“Cool. That’s good,” Ron said patting the head janitor on his back.
Not only was Kylee Bauer back in town, but she was minus a wannabe James Dean husband. Ron had never liked Jason Romano and his ultra gelled hair, and his misquoting of Lord Byron love poems, or his motorcycle jacket and motorcycle, and did he mention the gelled, black hair.
Back when they were in high school, Jason would rev his motorcycle engine loud in the school parking lot to make sure everyone knew he had arrived. Ron and Kylee used to roll their eyes at the delinquent as he went out with cheerleaders and popular girls and even a couple of teachers. Kylee had always said she’d never fall for a guy like that.
And then she did.
“We just had two more violin bridges break. The piano needs another tuning, plus some keys are stuck and one pedal isn’t working. And I just found a hole in the drum this morning.”
Ron nodded in earnest as Ms. Dawsey, the school music and choral instructor droned on and on, trailing him down the hall.
Ron had been crushed the day Kylee had started dating Jason. Ron Kidd and Kylee Bauer had been best friends since elementary school when he’d loaned her a Number 2 pencil and she’d loaned him a pencil top eraser. He’d been in love since that day.
The two had been inseparable during middle school, and high school. Except for the second half of senior year when Jason had set his sights on Kylee.
At the start of Senior year, Ron had finally drummed up the courage to ask Kylee out. But on the very day he’d planned to make his move, he’d found Kylee standing next to Jason who was sitting on his motorcycle. She’d leaned in and kissed him, and Ron’s entire world came to a crashing halt.
It was so cliché. Good girl and bad boy. It was something out of one of those American filmmaker John Hughes movie.
Ron hated John Hughes movies. The good girl always got the guy, but it was always the wrong guy. Everyone knew Ducky was the better choice. And the Geek in Sixteen Candles would grow up to be a better provider. Same for The Breakfast Club.
In fact, wasn’t the geek the same actor in both of those films? In any case, all Ron knew was that both the jock and the delinquent were likely working dead-end jobs, but the geek had likely built an empire now.
Kylee had agreed with him in his reviews of John Hughes’ films, though she made him watch them all at least twice a year since middle school. At least she’d said she had agreed with him back then. But most girls he knew wanted the jock, the delinquent, the bad boy. No one ever dated the principal.
“Hey, Ronnie.”
The sultry voice was out of place in an elementary school filled with energetic adolescent voices and enthused educators. Ron looked up to see Iman Hilson. Iman was another throwback to his high school days. But back then he was beneath the notice of the Head Cheerleader, Prom Queen, Most Popular Girl in School. But after her glory days, Iman divorced the soccer phenom, who didn’t turn pro after college. Now she was hot for a teacher.
“Little Ricky is having problems with math,” Iman said, siding up to Ron in her low-cut blouse and high slit skirt. “I was wondering if you could come over and tutor him tonight. I remember you used to tutor me in high school.”
“We have a number of great tutors in the after-school program,” said Ron stepping around her. But he didn’t get far. Even though she was wearing six-inch heels.
“I think a little one-on-one would be best for my kid. You always say you want to do what’s best for the kids.”
“I do say that,” Ron agreed as he maneuvered them towards the main entrance. Most days his focus was on the inner workings of the school, but today he was focused on what was coming into the school. “I will do what’s best for Ricky, Jr. I’ll arrange that after-school tutor and I’ll be sure and check on his progress myself.”
Ron knew for a fact that, despite the dysfunction in his home, Ricky, Jr. was an excellent student. The fourth grader was attentive, eager to please, though hopelessly un-athletic.
“I just stopped in to drop off the new pitch packet from Here 2 Learn,” said Iman. “I know it’s a formality as Barton Elementary has been a loyal customer for the last five years.”
“I’ve told your boss that we are looking at other options,” said Ron.
“Can’t we talk about this over a glass of wine later tonight?”
“I’m allergic.”
Not to the wine. He was allergic to any woman who’d try to use her feminine wiles to seduce him into making a decision, especially one where his job and the children in his care were of concern. And anyone who would think he would even consider it was not someone he would ever want to be associated with.
“Would you excuse me?” Ron ducked out of that trap of Iman and took a step towards the main entrance. Where he promptly halted in his tracks.
It was something out of a John Hughes movie, complete with an anxiety-filled eighties track. The sun acted as a backlight as the doors parted and let her through. She moved in slow motion and Ron’s heart stopped beating. Stars twinkled in his eyes. The whole scene went foggy and dream-like from a montage that would later be cut together and remixed just before the final scene of the movie where the two lovers realize they belong together.
Coming into the double doors and back into his life was the only woman Ron had ever loved. Kylee Bauer was back in town.
Chapter Three
Kylee’s car came to a sputtering stop as she approached the school zone. She put the car in park and prayed that it would start up again. The last thing she needed was another mechanic bill. Her father might’ve left her her childhood home, but it came with a repair bill and no other royal inheritance.
Jason had sworn that he’d had the car looked at on its regular maintenance schedule. But like so many things in their relationship, she doubted that was entirely true.
They’d sold Kylee’s first car one year into their marriage. It had been Kylee’s graduation present from her parents. But Jason said they could ride his bike most of the time or take the bus when it rained. So, she agreed. And then she got pregnant.
This current model car was a far cry from the new model her father had proudly handed her the keys to nearly ten years ago. Kylee stepped out of the car with a squeak of the door hinges. The sun was high in the sky, shining brightly off her old elementary school. Visions of her first day here at Barton flashed in her head.
She’d been so excited to come to school, but also scared. It had seemed huge. Most elementary schools were single or two-story buildings on a few acres of land. Not so in the city of Adalia.
Beyond the elementary school, Kylee spied the middle school and high school. Adalia had a cluster model. The thinking was that it made transitioning for the kids easier. All Kylee remembered was feeling intimidated that first day.
There were other royal children in the halls. Like most modern royals, the highborn easily mixed with the middle class as the commoners often had more status and wealth in this age. Though Kylee’s father was a distant relation to the King, there was little to no contact between the families. Kylee’s father lived in happy disgrace with his divorcee wife who hadn’t been entirely single when they fell in love. But just as Marilee Bauer had done as she walked away from the palace with her prince, Kylee had kept her head high as she’d walked the halls.
Those feelings of intimidation soon passed, and Kylee had excelled as she’d transitioned to each of the buildings on the Barton school campus. She’d been an academic superstar when she’d been enrolled here. Now she felt like a washed up has-been. Her star had pretty much fizzled after graduation. But it was a new day and she was entering the cluster a new woman… with a troubled kid in tow.
Kylee scrubbed her hands over her face as she took the four steps to the double doors. Then she pressed her hands down her skirt hoping to smooth away any wrinkles on the fabric. She’d never been in trouble a day in her life while she was in school. Sure, she’d been in the principal’s office many times. But each time had been to receive praise for a
n accomplishment, accolade, or honor.
This would not be one of those times. Ms. Most Likely to Succeed had failed. And now her kid was a troublemaker.
Kylee pushed her way through the double doors of the school. She was shocked to find that the school smelled the same, it looked the same, it felt the same. There was a chill in the halls that had her wishing for one of her old cardigans. But she’d ditched those prim cover-ups, as well as her tiara, when Jason had draped his leather jacket around her shoulders.
Just inside the double doors was a showcase that had been on display since Kylee’s days at Barton. It was each fifth-grade graduating class photo going back for over fifty years. She found her fifth-grade picture among the dozens. She stared for a long moment at the innocence in that little girl’s eyes.
Then, in the reflection, she saw a vision of herself sitting alone. But Kylee had never been alone in school. She wasn’t popular, but she’d had a group of friends throughout her entire school career. She’d even had a best friend. But she hadn’t seen him in years. She’d let that relationship run fallow along with much of her old life in Adalia.
The vision of herself shifted and Kylee realized she was looking at her daughter in the present. Kylee turned to find Molly sitting alone outside the main office. Her heart broke to see her kid sitting so with her arms crossed over her small chest, but her head held high and proud. Just like her royal ancestors.
Kylee had stayed in one place as a kid. She’d been secure with parents who loved each other and her. She’d had a community she was safe in.
Molly had had none of that. But things would be different now. Kylee would give all of that to her daughter. Normalcy. No more leather jackets and motorcycles. No more half-baked ideas and no follow through. Heck, no more men period.
“Hey, Molls.”
“Hey, Mommy.”
Kylee slumped down into the empty seat next to her daughter. “So, whatcha been up to?”
A flush crept across her little girl’s cheeks. “I made a poor decision. But you don’t have to worry. I didn’t like the consequences, so I won’t do it again.”
Kylee opened her mouth and then closed it. She hadn’t planned what sage advice she’d give her kid. She didn’t even know what had happened to bring Molly to the principal’s attention. But it would appear the moral was taught, and the lesson learned. Adalia was already working its magic.
“I talked with the principal,” Molly continued. “He’s really nice and really funny. I think you’d like him and-”
“Kylee Bauer.”
The voice that said her name was deep and resounding. But there was something comfortingly familiar about it. Kylee turned to see a tall, broad man with bright eyes full of patience, a warm smile ready to deliver a punchline, and the silver-gray hair of someone wise beyond his years.
The man was handsome, to be sure. But it was the kindness in his eyes that threatened Kylee’s resolve to swear off men for life. He held open his arms and before she knew it, she was swept into a hug.
Kylee forgot to protest. It had been so long since she’d been held. It couldn’t hurt if she allowed one more second of the comfort before she told this stranger off.
“It’s so good to see you again,” he said.
“It is?” Kylee asked.
“I’ve missed you so much.”
“You have?”
The gray-haired man pulled away but didn’t release her from his embrace. He rested his hands on her shoulders and grinned down at her. Did she mention that he was tall? And handsome? With the cutest lopsided grin and…
“Oh my gosh, Ron? Ronald Kidd? Is that you?”
“I believe it is, your highness. Unless you let total strangers hug you.”
“I do. I mean, I don’t.” Kylee took a deep breath to ward off all the fluster. It didn’t help. “It’s so good to see you again. It’s been so long. I’ve missed you so much.”
Kylee shut her mouth when she realized she was parroting everything Ron had already said. Instead, she went back into his arms. This time she gave him a proper hug, one that was fit to greet her old best friend.
But, oh wow, had her best friend filled out. Ron had been a lanky teen, all limbs and sinew. Kylee felt muscles when her cheek met his chest. Same on his back where her fingers gave him a squeeze. That warm and spicy scent on him hadn’t been there when he was an adolescent or a teen.
Now Kylee’s cheeks warmed. She was sure they were a bright shade of pink and she ducked her head when she pulled away out of Ron’s embrace. “It’s really good to see you, Old Man.”
“You too, Ace.”
“Ace?” asked Molly.
Kylee had nearly forgotten about her daughter sitting there. That was rare. Molly wasn’t the quiet type of kid, but she was sitting silently, watching the exchange between old friends.
“Your mom, here, has never failed a test. She always got an A. So, I called her Ace when we were kids.”
“I get it,” said Molly. “And she called you Old Man because of the gray hair.”
Canities ran in the Kidd family. One of God’s great ironies to put a premature graying gene in a family of humans who go by a youthful last name. The old Lord Kidd had been the jolliest of Santas ever since he was in his twenties.
“Imagine my surprise when I found myself having a heart-to-heart with your mini-me,” Ron said.
Kylee looked from Ron to her daughter. Molly had a mischievous glint in her eye, one that reminded Kylee of her dad. It was a glint that said I’m about to be up to no good.
“I’m so sorry for whatever trouble she’s caused,” said Kylee. “It’s been hard on her with the move and… everything.”
Did Ron know she was divorced? She was sure he did. It was a small town. And she was still a royal, regardless of how far removed she was. Her divorce had been mentioned in a gossip rag. It had only been a couple of sentences, but it had still been there in black and white.
Kylee was sure all the residents had been kept abreast of every misstep and failing in her marriage. It was one reason why Kylee had never come back home after her decision to run off with the town bad boy with no name, connection, or coins to rub together. She’d been every cliche of a good girl falls for the rebel. Except her life had continued after the last page, after the credits rolled. No one had said anything about bills, and arguments, and infidelities in those Hallmark dramas.
Ron had been one of the most vocal people to tell her not to go. He’d insisted she’d be sorry. Kylee had been stubborn, certain she could make it work, certain she could reform the bad boy and make him into a family man. It was the one and only time in her life that she’d gotten the answer to a problem wrong.
“Are you kidding?” Ron was saying. “Molly here is one of the smartest kids I’ve ever meant. I think she’s gonna give you a run for your money in the academic department, Ace. Just know, Ms. Molly, that your mom’s are big shoes to fill.”
Kylee’s breath caught. It had been so long since she’d received praise. Ron had always been there with a supportive word, or the notes when she’d missed class, or ready to work through a difficult problem with her. And he always did it with a smile on his face and a joke on his lips.
Ron was frowning at Kylee now. His gaze focused down on the floor. “Though I’m not sure about those shoes you’ve got on there. Those look pretty big.”
Kylee reached over and gave him a shove in the shoulder. Ron chuckled as she did so. His laughter was so infectious that Kylee caught herself laughing too. It was the first time she’d laughed in…she couldn’t remember how long.
Looking over she saw her daughter laughing as well. Kylee couldn’t remember the last time Molly had laughed either.
The twinkle in Molly’s eyes was even brighter. Maybe it wasn’t mischief her daughter was up to. Maybe she was just happy? At this moment, basking in Ron’s light praise and silly humor, Kylee certainly felt happy herself.
Chapter Four
How could a person grow mo
re beautiful?
Ron had heard Kylee called an understated beauty by adults when they were younger. He’d never understood the need for the qualifier. He’d always seen her as beautiful, from the first day they met in kindergarten.
Back then he’d shared his Cheetos snack pack with her. Every kid knew that a Cheetos snack pack was a prized snack in the school lunch box. Ron only shared with Kylee.
He’d been an awkward kid, unable to relate to anyone his own age. He’d always been great with kids though. It was inevitable that he ended up in his current position.
The only person his age that had understood him had been Kylee. Whereas Ron got kids and loved learning, Kylee got tests and loved learning. He’d always known they’d been made for each other. And now he had the chance to present his assessment to her.
“You look amazing, Kylee,” Ron said.
A deep blush colored Kylee’s cheek. He could always make her blush, but mostly from laughing. He needed to show her he was no longer her silly pal. He was a grown man who was willing and able to be a true partner to her.
“You’ve grown up so much, too,” she said. “Still wearing suits, I see.”
“The suit makes the man.”
Ron had always dressed for the part he wanted to play in life. That was the part of principal. And he’d finally achieved that lifelong dream. Now his other dream was standing before him. All he could think of doing was reaching out and grabbing her.
He swept his hand out in front of his torso, as though he were making a presentation. “Would you like to step into my office so we can talk?”
Kylee’s huge grin wobbled a bit. She turned back to her daughter, giving Molly what Ron knew was the what-have-you-done-to-embarrass-the- family-look. Ron would set Kylee straight on Molly’s behavior. He knew the kid was just acting out to find her place. Ron had every intention of convincing both Molly and Kylee that they’d found exactly where they belonged.
They walked past the phone receptionist, and the attendance receptionist, and his principal’s assistant. Each woman failed miserably at hiding their interest. Or so Ron thought. No one knew about his crush on Kylee. Well, except for his parents.
The Princess and the Principal: a Sweet Royal Romance (The Rebel Royals Series Book 5) Page 2