The principal’s door opened at three thirty-two. Sienna stood before anyone else could zoom in ahead of her. “Do you have a minute?”
Jenny looked at her. For a moment, her eyes seemed cloudy, a little confused. Then she shook her head, and the cloudiness went away. “Of course. I’ve been meaning to check in with you. How’s everything going?”
Sienna took a few steps toward Jenny’s office, but instead, the principal motioned down the hall. “Mind if we walk? I told Mrs. Pennington I’d help her get ready for the book fair tomorrow.” Before Sienna could answer, Jenny had pushed open the office door and begun walking in the direction of the library.
“Oh. Sure,” Sienna said, though the only person who heard her was Hillary. She glanced back at the office. The other day, tears on the principal’s face. Today, confusion. Sienna didn’t know what Jenny did in there after the kids left each day, but she was beginning to wonder.
* * * * *
Jenny James, Elementary School Principal, Sienna wrote on her research list later that night. Above Jenny’s name were a few lines about the two women Mike had told her about the other day. Imagine finding out your one and only is someone else’s too. She whistled. She filled in the details she knew about Jenny’s family background, then Googled her education and experience before taking over at Pine Point. She was ten years older than Sienna, still young to be running a school in Sienna’s opinion, but every picture Sienna found online matched the image Jenny portrayed at school. Open, friendly, confident, a no-nonsense professional.
Closes herself in her office every day after the students leave, Sienna wrote at the bottom of the page. WHY? She underlined the word three times and stared at it for a minute. Then she tossed the notepad aside and walked into the kitchen.
She’d finally made it to the grocery store, but tonight the thought of actually cooking something held no appeal. She took out a container of yogurt, stared at it, and then put it back. “I need a drink.” And a burger. She knew the perfect place to go for both.
Fifteen minutes later, Sienna pulled up outside Jimmy’s Watering Hole. The local pub had opened shortly before Sienna left Pine Point the first time, and though it sat near the highway and had a view of nothing except a strip mall, people didn’t go for the location. Sienna had discovered when she’d returned last month that Jimmy’s had become known for, in this order, its burgers, its friendly bartenders, and its owners’ zero-tolerance policy for fighting, swearing, or bullshit of any kind.
As a result, a mix of blue-collar workers and professionals gathered there on a regular basis, with the average age somewhere around thirty. No loud music to talk over. No college kids home on break, no drunks threatening each other over the pool table, and no sticky, suspicious spots on the bathroom floor.
Sienna hadn’t expected much of a crowd on a Wednesday night, but the entire bar was filled, along with half the tables and booths. The karaoke stage in the corner was set up and ready to go, and a pool game already looked in full swing. A good-looking guy with long blond hair and a leather jacket stood up just as she squeezed her way to the bar.
“All yours,” he said and motioned at his vacant stool. “Good timing.”
“Perfect timing,” she said.
“Gotta go home and give the kids their bath,” he said, and then flipped his fingers at the bartender and left.
“Hiya,” said the tall guy behind the bar. He tossed a coaster in front of Sienna. “What’s your poison?”
As tempting as a martini sounded, it would probably put her to sleep in a matter of minutes. “Just seltzer with lime, thanks. And a menu.”
“You got it.” A moment later, both appeared in front of her. The bartender gave her a wide smile and rested his arms on the bar. “Don’t recall your name. Your face, yes, but…”
“Sienna Cruz. I just moved back to teach at Pine Point Elementary for a few months.”
He snapped his fingers. “That’s it.” He reached out and shook her hand. “Nate Hunter. Well, kids used to call me Catfish back in school, stupid nickname, but no one calls me that anymore. I think we went to school together.”
Sienna searched her memory.
“I know, it was a long time ago. But you were on the Red Team in middle school, right?”
“The Red Team? Wow. I haven’t thought about that in ages.”
He winked. “Who would?” He tossed his hair, long in the front and so blond it almost appeared white. “Middle school is something you’re supposed to forget for good, isn’t it?”
Before she could answer, someone at the other end of the bar called Nate’s name, and he rapped his knuckles in goodbye and sauntered away. Sienna studied the menu for a few minutes and then turned to the crowd around her. She recognized a few faces, though she’d be hard pressed to put names with them.
She did remember Nate after thinking for a minute or two. Goofy kid, always skateboarding with his friends before and after school, or teasing his older sister Rachel. He’d shot up, though he hadn’t filled out much, she noted. Could benefit from some time at the gym.
With that, her thoughts zoomed back to Mike. To the gifts he’d brought today, and the inadequate way she’d thanked him. She’d been so taken aback and hadn’t known what to say. I should text him. Just to say hi and thanks again. She reached into her pocket, but someone jiggled her arm from behind, and her phone slipped from her hand and fell to the ground.
“Oops. So sorry.”
Sienna turned at the familiar voice. Polly and Harmony stood behind her. Polly bent and retrieved Sienna’s phone. “Hey, there. Sorry again. It’s super crowded in here tonight.”
“Yes, it is.” She took a drink of her seltzer. “Didn’t know you guys came here.”
Harmony peeled off a tight ski jacket and draped it over one arm. “It’s a pretty decent place on a Wednesday night.” Her gaze roamed the room, pausing momentarily on each available-looking guy. Polly bent over her phone, her petite features drawn into a frown.
“What’s wrong?” Harmony asked, reading over Polly’s shoulder.
Polly shoved the phone into her pocket. “Nothing. And stop doing that.”
“Please tell me you’re not still—” Harmony looked at Sienna and stopped.
“It’s none of your business,” Polly said in a low voice. She finger-combed her hair from her face.
Nate returned and waved at the two teachers. “Hiya. Same as usual? Polly nodded, and he poured two glasses of white wine. Sienna passed them over. Polly held out a twenty, but Nate waved it away. “Already paid for,” he said over the growing din in the bar. He pointed at Mac and Damian.
Polly flushed and put her twenty away.
“That was nice,” Sienna said.
“They’re nice guys,” Polly answered.
“Not really what we’re after,” Harmony said, “but nice enough.”
Sienna choked back a laugh. “What exactly are you after?”
Harmony shrugged. “Money. Isn’t every girl?”
“Money’s nice,” Sienna agreed, “but I can’t say it’s everything.” She took another sip of seltzer. “Besides, wouldn’t you want to make your own money? So you don’t have to rely on a guy to take care of you?”
Polly looked at her with genuine surprise. “I want a guy to take care of me,” she said. “I don’t want to have to worry about paying bills for the rest of my life. I want to have kids and take care of them.”
Sienna nodded, not sure what else to say.
“Not like I wouldn’t keep myself busy in the meantime,” Harmony said. Her gaze lighted on Nate. “I wonder what he’s like in bed?”
Polly turned two shades of red. “God, Harmony, that’s like all you think about.” She pushed her way through the crowd. Harmony rolled her eyes at Sienna as if to say, “Do you believe her?” but she followed her friend.
Sienna ordered
her burger and took some time to check out the rest of the crowd. She wondered if Mike would show up. Her watch read a little after eight. Wouldn’t that be nice, if he walked in the door and bought her a drink and—
“Sienna? Sienna Cruz?” A wide-faced woman jumped in front of her. Sienna’s hand jiggled, and she almost spilled half her seltzer down the front of her sweater.
“Ah, hello?” Another face she sort of recognized.
“It’s Tanya Martin. Well, Tanya Jakubowski now. I heard you were back in town.” She looked over her shoulder and waved at someone. “Marie! Come see who’s here.”
A blond with perfect makeup and hair emerged from the crowd, a near-mirror image of her older sisters Tara, Joyce, and Eva. “Oh. My. God.” Before Sienna could say a thing, Marie Hadley flung her arms around Sienna’s neck and hugged her. “You’re back. I heard you were back, Eva told me, but still.” She took a step back, then hugged Sienna again. “I’m so sorry I didn’t text you.”
A little rumpled and overwhelmed by the welcome, Sienna said, “You don’t have my number.”
“True, but still…” Marie pushed her hair behind her ears. “What’s it been? Ten years?”
“Eleven, actually.” Grittiness settled into Sienna’s throat. “I’m sorry I never called you or anything after I left.” The closest thing she’d had to a best friend in Pine Point, Marie had sent her two letters and a Christmas gift after Sienna had moved to North Carolina. She still had the tiny blue bear somewhere back home. “I was just kind of a mess.”
Marie waved the words away. “Oh my God, of course you were.” She leaned in and studied Sienna’s face. “I missed you though. I always wondered where you ended up. And here you are, back home again.”
“Temporarily.”
“Right, right, of course. So how are you doing?”
“I’m okay.”
Tanya wiggled her way to the bar and tried to catch Nate’s attention. “You’re filling in for Lucy Foster, right?” she asked as she waved him down.
Sienna nodded.
“That’s so awesome,” Marie said. “I’m glad you’re back, even if it’s just for a little while. We’ll have to get together, have dinner or coffee or something.”
A tall, broad set of shoulders appeared behind Marie, yet another face from Sienna’s past, and the back of her neck went cold. “My word. Sienna Cruz?”
She blinked and tried to think of something to say.
“It’s good to see you.” The man’s voice had grown a little deeper, and his hair a lot whiter, but she’d recognize Doc Halloran anywhere. He put a large hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
Sienna fought for air. “You too,” she squeaked out. The last time she’d seen him had been at her mother’s funeral. The last time before that, in the Med Center two nights before the funeral. Everything in between was a blur.
“Sienna, do you want to sit with us?” Marie was saying.
She managed to shake her head.
“Honey, you all right?” Doc Halloran bent closer, and she nodded. The anxiety went away after a moment, and she rubbed her knuckles on her glass to cool her skin and her racing thoughts.
“Sorry. It’s just a little weird being back here and seeing familiar faces.”
He nodded. “I’m sure it is.” He squeezed her shoulder again, then took a large draft beer from Nate and turned to go. “I’m retired now,” he said, “but anytime you want to stop in and say hello, you know where I live.”
Oh, the kindness of small-town doctors. Sienna blinked away the wetness at the corners of her eyes. Doc had made a habit of dropping in every so often to check on her and her mother, as if knowing they couldn’t afford the office fee. In fact, they’d seen him a few weeks before her mother had died. He’d brought her a book and a king-sized chocolate bar, sneaking them to her behind her mother’s back. Now she wondered if he’d known something all those years ago, if he’d sensed some hidden risk factor in her mother’s faulty heart.
Nate delivered her burger, and Sienna sank her teeth into it. Between Mike’s surprise visit at school today and the reunions here tonight, her emotions were frayed to their last thread. She should probably go home and take notes with everything still fresh in her mind, but when she finally did open the door to her apartment, she left her notepads strewn on the floor and went straight to bed.
Chapter Fifteen
Sienna looked at the clock a half-dozen times Friday afternoon. The emotional chaos of Wednesday night had faded, and she’d woken on Thursday with fresh resolve to tackle the challenges of her research. Her kids had gotten through a whole day without a major meltdown, and she’d rewarded herself by going to the gym. She’d worked out on the machines and stayed for the kickboxing class, but she hadn’t seen Mike at all.
“He had some meetings downtown,” the thick-necked blond guy at the front desk said when she’d asked.
So she hadn’t had a chance to remind him about her invitation to visit the class. Maybe he’d forgotten. Maybe he’d brushed it off. He didn’t owe her anything, that was for sure. If anything, she owed him. Billy and Bailey hadn’t left the comfort of the beanbag chairs in two days, except to go to lunch and the bathroom.
Silas still preferred his rocking chair, and Caleb had avoided the beanbag chairs entirely since Wednesday, proclaiming them too soft and pushy.
“Do you mean squooshy?” she’d asked him.
“No. Pushy. I can’t get out of them. They’re too tight,” he said with an agitated motion of his hands, and she finally realized the way they conformed to the body made him feel claustrophobic.
I have to get his parents to agree to testing, she thought for the tenth time. He’s definitely on the autistic spectrum. He was also bright as hell, way beyond his age for reading and writing and math. She suspected his IQ might lie in the near-genius range, but his parents so far steadfastly refused to believe he was anything except a little quirky.
She scratched Caleb’s name on a notepad beside her computer. Caleb’s father ran a dental practice in Silver Valley, and Caleb’s mother was an interior designer whose work had been featured in a local magazine last month. Sienna bet a child with any kind of special needs didn’t fit into the family, especially with an adorable, completely normal daughter two years younger than Caleb.
“Miss Cruz?” Caleb broke into her thoughts. “It’s two minutes past read-along time.”
“Ah, yes, it is. Thank you, Caleb.” She looked around the room. Well, if Mike was coming, he’d have to join them mid-story. “Dawn, would you like to choose today’s book?”
The girl stared at her from a beanbag chair that she’d pulled into the far corner of the room. She blinked a few times, and then she stood and walked to the bookcase. Her clothes, beautiful and impeccable as always, belied the terrified child trapped inside the body.
Just talk to me, Sienna wanted to say. I can’t read your mind. But the girl remained silent no matter what strategies Sienna tried.
Dawn stood for a long minute in front of the bookcase and then chose Where Are My Shoes? and Bears in Winter. She turned and held them out.
“Those are perfect,” Sienna said with another glance at the clock. Ten minutes after two. She settled herself in the rocker with Silas on her lap and began to read. Each time someone passed her door, she looked up, hopeful.
It was only when they’d finished both books, and Caleb announced they had ten minutes to pack up and walk to the buses, that Sienna’s hopes fell. Mike wasn’t coming by. Dropping off classroom supplies was one thing. Spending time with her and her students was something else altogether.
We’re friends, she told herself as she fastened the boys’ coats and wrapped a scarf around Dawn’s neck. Casual ones at best. Nothing more. But that didn’t stop the disappointment from hanging on her heart like a stone.
* * * * *
At one thirty, Mike star
ted looking at the clock. I could stop in for the last hour of school. She invited me. Said it would be good for the kids. Plus, part of him wanted to see if they liked the beanbag chairs. “I’m going out around two,” he said to Hans.
“Okay.” The kid texted with a mad blur of his thumbs.
“Who the hell you talking to?”
“Liesel.” Hans grinned and finally put his phone down. “She’s amazing, man. So hot. So funny.”
That could be a good combination, but Mike could’ve told Hans that women always seemed hot and funny when you first met them. Let them into your life, add them to your bank account, share some of your deepest fears, and see what happened then. He pulled up the membership numbers since the first of the year and was about to tweak the class schedule when Zane strode in the front door.
“Hey, man.”
“Hey, yourself.” Mike folded his arms on the desk. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the Glen?”
“Working the four o’clock shift today.” Zane winked. “Good thing too, since Becca stayed over last night. We slept in until almost noon. Well, didn’t really sleep.” He winked again.
“Shit, what’s that make? How many nights in a row? When’s she moving in?”
“Ah, not anytime soon. We’re taking it slow.”
“Good idea.” Mike elbowed Hans. “Hear that? You can have a good time with a woman and still not get all wrapped up in her.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Hans muttered, bent over his phone again.
“I wanted to see if I could leave these here.” Zane handed Mike a stack of red and white flyers. Pet Me! Love Me! Take Me Home! read block letters at the top. Red hearts emblazoned both sides of the page. Brightly colored photos of dogs and cats with pleading eyes lined the bottom.
“What’s this?”
“Pine Point Paws is having a fundraiser,” Zane explained. “It’s next Saturday. Open visits and adoption fees waived during the day, and a dinner and dance and silent auction at night. Over at Villa Venezia in Silver Valley.”
Spring Secrets: Pine Point, Book 3 Page 9
