Enlightened Hearts: Mastered Hearts Series Book Two

by Nicole, Angela

  “Wow, Daddy, look. Auntie Kissy made me a fort with blankets and pillows.”

  I smile almost as big as she does.

  “I set up your little DVD player in there and put a new dinosaur movie in for you,” my sister whispers into Lucy’s ear.

  “I heard that. It better not be inappropriate for her.” I give my sister the eyebrow.

  She gives me the eyebrow back. “It’s rated G. I wouldn’t let her watch anything that would scare her, Daniel.”

  I know she wouldn’t, but Lucy has been begging to watch any dinosaur movie she can think of.

  “Sorry, I just know how persuasive she can be with the big eyes and pouty lips.”

  Chrissy laughs because she knows it’s true. Lucy can get anyone to do just about anything.

  We move into the kitchen and let my little paleontologist watch her movie.

  “Alright, dear brother, what’s on your mind?”

  She can always see through me.

  “I had a date planned for today, and Serena fucked it up. I haven’t told my date about Serena or Lucy yet.” There, I laid it out, now I wait for the inquisition.

  “Who did you have a date with?”

  And here we go.

  “I’d rather not say just yet. The point is, I really like this woman, and I’m not sure how or when to bring up the family situation.”

  “Well, you must really like her if you are even contemplating telling her about Lucy.”

  “That’s just it, Chrissy. I barely know her, but for some reason I can’t stop thinking about her.”

  “Daniel, you haven’t talked about a woman like this in a long time. Maybe not since Serena.”

  I blew out a breath. “Yeah, and look where that got me.”

  My sister reaches over and places her hand on my shoulder. Here comes the speech about the divorce wasn’t my fault.

  “You can’t hold yourself responsible for what Serena did. You never mistreated her or neglected her. She chose money over her family. That is not your fault.”

  Deep down I know she is right, but I still feel like an ass for letting her get the best of me.

  “So what are you going to do?”

  Part of me wants to call Nicole right now and set up another date, the other part doesn’t think I should burden her with the shit that Serena pulls.

  “Are you using Lucy and Serena as excuses to keep this girl from getting close to you?” she asks with admonishment.

  Maybe.

  “Look, dearest brother. Did you get a raw deal when it came to Serena? Yes. Keeping yourself from getting to know someone who may make you happy is fucking ridiculous.”

  “I know what you are saying is right, Chrissy, but it’s hard to date with a kid. I just don’t know how to approach it with this girl.”

  “Be honest with her. If this woman is not interested in you because of Lucy, then she is not worth it.”

  Easier said than done.

  It’s been two weeks since my failed date with Daniel, and I haven’t heard from him. I’ve thought about texting him to check in, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Something seemed wrong when he cancelled the date. I almost told Emily about what happened, thinking she could give me some insight, but I chickened out.

  School starts in two days, but I have to go in tomorrow to get my classroom ready. I’m thankful I have a co-teacher my first year. I need to learn the ropes since this is a new school district.

  Over the years, I have collected so many books and toys for my students that it takes up my spare bedroom. I heard that we have nineteen students in class this year. The first week of school will be very hectic trying to learn all of the names. The rest of the time will be spent soothing crying students and parents, but I wouldn’t trade kindergarten for another age group.

  I can’t believe my baby girl starts kindergarten today. I wish time would slow down because she is growing up way too quickly.

  Serena and I are taking Lucy to her first day of school together. It’s times like these that I have to suck it up and be civil to her mother. At least the shithead boyfriend won’t be there.

  Pulling up to Serena’s house, hell, it’s more of a mansion, I start to get out of my truck, but Lucy and Serena come out and meet me in the driveway.

  “Hi, Daddy. I’m ready for school.” Lucy smiles the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. I silently thank God that she is not crying. I don’t think I could handle it.

  Ruffling her hair, I bend down to kiss her. “I’m so excited for you, sweets. Let’s get you into your booster seat so we can go meet your teacher.”

  “I don’t know why we have to take your truck, Daniel,” Serena says with brashness.

  “I’m not letting you drive us to the school, Serena. I don’t think your boyfriend would want me to drive his Porsche to the elementary school.”

  I don’t want to argue with her. I really don’t. Today is about our daughter and the only first day of kindergarten she will ever have.

  Serena is quiet on the way to the school, but Lucy won’t stop chattering. “I can’t wait to meet new friends and have story time. Mommy said I may have to take a nap. Do you think the teacher will make me take a nap, Daddy?”

  I look in the rearview mirror at my not so little girl. “I’m not sure, Lucy, but you listen to what the teacher tells you, OK?”

  “I promise, Daddy.”

  This girl makes my heart melt.

  Holy crap. It’s only five minutes into the opening of the classroom, and we have ten crying children and twenty crying parents. I look at my co-teacher, Julie. She is comforting a little boy named Josh. She is very good with the criers.

  While I help some of the parents separate from their kids, I hear the door to the room open. When I look up, my stomach lurches up to my throat. It’s Daniel, a woman, and a little girl.

  He hasn’t noticed me yet. I turn around, hoping I can sneak out without anyone noticing. Then it happens. I feel a little tug on my dress. I can feel him behind me. I know I have to turn around, but I’m afraid of what I’m about to see.

  The sweetest little voice goes right to my heart. “Hi, I’m Lucy Ann Cooper. Are you my new teacher?”

  Cooper. Shit. Taking in a deep breath, I turn around, trying not to look at Daniel or the woman he is with. I have to focus on this beautiful little girl.

  I bend down so that I am eye to eye with her. Lucy Ann Cooper has the prettiest curly blonde hair and the biggest eyes I’ve ever seen.

  With a lump in my throat, I manage to speak.

  “Hi, Lucy Ann Cooper. Yes, I’m one of your teachers. My name is Miss Russell.”

  I can feel the air in the room shift.

  “Nicole?”

  Fuck. This is not the way I wanted Nicole to find out about Lucy and Serena. By the look on her face, she is just as surprised as I am.

  “Daniel,” she says with a quick snap.

  Ouch.

  “Do you two know each other?” Serena chimes in with a suspicious tone.

  Shit. If she even suspects that I’m interested in Nicole, she will make a scene. I have to play it cool and explain the situation at another time.

  “Yes. Nicole is a friend of Emily’s,” I say, hoping to keep her from prying.

  Looking at Nicole, I can tell that she isn’t impressed by what she is seeing. I don’t know how, but I’m going to have to get her alone.

  Nicole swallows hard as she thrusts her hand out to Serena.

  “I’m Nicole. Nice to meet you.”

  I see Serena stare at Nicole’s hand for a few seconds. She finally shakes it, and I can sense her hesitation.

  “I’m Serena, Lucy’s mother.”

  Then as if divine intervention happens, Lucy calls out to me.

  “Daddy! Come look, we have a fish tank.”

  I smile at Nicole before heading over to Lucy and receive an ice-cold stare in return. Yep. I’m going to pay for this.

  I know that Lucy is talking to me, but all I can do is watch Nicole
and Serena speaking to each other. Serena has her fake smile on. Worried as hell as to what she is saying to Nicole, I stand up to head back over.

  Suddenly, I hear a scream and notice a little boy is clinging to his mother. Nicole moves quickly to help the family. I can’t take my eyes off her and don’t even notice that Serena is standing next to me.

  “Daniel, I think Lucy is fine if we leave now. I need to get to work,” she whispers in my ear, just as Nicole turns to look at me.

  “Alright. I’m just going to say goodbye to Lucy. I’ll meet you in the truck.” I can tell that Serena knows that I’m going to talk to Emily because she gives me a smirk.

  “I already said goodbye to Lucy, so don’t take too long.”

  As soon as Serena walks out the door, I head over to Lucy, who is already playing with another little girl.

  “Hey, sweets. It’s time for me to leave,” I say, hoping she doesn’t start to cry.

  Little Miss Independent doesn’t even look up at me. “OK, Daddy. I’ll see you Saturday. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Lucy. Have a good day today.” I kiss the top of her head. I’m so proud of her for not even shedding a tear.

  Glancing around the room, I find Nicole watching me with Lucy. It feels as though my feet are stuck to the ground. Forcing myself to move, I need to talk to her before she runs away.

  I can’t believe Daniel is here, with a daughter and a wife. That is why he sounded so weird when he cancelled our date. Our date. I almost went out with a married man. He wasn’t wearing a ring either time I saw him. I know because I always check. Shaking my head, I look over at the would-be adulterer. Oh damn, here he comes, and I have nowhere to hide.

  “Nicole, we need to talk,” he says as he closes in.

  Daniel faces me and leans down to talk into my ear. It gives me a shiver. God, why does he have to be a cheating ass?

  “I need to explain about Serena and Lucy.” He starts to justify his actions, but I cut him off.

  “Daniel, please. I feel like an idiot as it is. I don’t know why you’d ask me out with your family situation.” She leans into my ear so no one can hear.

  “Just please leave me alone. This is weird enough without you trying to explain why you asked me out.”

  Trying to avoid making a scene, I move to the front of the room.

  “Alright, class. We are going to start with our first lesson for the day. Can I have all of you please come up and sit on the carpet?”

  The children begin to quiet down and find their places.

  Using my peripheral vision, I can see Daniel standing in the back of the room. God, why won’t he just leave? I make eye contact, hoping he can read my mind. To my relief, he gives me a slight nod and disappears out the door.

  Between story time and learning the letter A, I overhear Lucy talking about her dad. She tells the little girl named Missy all about going fishing with him. Unfortunately, I can’t hear anything about her life at home with both her mom and dad.

  At end of the day, Serena comes to pick up Lucy. Thank God I can avoid another awkward encounter with Daniel.

  Opening the door to my house, I fling my keys and my bag onto the table. It’s only four o’clock in the afternoon, but I need a freaking drink. Pouring myself a shot of whiskey, I flop onto the couch. My head is killing me.

  Throughout the day, there were a few meltdowns when some of the children realized their parents left. Trying to forget about Daniel and his wife was impossible. Every time I looked out at the class, I saw their sweet, beautiful daughter.

  Thank God nothing ever materialized with him. I can’t even imagine what would’ve happened had I gone out on the boat. I probably would’ve thrown myself at him.

  This week has got to get better.

  I’ve had a shit week. Although Lucy did great her first day, for me it was a complete disaster. Several times, I had to hear how wonderful Miss Russell was from my daughter. It has poured for five straight days, which means no business.

  It’s Friday night, and I’m heading out to meet Mac. Since he lost his leg in Libya, he retired from the Air Force, got married and bought out his father’s share of the bar, MacAlister’s.

  Patrick, his father, still works part-time, but Mac has really taken over the place.

  Before I go to meet Mac, I have to stop over and pick up Murph. The three of us have become closer since Mac has returned home, but there seems to be something going on with Murph. I can’t quite figure out what it is.

  Pulling up to Murph’s motorcycle shop, I notice the lights are on, which means he’s still working. It’s a good thing he lives in the apartment above the shop, so it shouldn’t take him long to get ready.

  Walking into the shop, I’m greeted by the smell of oil and gasoline.

  “I’m almost done, Daniel,” he says without even looking up.

  “Take your time. I’m gonna check out the new Honda you have over here.”

  Twenty minutes later, Murph comes downstairs showered and ready to go.

  “You OK, man?” he asks.

  “It’s been a long week. Looking forward to having a few beers and relaxing.”

  Murph nods as if he is right there with me.

  Thank God it’s Friday. I’m meeting Emily and Chrissy out for a drink at Mac’s place. Em called to ask how my first week went. I told her it was great from a work perspective but shit from a personal one.

  I haven’t really had the chance to go out with the two girls, but I jumped at the chance to get to know them better. Lord knows I could use a drink or five.

  Walking into MacAlister’s, I see Mac behind the bar and give him a quick wave.

  “Nicole, we are over here,” Em yells so I can hear her over the loud Irish music.

  They are sitting at a high-top table, drinking Mac’s famous margaritas. Hanging my purse over the back of the chair, I order a boilermaker from the waitress.

  “You remember Chrissy, don’t you?” Emily asks.

  “Yes, nice to see you again.” I give her a quick smile and sit down next to her.

  “Emily tells me that you are a kindergarten teacher?”

  “Yep, just finished my first week, and I’m loving the new school so far.”

  “That’s cool. My niece just started kindergarten this week, and she loves it.”

  “Hey, Nicole. I’ve been meaning to ask you a question.” Emily looks at me with a smirk. I know where this is going. It’s the look that a friend gets when she wants to introduce me to someone.

  “No, I’m not seeing anyone.”

  I almost tell her about Daniel, but he is her friend, and that’s a little weird.

  Em looks at me, smiling. “How’d you know I was going to ask that question?”

  “Well, for one, you have the same look that my friends back home have when they want to introduce me to someone.”

  Both Emily and Chrissy laugh, but my thoughts race to that cheating rat bastard Daniel.

  “What’s wrong, Nicole? You look as if you want to murder someone,” Chrissy says.

  I know I can’t rat on Daniel to his friends, but damn if I don’t want to.

  “Thought I met a nice guy is all, but it turns out that he is married. Not only does he have a wife, but he has a daughter who is in my class.”

  “Oh, well that would be interesting, wouldn’t it?” Chrissy says. “Did the jerk give you any indication that he was married?”

  “Nope, he asked me out on a date. He ended up canceling it, thank God. The next time I saw him, he came into my class with his wife and daughter.”

  Shaking my head, I add, “The thing is, I really thought he was a great guy. Perfect body, great smile and sweet.”

  They both shake their heads. Emily summons the waitress over. I think her name is Liza. We order another round, and I hear all about Shane and his antics. We talk about how Mac is adjusting to civilian life and Chrissy’s job at the courthouse.

  Just as Mac brings us some appetizers to soak up the alcohol,
I see the door behind Emily open.

  “Fuck.” Of course Daniel shows up and sees me right away.

  Emily and Chrissy choke on their food. “What is it?” Emily asks between coughs.

  “Um, nothing.” I try to change the subject. “How are the fried ravioli?”

  “Good, you should try them. Here, have one.” Chrissy hands one to me.

  HE. WON’T. STOP. STARING. I need to go say something before he makes a scene.

  “I have to go to the restroom. I’ll be right back.” I leave before they can say anything.

  With my chin up and my shoulder squared, I walk right over to the bar where he and his friend are sitting.

  “Uh, hi, Nicole,” he says as soon as I get close enough.

  “Daniel, can I speak to you for a minute?” My tone indicates that I would like his friend to excuse us.

  His friend nods and heads over to Emily and Chrissy.

  “Look Daniel, I’m not going to tell Emily or Mac about our misunderstanding, OK? I’m just glad that you had the guts to cancel before I made a mistake.”

  Not giving him a chance to answer, I turn on my heel and head to the restroom.

  What the hell was that about? I know I screwed up by not telling her about Lucy and Serena that night at the party, but it’s not like I’m still married.

  “Everything OK?” Mac asks as he slides a beer my way as Murph returns to the stool next to me.

  “No, it’s not. I might as well tell you because I’m sure Nicole is about to fill your wife in on what happened.”

  I fill Murph and Mac in on what happened, and like me, they are puzzled at her comment.

  “I think you should go over there and demand an explanation.” Murph says as he takes a swig of his beer. His comment surprises me. Colton Murphy is a man of few words. He’s the type that doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him. No, Colton Murphy is real and raw. He grew up in an MC where his father was the Sergeant at Arms. He is a large, tattooed, what you see is what you get type of guy.