Loving Liam (Cloverleaf #1)

by Gloria Herrmann

  “Sue-Ellen said your brothers just left.” Rachel frowned with disappointment.

  “Well, don’t look so happy to see me,” Liam teased as he moved out of the doorframe he was filling to let her in.

  “Thank you so much for everything,” Rachel said, dropping her purse on an empty chair before going to put the pie on the kitchen counter. As soon as she did, she lightly smacked herself on the forehead. “How rude of me! Liam, did your brothers say how much it cost to repair the pipes?”

  “They said no charge. Take care, and it looks like it might be cold again tonight, so keep the handle turned a bit to let some water run,” Liam said as he let himself out of her home. As Rachel stood facing her front door, she instantly felt his absence.

  When she got ready for bed, she made sure to do what he suggested. She was now paranoid about her pipes freezing.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The cold snap that had taken hold of Birch Valley finally loosened its grasp on the sleepy town. The weeks that followed Rachel’s frozen-pipes nightmare went by quietly, except for the fact that every teacher but two were turning in the progress reports she’d requested. Rachel groaned at the thought of having to confront Liam and Megan. Liam’s reasons for refusing to participate were obvious, and it was crystal clear why Megan decided to followed suit.

  As if that wasn’t enough, Valentine’s Day was rearing its ugly head again, and the school seemed to go all-out for the holiday, so there was no escaping all the red and pink. Everything seemed to be plastered with tiny hearts and mini cupids. Love was not only in the air, it was leaving its chocolate and rose stink everywhere. Nothing like being reminded just how single you are, Rachel thought.

  Rachel entered the teachers’ lounge one afternoon to find Megan flipping through a magazine intended for teenage girls. Rolling her eyes, Rachel cleared her throat. “Hi, Megan.”

  As Megan looked up from a glossy page filled with photos of new lipsticks and eyeliners, her face twitched with irritation. “Hello, Principal Rachel.”

  Seriously, that’s what we’re calling me now? Rachel thought in annoyance. She honestly couldn’t stand the woman seated before her.

  “Well, Teacher Megan,” Rachel continued. Two can play this game, sweetheart.

  Megan’s eyes glimmered with an unspoken challenge.

  Rachel smiled as she sat down next to Megan, who moments ago had looked ready to for a standoff. Now she just looked uncomfortable. Good. “I’ve been collecting progress reports for almost two weeks from the other staff, and I haven’t received any from you,” Rachel continued. “I was curious as to why.”

  Megan shifted uneasily in her chair, closing the magazine. “Because I haven’t had a chance to turn them in, sorry,” she said curtly.

  “I see. Well, if you could please have those on my desk by the end of today, I would greatly appreciate it. I’ll be meeting with the superintendent to discuss them, and I would hate to have to explain why yours are missing.” Rachel’s tone was thick and sweet as honey, and she was thrilled to be able to unnerve the woman beside her, whose dress was several sizes too small and exposing far too much of her ample cleavage.

  “Also, I wanted to let you know about several dress code revisions. I’ll be having Karen put the memo in your box. Thank you so much, Megan, and I look forward to seeing those reports on my desk.” Rachel smoothed the invisible wrinkles from her black dress slacks as she rose from the table.

  The shocked look in Megan’s eyes was priceless as she started to adjust the top portion of her dress, and it gave Rachel a little buzz. Rachel didn’t like abusing her authority, but this woman had been taunting her since she arrived, and she’d had about as much as she could take.

  As Rachel passed Karen’s desk, she motioned for the secretary to follow her into her office. Once they were inside, Rachel closed the door.

  “Oh my goodness, Karen. I have just about had it with that woman,” Rachel said as she slid behind her large desk and flopped into her oversized chair.

  Karen took a seat in front of Rachel and grinned. “What did you say to her?”

  Rachel appreciated the fact she and Karen were so in sync that she didn’t have to tell the secretary whom she was talking about. They both shared the same opinions about Megan and almost everything else.

  “Well, apparently, you’ll be drawing up a memo about the new dress code we will be enforcing here at the school.” Rachel burst into laughter.

  Karen’s laugh followed. “Just so we are clear, does that mean no more skintight sweaters or dresses that cause me to fear what would happen if she bent over? I have been worried about one of those puppies falling out for so long. What if the kids saw it, could you imagine?”

  “Pretty much. You should have seen her trying to pull her dress over her chest to cover up. Oh good grief. Also, she hasn’t turned in any of those reports, so I told her I want them on my desk by the end of the day. She says she has them but has forgotten to give them to me. Baloney!”

  “You know who else hasn’t turned in any?” Karen’s face grew serious.

  “I know. But I know why he’s doing it. She’s just playing Simon Says—well, I guess Liam Says.”

  Karen shook her head. “Liam feels pretty strongly about the negative impact the reports will have on the kids.”

  “I know he does. I plan on having it out with him later. For now, I had to let off a little steam, and she just happened to be in the teachers’ lounge. I promise I was only going in there for coffee.” Rachel put on an innocent face.

  “Sure. So Rachel, I have to ask, what’s your beef with Valentine’s Day?” Karen asked as she smoothed her satin floral skirt.

  “I don’t know. I could use the excuse that it’s the whole commercialization of love and that greeting card companies, florists, and chocolate manufacturers are just raking it in due to the pressure society puts on people,” Rachel ranted and waited to see how Karen would react. When the secretary’s expression remained unchanged, she continued, “Or I could say I experienced a very—well, possibly the worst breakup of my whole dating career, and it happened on the so-called day of love.”

  “I figured it was something more like that, because come on, who doesn’t love chocolate or flowers?” Karen teased.

  Rachel couldn’t help but laugh. “Quite true.”

  “Now this leads me to my next question. What’s going on with you and Liam?”

  Boy, no pulling any punches here, Rachel thought. Then she wondered if Mary had mentioned anything to Karen. “Nothing. I mean, I don’t know.”

  Rachel almost felt like opening up about her feelings for Liam. The tornado of unexplained desire, pent-up frustration, and attraction to a man whom she wouldn’t have even considered back in California was wreaking havoc inside her.

  “Rachel, I see the way you both light up almost to the point of spontaneous combustion around each other,” Karen said playfully, then became serious. “I know you’re trying so hard to gain the respect of everyone here, and you’re doing a great job as principal. I only wonder if exploring a relationship with someone, who in my humble opinion is one the finest men we have here in Birch Valley, would be something you are interested in doing.”

  Rachel shook her head and felt the air leaving her. “Nope, I think he’s a great guy and comes from an amazing family, Karen, but I didn’t come all this way to get involved with someone, let alone one of my teachers.”

  Karen stared at her, searching her eyes. “You’ll come to your senses.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled. “I think I already have, and that’s why I haven’t started dating Mr. Liam O’Brien.”

  Karen smirked right back. “Well, I better get to that memo. You think about what I said. Someday, Valentine’s Day will be special to you again.”

  “Easy for you to say, you have a fantastic husband. But I won’t say never,” Rachel joked, thinking about how Karen’s husband brought her flowers almost every other day to keep the vase on her desk full with
fresh and bright bouquets that were the envy of almost every woman who passed by.

  Karen left then, promising to bring the memo by in a little while to get Rachel’s approval. Rachel then spun her chair around to look out her window. The sky was a faded blue with white and gray clouds smeared across it. She almost thought she heard the distant chirp of a bird, but with the terrible cold weather, she hadn’t seen many signs of wildlife. When she’d gone to the grocery store a few days ago, Rachel had heard several clerks saying spring would come early this year. She hoped they were right. She was getting real tired of winter.

  ***

  Liam

  Liam stood in front of his class, showing them slides of presidents. In the middle of explaining the life of President Lincoln, the phone in his classroom rang, interrupting his lecture. He excused himself to answer it.

  “Hello? Mr. O’Brien’s room.”

  “Howdy, Liam,” Karen said.

  “Yes, Karen, how can I help you?” he asked pleasantly, winking at one of his students.

  “Well, I wanted to remind all the teachers that the progress reports are due this afternoon.”

  Liam swallowed. “About those, you and I both know why I’m not participating. I have no intentions of ever doing so.”

  “I know, but I’m making my calls to all the teachers. I don’t know why you have to be so stubborn, Liam O’Brien,” Karen teased.

  “You know why. Anyhow, Karen, I need to get back to these kiddos before I lose them completely. Catch up with you later,” Liam said before hanging up.

  Clapping his hands together, he turned back to his students. “Where were we?”

  ***

  Rachel

  The bell chimed loudly, signaling the end of the day. Because it was Friday, the roar of the students was even louder as they moved through the halls. Rachel waved good-bye to the students and wished each one she passed a great weekend. At one point a small girl, who was probably in kindergarten, wrapped her arms around Rachel’s waist and told her to have “the bestest weekend ever.” The sentiment melted her heart. Kids were kind, selfless, and continued to surprise her.

  Rachel watched the last bus pull away before she headed back to her office to finish up for the day. As she passed Karen’s desk, she stopped to ask, “Did any more reports get dropped off?”

  “Yes, actually. Megan turned in an enormous stack, probably a couple weeks’ worth.”

  “Wow, really? Well, that’s good. Maybe our little chat scared some sense into her,” Rachel said, grabbing the hefty stack of papers from Karen. “Any others?”

  “Nope, and I called him too.”

  “I figured you would.” Rachel’s irritation soared as she took the reports to her office. She couldn’t wrap her head around why Liam was being so stubborn about this new policy. She was even more annoyed that he thought he could get away with not turning any reports in. Well, she planned on changing that.

  Feeling determined, she locked the front door to the empty school. Her school. She was going to have to hash this matter out with Liam. As she walked to her car, Rachel rehearsed what she planned on telling him. She needed to finally make him understand that he would follow protocol or face the consequences. Rachel felt strong and confident when she got into her car and dialed Liam’s number, hushing any butterflies with a gulp of diet cola as she waited for him to pick up.

  “Hello?”

  “Liam, it’s Rachel. I need to meet with you,” she announced, trying to make her voice stable. Cool and calm was the mantra she kept reciting in her head.

  “Okay, what about?” His annoyance was obvious.

  “I think we both know what about.”

  “Good grief, about those reports?” he said with irritation.

  “Liam, I want to discuss this matter and come up with some kind of solution. We can’t keep sweeping this issue under the rug. Those reports are very important,” Rachel said, trying to maintain her professionalism.

  He sighed. “Well, we can discuss them on Monday.”

  Rachel didn’t want to wait. She wanted this matter figured out now, because she knew he would only keep putting her off.

  “I’m afraid that’s not going to work, Liam. I’m headed over now.” She didn’t allow him to respond before hanging up.

  Rachel punched Liam’s address into her car’s GPS system, which indicated he wasn’t even five miles away. She knew he wouldn’t expect her to arrive on his turf, but she needed to corner him and get him to understand that she’d had enough. As far as their feelings for each other were concerned, that issue was settled and buried. She had kept things professional and distant since their outing and assured herself that was the right call, especially when he defied her like this, making her look like a fool.

  Sitting in her running car as the heater kicked in and began warming her up, Rachel decided to call Chelsea. Getting her input might not be such a bad idea, she reasoned as she dialed her friend’s number.

  “Hello?” Chelsea answered quickly, her voice perky.

  “Hey, Chelsea, what are you up to right now?”

  Chelsea grunted lightly. “Not really doing anything at the moment. I have a yoga class I’m going to in a little bit. Why, what’s going on?”

  “I wanted to get your opinion on something,” Rachel said slowly, wondering now if calling her for advice had been wise. Now they were talking, she wasn’t so sure Chelsea could relate to her situation or that she would know how to handle someone like Liam.

  “I love to give my opinion, as you know,” Chelsea said, her tone curious. “Where are you right now? Your phone sounds weird.”

  Rachel let out a huff. “I’m in my car, that’s sort of what I need your help with,” she answered as her mind started to race.

  “Uh, like, if you have a car question, unless you need help deciding what color you look good in, I have no mechanical skills. Maybe go to the nearest Beamer dealership.”

  “No, it isn’t anything like that. I’m in my car and going to drive over to Liam’s. We need to have a serious talk.”

  “Oh, so you are headed over there. Finally going to get with him?” She could almost hear Chelsea smiling.

  “God, no! He’s still refusing to turn in those progress reports or do any of the testing curriculum I’m having the teachers do. Besides, nothing has changed,” Rachel said sourly. “I don’t want to get involved with him.”

  A nagging feeling tugged at her as she waited for her friend’s response.

  “Wait, so you are headed to his house right now?”

  “Yeah, I figured we need to settle this.”

  “Oh Rachel, do you really think it’s fair to be going to his home to have a fight about something work-related? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Rachel considered her words for a moment. “What else should I do? I can’t keep having him not comply. Besides, whose side are you on here?”

  “Well, of course I’m always on your side. It’s just that going to his house to reprimand him doesn’t seem right. Imagine if your boss just showed up at your door and started giving you hell. Not cool, Rachel.”

  “Oh good grief, I’m not going over there to yell at him or anything.”

  Granted, anything was possible when the two of them were together.

  “Well, you asked for my opinion, and there it is. I don’t think you should go to his house unless you are finally coming to your senses about dating him. If that’s the case, then I say get your ass over there!”

  Rolling her eyes, Rachel muttered that she’d call Chelsea later before she hung up. She then steered her car out of the empty parking lot and weaved her way through the quiet neighborhoods of Birch Valley until she got onto the highway that led her out of the heart of town.

  ***

  Doubt crept into the car with her and was her only companion as she drove along the dark highway. The moon sat bright and high in the early evening sky, and the trees cast thin shadows on the desolate road. Rachel kept her eyes focused
tightly on the asphalt ahead. The faded yellow lines that divided the single lanes were her only guide in the dark wilderness that surrounded her. The highway had no streetlamps or any other source of illumination besides her headlights. Even switching to her high beams didn’t seem to pierce the darkness.

  Sure feels like a lot more than five miles.

  Her GPS beeped loudly and informed her to take a sharp turn ahead, and Rachel slowed her car to ease onto to the street. She drove slowly until she came to a marker with bronze numbers that confirmed the address. Rachel drove up a gravel driveway, listening as her tires crunched over the pebbles and hardened snow until she arrived at a cabin with several windows that emitted a soft glow in the murky blackness.

  As she parked next to Liam’s truck, she considered what she wanted to tell him. After completing some deep breathing exercises and trying to calm the wild adrenaline coursing through her veins, she unbuckled her seat belt. She needed to be concise and keep her cool. She didn’t want to appear rattled or give Liam the upper hand. It was best to have a game plan when going into battle, and Rachel was sure this was only the beginning of a much larger war.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Wood smoke blended with the crispness of the harsh air in a dance of scents Rachel still was not quite used to. Inhaling deeply, she trudged through the compacted snow on the walkway, trying to reassure herself that this was the best way to handle the problem with Liam. Reaching deep inside and searching for some kind of inner strength, she knocked, almost too hard, on the heavy wooden door. She heard movement, and then Liam’s tall figure filled the doorway.

  His hair was wet from showering, and he wore comfortable jeans, a sweatshirt with a sports logo on it, and thick socks. The lingering scents of soap and shampoo wafted from him, exciting her. He smelled amazing.

  Focus, Rachel.

  “To what do I owe this unexpected visit?” Liam smirked.