by Irene Hannon
“Actually, what I was thinking was that any man who was fortunate enough to be engaged to you would have had to be an idiot to walk away.”
“He’s not the only one who walked away.” The words slipped out and she immediately wished them back.
“I was an idiot, too. And if I had another chance, I’d never walk away.”
“You’re flirting again.”
“I’m way past flirting, Shauna. I think you know that.” He spoke quietly, his eyes burning into hers.
And she was breathless again, lost in his gaze and in all the things they’d once shared, lost in dreams that she didn’t dare allow herself to believe in.
Lost and completely helpless to do anything about it.
Forget reasonable and in control. She needed to leave before she threw herself in his arms and begged for a second chance at love.
“I really do need to go.” She yanked the door closed, and this time he didn’t try to stop her as she shoved the keys in the ignition and drove away.
Chapter Fourteen
Shauna had always loved teaching, but, by the time she walked into Deer Park Elementary, all she wanted to do was go home and go back to bed. Her head was pounding, her nerves were shot, and in less than two hours, twenty-eight kids would walk into the room.
She only hoped she’d have enough energy to keep up with them.
At least the room was clean and in order again. She had yet to find the missing folders, but everything else had been accounted for.
She pulled out her plan book and took a long sip of diet cola, the silence of the room settling around her. It would be an hour before most of the other staff members arrived, but Shauna had always liked getting to school early. There was something about an empty classroom that appealed to her—so many possibilities waiting to be discovered. Even now, her run-in with Levi fresh in her mind, she felt herself relaxing. Everything would work out. It always did. She just had to trust that God was in control and let Him lead where He would.
As long as where He was leading didn’t bring her back into Levi’s arms.
She frowned, opening her plan book to the last page where she’d jotted notes about each child. A few came from difficult family situations. Others were struggling academically. And then there was Nicolas. Quiet and shy, he had an anxious quality that made Shauna wonder what his home life was like. She’d asked him a few questions, but he wasn’t quick to share, and she hadn’t learned much more than what his paperwork said. He was from a single-parent home, and his mother was a nurse who worked at a local convalescent center. Nicolas had said a few other things in passing. That he’d lived in many different places and that he’d once had another name. He’d even drawn a picture of himself and labeled it “Eli.” When Shauna showed the drawing to his mother at Friday’s parent-teacher conference, she’d laughed and said Nicolas had always had a good imagination.
Maybe he did, but the drawing still made Shauna uneasy.
The sound of footsteps on tile drifted in from the hallway, and she tensed. There were other people in the building. The kitchen and custodial staff had arrived before her, and she was sure a few other teachers were working in their classrooms. Any one of them could be walking through the hall. She stood, anyway, moving across the room and grabbing a pair of scissors from the supply closet. They weren’t much in the way of weapons, but they were better than nothing.
The footsteps drew closer, then stopped outside the door.
Shauna’s grip tightened on the scissors, her heart beating a hard, jerky rhythm. Was it possible the person who’d held her up at knifepoint and trashed her classroom was standing on the other side of the door? Was it possible that person had more than a theft on his mind this time? Maybe he had a gun or a—
The door swung open, and Shauna shrieked, jumping backward and stumbling over a chair. She landed with a painful thud, but she didn’t have time to catch her breath. She was on her feet in seconds, the scissors in hand, ready for an attack.
Chapter Fifteen
“Shauna! What in the world are you doing?” Maggie Tennyson stood in the doorway, her eyes wide with surprise. A teacher’s aide working toward her teaching degree, Maggie had been assigned to Shauna’s classroom at the beginning of the year and had proven a valuable asset.
“I could say the same about you. You’re never here this early.”
“Ms. Mallory called me Saturday and told me there’d been a break-in. I thought I’d come in early in case you needed help setting up for the day, but it looks like you have everything under control.” Maggie dropped a pile of college textbooks on a table at the back of the room. She looked pale and tired, her eyes deeply shadowed. Apparently, Shauna wasn’t the only one who’d had a rough weekend.
“For now. Are you okay? You look tired.” She put the scissors back in the closet, her hand shaking. She really needed to pull herself together and stop jumping at shadows.
“College is kicking my butt this semester. You know how that is.”
“I remember. If you need the day off—”
“Are you kidding me? Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and we have tons of projects to do before then.”
“I can manage, Maggie. If it’s the difference between you being exhausted and not—”
“Really. I’m fine. You’re the one who probably needs time off. I heard you were nearly killed by a guy with a knife this weekend.”
“Who’d you hear that from?”
“My landlady. She has her ear to the ground and knows everything that goes on in Deer Park.”
“Well, she has the facts wrong. I wasn’t nearly killed. My purse was stolen.” And then returned, but that wasn’t something Shauna wanted to talk about.
“It must have been really frightening.”
“It was, but I’m over it.” Almost.
“Good. How about I start writing the warm-up on the board?” Maggie grabbed a piece of chalk and set to work, her presence a nice distraction from Shauna’s worries.
By the time the students arrived, she was feeling more herself, and the first hour of class went off without a hitch. When Krista appeared in the doorway and gestured for her to come out in the hall, Shauna gave the students their assignment and walked out of the room.
“What’s up?”
“I need you to have Nicolas Samuels gather his things and bring them down to my office.” Krista spoke quietly, her voice belying a tension that was unlike anything Shauna had seen in her before.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m not at liberty to say. Just have him get all his things. I’m not sure he’ll be returning.”
“What—”
“Shauna, I can’t tell you any more than that. Just bring him to my office.” She turned and walked down the hall before Shauna could ask more.
Nicolas sat at the back of the classroom, his head bent over the math book. He looked up as she approached, his freckled face tense with worry.
“Hey, Nick, I need you to get your things together. We have to go to the principal’s office.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“Of course not.”
“Then why do I need to go?”
“Principal Mallory will explain everything when we get there, okay?” She helped him gather his books and put them in a worn backpack, her heart thudding uncomfortably. Something was wrong, but she had no idea what. All she could do was pray that everything would be okay as she walked Nicolas down the long corridor to Krista’s office.
Chapter Sixteen
A good day’s work was a good day’s work no matter where it was done, and Levi was feeling more content than he had in a long time as he pulled up in front of his new home. The sun had already set, and he could see lights on in Shauna’s house as he got out of the car.
He knew he should ignore them. Ignore her. But he couldn’t help imagining her sipping a cup of coffee, relaxing after a long day, her hair spilling over her shoulders in silky curls.
“Forget it,
and keep walking. She’s made it very clear she wants nothing to do with you.” But even as he muttered the words, he was walking toward her house. They were neighbors, after all, and they had been friends. Was it really so wrong to check in with her, make sure everything was okay?
He hoped not, because that was exactly what he planned to do. He rang the doorbell then stood so that Shauna could see him.
“Who’s there?” she called out as she had the previous night, but this time her porch light was on, and he was sure she already knew.
“It’s Levi.”
There was a heartbeat of hesitation before she responded. “What are you doing here?”
“I just thought I’d stop by to say hi. Isn’t that what neighbors do?”
“I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve had a neighbor.” The door opened and Levi’s breath caught, his heart skipping a beat. Shauna wore faded jeans and an oversize T-shirt, her hair a mass of wild curls, her face free of makeup.
And she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
Too bad she was looking at him like he was slime.
“Hi.” He figured that couldn’t get him in too much trouble, and Shauna rewarded him with a smile.
“You’re incorrigible, you know that?”
“I’m enchanted. You look beautiful, Shauna.”
“Flattery again?”
“The truth. Again.”
“I thought you just came to say hi.”
“That was before I realized how beautiful you look in jeans and a T-shirt.”
“How about we change the subject?” she responded, her cheeks bright pink.
“To?”
“Whether or not you came over here to convince me to have dinner with you.”
“I know you well enough to know that you don’t change your mind very often.”
“You knew me, but that was a long time ago.”
“Does that mean we are going to have dinner together?”
This time she laughed, stepping aside and gesturing for him to enter. “I guess as long as you’re here, I may as well feed you. Unless you’ve already eaten.”
“I was planning on making myself a sandwich, but whatever you’re cooking smells a lot better.”
“Chicken stew with dumplings. It’s my grandmother’s recipe. Pure comfort food.”
“Has it been the kind of day deserving of comfort food?”
“It was an entire weekend deserving of it, and today wasn’t any better.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“I want to eat. Then I’ll decide if I want to talk.”
With that, she turned on her heel and walked into the kitchen.
Chapter Seventeen
Levi followed, inhaling the rich aroma of chicken stew and the subtle scent of vanilla that seemed to cling to Shauna.
“Did you just get home?” she asked as she pulled bowls from a cupboard.
“Yes. How about you?”
“I’ve been home a while. This kind of food doesn’t happen in a minute.” She smiled as she spooned stew into a bowl, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Here, let me do that.” He took the bowls from her hands, filling them quickly and setting them on the table.
“Thanks. I feel like I’m moving in slow motion today.” Shauna pulled silverware from a drawer and sat at the table, her face pale, her eyes shadowed.
“You had a long weekend.”
“And a horrible day.”
“You were going to tell me about that.”
“Was I?”
“Why not?”
“I’m sure if I think about it long enough I’ll come up with a reason.”
“Don’t think. Talk.”
“Fine. Krista came into the classroom and asked me to have one of my students pack up his things and then bring him to her office. When we got there, the school counselor was there with the sheriff and a couple of people I’ve never seen before.”
“The sheriff? Sounds like your student got himself into trouble. Maybe he had something to do with what happened to you this weekend.”
“Nicolas is a shy, sweet little boy. I don’t think he has a mean bone in his body.” She stirred her stew, but didn’t eat any. She’d said she’d changed, but she’d done the same thing when she’d been a teen worried about friends or grades or parent trouble. Picked at her food and mulled over the problem until she’d found a solution to it.
And Levi found himself doing what he’d always done, reaching across the table and covering her hand with his, smoothing her knuckles with his thumb. “Did you ask Kristen what was going on?”
“She just told me that it would all come out eventually. I’m sure Nick will be fine, but he looked so scared. I felt like I was throwing him to the wolves.”
“You were doing what you had to. No one can fault you for it.”
“Maybe someone does. Maybe that’s what everything that happened this weekend was about.”
“What do you mean?”
“It can’t be a coincidence that Nick was pulled from my class days after I was robbed and my classroom was trashed.” She stood, walking across the room and staring out the window.
“You think someone wasn’t happy with how you were treating him and decided to lash out?”
“I don’t know what I think. I just know that my life was predictable and easy, and now it’s pure chaos.” She turned to face him again, leaning her hip against the counter, her red hair falling over her shoulders just as he’d imagined it would, her eyes deep sapphire blue.
She was breathtaking. Levi stood, crossing the room without thought, without any real plan.
“Am I part of that chaos?” His hands slid around her waist, and her pulse raced in the hollow of her throat. If she’d told him to leave, he would have. If she’d pushed him away, he would have gone without an argument. But she did neither.
“I wouldn’t call you chaos. I’d call you trouble,” she said, but there was no heat in her words. He leaned down, did what he knew he shouldn’t, his lips touching hers.
And it wasn’t nearly enough.
She sighed, pulling him close, and he was lost just as he’d been when he was young and too foolish to know a good thing when he found it.
A phone rang, and Shauna pulled back, her eyes wide with surprise, her cheeks pink. “I think you’d better go.”
“Because we kissed?”
“Because I need to answer the phone. I’m sure you can let yourself out,” she said, and then turned and ran from the room.
Chapter Eighteen
Levi had kissed her.
Worse, she’d kissed him back.
Shauna paced her bedroom, her mind racing with a million thoughts—none of them pleasant. If the phone hadn’t rung, would she have had the good sense to throw Levi out? She wasn’t sure, didn’t dare to speculate.
She wanted to blame stress on her lapse in judgment. But the truth was, Levi had a way of making her forget all the reasons why getting involved with him wasn’t a good idea.
“Just give me a clue, God. That’s all I want. Some hint that will help me understand why You’ve brought him back into my life.”
But God didn’t work that way, and all Shauna got was more silence.
Frustrated, she walked to the kitchen, leaving the light off as she grabbed a bag of cookies from the cupboard. Light was showing from the Harrison house again—from Levi’s house. If she were a little braver, she’d turn on her light. Let him know she was awake, too.
But she wasn’t brave.
She was a big chicken. A chicken eating chocolate chip cookies at midnight because she was too afraid to admit she was falling for a guy who’d already broken her heart.
“You are not falling for him,” she said, tossing the cookies onto the counter, disgusted with the train of her thoughts. Three days ago, she hadn’t even remembered Levi existed. Okay. She’d remembered him. But she hadn’t spent anytime thinking about him.
Much time thinking abo
ut him.
Now it seemed she couldn’t keep him from her thoughts.
Something scratched against the back door, the sound so unexpected, Shauna froze.
It came again.
This time more defined, as if someone were working at the lock, trying to open it.
Was someone out there? Maybe the same someone who had held a knife to her chest and trashed her classroom?
She wasn’t going to wait to find out. She grabbed the phone, lifted it to her ear and heard nothing. The line had been cut, and whoever was outside was still working at the lock. Scratch. Scrape. Scratch.
How long would it be before he made it in?
Did she have time to get her cell phone from her room?
Was it even charged?
Something slammed into the door, and nothing mattered but getting out. Now.
She ran for the front door, heard wood cracking behind her. She should have grabbed a knife, but it was too late. She could feel cold wind blowing in from the back door, could feel terror clawing up her throat. She didn’t dare scream, didn’t dare do anything but race across the living room.
She’d left the fireplace poker in the car, and her keys were in her purse in her room. There was no time to get it. No way did she want to be trapped in her bedroom with a madman.
She fumbled with the lock on the front door, managed to open it on the first try, and threw herself out into the cold black night.
Chapter Nineteen
Shauna’s feet slipped on the porch boards and she nearly fell.
Stay on your feet. Keep going!
The thoughts shouted through her mind as footsteps pounded on wood flooring behind her. Her pulse leaped, adrenaline spurring her on as she jumped down the porch steps, stumbled again. She had to go faster, had to make it to Levi’s house. She could feel her pursuer closing in, feel his hot, panting breath on the back of her neck, and her hair stood on end.
She screamed, all the terror she was feeling spilling out as someone grabbed her shirt and yanked her backward. She jerked free, screaming again, her body cold with terror.
