earlier stuff. The English teacher definitely was a scatterbrain. She couldn’t even sustain eye contact.
“Hey, Violet Clark is in one of your classes, right?” He decided to stay back by the door. If scatterbrained-ness was catching, he didn’t want to come down with a case. Luke was pretty sure none of his former colleagues back at Global Health were researching a vaccine for over-taxed synapse disorder.
Amanda lifted her head back and appeared to be squaring her jaw, as though she was fighting her way through something distasteful. Luke wished he’d never stopped by. He had a few degrees and some letters after his name that he didn’t have much use for in a high school setting—sure they were in chemistry, but he’d had to write both a thesis and a dissertation. It wasn’t like he didn’t grasp the basics of the English language. Maybe he should just help Violet with the essays too.
“She’s in my Advanced Placement English III class. Why do you ask?”
Luke decided to just throw it all out there bluntly, and get this over with. “She’s expressed an interest in applying to the STEM Academy. I told her I’d help her with the overall application, but that there were some essays. She thought you might be able to review those for her.”
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