Along Came Mr. Right

by Gerri Russell

  Tears filled Paige’s eyes. “I don’t want to hurt anymore.”

  Olivia knew what the words meant. She swallowed against the lump in her throat. “There’s a way past your struggle, with help—I’ve done it, and so can you. People out there, like the Millers, are capable of great love and gentleness. Let them show you how big their hearts are. Come back with me.” Olivia held out her hand.

  Paige flinched away from her touch at first; then, after a moment, she leaned forward, touching her fingers to Olivia’s. “They’ll hate me for leaving again.”

  Olivia folded her fingers around Paige’s hand, feeling a shiver of fear run through the teenager. “No, they’ll be happy you’re home, where you belong.”

  Paige stood, not taking her hand from Olivia’s. The book fell onto the seat of the chair, forgotten. “Can’t we go shopping or something fun like that before going home?”

  “The Millers are worried.”

  The teen sighed. “Then I suppose I could go . . . home,” she replied, forcing the last word out.

  Grateful for Paige’s cooperation and even more grateful to have found the teenager, Olivia guided her toward the escalator and out the double doors. With every step, pain snagged Olivia’s heart. About Paige’s past, Olivia knew only the things that had been captured in Paige’s intake papers. Her father and her mother had both abused their baby, then her mother had walked out, leaving Paige’s father alone to abuse her throughout her childhood. Once taken away from her father, Paige had received the medical care she’d needed, but those bandages hadn’t healed all her wounds.

  It didn’t matter that Olivia was standing right beside her, holding her hand. Paige was so alone. Always alone, daring the world to confirm what she already knew—that she would only be betrayed and hurt if she let anyone in.

  Olivia swallowed against a sudden tightness in her throat. Her own mother had abandoned her temporarily. That one year of being alone had left unseen scars, but her issues with abandonment were nothing compared with Paige’s pain.

  “What’s wrong?” Paige asked as Olivia stopped walking. Kids who’d suffered abuse were hyperattuned to others’ emotions.

  Olivia stopped and forced a smile. “I’m just thinking. It makes me happy to know you’re going back to the two people who can really make a difference in your life.”

  “I wish . . .” Paige’s voice shattered on the words. “I wish you could be my foster mother. You understand me.” She watched Olivia with hope in her eyes.

  Olivia went cold all over. “I’m honored you think of me that way, Paige.” Even though she was foster certified, she hadn’t ever been a foster parent. She could direct the programs for the Tomorrow Foundation and coordinate all the paperwork between the state system and her nonprofit organization. She was excellent at negotiating contracts, but be a parent herself? She wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility.

  At Olivia’s hesitation, Paige’s face fell. She turned away, walking again toward where Olivia had parked her car. “Never mind.”

  Olivia remained where she stood a heartbeat longer before she followed Paige to the car. What was she supposed to say that wouldn’t hurt the teenager further?

  “I do care about you. So much it hurts sometimes, but I’m not the kind of parent you need.” Olivia’s words sounded thin and faraway.

  Paige nodded, that blank expression sliding over her face again. “Got it. I want to go home.” She couldn’t keep the hurt from her voice. The teenager would rather be anywhere but in the presence of another adult who’d hurt her all over again.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Later that afternoon, Olivia returned to her office and looked at the stack of books on her desk. She’d already read them once, but was doing it a second time, praying they might give her some insight into how to deal with Paige: Troubled Teenagers, When Good Kids Hang Out with the Wrong Crowd, How to Raise a Teenager without Using Duct Tape. Somebody had to figure out a way to reach the teenager before she self-destructed.

  And, truth be told, Paige was the perfect distraction to keep Olivia’s thoughts off a certain handsome stranger. Olivia’s gaze shifted from the books to the thank-you note she’d set off to the side, only to find the note was gone. All the thank-you notes were gone. “Krissy?” Olivia called, trying to keep the panic from her voice.

  Her assistant peeked around the door. “You called?”

  “Where did all those thank-you notes go?”

  Krissy smiled. “I mailed them.”

  “All of them?”

  “All the ones that looked complete.” Krissy’s eyes filled with concern at what she must have seen in Olivia’s face.

  “Even the one I set aside for Mr. Right?”

  Krissy nodded. “Was that wrong?”

  Olivia forced a cheerful smile. Looked like the decision to send the note had been made for her. “No, that was great. Thank you.”

  Krissy didn’t seem convinced as she came fully into the room and stood before Olivia’s desk. “Were you planning to deliver it in person?”

  Olivia shook her head. “That would be awkward since I hardly know the man.”

  “It didn’t look that way to me at the auction.” Krissy put her hands on the desk and leaned forward. “It looked to me like you were finally moving past Damien.”

  “I was simply being hospitable to a guest at the auction,” Olivia replied in discomfort.

  Krissy released an audible sigh as she straightened, and Olivia didn’t miss the mischievous glint in her brown eyes. “If you’re that ‘hospitable’ to all our guests, then we won’t have a problem with attendance at next year’s event.”

  Krissy left the office, closing the door behind her. Olivia frowned. One thing was certain—her assistant was not stupid. On the subjects of relationships and love, Krissy was the most discerning person Olivia knew. She was also a good friend in that she sought to prevent Olivia from seeing herself as a failure with men. Krissy subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, encouraged her to keep trying.

  Maybe one of these days Olivia would get it right.

  Determined to do anything to keep her mind off Max, Olivia picked up the first book on her stack. After an hour of reading, she’d had no insights greater than her own experience. The one thing she didn’t need a book to tell her was what it felt like to be in foster care—how lonely that journey could be until you found the right people who truly cared about you.

  She’d been in foster care only a year before her mother pulled her life together and came back to get her. The family she’d lived with had been very much like the Millers—stable, loving, understanding. Why was Paige having so much trouble accepting a similar kind of love from the Millers?

  With a sigh, Olivia set the book down and looked at the metal furnishings that made up her office. Life doesn’t always give us what we want—and only sometimes what we need. Her office was proof enough of that. The desk, the files, and the bookshelves didn’t suit her personality. No, if she’d allowed herself to fill the space with what she wanted, instead of what she could afford, she’d be surrounded by a bunch of antiques. She liked older things—things that had a past and a connection to other people. She’d rather be seated at a big and heavy eighteenth-century desk with a scratch in the side, put there by a child. But instead of an antique desk, she perched before the standing high-low desk that concealed all the wires generated by her computer.

  Yet the spirit of her work brought her comfort. Pictures—some in frames, some gathered in groupings on ribbons that hung down the stark walls—featured the kids currently in the programs sponsored by the Tomorrow Foundation, and others who’d been adopted. Olivia fingered a framed photograph of Paige with the Millers. The teenager looked so happy in that picture. Perhaps, in time, she’d come to understand no one could take that happiness away from her unless she allowed them to.

  Was that the cause of Paige’s issues, or was there something more? Willing to do whatever it took to figure it all out, Olivia opened the book onc
e more and lost herself in teenage psychology for the rest of the day until a knock sounded on her door.

  “Come in,” Olivia replied. Why was Krissy still here? It was after six. They should have closed down the office by now. The door opened. Instead of Krissy, Paige stood in the doorway. Olivia snapped her book shut and instinctively set it on her desk facedown. “Paige.” Olivia stood and came toward the teen. “Did the Millers bring you? Did something go wrong settling back in?”

  “Mr. Miller’s downstairs in the car waiting for me. When I got home, Mr. and Mrs. Miller and I talked about everything—from running away to school.” Paige fell silent. After a long moment, the teenager scrubbed her hair down over the side of her face, hiding one eye. “I thought I should come see you.”

  “Of course,” Olivia said, guiding Paige toward one of two utilitarian chairs at her small conference table. Paige settled into the chair, her face solemn.

  Olivia waited, letting Paige be the first to fill the silence.

  “It’s school,” Paige said as the hands in her lap fisted. “I want to quit.”

  Olivia knew Paige was struggling. It was on Olivia’s calendar to talk with Paige’s school counselor next week to figure out what each of them could do to help Paige be more successful. “Was that part of why you left the Millers? What’s happening? Is someone bullying you?”

  At the words, tears sprang to Paige’s eyes. “No, no one is bullying me. I’m stupid. I don’t understand anything.” Tears tracked down her cheeks, and she took a great, gulping breath of air. “I’m flunking geometry and English. I want to quit before the teachers fail me.”

  Olivia reached for Paige’s hands in an effort to reassure her. At first the girl tensed, then relaxed her fists. Olivia held tight. Paige was crying, something she never did publicly, for the second time today.

  “There are other options besides quitting. We could get you a tutor.”

  Paige’s eyes narrowed, and her chin came up. “So they can just confirm what I already know? That I’m hopeless?”

  “You’re not hopeless,” Olivia said, giving Paige’s hands a squeeze. “In fact, I think you are one of the smartest girls I know. Considering all you’ve been through, you’ve managed to keep up with your grade in most of your classes. I’d say you’re amazingly resilient.”

  “Don’t lie to me,” Paige said as two angry, pink blotches appeared on her cheeks.

  “I’ve never lied to you before, and I don’t intend to start now.” Olivia matched Paige’s anger with her own resolve. “We’ll start with the geometry. Is there someone, anyone, you’d trust to tutor you? It’s six more weeks until the end of the quarter. Let’s say if at the end of six weeks your grades have not improved, then we’ll see if they can substitute a different math class that would count for your requirements.” She’d learned enough about Paige in the past three months to know the chance to bargain was something the teenager wouldn’t resist.

  Paige’s eyes narrowed again, and the color in her cheeks dissipated. “Four weeks.”

  “Five.”

  “Fine,” Paige said with a sigh.

  “Good.” Olivia’s shoulders relaxed. “Do you want me to find a tutor for you? The foundation has a few contacts we use.”

  “My math teacher at school is pretty cool. I hear he does tutoring for other students,” Paige said in a low voice.

  Olivia offered her a reassuring smile. “How about I meet you after school tomorrow and let’s talk to him together. Agreed?”

  “I suppose.”

  For Paige, that was as cheerful a response as Olivia would get.

  The next day, Olivia headed inside Paige’s high school and up the stairs to the second-story classroom that was her final class of the day.

  She pushed the partially open door aside to reveal Paige leaning over a desk. A man with dark hair, probably the teacher, stood beside her. Their backs were to the door, so they didn’t see her as Olivia lingered in the doorway.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever understand geometry, Mr. R.,” Paige said, her tone defeated.

  “Of course you will. Take one of those toothpicks and break it in half,” the man said. “Now see that the two pieces are equal to the whole toothpick. Lay three of them on the desk and form them all into a triangle. That’s what we were discussing today. The Pythagorean theorem. The square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the two other sides.”

  That voice. It sounded so familiar.

  “Jeez. I kinda get it,” Paige said, turning sideways in her chair. “That’s it? That’s what we’re talking about?”

  “You’re a visual learner, Paige. We need to find ways for you to see the math. We’ll figure this out together. I’m available to tutor you as much as you need.”

  Olivia could see Paige’s profile and the worry that darkened her features. “My Gals and Pals mentor is coming to talk to you today about that—tutoring. But it might take a miracle to get me to do well on the tests,” Paige said dejectedly.

  “I believe in miracles, Paige,” the man said. “And I believe in you.”

  “That makes two of us,” Olivia interjected as she stepped into the room. Both heads turned her way.

  “Hi, Olivia,” Paige said, the shadows disappearing from her face. “This is my teacher, Mr. Right.”

  Olivia’s breath caught and her heart slammed into her rib cage at the sight of him. She moved into the room slowly to give herself time to digest the information. Max was Paige’s teacher. Max was the person who could help her succeed. Olivia sank into one of the student chairs across from Max and Paige.

  His gray eyes filled with surprise. He recovered quickly and greeted her with a belated smile.

  “You never told me you were a teacher,” she said, hating the slight tremor in her voice.

  “You never asked about my day job,” he replied with a lift of his brow.

  Paige’s gaze shifted between them. “You two know each other?”

  “Yes,” Max said.

  “No,” Olivia replied.

  Paige frowned. “Which is it? Yes or no?”

  Trying to look nonchalant, Olivia explained. “We met briefly on the night of the Tomorrow Foundation auction.” She had to make it look like no big deal. As though she could handle the veil being pulled back to reveal . . . what? What did it reveal? Was Max happy to see her?

  Oblivious to Olivia’s turmoil, Paige rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the toothpicks in front of her. “Mr. R. agreed to be my tutor.”

  Olivia forced a slow, even breath. She could do this. She could be the sexy, no-strings-attached woman Max had helped her create that night. “Is tutoring another one of your hidden talents?”

  His eyes flared. “I have more talents than you know.”

  “Jupiter to mission control,” Paige interrupted with a frown. “What are you two talking about?”

  Olivia straightened, forcing their conversation back to something Paige would understand. “That was kind of you to offer to help Paige with her geometry. The Tomorrow Foundation will be happy to pay you whatever you charge.”

  “I’d be happy to volunteer my time. I’ve got four other students I tutor on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

  Her pulse sped up once more. His jeans and blue dress shirt intensified the steely gray of his eyes. On any other man, they’d have looked average. On Max, the combination was sexy and had a serious effect on her nerves.

  Olivia drew in another breath and tried to concentrate on the matter at hand. “What’s her current grade, and how much does she need to pull it up?”

  Defiance sparked in the teenager’s eyes. “It’s not just math or English. After the last test, I’m probably failing history as well.”

  With sudden clarity, Olivia finally understood what Paige was running from. It wasn’t the Millers. She was running from herself and her fear of what might happen, even though it hadn’t happened yet. That Olivia knew was a common trait among foster kids. Being cognizant that they were r
unning didn’t change anything. Flight was a deep-seated, instinctual response. Kids had to learn how to work to succeed, how to overcome habits of preservation that seemed easier than sticking out the unknown.

  The question was, how did they get Paige to stop running and face her problems? And how were they going to give her the tools she needed to find success?

  They?

  Olivia frowned. “So where do we go from here?”

  Max took a step closer, so close Olivia could have reached out and run her hand up his sleeve, across those well-developed muscles she’d explored at leisure several nights ago. She curled her fingers into fists, fighting the urge.

  “Let’s meet every day after school for an hour and go from there. Tuesdays and Thursdays you’ll be part of a group of students. Olivia, you’ll be welcome to come with her to see how it’s going for the first few days. How does that sound, Paige?”

  “If I’m as stupid as the other kids say, then nothing’s going to help,” Paige replied, her tone cynical.

  Max slid into the chair in front of Paige. “You’re an intelligent young lady who learns differently than others. You’re not the only student who’s wired that way. We simply need to figure out how to tap into your learning style. Then you’ll be able to keep up.”

  Paige looked doubtful. “You’re sure about that?”

  “Positive,” Max said with a nod. “If Olivia and I both work with you, we can have you ready for all your finals by the end of the quarter.”

  “That’s only six weeks from now,” Paige said.

  “It’s possible, Paige. I promise you, but it also means staying focused and not running away. Can you commit to that?”

  “I suppose,” Paige agreed with reluctance in her voice, but Olivia saw a spark of hope in her eyes.

  “Are you in?” Max asked, turning to Olivia. The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile.

  Her heart sped up. “Absolutely.” Paige would gain the knowledge and confidence she needed . . . and Olivia could spend time with a man who intrigued her far more than he should. Olivia turned her gaze from him to Paige. “We’re here to help with anything you need.”