by Jo Grafford
“Because you were everything they wanted to be and weren’t back then — rodeo queen, prom queen, and on the Honor Roll. Oh, and you dated me,” he bragged. “Major cool points.”
She eyed him with suspicion. “I take it, you know all of this because you were buzzing around that same honey tree, huh?”
“What? No!” He straightened, looking taken aback. “Back then, I had the hottest girlfriend on the planet. Daisy and her gal pals might as well have not even existed.”
Their gazes locked and held for a breathless moment.
It took a huge effort for Hope to keep her voice calm as she asked, “Anything else I need to be aware of, Coach Hawling?”
His lips twitched. “Just keep that security monitor on and use if, if you need it.”
Right. And you’ll come running, as promised. Unfortunately, he was already ten years too late.
Chapter 4: Principal Decisions
Josh
To Josh’s disappointment, Hope didn’t once press the button on her security alert monitor during the entire first week of school. Not that he wanted her in danger. Ever! But that didn’t keep him from fantasizing about the chance to run to her rescue, should the occasion arise. Just the thought of being needed and wanted by her again was enough to make his pulse race.
It was torture working so closely with her Monday through Friday, seeing her a dozen times per day and knowing that they were nothing more to each other than coworkers.
When Elmer Remington had approached him about heading up security at Heart Lake High, Josh had jumped at the chance to see Hope again. He saw it as an opportunity to finally work out their unfinished business and finally lay their skeletons to rest. However, he’d been banking on the fact that his feelings for her had mellowed over time.
They hadn’t.
The moment she’d stepped off her billionaire boyfriend’s airplane, his attraction to her had been rekindled. The way he wanted to break Kellan Maddox’s hand when she reached for it, had forced Josh to face the bald truth — that he was still hopelessly and mindlessly in love with Hope Remington. A love too powerful to control or turn off, though he’d spent the next several days trying to do exactly that. It would have been better for both of them if he’d succeeded.
His only other option was to keep his feelings to himself, to bury them deep and keep them there. She’d made it clear that she’d moved on with her life. He was simply going to have to find a way to do the same.
He drummed his fingers on his desk as he scanned the security camera feeds flashing across his double computer monitors. It was one of those rare moments that he was actually sitting at his desk. However, it was Friday. Early release day, to be more precise. The last bus had departed a little less than thirty minutes ago, meaning Hope would be heading to the library soon to conduct the special teacher planning meeting she’d called.
Since she rarely closed her office door, he could hear her phone ring, as well as the cheerful greeting she gave when she picked it up.
“You’re kidding.” He heard her abruptly push back her chair. “Josh and I will be right there.”
He hastily locked his computer screens and stood, rendering him ready for action the moment she flew around the corner.
“We have a problem.”
“What’s going on?”
She beckoned him to follow her. “I’ll fill you in on the way.” She made a quick stop at Laura’s desk. “I need you to ring Principal Lighthorse in the library and let him know to start the meeting without me. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I’m on it.” Laura was already reaching for the phone.
Josh couldn’t help sneaking a sideways glance or two as he hurried down the hallway by Hope’s side. She was wearing a business suit the color of cherry apples, with a pencil skirt and matching red heels that showcased her athletic legs to perfection. She was every ounce as smoking hot as she was back in her rodeo queen days. When they headed upstairs together, the fact that she was in heels didn’t even slow her down.
Be still my heart. Josh stayed a stair behind her, in case she tripped or needed any sort of assistance. She didn’t. As they barreled toward the east wing where most of the senior classes were located, she spoke in a low voice. “Daisy Peterson was the one who rang my office a few minutes ago.”
He tensed at the name.
“She claims there are a few football players barricading the hallway at both ends, demanding an admission fee from anyone who tries to pass.”
Josh gave an inappropriate bark of laughter. “Sounds like a prank.” A pretty good one, actually.
“Daisy didn’t sound amused. She said she chased them away several times this morning, but they showed back up after school.”
“How much are they charging?”
“Seriously, Josh! Does it matter?” Hope’s blonde brows rose in incredulity. “Our students can’t be barricading the academic hallways. Or any other hallways, for that matter.”
As she and Josh rounded the corner where the twelfth grade English classes were located, they were met by a wall of male teenage chests. At the sight of Josh and her, however, all four students quickly dispersed and pretended to be lounging against the lockers.
One of the boys glanced up. “Oh, hey, coach! How’s it going?”
But he wasn’t paying them much attention. He was too busy eyeing the troublemakers on the other end of the hallway, who were making a dash for it down the rear set of stairs.
Josh sprinted after them, calling the fleeing threesome by their names. “George, Huck, and Tate, you might as well back up and face the music. Because I know where you live, and I happen to be in the mood to chat.”
With a groan of defeat, the burly running backs turned around and trudged up the stairs in his direction.
He lined up all seven of the boys against the lockers. “Anybody care to tell me what’s going on?” If he correctly recalled their grade levels, he was looking at four juniors and three seniors, all members of the varsity football team and all from the south side of town.
“Study group,” one of them volunteered. “We just came back to grab a few books.”
“I wish.” Josh grimaced. “Believe me, I do. But you’re going to have to do better than that.”
They treated him to various expressions of feigned confusion. “Not sure what you’re talking about, coach,” one of them finally mumbled.
Hope faced them calmly. “I did pretty well in school, myself. What were you planning on studying? Maybe I can help.”
The boys suddenly seemed to be looking anywhere but at her. “Science,” one said. At the same time, one of the other players announced, “Math.”
“Science.” She nodded. “A lot of topics to cover there. Are we talking Chemistry, Physics, or Earth Science?”
Her question was met with silence.
“Or maybe you’d rather we start off by tackling a little Math together?” she inquired in an innocent voice. “Geometry, Algebra, Trig…?”
When the silence among the boys dragged on, she waved at the lockers. “If you’re not sure, maybe you could go ahead and grab those books you mentioned.” She folded her arms. “Well?” She tapped the toe of one high-heeled pump. “Aren’t these your lockers?”
“No, ma’am,” one student muttered.
Daisy Peterson chose that moment to come flying out her classroom door, as if just now hearing Hope and Josh’s arrival. He found the timing a little suspicious.
“Coach Hawling!” She batted her long, mascara-drenched lashes at him. “Thanks so much for coming to our rescue up here in the English department.” Sashaying in his direction, she laid a hand on his arm and simpered up at him. “Roni, Peg, and I adore these kids to pieces, but we’re at our wits’ end with them this afternoon.”
It took a lot of willpower to keep a straight face instead of eyerolling her. Daisy was a former high school cheerleader, who’d never outgrown her diva attitude. She fit every cliche; she’d even married the capt
ain of her high school football team shortly after she’d graduated…and subsequently divorced him. A dyed platinum blonde with too much makeup, she was way too clingy for his tastes. And entitled. The kind of woman who assumed she could snap her fingers and bring any guy running and panting. As far as he was concerned, she could snap her fingers elsewhere. He wasn’t interested.
Hope stepped closer and calmly intercepted Daisy’s beseeching gaze. “How about you start from the beginning and tell us what happened?”
Daisy’s eyes flashed with momentary irritation before clearing. She spun in Hope’s direction, though she kept a hand on Josh’s arm. Hope eyed the gesture blandly, though she didn’t comment on it.
“They’ve been showing up between every class and trying to charge students a dollar each time they pass through the hallway. Only north side students, mind you, not any of their cronies from the south.”
“Cronies,” one of the boys mocked, half beneath his breath. “What’s that?”
“I dunno. Maybe the kind of macaroni they eat here in Uptown,” another boy quipped.
When Josh caught Hope’s lips twitching, it was the happiest moment of his week.
“See? No respect,” Daisy announced coldly. “If it was my choice, I’d make an example of them and suspend them all.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Huck Standing Deer stepped forward, his hands upraised and his swarthy features creased with concern. “It was a just a joke. We never took no money from no one.”
“Sounds like an admission of guilt to me,” Daisy sang out gleefully. “A very poorly worded one, I might add, from a grammatical standpoint.” She gave a delicate shudder.
“If anyone deserves to be punished, it’s me,” Huck insisted. “It was all my idea.”
He was spilling the truth, at last. Josh could tell from the way the teen had stepped forward that he was trying to protect the rest of his friends, too, which he found admirable.
“Were any of these boys late to class due to their shenanigans up here?” Hope inquired quietly.
Daisy shrugged. “Probably. I don’t see how they could’ve been punctual to any class today, considering how much time they spent in my hall badgering my students.”
Josh would’ve loved to point out, at that juncture, that several of the boys lined up against the lockers were her students, as well.
“Huck?” Hope turned to him next, still speaking in a calm voice. “Were you boys tardy to any of your classes today?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He ducked his head.
“How many?”
“Er…all of them.”
“Alright, then.” She beckoned them to follow her. “I’ve always been a firm believer in the time fitting the crime.” Waving Josh to her side as they approached the stairs, she hissed in a stage whisper. “I think we should hold an extra football practice and do some sprints this afternoon. What do you think, Coach Hawling?”
Her words were met with a collective groan.
“An excellent idea, Dr. Remington.” He was immensely proud of the way she was handling the boys, with both compassion and firmness. He seriously could have kissed her right then and there. By now, he was fairly certain she didn’t intend to act on Daisy’s idea to suspend them all. At least he hoped not. They were good players. He’d hate to see them sidelined for something so stupid and relatively harmless.
They headed outside to the field directly behind the school. “I don’t think we need to head all the way to the stadium,” Hope mused, glancing around them. “This spot should work well enough, don’t you think, coach?”
“Agreed.” He nodded. “Line up.”
To his surprise, Hope kicked off her ridiculously high heels and shrugged out of her suit blazer. Handing it to Josh, she joined the teens on the line. Untucking her shirt, she announced merrily, “I’m going to make a deal with all of you. Normally, I’d assign every one of you a few days of in-school suspension for racking up as many tardies as you fellas did today. However, it’s Friday afternoon, and you caught me in a good mood.”
The boys were gawking at her with varying degrees of astonishment staining their youthful features. More importantly, they were listening to her.
She tapped one slender, red-lacquered finger against her chest. “Any of you who can beat me in a fifty-yard dash will be granted amnesty.” She shot them a challenging look infused with humor. “Are we all clear on the definition of amnesty? I’ll give you a hint. It has nothing to do with macaroni.”
She received several vehement head shakes and a few muffled snorts of laughter.
“Alright, then. Coach Hawling will give us the countdown. We’ll be heading all the way to the fence.” She pointed at the far end of the field.
“But that’s a lot farther than fifty yards,” Tate gasped. He was a stocky, red-headed, freckle-faced kid. Speed was not his strong point.
“Oh, my bad!” Hope pretended surprise. “Would you like to step it out first to be sure? Then we can run it afterward?”
“No, that’s okay,” he returned hastily, realizing that an initial walk-through of their intended course would triple the distance he had to cover. “I’d rather just get the run over with.”
Hope bent down like a sprinter with the fingertips of one hand touching the ground. When she glanced laughingly over at Josh, he nearly started to drool. Standing there with her bare toes dug into the grass next to a group of rambunctious teens, she was truly the most amazing woman he’d ever met. And, by far, the most beautiful one with her long blonde hair pulled back in a loose bun. Several stray wisps were blowing around her cheeks in the mountain breezes.
He studied her, wondering how she was going to run that far in her suit skirt. Thankfully, it had a short split in the back, which was better than nothing, but it still wasn’t the same as a pair of decent running shorts.
“On your mark.” He held up his hand. “Get set. Gooooo!” He brought his hand sharply down.
Hope shot ahead of the boys with the grace and speed of a marathon runner.
His mouth went dry at the sight of her long, slender legs pumping like a gazelle across the grassy field. Hope Remington, I should have never let you leave town without me. I was such a fool! For a moment, his gaze went blind at the memory. He’d kept his word to her and made it to the covered bridge a good half hour ahead of their agreed-upon time. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been the one waiting for him there.
Her shout of victory yanked him back to the present. Blinking, he watched her reach the fence first and tap it with both hands, bringing herself to a halt.
George and Huck were right behind her. The next several seconds were filled with high-fives and excited cheers as those who were finished turned around to encourage the stragglers to catch up. Poor Tate finished last, as expected, half bent over and heaving for air.
Hope turned their group around and headed back across the field to deliver the sweaty boys to him. “I’m very sorry to say we’re looking at a couple days of in-school suspension for the whole group. If you’ll take their names and make the arrangements, coach, I’ll personally ensure there’s a tutor on hand to help out with their assignments. Don’t want anyone falling behind in their studies.”
She gave the football players a wink as she stepped her grass-stained feet back into her heels and reached for her blazer.
Josh handed it to her, awash with adoration. She was a tough but fair principal. Even more than that, she’d proven to each teenager present that she cared about every one of them. They weren’t just her job, or a means to receiving a paycheck. She’d gotten on their level, she’d sweated with them, and then she’d kept her word to them.
As she headed back inside to attend her meeting in the library, the football players stared after her in amazement.
“She’s alright,” Huck declared. “More than alright. It’s way too bad she’s got the wrong last name.”
“Yeah, well, she had no more choice in the family she was born into than you or me. If you’re keeping sco
re, you might oughta just make her an honorary south sider and be done with it.” Josh’s chest wrenched with regret at the memories his words conjured. Once upon a time, he’d almost made Hope Remington a Hawling. There’d been a black felt box in his pocket that day ten years ago when he’d arrived at the bridge. If he’d gotten the chance to speak to her, he was convinced she would’ve said yes. But the man waiting for him there had never given him that chance.
The teacher planning meeting was half over by the time Hope made her appearance. She took a quick detour on her way and freshened up as best as she could in one of the girls’ bathrooms. Blotting the sweat from her face and tucking in her shirt, however, was about the best she could do. Hopefully her blazer would hide the dampness of her shirt.
When she stepped into the meeting, her usual smile was firmly stamped on her lips. Over fifty staff members were present and seated around the tables scattered throughout the library. It was a hot, dry afternoon, and several teachers were sipping on water bottles. She moved to the central air panel to check the temperature, since it felt a little stuffy with so many bodies in the room. She turned it down one degree at a time until she heard the air conditioner kick on.
“Perfect timing, Dr. Remington.” Principal Lighthorse scanned her features curiously as she returned to the front of the room. “We’ve completed all the IT surveys and gone over the updates on our budget and funding. The staff was happy to hear that the Black Ties organization has voted on a grant to replace all the lab computers and issue laptops to each student. Talk about bringing our school into the twenty-first century!”
There was a smattering of clapping at his words.
Daisy’s hand shot in the air the moment Hope took the floor.
“Yes, Ms. Peterson?”
“I know you’re about to address the issue of the new school mascot, but I’d like to receive an update first on what happened to those boys trying to barricade our hallway upstairs and charge admission.” She pressed a hand to her chest, looking fearful. “I know we’re all doing the best we can to keep it together, but some days it feels like this whole school is coming unraveled at the seams.” Her words were accompanied by several head nods from the north side teachers and about an equal number of grimaces from the south side ones.