For the most part, faces passed in a blur as she traipsed through her own internal world while walking through the physical one. Occasionally, she glanced around and looked ahead, seeking a familiar face, a particular face. She brightened when she finally saw James walking Lucy. Unlike Mojo, who had failed all three dog-training programs Holly had enrolled him in, Lucy trotted with impeccable manners by James’s side and sat automatically when he stopped to talk to Holly.
“Great day for a walk.” He grinned.
His smile drew one from her. “Been out long?”
“About an hour, but Lucy’s still having fun.” He fell in beside Holly. Mojo slurped a lick on Lucy’s nose, sniffed her butt appreciatively, and continued to scramble ahead like a hyperactive hooligan. Lucy made an odd woofing sound; Holly would have sworn that if the chocolate Labrador could roll her eyes, she would have.
“You’re out later than usual,” James remarked. They hadn’t exactly coordinated walking their dogs along the promenade each day, but their accidental meetings over the previous two years had become frequent enough to settle into a comfortable daily routine.
Holly shrugged. “I was talking to a financial advisor, and the conversation ran over.”
He glanced at her. “Is everything all right?”
She stared down at sneakers as she took bigger steps to compensate for the shortness of her stride. Her actions were instinctive, although she never quite thought about it until that day. She did notice, though, that he had shortened his stride so that they could comfortably walk together, and like her, he seemed to do so without thinking.
How long had they been doing that? Her brow furrowed. Her encounters with both Peter and Brandon were certainly making her think harder about all her interactions in general. Who more than James, whom she saw at least twice every day—once at school and again in the evening when walking their dogs.
Holly broke the silence. “Remember the lawyer who called me yesterday in the car?”
“About your aunt’s estate.”
“He had amazing news. My aunt left me just about everything.”
James glanced at her but said nothing, obviously waiting for her to elaborate. He was good at asking questions through probing silence.
“It’s a great deal of money. Enough to pay for my car repairs, and pay off the home equity loan my father took on the house. I’m not tied down to Havre de Grace anymore. In fact, I don’t have to be tied down to anything at all.” A smile split her face. “It’s the most amazing feeling.”
“It is,” he agreed quietly. “Have you decided what you’re going to do?”
His lack of reaction stung her. The excitement in her tone cooled. “No, not yet. I’m just trying to absorb it all. I spoke to the financial advisor, and he said it’d take about a week for the official paperwork to go through. I have my aunt’s Manhattan townhouse, too, and I’ll need to decide what to do with it.”
“Do you think you’ll leave Havre de Grace?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’d talked about leaving.”
She nodded. Talk was cheap, though, and now that the possibility loomed real, she struggled to wrap her mind around the concept of new neighborhoods and unfamiliar faces. “Why didn’t you leave two years ago, after your divorce? Someone with your experience and qualifications would have done a great deal better than become a principal of a small and financially hard-up elementary school.”
“I had reasons to stay.”
“I know you’ve applied for other positions.” Holly smiled. “The high school could use a principal like you, but I wouldn’t have thought that it’d be enough to keep someone like you here.”
His gaze swept across the view of the Chesapeake Bay. “It takes lots of things to keep people where they are. The high school principal position was just one of the many reasons.”
“When will you hear from the district superintendent?”
“I don’t know. Probably too late.”
“Too late? For what?”
James shrugged again. “It doesn’t matter. Personal goals. Personal dreams.”
“Those matter.” Holly shoved her hands into the pocket of her jacket. Her shoulder brushed against James as they walked. “I never did ask before—it seemed too personal—but why did you leave your job as principal of that private prep school in Essex to become principal of our elementary school two years ago?”
“I divorced.”
“What?”
“The private prep school was Catholic, and they didn’t want people with failed marriages in leadership roles.”
A frown furrowed her brow. “Can they do that?”
“Every organization—public or private—has rules, and unfortunately, the one I was in didn’t approve of my marriage dissolving. I could have stayed on as a teacher, but it wasn’t what I wanted at that time. I did want to stay in the area though, and the elementary school was looking for a principal at that time.”
“Was it a big change?” Holly stared at James’s face. He seemed at ease, and try as she might, she could not see any regret. However, he must have taken a large financial hit in that career transition.
“Life changes all the time. You just have to roll with it.”
She blew out her breath. “I realize now I’ve been living in a stupor for eight years.”
“Because of Peter?”
She nodded. “It’s crazy how something like that affected me so deeply. I’d always prided myself on being levelheaded. I thought I did a fantastic job of setting him aside and moving on. Now I see I only ended up setting myself aside. I sure as heck didn’t move on.”
“But now you’re ready to?”
“I’m trying, but I’m probably too close to the situation to really know.” She peered up at him. “Do you think I’m moving on?”
“You were willing to talk to him and to give him a second chance. It takes courage to do that.”
“My aunt’s lawyer, Brandon Smith, asked me out too. I’m going out with him on the twenty-fourth.”
James’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re definitely making up for the last eight years.”
She scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Dating two men at once.”
“I’m not dating them.”
He stopped and gave her a steady look. “Do these men know that you don’t think of them as dates?”
“You know what I mean.” She kicked the toe of her sneakers on the wooden planks of the boardwalk. “A date does not a steady relationship make.”
James conceded with a nod. “Fair enough. So what does?”
She stared at the one man who had been her steady friend for several years. In the past two years, since his divorce, she might have even ventured to say that their friendship had deepened. The parts of her day she enjoyed the most were her evening walks with him, Mojo, and Lucy. The fact that he sat in the principal’s office at the elementary school also loomed large in her world. She liked knowing that someone who truly cared about the children was in charge.
Their eyes met. Neither shied away.
Not for the first time, nerves fluttered in the pit of her stomach when she gazed into James’s familiar face. The laugh lines around his eyes and mouth and the occasional streak of gray in his hair reminded her that he was a great deal older than she was. He had started out as her mentor, and he was still her boss. Perhaps it was the reason she had never thought of him as anything more than a friend.
“Am I too late?” James asked quietly.
“Too late for what?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”
Chapter 7
Christmas approached, and the last week of school flew by. The children were especially rambunctious on the last day of class. The pizza and cupcake party likely had something to do with it. Holly handed out goodie bags with candy canes and little gifts she had purchased, and glanced up at the clock. It was almost 3 p.m. The start of her vacation was mere m
inutes away. She had ten days off from work, during which she would make big decisions that would impact the rest of her—
The pizza boxes tipped over with a crash, smearing tomato sauce and splattering crusts over the floor.
She jerked her gaze up to stare into Aidan’s sneering face.
“Aidan!”
Before she could stop him, his arm swung out, sending the uneaten cupcakes smashing to the tiles. The other children in the class screamed at the outrageous waste of sugar, vanilla, and chocolate.
“You’re all just stupid,” he mocked. “Stupid and ugly. Christmas is stupid too.”
One of the little girls stomped her foot. “You’re just jealous because you know won’t get any presents. You don’t have a daddy, and your mommy doesn’t love you.”
“Trina, that’s enough. Aidan, you’re going to the principal’s office.” Holly glanced at the clock as it turned 3 p.m. She stifled a sigh against the encroaching headache and her now-extended last day of school.
She had been so close.
After she dismissed the children and cleaned up the mess on the floor, Holly walked down the hallway to James’s office. His administrative assistant was not at her desk; she must have left for the day. The door of his office, however, was slightly ajar and the sound of his voice and Debra’s carried through the open door.
“I’ve done everything I know how to do,” Debra said. Frustration tinged her voice. “The psychologist’s recommendations are just completely unworkable.”
“Two one-hour sessions per week—”
“It’s all the home activity he wants me to do.”
“An hour a day to spend with your son that isn’t related to homework, chores, or meals?”
“Yes, that’s crazy.”
“It’s an hour, and it can be broken into smaller segments.”
Holly inched closer and peeked in. Aidan leaned against the wall, his green-eyed gaze resting on his mother, who sat beside James on the couch.
Debra dabbed at her eyes with a sodden piece of tissue paper. “I don’t have an hour. I barely have time to cook a real meal and put it on the table. Do you people even live in the real world?” Her voice cracked. “Do you know what it’s like to wake up exhausted each morning and dread the number of hours you have to work to pay the electric company before they cut off the heat? That’s my life.” She choked back a sob.
His expression gently sympathetic, James held out a box of tissues to her.
Debra grabbed a piece of tissue and held it to her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I swore I wouldn’t fall apart. If Peter would just step up…” She made a growling sound deep in her throat. “That job of his is a sham. It lets him bury his money down so many rabbit holes the IRS couldn’t find it, never mind an overworked clerk at the courthouse reviewing my request for child support increases. He even uses his job as an excuse to skip out on the few days he sees Aidan each year. He’s missed every visit this year except for the last one, when he called me out of the blue and insisted on coming along to the parent-teachers meeting with you and Holly.” She sighed. “I don’t know what’s up with him, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. It’s not like anyone gives a damn anyway.”
“Many people care, probably more than you know.”
“Like who? You?” Debra’s strident, challenging tone softened and took on a coquettish edge.
Holly caught a glimpse of Debra gazing at James through her spiky eyelashes, glistening with tears. Shock punched a hard fist into Holly’s stomach. What the heck? Was Debra flirting with James?
An instinctive guilty twinge overtook the flare of jealousy before the former had time to register fully. Her shocking invasion of privacy was like an icy slap to her face. Why was she eavesdropping on a private conversation? She took several steps back, not fully realizing what she was doing until her back hit the far wall.
I shouldn’t have listened in. It wasn’t my business.
Her cheeks heated, Holly made her escape. Physically, it was easy to walk away, but her thoughts lingered on James, and on the sudden and inexplicable appearance of her jealous streak.
Holly went over to her sister’s home for dinner that night. Noelle lived just around in the corner in the Craftsman-style house that had been in Connor’s family for generations. The house was a pretty, little thing with a gabled roof and a wraparound porch. Holly marched up the steps and leaned on the doorbell.
The sound of feet pattered to the door, which opened to reveal a young girl.
Holly smiled. “Hello, Grace.”
“Hello, Aunt Holly. Come in.” Eight-year-old Grace was the older of Connor’s two daughters from his first marriage. Connor’s first wife, Millie, had passed away giving birth to Hope, who was almost three.
Hope ran into the foyer, and a white cat romped behind her. “Aunt Holly!” Hope flung her arms around Holly’s legs. “I missed you.”
“Well, I’ve been really busy, but I’m on vacation now and I’ll have time to come over to play. You’d like that, won’t you?”
Hope nodded, her smile bright. “Mommy’s making roast chicken, and I make cookies.”
“I thought I smelled cookies.” Holly followed Grace and Hope into the kitchen, a bright and cherry room infused with delicious aromas. Her younger sister, Noelle, blond and petite, opened the oven and carefully extracted a tray of chicken thighs. The scent of rosemary wafted from the tray, and the chicken was a crisp golden color.
Noelle cast a glance over her shoulder. “Just in time. Connor called. He’s on his way, and we can eat in about five minutes.”
“I’d offer to set the table, but I see someone already got to it and did a real nice job too.”
Grace beamed. “Your place is the one with the snowman mug.”
“I thought so.”
Noelle set the chicken on the dining table and returned for the bowl of mixed vegetables, the mashed potatoes, and the gravy. “So, have your feet returned to the ground?” she asked, flashing Holly a teasing grin.
“My big toe might have made contact once or twice, but it’s hard to stay grounded when my head’s spinning with the possibilities.”
“Have you decided what to do with Aunt Rachel’s townhouse?”
“No. I haven’t really had time to think, to be honest. I figured I’d use this vacation to do some research and lots of thinking.”
“In between dating.” Noelle winked. “You must be looking forward to your dates with Peter and Brandon.”
She hesitated. “I…think so.”
Noelle’s brow furrowed. “You’re not sure?”
Holly pressed a hand to her stomach. Surely it was ridiculous to wonder if she was somehow missing out on something with James. He wasn’t interested in her. If he was, he would have told her; he was forthcoming and direct, after all.
The front door opened, and Connor Bradley walked in. He was the town’s general practitioner. He and his partner owned the family clinic on Main Street, and they accepted partial payment in cookies and desserts as well as all forms of private and government insurance. Holly laughed when he set down a large package on the table. “Oh, I see Mrs. Collin’s rheumatism has been acting up.”
“As long as it doesn’t keep her from paying with strawberry shortcakes.” Connor smiled. He leaned in to press his cheek against Holly’s. “How are you doing?”
“Extremely well, now that school is done. Aidan had to have the last word, of course. He turned the pizza and cupcake party into a pizza party.”
“He ate all the cupcakes?” Connor asked, puzzled.
“Oh no. Mercifully not.” Holly chuckled. “Can you imagine Aidan on a sugar high? As it is, I can barely handle him on a normal day. He tipped over the pizza boxes—fortunately, we were done with the pizza—and the cupcake trays, which were full. The children were devastated, and it took forever to clean the tiles.”
Noelle’s eyes narrowed. “I hope you got Aidan to help clean up.”
“Ah, no. He was cooling his heels in Jame
s’s office.”
“I hear James has a chair with Aidan’s name on it.”
“He might as well have. Aidan’s there several times a week.”
Connor shook his head as he sat down at the table. “Debra came into the clinic today.”
Holly’s eyes widened. “She’s sick?”
“She looked tired, but if she’s sick, she didn’t tell me. Actually, she was asking if we had any receptionists or medical billing jobs available. I gather she’s looking for regular hours or a work-from-home job.”
“What did you tell her?” Noelle asked.
“That I’d let her know if something came up.”
“Why would you do that? Don’t you know what she did to Holly?”
Holly held up her hand, but Connor replied before she could interject. “Noelle, that was eight years ago.”
“Some things are just unforgiveable,” Noelle snapped out the brittle words.
Connor frowned. “It didn’t even have anything to do with you.”
“She betrayed and hurt my sister.”
Holly watched with amazement as her little sister, Noelle, who usually possessed the sweet temperament of a King Cavalier Spaniel, morphed into a snarling wolf dog.
Noelle glared at her husband. “I can’t believe you didn’t just throw her out of your clinic.”
“Beyond the fact that it’s bad PR, you know I can’t do that.”
Of course Connor couldn’t do it, Holly reflected. He didn’t have the kind of temperament that allowed him to be anything less than a perfect gentleman. “Whoa, whoa, guys.” Holly mimed, pushing Connor and Noelle apart. “I really appreciate the show of loyalty, but Connor’s right. It’s eight years in the past. I don’t need to be defended anymore.” She looked at her sister. “Considering your reaction, I’m surprised you’re even letting me go out with Peter.”
Noelle cast her husband a guilty glance. Connor had the grace not to smirk.
“Ah.” Holly arched her eyebrows. “You ranted and raved to Connor, and he told you to mind your own business.”
Haunted: A Love Letters Novel Page 5