by J. H. Croix
Nancy stepped back. “You’re in good hands with Janie. I’ve got a meeting to get to. Thank you both.” She spun on her heel and walked briskly down the hall.
Janie looked up at Travis. The moment his eyes locked with hers, her breath hitched and her pulse, which she’d barely gotten under control after the initial shock of seeing him, lunged again. She took a shaky breath and gestured to the door. “My class is one of the smallest, but you’re starting with fifteen. That’s five times more than a few.”
Travis’s mouth stretched in a slow grin. “I gotta admit, I’m damn glad you’ll be with me. I had visions of kids running circles around me all day.”
His uncertainty somehow eased her own wild anxiety. “How’d you end up doing this if kids make you nervous?” she asked.
“I lost the coin toss,” he said with a shrug.
A laugh bubbled up. His rueful honesty was endearing. When she looked over, Travis’s shoulders were shaking, his eyes glinting with mirth. “Laugh all you want. Little kids are a mystery to me.”
“Come on. We’ll start you off easy.”
Without thinking, she slipped her hand in the crook of his elbow, which she instantly realized was a mistake. She could feel the corded muscles of his arm under her hand. His warmth and strength were like a pulsing power. Her entire body tightened. She knew it would seem strange if she yanked her hand away, so she decided to bluster through the moment. She tugged him through the door into her classroom. Just as they stepped inside, Danny sprung up from his seat. “Watch! I can run to Ms. Stevens’ desk and…”
She released Travis’ arm. “Danny! Back in your seat. We all know you can race to my desk and back super fast.”
Danny froze and spun in her direction. He looked so tempted to finish what he’d set out to do. She could practically see the little wheels turning in his brain. His eyes landed on Travis. “Hey! Are you a firefighter?”
Travis glanced to Janie. While Danny might not have cued in to her warning, Travis did. He kept silent, his lips quirking when she looked to Danny again.
“Danny, of course he’s a firefighter. You already knew that. You have two choices: sit down right now and get to stay for his talk, or take a time out for three minutes in the back.”
Danny scurried to his desk, his brown hair flopping over his forehead when he sat down and wiggled his bottom in place for emphasis.
Travis followed Janie to the next classroom of wild children, marveling at her ease with them. She accompanied him to ten classrooms by the end of the day. Danny, the little boy who could barely sit still in her class, remained the most amusing highlight of the day with his antics. He’d asked question upon question, ending with another offer to show Travis how fast he could run to Janie’s desk. Janie adroitly managed all of the children throughout the day with a mixture of warmth and firm guidance.
He was at the end of the last presentation in a second grade class. He’d moved on to questions with Janie calling on various children whose hands flew up.
“You’re up, Nate,” Janie called, gesturing to a little boy who almost matched Danny with his wiggling in his seat.
Nate smiled and looked from Janie to Travis. “How many fires do you put out a week?” he asked.
Travis tapped his index finger on his chin and shrugged. “It’s different every week. Sometimes the fire station goes weeks without responding to an actual fire. Remember, we’re emergency responders too, so we get called to all kinds of emergencies, not just fires.”
Nate nodded solemnly and bit the inside of his cheek. His eyes bounced from Travis to Janie and back again. “Do you like Ms. Stevens?”
His next question startled Travis, both that Nate asked such a question and that he was so prescient. Because the truth was spending a whole day with Janie was testing the limits of his control. It was safe to say Travis liked Janie… a lot. An elementary school was a decidedly not good place to have the hots for anyone, but Travis’s body had been on notice all day around Janie. Her dark hair was pushed back behind a headband with her hazel eyes bright. She was dressed practically in jeans and a button down blouse. Her curvy body filled out her jeans. He had to remind himself to keep his eyes away from the shadowed valley between her generous breasts. By no means were they on display, but there wasn’t much she could do unless she wore a giant bag to hide her lush curves. He felt heat rise within, the whip of lust lashing at him, and tried to ignore it.
He could feel Janie’s gaze on him. He gathered himself and met Nate’s gaze, which held a small gleam. “Of course I like Ms. Stevens. Don’t you?” he countered, aiming for a casual tone in his response.
Nate nodded emphatically. “She was my favorite teacher last year!”
Janie chuckled and arched a brow. “I bet you love Mrs. Davis this year too, right?”
Another emphatic nod from Nate, and Janie promptly called on the last hand held high. Not much later, she walked Travis down the hall. “Do you need to check in with Principal Turner before you go?” she asked.
“Don’t think so. She said she’d be in meetings the rest of the day.”
Janie nodded and kept walking until they reached the main entrance to the school. “Well, you’re done. You’d better get going before the last bell rings. Between the buses and the stampede of kids, you might get trapped.”
She looked up at him when she spoke. He heard her words, but didn’t quite absorb them. All he could think about was what it might be like to kiss her bright pink lips. Her lips were as lush as the rest of her. She had a small dimple in the center of her bottom lip, and he wanted… Holy hell. He wanted all kinds of things, every single one of them absolutely naughty given where they were. He looked down into her hazel eyes and his question surprised him.
“Don’t suppose I could take you out to dinner?”
Her breath hitched, her lips parting just slightly, and her eyes widened. For a few beats, she didn’t speak. She gave her head a little shake. “Um, I…” Another shake of her head. “I suppose…yes.” Her last word came out with force, and she looked startled once she spoke.
He didn’t care to ponder her hesitation at the moment. “Okay, how about tomorrow night?”
“Tomorrow?” Her eyes were still wide and surprise lingered in them.
“For dinner.”
She held still for another long moment before nodding slowly. “Okay. Um, I don’t…” She paused and took a deep breath, a look of resignation passing over her face. “I don’t really date much. Should I give you my number or something? Should I meet you somewhere?”
“How about your give me your number, and I’ll pick you up?”
Her creamy cheeks went pink. “Okay.” She quickly recited her number, which he punched into his phone. He sensed she might back out, so he didn’t want to give her time to do so.
“Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon.” The bell rang, and he gave a wave. “I’d better run.”
Once he was outside, he jogged down the stairs and to his truck. He turned to look at the entrance and saw Janie standing there, looking out through the glass doors.
Chapter 3
“Stella! Where’s your homework?” Janie called out as she strode through the kitchen.
She heard a door open and close and then footsteps pounding down the stairs. Stella sprinted off the bottom of the stairs and past Janie. “I’m doing it now!” she declared as she skidded to a stop by her backpack sitting on a bench by the kitchen door.
Janie continued past the stairs to the laundry room. Her home was a cozy Cape style home. She purchased it before she adopted Stella, but she’d always had an extra bedroom because she’d been a foster parent for several years before Stella landed with her. She liked her house because the downstairs was more open than most Cape homes. The staircase was centered in the middle of the downstairs with the kitchen and dining room on one side and a living room on the other. The area connecting the garage to the home held a bathroom and laundry room. There were no walls separating the r
ooms with the staircase serving as a natural divider. Tall windows were along every wall and offered a view of Kachemak Bay from the hillside where the home was situated above downtown Diamond Creek.
Stella had been placed with Janie in foster care on a rainy winter night. She’d been removed from her father’s care not long after her mother died of an accidental heroin overdose. Before she’d been placed in foster care, Stella’s parents had been well known to child protection. There had been years of reports about drug abuse and the condition of the home. After Stella’s mother died, her father didn’t lift a finger to change things and drifted in and out of jail. He didn’t fight Stella’s removal and never once showed up in court for the hearings. Janie had taken one look at Stella with her guarded brown eyes and felt her heart crack open—all she wanted was to make sure Stella knew she deserved to be loved. At first, Stella was a bit like a cactus—prickly and bristly. She’d slowly warmed up. When Stella’s state social worker asked Janie if she’d be willing to adopt Stella, there had been absolutely no hesitation for Janie. She loved Stella through and through, and wanted nothing more than to make sure Stella knew family was what you made it. It took Stella months to decide she wanted to be adopted. Without her therapist there to help her walk through it, Janie wasn’t sure Stella could have allowed herself to believe anyone could love her.
Janie pulled the laundry out of the washer and tossed it in the dryer before returning to the kitchen. Stella was leaning over the counter, her feet hooked around the legs of a stool as she carefully completed math problems. The deal with homework was it had to be done by five in the evening. Janie had quickly discovered Stella needed clear expectations to get anything done. The first six months or so, she’d fought against any expectation because she’d never had them. Yet, now she generally went along with them. Janie didn’t nag, but expected Stella’s completed homework to be in a folder at the end of the counter. If it wasn’t there, Janie checked with Stella.
Janie gave Stella’s shoulder a squeeze as she stepped past her to the stove where she put a teakettle on to boil. While Stella quietly completed her homework, Janie prepped a quick dinner of salmon pie, a favorite of Stella’s. While she cooked, Janie’s mind wandered to Travis. Well, if she was being honest, she’d had a hard time not thinking about him after spending most of the day with him. Watching him graciously field inquisitive, random, and occasionally silly questions from kids all day long had only endeared him to her. Aside from the fact he was a quintessential rugged, sexy guy, he was kind and patient even when he sometimes looked as if he wanted to run and hide. She had no idea what to do about the fact she’d agreed to have dinner with him. She hadn’t been on a date in years. She tried to remember the last date she’d had and kept coming up blank.
She didn’t tend to think about men because it made her think too much about her own past. With a mental shake, she focused her attention on pinching the edges of the pastry around the small pies. Half of her wanted to back out of dinner with Travis, while the other half of her was all but stomping its feet at that idea. It’s about damn time you went on a date. You can’t keep letting the past hold you back. Not all men are bad. She physically shook her head, trying to shove those thoughts away. A problem she hadn’t considered was what to tell Stella. Conveniently, tomorrow night was piano recital practice for Stella, and she was already planning to spend the night at a friend’s house afterwards. Janie could easily have her dinner date and never bother to mention it to Stella. Yet, Janie didn’t want to avoid what should be an open topic.
She slid the salmon pies into the oven and set the timer. Stella put her pencil down and slipped her homework into its folder. “Guess I don’t need to bother leaving this here since you saw me do it, huh?” Stella asked with a grin.
“Nah. Go ahead and put it in your backpack.”
Stella quickly stuffed the folder in her backpack and returned to her stool, spinning in a slow circle on it. “Parker wants to take me to the Christmas Dance. I told him I didn’t know because it’s not like he’s my boyfriend or anything. We’re just friends.”
Stella was referring to Parker Schmidt, a friend who was in the high school band with her. Stella played piano and Parker played drums. He’d befriended Stella at school before she found her place in the small circle of friends she had. Janie had met Parker and his parents many times and trusted him. Her guess was Parker liked Stella as more than a friend, but Stella took skittish to great lengths, hardly able to believe someone could like her that way. So, they were technically friends.
Janie looked over at Stella who was still spinning her stool slowly. “Dances like that are more fun with friends anyway. If you’re asking me if you should go with him, I say yes. You’ll have fun.”
Stella stopped spinning and twirled a purple lock of hair around her finger. Janie had helped her dye it with streaks of purple last night. Stella chewed on bottom lip and stared at Janie. “I’ve never been to a dance like that. What if it’s all weird?”
Janie angled her head to the side and shrugged. “Hard to know what it’ll be like unless you go. If you go with Parker, you’ll probably have fun. Are any of your other friends going?”
Stella nodded, still twirling her hair. “Uh huh. I’ll think about it.”
Janie bit back a grin. If Stella was willing to think about it, that meant she wanted to go. “Okay. If you decide to go, don’t forget to tell me when it is.”
Stella grinned and nodded. “Got it.”
Janie took a breath and shifted gears. “Speaking of things like this, I, uh, might be going on a dinner date.” She managed to get the words out without sounding as foolish as she felt.
Stella dropped her hand from her hair, her eyes widening. “Really? Mom, you should totally go. You never date. Who is it?”
Stella’s excited response startled Janie. “You think I should go? I’m not even sure if…”
“Of course you should go! My friends always ask how come you’re not with anyone. You’re pretty and nice and all that. So who is it?”
Janie fought the flush spreading up her cheeks. “Okay, I wasn’t sure how you might feel about it. You come first, so thinking about dating means thinking about how it fits into our lives.”
Stella waved her hand dismissively. “Fine, fine. It’s just a date. Who is it?” she asked, leaning over the counter.
“It’s Travis Wilkes,” Janie finally said.
Stella’s eyes widened and a slow grin spread across her face. “I knew it! When he came to see you in the hospital, it was so obvious he thought your were cute.”
Janie rolled her eyes, although her mind was spinning with Stella’s casual comment. “Whatever. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know. I’m still not sure about it.”
Stella returned the eye roll with emphasis. “Whatever. Maybe you need to go talk to a therapist. You made me go forever. It shouldn’t be such a thing to decide if you’re going out to dinner with someone. Travis is nice, he’s totally hot and he saved your life,” Stella declared with another spin on her stool.
Janie laughed, but she turned away, swallowing against the tightness in her chest. Stella’s casual observation that it shouldn’t be a thing was right on point. Except Stella didn’t know Janie’s past. The little buzz of excitement she felt fizzled slightly at the thought. Janie busied herself getting plates out and pouring water for each of them, filling the time until the oven buzzer went off.
Travis took a gulp of coffee and sighed. He leaned his hips against the counter in the break room at the fire station and glanced at the clock. It was barely past eight in the morning, and the crew had just finished dealing with a residential fire on the outskirts of town. Unsurprisingly, the fire had started in the kitchen after a busy mother forgot to turn a burner off. Aside from a badly damaged kitchen, no one was hurt, which was a win as far as Travis was concerned.
“Hey there.”
Travis glanced up at the sound of Sylvia Cunningham’s voice. “Hey Sylvia! Thanks for get
ting a fresh pot of coffee ready,” he said with a lift of his paper coffee cup.
Sylvia stepped into the break room, her eyes scanning over Travis. “You don’t look any worse for wear. How’d it go?”
“Fire’s out and no one’s injured.”
Sylvia grinned. “Well, we can be glad the daily emergency is already out of the way.”
Sylvia was the administrative assistant at the police and fire station. Her husband had been the police chief for years, but he’d retired after a back injury. Sylvia stayed on and essentially ran the station for all intents and purposes. She was the official mother hen for the entire police force and fire crew. She was steady as a rock, warm and kind. She declared she had no intention of retiring until she couldn’t work anymore. Her looks matched her personality with her round figure, twinkling blue eyes and graying hair.
Travis chuckled at her comment. “You’re right. Guess we’ve had our daily emergency already.” He took another long swallow of coffee. “Damn good coffee. Just what I needed. I meant to snag some earlier, but the call came in while I was driving here, so I’m low on caffeine at the moment.”
Sylvia winked. “Drink up. I’m headed back up front. Tell the guys I’m ordering pizza for everyone for lunch.”
“Thanks Sylvia!” Travis called as she walked briskly out of the room and down the hall.
After he downed his cup of coffee and refilled it, he strode to the windows and looked out. It was hard to find a place without a view in Diamond Creek, and the fire station had one as well. Its back wall looked out over Kachemak Bay. The water glittered under the bright sun, its surface choppy from the wind scudding across it. There were a few boats out, rocking in the water. With winter approaching, there were far fewer boats out than at the height of summer. Travis recalled last week when he’d pulled Janie out of the water. A fluke had quickly sunk the boat she’d been riding in. He was relieved a few other boats had been around to help because otherwise the day might have turned out quite differently.
