Josie reemerged from the kitchen. “Dessert tonight? We got homemade lemon meringue or store-bought cheesecake.” She winked. “You know which one I’m recommending.”
“Ah, no, I’m good, thanks.” Sienna pulled out her wallet. “Just tell me what I owe you, and I’m on my way.”
Josie narrowed her gaze. “You’re in an awful hurry all of a sudden. You got a rendezvous with a guy somewhere?”
I long to be deep inside your soul.
Sienna almost choked as she paid the bill. “No,” she managed to say. But maybe you do, huh, Josie? It certainly had been a strange day for secrets. She hurried upstairs as fast as she could.
* * * * *
“I thought he was still in jail.” Early the following morning, Loretta sat stiffly at the kitchen table, one hand around a mug of coffee.
“Guess he finally got out.” Mike poured coffee into a travel mug and added three packets of sugar.
“Is he going to cause trouble for you?” She tightened her hand around the mug.
“Ma, no. What can he do? It’ll be fine.” He had no idea if Al’s reappearance in Pine Point was fine. He’d lain awake half the night thinking about different scenarios in which Al could bring more ruin to his life. Guess who spent almost a year in county jail for felony theft? Yep, that owner of Springer Fitness you all love so much around here.
Except ratting Mike out would also inevitably rat Al himself out, since he was the one who’d gotten Mike into the whole lousy situation to begin with. He supposed Al could come up with some way to blackmail Mike—Give me a job at your gym or I’ll tell everyone you were married before—but he didn’t think Al was that stupid either.
He screwed the lid on his travel mug and kissed the top of his mother’s head. “Please don’t worry about it. I have a feeling Al’s only passing through. He doesn’t have anywhere to go, so I don’t think he’ll stick around. His father won’t take him back, that’s for sure.”
“He better not.” Loretta shook her head. “Can you imagine him living right around the corner from us again?” She drank, then slammed her mug back on the table. “I hope Doc doesn’t even consider it.”
Mike cleared his throat. “You took me back when I screwed up.”
Loretta got to her feet so fast the table shook. “You listen to me.” She took his shirtfront in one hand and leveled him with a look that made him feel ten years old again. “You were set up. You were put in a position by someone you thought was your friend—” a dark expression twisted her face, “—and a horrible, money-hungry whore.”
He flinched. “Ma.” His mother never used words like that. Never.
“I don’t care. She was, and she and Al ruined your life, and I will make it my mission to see that he never does anything like that to you again.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his nose. “That no one does. You’re a good boy, Mikey, and you’re making a good life here.” She patted his chest. “You’ve done your time and made your amends. That one—” she jutted her head in the direction of the street and the Halloran residence, “—I don’t think he has. I saw him last night. He looked the same as always. Not sorry at all.”
With that, she sat back down and returned to her coffee.
Mike pulled on his winter jacket. Leave it to him to end up with a guard dog five feet tall who weighed all of one hundred pounds. Still, there was something nice about knowing Ma had his back, no matter what. He touched his chest and the spot with her name tattooed across it. At least there was one woman in Pine Point he could trust. As he climbed into his truck, his thoughts turned to Sienna. Or maybe there would end up being two. He could only hope.
Chapter Eighteen
On Monday morning, Sienna hung a large poster on the wall of Room Eighteen. Across the top in brightly colored letters, it read We’re On Our Best Behavior! As the students walked in from the bus, they clustered around it. Even Dawn stared at the banner instead of retreating to her usual beanbag chair in the corner.
Caleb was the first to touch the fuzzy raised letters that made up each of their names. “What is this, Miss Cruz?”
“This is a way we’re going to keep track of all the good things that happen in this room.” She touched each of their names and then pointed to the gold star pins lined up on the opposite side of the poster. “Each time you do something we all think is good behavior, you get a star next to your name. If everybody gets at least five stars every day in a week, we’ll have a special celebration that Friday.”
“I want a star, I want a star, I want a star!” Billy chanted. He hopped from foot to foot, leaving melted snow everywhere.
Sienna placed her hands on his shoulders. “Do you think calling out is good behavior?” she asked. Billy stopped hopping.
“I don’t think it is,” Caleb said with a serious frown. “But how do we decide what is?”
“I thought we could all talk about it together.” She pointed across the room, to where she’d taped a long piece of construction paper to Mike’s table.
Mike’s table. She’d come to calling it that in her head. Silly, since all he’d done was buy it for them. But she smiled every time she thought of him carrying it into the classroom with an awkward look on his face.
“We can make a list together,” she said.
“Okay,” Billy agreed. He sat down, pulled off his snow boots and replaced them with his favorite blue and red sneakers. Bailey had matching ones.
Sienna helped Silas with his winter clothes, checked Dawn’s backpack for notes from her foster mom, and remembered to take attendance and call in their lunch order without prompting from Caleb. Pretty good start to the week. She’d even managed to pack herself lunch today, which meant she wouldn’t have to scavenge in the faculty room for lunch. Thanks to diner food and an endless supply of brownies, cookies, and coffee cake, she’d gained a few pounds since coming to Pine Point.
That means I need to get to the gym more often. And thinking of the gym meant thinking of Mike, which led into a lovely little fantasy that left her a little flushed by the time they finished their morning work.
“Miss Cruz, why is your face all red?” Caleb asked as they returned from the library.
Leave it to my child with Asperger’s to point out the obvious. “I think the heat might be on a little high today,” she said. Before Caleb could run over to the thermostat and check, she said, “How about we work on our list of good behaviors and give out a few stars?”
“Yippee!” Bailey clapped his hands together. His brother clapped too. Silas spun in a circle, his arms out straight like airplane propellers. Only Dawn seemed unaffected by the promise of stars and good behavior. She sank into her beanbag chair and pinched her fingers together.
“Billy should get one for doing his math without complaining,” Caleb said.
“What about Dawn?” Sienna asked. The other students turned and looked at her. She ducked her head and played with the hem of her sweater. “Let’s look at our list. I think Dawn definitely gets a star for being on time with her work this morning, right?”
The others nodded.
“And helping to clean up the book corner without being asked.” She added another star next to the girl’s name. Dawn lifted her head and stopped playing with her sweater.
Someone knocked at the door, and Sienna glanced up.
“It’s Mr. Mike!” Caleb said with glee. “Miss Cruz, I didn’t know he was coming to visit us today.”
“Neither did I.” And where had the name Mr. Mike come from? He’d introduced himself as Mr. Springer last week. But it didn’t matter. Her pulse sped up as she opened the door. He smelled like the outdoors, like fresh snow and wind. “Hello there. This is a nice surprise. Again.”
His smile washed over her, and that blue gaze caught and held hers for a moment before he stepped inside. “Hello, Caleb.” He shook the boy’s hand. “How are you today?�
�
“I’m fine.” Caleb turned and pointed at the two posters hanging on the wall. “Look what we have.”
“Wow.” Mike walked over, put one hand under his chin, and studied them both. “This is very impressive.” He glanced at Sienna. “Did you all make this? Or did Miss Cruz?”
“Miss Cruz did,” Billy piped up. He tugged Mike’s pant leg. “I’m Billy. That’s my twin brother, Bailey. I’m older by six minutes.”
Sienna stifled a laugh.
Mike crouched down so he was eye level with them. “Really? I don’t have any brothers or sisters, so that makes you pretty lucky.”
“I have a younger sister,” Caleb said. “Her name is Dinah and she’s in Miss Preston’s class.”
“All right, you chatterboxes,” Sienna said. “It’s time to get ready for lunch.”
“Can Mr. Mike come with us?” Bailey asked.
“No, not this time.” Sienna said and arched a brow at Mike.
“Will you come to read-along this Friday?” Caleb asked.
“I think I can. I will do my best to make it.” His smile returned to Sienna, and heat zinged through her.
“Billy, you’re line leader this week.” Sienna waited as they arranged themselves in a haphazard group near the door, then she turned and beckoned to Dawn. The little girl hadn’t moved from her beanbag chair. Her gaze moved from Sienna to Mike and stayed there. Sienna held her breath. Dawn didn’t do well with strangers, especially the adult male variety. Sienna waited for the telltale signs of an anxiety attack—twitching fingers, burning cheeks, circling the room, vanishing into the closet. But nothing came. After a moment, Dawn got up and walked to the end of the line. She never stopped watching Mike with her huge brown eyes.
“She’s freaking me out a little,” he said under his breath.
“She’s just being cautious.”
“Hmm mmm.” He stayed where he was, hands at his sides, as if Dawn was a wild animal and remaining motionless was his best approach to not scaring her off.
“Do you want to walk down with us?” Sienna asked. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask why you came in today.”
He peeled off his jacket and draped it over one arm. They followed the students down the long central hallway. “I wanted to give you this.” He pulled a small envelope from his back pocket and took out a ticket. “It’s for Saturday night.” He flushed. “I thought you might want the details of the fundraiser. It has where and when and stuff on it.”
“Oh.” She took the red-and-white stub and peered at it. Dinner. Silent Auction. Dancing. “You didn’t mention the dancing.”
“I didn’t?” Mike kept his eyes on Dawn’s back.
Sienna smiled. “Are we still driving together, or since I have a ticket now, should I meet you there?”
“Oh. I didn’t mean…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Shit. I’m not good at this. Yes, I’d like to drive you there. I want to go together. I just thought you’d like this ahead of time.”
They reached the cafeteria, and the students filed inside. Caleb looked back and waved. “Bye, Mr. Mike.”
Mike waved too. “Cute kids.”
“In a ten-minute time span, sure. Come back on Friday and stay a while.”
His gaze locked with hers. “I’d like that.”
“Well, then, ah, good. Anytime after two o’clock.” They stood in the hallway, an awkward distance and an awkward silence between them.
Finally, Mike stuck out his hand. “I’ll see you later.”
Here we are again with the handshakes, Sienna thought as a pebble of disappointment lodged in her throat. But she took his hand and squeezed all the same. A jolt of attraction shot up to her shoulder. Does he feel it too? Or is it just me?
“See you later. And thanks for the ticket.” She felt the warmth of his palm, and that amazing current of attraction, for the rest of the day.
Chapter Nineteen
The week passed without incident, mostly because Al Halloran didn’t step foot inside Springer Fitness. The one time Mike did see him, Al was driving a rundown white truck and heading south toward Albany.
Good. Maybe he’ll keep driving that way and never come back.
He saw Sienna briefly when she came in Wednesday night to work on the Nautilus machines and Thursday night to take the kickboxing class, and each time a dopey grin spread over his face before he could stop it. Each time though, she gave him a wide smile but nothing else. Didn’t slow down at the desk, didn’t stop to chat, nothing. Of course, he supposed he couldn’t blame her. He’d sent her about a dozen mixed messages in the last couple of weeks. Sure, let’s go out. Yes, I’ll kiss you until neither of us can breathe normally. Nope, changed my mind. Let’s just be friends. Oh, hey, would you like to go to a Saturday night fundraiser with me? No, not as my date. Just as…
Jesus, I’m like a goddamn indecisive, hormonal teenage girl.
Finally Friday rolled around. By eight he was at the gym, by noon he’d finished a workout and all his paperwork, and just before two, he pulled on his coat and hat. “I’ll be back by four,” he told Hans. The kid nodded, eyes fastened to his phone.
“Hey.” Mike stopped and rapped his knuckles on the desk. “I’m not paying you to text your girlfriend. Put it away.”
Hans looked up with a hurt expression. “Sorry, boss.”
“Listen, I know how it is when you first meet someone,” Mike said, softening. “But you can play a little hard to get too.” Was that what he’d been doing with Sienna? It seemed so stupid now.
Hans grinned and put his phone into his pocket. “Tell Sienna I said hi.”
“How’d you know?”
“’Cause you got that happy look on your face you only get when she comes in here.”
Mike flipped him the bird and walked out into a brilliant day, complete with sunshine and blue skies.
“Back again?” Eva Hadley asked when he walked into the school a few minutes later.
“Yep.” He scrawled his name on the visitors’ log and made his way down the hall. Most of the doors were closed, including Sienna’s. He took a moment to peek inside. She sat on the rocker with the Turner kid on her lap and the other three boys sitting on the rug in front of her. Hell, she looked at ease in that classroom. More than he would have guessed.
He knocked.
“Mr. Mike!” One of the twins jumped up and ran over to let him in. “You came to read-along.”
“Yes, I did.” He glanced at Sienna. She’d dropped the book to her lap and was marking her place with one finger. Her cheeks darkened. He hoped that meant she was happy to see him. She wore her dark hair down and loose, with a pink sweater and black jeans hugging her curves. Silver earrings dangled from her ears.
“We’re glad you’re here,” she said. She motioned to the corner behind him, and when he turned he saw the silent little girl sitting in a beanbag chair.
The boy tugged at his hand. “Come over and sit with us.”
“Ah, okay.” He took off his jacket and looked around.
“You can hang it over there,” said Caleb. He pointed at some hooks on the wall below the window.
Mike hung up his jacket and then joined the boys on the rug. Shit. He hadn’t sat cross-legged in a long time. His knees and legs didn’t work the way they had twenty years ago. He hoped he’d be able to get up later. He glanced at the girl again. She stared at him. He smiled, and she ducked her chin. Oh, well. He fastened his gaze on Sienna instead and listened to her read about a raccoon family that lived in the forest.
Hope there isn’t a quiz on this, he thought absently, because his mind wandered after a few seconds. All he could focus on was the movement of Sienna’s lips. He wanted to taste them. He wanted her tongue inside his mouth and her hands sliding down his back.
Mike shifted position on the rug. Getting an erection in an elementary s
chool classroom was a sure way to get him thrown right back in jail. With effort, he returned his attention to the story.
“When one day, Mother Raccoon came home to find that Rocky had disappeared.” Sienna raised her eyebrows and made a big O with her mouth. “What do you think happened to him?” she asked.
One of the twins shot up his hand.
“Yes, Billy? And thank you for raising your hand.”
Billy beamed. “I think Rocky went to play with his friends even though his mother told him not to.”
Sienna turned the page but kept the illustration hidden. “Should we find out?”
They all nodded. Sienna pointed to Billy’s twin. “Bailey, it’s your turn to read.”
Mike’s mind went into a tailspin again. Her fingers in his hair. Unzipping his jeans. Working their way down his bare abdomen until they reached—
Think about lost raccoons.
He forced himself to listen to Bailey read the next page in halting rhythm. It took the kid almost ten minutes to get through twenty words, but when he finished, Sienna gave him a high five.
“Good job! And you were right, Billy. Rocky went off to play with his friends without asking permission.” She swept the room with a serious gaze. “Should you ever go off to play without asking permission from an adult? Do you think that’s a smart thing to do?”
“No,” they crowed in unison. Mike looked again at the girl. She hadn’t spoken a word, but she looked rapt at the storytelling. This time when their eyes met, she didn’t look away or duck her chin.
Sienna finished the last page and closed the book. “I think we have time for one more today,” she said. “Who wants to choose?”
“I think Mr. Mike should choose,” Caleb said.
Sienna smiled. “Oh, really?”
“Yes, yes,” the other boys agreed. Even the Turner boy nodded and clapped his hands.
Sienna pointed at the bookcase. “It’s all yours.”
Well, shit. How had this happened? “Thought I’d just drop by and watch,” he mumbled as he creaked to his feet. That extra set of squats and lunges was killing him right about now.
Spring Secrets: Pine Point, Book 3 Page 11
