Her lips were full and pink. He noticed she didn’t wear lipstick. Somehow, he found that better. He never liked the taste of the stuff, anyway.
The taste. Why was he thinking about that?
Before his mind caught up with his actions, he had stepped forward, closer to April. There was very little space between them now. He could feel the warmth of her, feel the prickle of tension between them as he stared down into her eyes, his gaze passing over every inch of her face.
He wanted her to speak, yet was terrified of what she might say. If he didn’t move, didn’t act, then he might lose his nerve.
He hadn’t been reading her wrong, right? She was just as interested as he was. Normally he wouldn’t feel so strongly, not so soon after meeting someone.
But April. There was something so different about her, so captivating.
He leaned in closer. She didn’t move away. In fact, she moved closer, too.
His heart thundered in his ears.
He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, throwing caution to the wind. He didn’t care. It was all he wanted, all he could think about.
She kissed him back. He half expected her to shove him away. He was gentle, and didn’t push her. It had been so long since he’d kissed someone. Her lips were soft, warm, and there was a lingering scent of her perfume that filled his mind, swirling around inside of him like a hurricane.
He didn’t linger for too long. He pulled away, his eyes opening to stare down at her.
Her eyelids fluttered open, and her cheeks were even more pink than they were before.
They both let out a small laugh, looking away like shy teenagers.
“Well,” Clay said, smiling broadly at her. “Goodnight, then.”
“Yeah,” April said with a small wave. “Goodnight, Clay.”
His gaze remained on her for a few seconds before he turned and headed back down the sidewalk toward his car, but he could feel her eyes on his back the whole way.
When he slid into his car, he saw her standing on her front steps, watching. He waved, she waved back, and he drove away.
The word that kept coming back to him was soulmate. And he was too exhilarated to fight it.
7
April had been in relationships before. Not a host of them, but she had one steady boyfriend in high school, a couple of short-term things that fizzled out in college, and one boyfriend that she’d been sure she’d marry. Too bad he decided that taking a job and moving out to California without her was the better choice for his life.
But none of those relationships made her feel the way she had with Clay after only one date. She knew that she was deliriously happy right now because of the attention of a true gentleman and that thought did make her stop for a moment. They’d been out several times since that first date and she liked him more and more each time she was with him.
After that first date, everything about her move to Savannah was new and exciting. And somehow, that one date felt different than every other date she’d ever had. She was comfortable as well as exhilarated, and felt that overall, she was handling this new relationship in a much more mature fashion than she had in the past. But her more mature self still wanted to talk to him all the time.
She liked checking her phone while her students were at their special classes, and seeing text messages from him saying he was thinking about her, or looking forward to their date that weekend.
She was sure that life had never been so good. She had a great job, lived in a great small town, and had an amazing and gorgeous boyfriend. That and Christmas was less than two weeks away now, and she was going to be spending it with Clay and his family.
She knew that might be too much, too soon for a new relationship, but if they were happy, what was the point in taking things slow? She’d only known him a few weeks and she still felt like she could see herself ending up with him. The thought terrified her, but she couldn’t deny how much she really believed it. Being terrified didn’t mean she was unhappy about the prospect of being Clay’s wife.
It was a cold, windy Thursday afternoon when April wandered back into her classroom to collect her coat and purse. She’d just taken the kids to their buses, saying goodbye. Today was the day they all brought home their homemade ornaments made from dough that smelled like gingerbread but dried like clay. She just hoped that she wrapped them well enough so they didn’t break in the kids’ backpacks.
She was just shrugging her coat on when there was a knock at her door. She looked up and saw a woman with dark, curly hair pulled back behind her head peered in at her.
“Principal Hanson,” April said with a broad smile. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Principal Hanson stepped into the room, and April’s heart skipped a beat when she saw the tight-lipped smile that she received. “Hi, April. Sorry to bother you as you’re leaving, but do you have a few minutes? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about. In my office.”
April stopped adjusting her sleeves, an icy fear surging through her veins. That certainly didn’t sound good. “Oh, sure, of course,” she said as brightly as she could. “Not a problem.”
Her legs were like jelly as she followed Principal Hanson down the hall. It was as if they were walking were a hundred years. April’s mind was racing. Was she about to lose her job? What had gone wrong? She knew that she’d been a little too harsh with Lizzie Carpenter the week before, but that wasn’t enough to fire her, right? She wasn’t about to let a student color on the walls with marker like she had been. And her parents had supported her when she spoke with them. It couldn’t be that, could it?
She trailed the principal into her office, the eyes of the rest of the staff following right after them. There was a tightness in her chest, making it hard to breathe.
“Please, go ahead and have a seat,” said the principal, gesturing to the chair across from her desk after she’d closed the door.
April took it obediently, a nervous smile on her face. “Alright, something must be wrong. You’re never so formal with me.”
Principal Hanson leaned forward, resting her elbows on her desk. She folded her hands in front of her and sighed. “It has come to my attention that you’ve been seeing the father of two of your students.”
April’s heart felt like it stopped beating all together. She was frozen, staring blankly at the principal.
“Is there any basis to the claim?” asked the principal calmly. April could see in her face that she wasn’t mad, exactly, but there was definitely some caution in her words.
“I… um…” April said, scratching at her wrist, her palms growing sweaty.
“Because if this is true, April, then I hope you know that you’re breaching your contract,” she said. “I know that this is one of those things that can happen, especially when the students and parents are both young, but you did sign the contract saying you wouldn’t enter into a relationship with anyone on staff or any of the parents of your students.”
“I did.” April frowned and nodded. She covered her face with her hands. “I know I read through that contract when I first started, but I’d completely forgotten that part.”
Principal Hanson sighed heavily. “I am sorry, April. I don’t mean to be so harsh about this. I heard it from one of the parents in your class who heard it from Eric Barber.”
April looked up at the principal. “You know what? I don’t even want to know who it was who reported it to you,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t want to cower in fear around them.”
“Fair enough,” said Principal Hanson, nodding. “So, it’s true then?”
April stared helplessly up at the principal. Eventually, when the words wouldn’t come, she just nodded her head glumly.
Principal Hanson took a deep, steadying breath, nodding. “Clay Barber, right?” she asked.
April nodded again.
“For what it’s worth,” said Principal Hanson, “He’s a good catch.”
“Yeah, I know,” Apri
l said mirthlessly. “So what am I supposed to do?”
Principal Hanson’s eyes narrowed as she regarded April across the desk.
April wasn’t ready to tell Principal Hanson every detail of her personal life, but there had to be something that she could do.
“I think you know what you have to do,” Principal Hanson said, her expression sympathetic. “And I do not envy you.”
April trudged back to her classroom a few minutes later, feeling like she was in a daze. There was nothing to be done. She’d signed a contract saying she wouldn’t date parents of her students. She wasn’t special in any way, and if none of the other teachers were allowed to do it, then she should be no exception. She wasn’t angry and she understood. But she was desperately sad.
She collapsed into her desk chair, staring blankly at the floor.
Clay.
Things were going so well, too. If she didn’t remedy this, she knew that she was in jeopardy of losing her job, if not something more severe like legal action of some sort.
Her stomach twisted into painful knots, and she gave herself a few moments to cry. Tears flooded her cheeks as she struggled with what she knew she had to do. There was nothing to be done about it. She had to stay above water. Not only would it ruin her reputation if she were to continue her relationship with him, but it would make the school look bad, too.
Her heart shattered as she accepted her fate. She hated it, couldn’t stomach even the thought of it. She felt horribly guilty, shameful that the other parents of her students would be aware of this. And after that wonderful party at Clay’s house for the twins birthday, too.
With trembling fingers, she pulled her phone toward herself and opened a text message to Clay. It was hard to read the words she was typing through her bleary eyes, but she sent the text off.
She shoved her phone into her purse and grabbed it off the desk, rushing out the door before finishing cleaning her room. It wouldn’t matter, would it? She’d have plenty of time to clean everything after.
She couldn’t believe what she was about to do.
8
Clay whisked his coffee stirrer around inside his cup, melding the foam and the coffee into one, cohesive unit. It had been awfully nice of the barista to try and make a Christmas tree in the foam that had turned out almost decipherable, but he really preferred his coffee to be less fancy.
He lifted the hot beverage to his lips, sipping it gently, the bitterness of the hot coffee coating his tongue.
The chair across from him was still empty, but he knew it wouldn’t be for long. April promised him she’d be there shortly.
He stared at the faded wooden seat, his mind rolling over the words in April’s text message.
Hey, can we meet down at the coffee shop on Main St.? Something’s come up that we need to talk about, and in person is best. I know you’re busy, but I would really appreciate it if we could talk about this as soon as possible.
He was trying his best to not let himself get nervous about it. When he asked her what it was about, all she sent back was when she would meet him. He knew it was easy to misinterpret intentions of a text message, given their utter lack of ability to convey emotions, but he knew April well enough that something must have happened to upset her. It must have been something that happened at school. The weeks leading up to Christmas were stressful for everyone, and it was likely that some teacher said something, or the administration was coming down hard on them all in preparations for the two weeks they’d all be having off.
He sipped his coffee again, his eyes flicking over to the doors every few seconds in anticipation.
He kept himself busy by thinking about spending Christmas with her. He and the kids were excited about having her around that year. His parents, who lived closer to Atlanta, were looking forward to meeting the woman who had captivated him. His mother had mentioned that she’d never heard him speak as highly of Jenn when she was still alive. That thought had been striking to Clay and made him realize all the more that his relationship with Jenn really had been more superficial and convenient. It was no wonder he was so blown away by April, someone he really cared about.
He debated about ordering a drink for April. He was ninety percent sure he knew what she would order. She loved a French vanilla cappuccino. But he decided to wait, not wanting it to be cold by the time she arrived.
He glanced down at his watch, a nervous twinge in his stomach as he realized that she was almost ten minutes late. He really hoped everything was all right.
Just as he was considering calling her to make sure she hadn’t slid into a ditch or something, she walked through the door of the coffee shop.
His heart soared, just as it always did whenever he saw her. She was positively radiant with the light of the setting sun framing her like a halo. She turned all around, looking for him, and when her eyes fell on him, his heart skipped.
Except something was different. Something was wrong.
The usual smile that brightened her face was absent, and her glittering green eyes were wide with fear, her eyelids swollen and puffy.
It was as if he swallowed a bucket of ice. He stood, his knees weak. Something was very, very wrong.
Slowly, she started over toward him, diverting her gaze from his.
It was like an eternity before she was standing close enough to him. Without a word, she threw herself into his arms, squeezing him around his ribs as tightly as she could.
He reached out to gently rub her shoulder, his heart hammering against his ribs.
“Here, why don’t you sit down?” he asked, pulling her chair out for her. “What’s going on?”
April’s eyes had already welled up with tears again, and she pulled a wrinkled tissue out of her purse. She dabbed at her eyes, trying her best to salvage what little of the makeup she was still wearing. He noticed she was still dressed in her work clothes, even though by now she should have been home from school and changed.
“April?” he asked tentatively. “What’s wrong? You can tell me, you know. Is it someone in your family?”
She shook her head. “No. Not that.”
“Did something happen at school today?” he asked.
“Sort of.” she said, rubbing her nose with a fresh tissue. “After school.”
He was so anxious he knew he could have run four miles in the span of a minute. He resisted the urge to flip every table in the place just to burn off some steam. He was struggling mightily to stay calm and wait on her to tell him what was wrong. “All right, well, I won’t know what’s going on until you tell me.”
April sat straight and took a shuddering, deep breath before turning her bloodshot eyes on him. “I, um, I can’t see you anymore.”
It was as if the whole world had stopped around him. The words resisted sinking into his brain, like water sweeping over an oversaturated sponge. He couldn’t have heard her right. Everything was so good between them. They were too happy together for what she was saying to have been true.
“I don’t understand,” Clay said, his voice cracking. “You’re breaking up with me?”
April pursed her lips together, tears staining her cheeks as she slowly nodded.
“You can’t be serious,” he said. “I must have heard you wrong.”
She shook her head. “No, Clay, you heard me right.”
“But why?” he protested, his hands balling into fists. He was shaking.
April dissolved into tears again, burying her face in her tissue. Her sorrow drew glances from a couple a few tables away. He wished they would just mind their own business.
He reached across the table and tried to take her hand, but she moved it away from him before he could close his fingers over hers.
It was as if she’d struck him across the face. Dumbfounded, he leaned back away from her, his eyes wide as he searched her face.
He sat there staring at her until she was able to gather herself enough to speak clearly. “It seems that I’ve broken my contract by dating
you,” she said, sniffling, still not meeting his gaze.
“It says specifically in your contract that you aren’t able to date the parents of your students?” Clay asked.
She nodded, dabbing at her raw and flushed cheeks. It was breaking his heart seeing her this upset. “I read my contract at the beginning of the year, but I guess I never really stored that information to long term memory, never thinking anything like that would ever happen to me.”
He sat back in his seat, a numbness spreading all down his arms and legs, rendering him mute.
“Principal Hanson called me into her office and informed me that one of the parents called her and told her that we’ve been seeing each other.” Her nose was stuffed, and her words were somewhat muffled through her tissue. “I don’t know if she thought I was purposely trying to hide it from her, but she was very concerned about the whole thing.”
Clay could understand that perfectly. In his excitement of being in a new relationship, he hadn’t really stopped to think about how this might look to the other parents in the class, or how the administration might think of it.
“People really should mind their own business,” Clay said. “What does it matter to them who you date?”
She shook her head. “I am a representative of the school I work for, and if I am behaving with poor conduct, even with the best of intentions, it makes the school, and by default my principal, look bad. It not only hurts my reputation as a teacher, but also the school’s. And on top of that it could look like I give special treatment to your kids.”
His jaw clenched as she stared across at her, unable to wrap his mind around it. His emotions told him to forget what everyone else thought, but the logical side of him completely understood where she was coming from, even agreed with her assessment.
“And if I’m not careful, this could come back at me in a legal manner,” she said, the tears reappearing. “If any of the parents were to try and sue me for negligence or favoritism or anything like that, I might never recover from it.”
A Christmas To Remember (Hero Hearts) Page 5