LOVE in a Small Town

by Janet Eaves

  It was a mouthful and more than she’d heard him say in three days. Kate watched his eyes narrow with steel hardness as he continued. “Adults are all the same. None of them give a shit. Especially about some dumbass kid like me.”

  She waited before answering, their gazes locked. He was out for the shock effect, she knew, or maybe just needed to blow off steam. Damn if she’d let it get to her, though.

  “Danny,” she began quietly, “I know you’re angry and upset, and I’m glad you can tell me what is on your mind. But first, I want you to know, that the language you just used is unacceptable to me. You cannot use profanity in my classroom or at school. Do you understand?” She wanted to maintain the authority here, and not let him get away with breaking school rules. It was important.

  He nodded. Barely. Still eyeing her.

  “All right.” She nodded too. “So now we understand each other.” Then moving on to the next subject, “But you’re wrong, though, when you say that adults don’t care about you. I care, or I wouldn’t be here talking with you.”

  He opened his mouth, then shut it again.

  “I have been watching you and thinking about what to do with you—but not in the way you think.” She paused while he toed another rock. “I don’t think that you are a bad kid or a loser. I think it’s unfortunate that you are a lot older than all of the kids in this class and I’m sorry we couldn’t make different arrangements. We are a small school and sometimes our resources are limited. I also think you’ve experienced some pretty rough times, rougher than most, but that doesn’t have anything to do with how we’ll work together here at school.”

  She didn’t flinch once. Their gazes never faltered.

  “You are older, but I think we can come up with some special projects that you and I can work on. And if you work real hard, we’ll move you up to a higher level as soon as you’re ready. I want you to think about it, and you let me know what interests you and we’ll start working together.”

  She glanced about. The other teachers had gathered their students. She turned to Danny, trying to see something in those hard, dark eyes.

  “It’s time for us to go back in.” She called to the other fifth graders, then nodded to him as well. “Let’s go.” Danny tailed along several yards behind. She fought the urge to turn and make sure that he was there.

  Somehow she had to earn this child’s trust. It was going to be darned difficult. He was an adolescent stuck with an adult problem in a kid’s world. A fish out of water. And probably to him, she was a shark asking him to conform in a world he didn’t want to be in.

  What could she expect?

  Trust? How would she earn his trust?

  She found it pretty difficult to trust most people these days, herself. Since Rob’s death, she put her trust and faith in her ability to do a good job at school. And now, here was a child jeopardizing that faith. She wasn’t quite sure she could live up to her own expectations of dealing with Danny, let alone, that of the rest of the school community.

  He needed more of her. She didn’t know if she had it to give.

  ****

  “Looks like have them under your spell.”

  Michael inhaled a dewy scent of lilac as he stepped up behind Kate Carpenter. She stood with her back to him, leaning into the doorframe, watching her students work. When she turned a startled glance his way, he was at a sudden loss for words.

  Something magnetic about the woman.

  Even more jarring was the fact that she obviously had a heart. A caring heart. Not exactly the type of woman to tangle up with the likes of Rob Carpenter. In the brief exchange he’d overheard a few minutes ago between teacher and student on the playground, while he was finishing up some paperwork in his cruiser, he’d realized one thing. This woman was not a hardened criminal. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

  Unless she was a very good actress.

  He wasn’t sure he trusted his judgment at the moment.

  Kate took two steps forward. “Well, it helps to get them organized from the start. They’re good workers.”

  Turning, she moved to the center of the room. “Let’s finish up quickly,” she directed to the class. “Our visitor is back.” Several students glanced his way as they completed their last work for the day and stuffed their belongings into backpacks.

  “Before we leave today, Trooper Lehmann from the Tennessee State Police, is going to talk to our class.”

  Michael scanned the sea of eager faces. Kids were not necessarily his forte and he was somewhat out of his element, but working undercover made you an expert on just about anything. He could do this. His gaze stopped on the kid she had spoken to earlier. Not so eager, that one. He looked pale, shaken, and uncomfortable. The body language spoke volumes.

  Kate stepped aside and he took her place, front and center of the room.

  “Afternoon, boys and girls.” He dug in with authority. “Ready to go home? It’s Friday!”

  Twenty-five heads nodded eagerly.

  “Well, let’s see what we can do about getting you out of here a little early. What do you say?”

  Michael watched as every child’s wide-eyed stare jerked toward Kate. She glared at him, then shook her head ‘no.’ Their faces fell.

  He’d said the wrong thing. “Well, maybe we’ll have to think of something else,” he muttered, quickly covering his tracks. “I’m here to tell you about a program we’re going to start in your class. It’s a pretty special program, just for you all.” Several heads perked up. “It’s called DARE.”

  He turned to write the letters on the board. “Each letter stands for these words: Drug, Abuse, Resistance, Education.” He wrote the words underneath each block letter in a vertical line. “Have any of you ever heard of it?” He glanced about. Heads were shaking no, some yes. He watched the big kid sitting near the back stare a hole through him.

  He risked a peek at Kate. “We all know there is a problem with the abuse of drugs and alcohol in this country. This program will help you to say no.”

  The big kid’s eyes grew large and then narrowed to tiny slits. He leaned back in his desk chair and glowered. His hands clenched into knotted fists on his desk.

  “I’ll be here two days a week for about ten weeks,” he continued. “Then when it’s over, we’ll have a graduation. Your parents will be invited and we’ll have a big party.”

  Most of the students’ faces lit up. The big kid’s shaking hand rose.

  “Yes,” Michael prompted. “You have a question?”

  “Yeah.” The other students turned toward him. “Do I gotta do this?” He directed the question to Kate.

  Michael threw a quick glance her way.

  The kid stared. “You sure you’re not doing this for me, pretending it’s for the whole class? This that special project you talked about? Well forget it. I don’t need it.”

  Kate started to speak, but Michael interrupted. “It’s really a lot of fun. We do a lot of cool things in the program. I think…”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about, man,” the kid garbled.

  Michael caught Kate’s sideways glance as she stepped forward. “Danny, let’s talk about it out in the hallway.” She motioned for the boy to join her.

  Relieved at her quick intervention, Michael watched the young man rise and fix a bead on him from beneath his unruly hair. “Didn’t want to listen to you anyway,” he grunted and brushed past.

  On impulse, Michael grasped the boy’s upper arm and said in a low voice, “I think maybe you should, maybe you’ll learn something.”

  The kid jerked free. “Don’t touch me, man.”

  Michael looked to Kate. “Would you like me to…?”

  “No,” she said firmly. “You’ve done enough.” Shit. Screwed up again. “If you would talk more about the program to the other children that will be quite enough.” She followed the boy out of the room then turned back with a frown. “And don’t let them out early.”

  ****

 
; Danny faced the bank of lockers outside her classroom door.

  “You all right?” Kate angled up beside him

  “Yeah, what do you care?”

  She remained silent for a moment. “I just do.” The quiet continued. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No.” Finally, he looked at her. “I don’t want to do this. I don’t need it, really I don’t. I’m clean. That’s all I’ve heard for months.”

  She let out a long breath. “Well, that may be so, Danny, but the other kids haven’t. I didn’t plan this for you. It wasn’t even my idea. Everything is like Trooper Lehmann said. Look, I don’t know exactly what you’ve been through, but maybe you could learn something new from this program.”

  “Nope, I don’t think so.”

  “Why not?”

  “Don’t like him. Don’t like cops. Don’t like them touching me.”

  Whoosh. She sighed, knowing there was so much more. Would she be able to handle this? Danny…and Michael Lehmann all in one package?

  Her stomach knotted.

  Danny’s gape penetrated hers.

  “Okay, in the first place, he won’t touch you. I’ll see to that.” His stare softened. “Second, this is a class project and I’d really like to have all my students involved. I don’t think we can work around not having you with the class, Danny. You know, you might even have something you could contribute.”

  “Yeah, like what? What could I do?”

  “I don’t know exactly. Maybe share some of your experiences? Help the other kids?”

  She acknowledged a pained grimace on his face, giving her a pang in her tummy. He nodded his agreement. Her heart melted, thinking of what this child must have experienced in his young life.

  She glanced up at the hall clock. Only a few minutes before dismissal. She could hear the other classrooms preparing to go home. “I know this could be hard for you, Danny,” she said, “but maybe not. I’m sure Trooper Lehmann is here because he cares for kids.”

  Really?

  “Maybe you could give him a chance?”

  Should I?

  He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and stared at the floor. His favorite stance lately.

  “What do you think?”

  He looked up at her with huge, sad eyes. “I don’t know… Maybe.”

  She risked placing a protective arm around his shoulders and they walked through the classroom door. He didn’t flinch and she thought that a small breakthrough. Jim. Hamilton’s voice crackled over the intercom. The class looked to her for the dismissal nod and they were off. Danny wove his way through the kids, picked up the stack of books and papers on his desk, and shoved them into a backpack. He glanced sideways, barely making eye contact with her as he left. He avoided Trooper Lehmann. She stepped to the side and watched him stroll down the hallway.

  Alone.

  Chapter Three

  Michael moved to the door behind her. “What’s the kid’s problem?”

  Kate whirled. The look on her face shot out a single emotion—anger. Yeah, he’d screwed up, but—

  “I think the question is, what the hell is yours?”

  Michael jerked back, stunned at her explosion. “I don’t have a problem.”

  “Really?” She stalked off to the opposite side of the room, shutting first one window then another, her back to him. He fixed his gaze on her every move. She rattled on. “First, I get talked into doing this thing when I don’t really want to and,” slam “…then you come waltzing into my classroom like we should all be anxiously awaiting your presence and then,” slam, slam, “…you have the audacity to tell my students that you might dismiss them early! You can’t do that!” Slam.

  She twisted back and looked squarely at him, sucked in a huge breath, then stomped toward her desk, where she started a shoving match with a stack of papers and her tote bag.

  “You might want to breathe before you pass out.”

  Whether she had wanted to or not, Kate exhaled through clenched teeth. She might have even growled a little under her breath. Her anger was puzzling, to be sure. He could see frustration, since he’d obviously made a miscue earlier, but anger?

  Not making sense.

  Michael cocked a brow and crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you finished?”

  “Quite,” she bit out, still pushing papers in the tote. “And so are you. This isn’t going to work.”

  Shit. It had to work. Back peddle here, Lehmann.

  He took a step forward. “Look. I made a mistake. This is my first DARE assignment. Give me a break, okay? It’s been a long time since I’ve been in an elementary school.”

  She jerked her head up and stood a little straighter. “That’s no excuse. If you’re going to be in my classroom, then you’ve got to follow the rules.”

  “Rules. Of course.” He was trained to follow rules.

  “That’s right.” Her fists perched on her hips now. The body language was not good. “And I handle my own discipline problems, thank you.” She reached in a desk drawer and pulled out her car keys. “Especially Danny.”

  “The big kid?”

  “Yes. And don’t touch him.”

  “What that kid needs is—”

  Her sharp look stopped him from finishing the sentence. “Really. Really? You think you can waltz in here one afternoon and tell me what that boy needs? Hardly.” Her face tightened, her eyebrows screwed, and she reached up to rub a temple. “I need to get out of here,” she added quietly, reaching for the tote.

  “Wait.” He rounded the desk and blocked her exit. Can’t let you leave angry at me, Kate. “Let me try again.”

  Her shoulders slumped and she exhaled. Hard. “What.”

  Talk fast, Lehmann. “I get it, Kate. I screwed up. But I know the rules now.”

  “I’m sure you think you do,” she sputtered.

  He continued, “Number one, I must have a regular time to come here. Number two, I am not to make promises I can’t keep or interfere with your rules. And number three, you handle the discipline, especially the big kid. Right?”

  Her stare pierced his. She was so close, if he wanted, he could reach out and touch her cheek. He wanted. Dammit. And she smelled good—damn lilac powder or something. It twisted him up inside.

  And her lips….

  He pinned her there with his gaze, tension sizzling between them like bare electrical wires.

  She leaned in and her lips parted. “Right,” she said, lifting her bag onto her shoulder, sidestepping around him. “I’ll handle the big kid.”

  Michael stepped out of her way, raking the fingers of one hand over his short hair.

  Then he grasped her elbow.

  She jerked away. “Don’t touch me!”

  He let go like he’d touched a spark. “Sorry. I don’t know why I did that.”

  She glanced off. The tote dropped off her shoulder is a semi-gesture of defeat. Her eyes closed and for a moment she just stood there, gathering her wits, perhaps. He let her.

  “No. I’m sorry,” she said finally, her voice softer, looking at him now. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. That’s not me. It’s just that, oh, crap…”

  C’mon, Kate, you’re softening….

  “I mean…” She heaved a sigh. “If we’re going to do this, then let’s get things straight.” She moved to the desk and pulled out a calendar, all businesslike now. “When do you want to come in and on what days?” She didn’t look up, just stood with poised pencil, staring at the paper in front of her.

  “How about, say, Tuesdays and Thursdays at around, oh, two…two-fifteen?”

  “No. Exactly two o’clock,” she corrected. “That works best with the schedule. When do you want to start?”

  “Oh, this week. Or next.”

  “Next week, Tuesday, the twelfth.” Still not looking at him.

  “That’s good.”

  “Fine. I’ll see you then. Now, I’m going home.” She closed the calendar and picked up her things, then for the final time,
headed toward the door. She stood erect, head held high. But he knew that was a façade.

  “Wait!”

  She stopped in her tracks, slowly pivoted, and peered across the room. Her gazed skittered off to his left shoulder.

  “You didn’t tell me about the kid. What’s going on with him?”

  “You’re the expert. Why don’t you tell me?”

  Dammit, Kate, quit being so antagonistic. He still had a lot of work to do here. “Hey. I’m going to be part of your class, I need to know.”

  She met his gaze then, hard. She stood rigid and solid before him, even though he sensed her insides were shaking. She was flustered, tired, and more than a little agitated. Thing was, why?

  “He’s one messed up little kid,” she stated curtly, “with a lot of adult problems. Abused by his parents, alcohol addiction, defiant and scared. I don’t know what else.”

  She turned and left then, and Michael stood for a moment alone, in her classroom.

  Defiant and scared.

  Was she speaking about the kid, or herself?

  Chapter Four

  The walk home was short, a couple of blocks down from the school and then hang a left, but Danny took his good old time. He wasn’t all that eager to get there.

  Humph, what home? This place is no more a home than the one I had with my real parents. And that wasn’t nothing.

  They don’t care about me. Nobody ever cared about me. And that Mr. Elliston, all he acts like is that he wants to catch me at something. And I don’t like it, not one bit.

  Danny stared at the old two story in which he now lived. There were others there, too. That’s how Mrs. Elliston got her grocery money they said, taking in kids and stuff. He knew that they were probably half right. The big kids worked a lot to earn their keep, himself included, but when they turn eighteen, it’s over. The checks stop coming and you’re out on your butt.

  Wham!

  He thought of Mrs. Carpenter.

  Why wasn’t she angry? I’ve said some pretty ugly things. That usually does the trick with adults. But she’s too damn calm. If I’d talked like that to my mother, I would be packin’ my cheek full of ice by now to keep the swelling down. But she didn’t even get angry. Is she really trying to be nice? Or is she trying to make a fool out of me?