LOVE in a Small Town

by Janet Eaves

  Working together to reach a common goal was another objective. Kate was proud of achieving that task, more than any. She smiled as she looked over their handiwork.

  Every student painstakingly threaded needles, punched it through the layers of fabric and batting, and made the perfect little stitches so necessary to hold the quilt together. Even the boys were excited about it after a while. Seeing their large clumsy fingers fumble with the needle was heartwarming. She was proud of all of them, but especially so, of Danny.

  He had bloomed in a few short weeks.

  “Who gets to put in the last stitch?” Christen Campbell cried out.

  “Me! I want to,” others chorused.

  Soon there were as many excuses why some should do it as there were students. Kate finally put up her hands. “Okay, hold on…”

  “Wait!” Danny shouted above them all. “I know who should do it. Mrs. C.”

  All the students stopped and then shook their heads in agreement, not so surprised anymore of Danny’s speaking out in class. The past couple of weeks, he’d opened up and was making a couple of friends.

  He was right, they all agreed. Mrs. Carpenter should do it.

  Kate was surprised at Danny’s statement but pleased all the same. He had evolved some over the past weeks, not only in the DARE program, but in the regular classroom. Increasingly dependent on her, he was developing some sort of trust or bond with Michael, as well. It was good to see progress. She was glad for the boy’s sake.

  Even if she couldn’t get friendly with Michael Lehmann, she was glad that Danny could.

  Her students beamed as they anticipated her reaction. They had such dedication to this project, even though she kept a secret of what they would buy with the money when they sold it at the Fall Festival next weekend. It seemed odd that something as time-honored and traditional as a quilt might help them buy a new high-tech computer and software for their classroom. Kate felt they needed it to keep in step with the times.

  “We all should do it,” she said. “We have enough space for everyone to contribute one last stitch. I’ll make the first, then each of you in turn make one stitch, making sure to leave enough space for the rest of the class. Danny, you can make the last one.”

  She grinned, and for the first time since school started, he grinned back without hesitation.

  Kate stood back and watched as one by one they made the final stitches; the quilt was stretched tight across the quilting frame in the center of her room, desks pushed to the side in disarray. Bright and colorful, full of rich greens, reds, purples, and pinks, it was trimmed in a crisp, yellow calico border. There were hearts and flowers, puppies and clasped hands, among other symbols that represented friendship to each of them. Kate had to admit that it was beautiful. She hated to think about parting with it.

  A cheer went up as Danny brought the needle out the last time and carefully wove the thread through to anchor it as she had shown them. They all hugged and danced around the room, celebrating their accomplishment. Together they removed it from the frame and draped it over her desk, each student inspecting their own handiwork.

  She ran her fingers along the uneven stitches and let them rest on an appliqué in the lower right corner. A tremor rippled through her.

  Who did that patch? When? My God. How would she explain?

  “Nice work, kids.” The familiar male voice drifted over her shoulder. Quickly turning, she met Michael’s stare. Her hand covered the appliqué.

  Dammit! He didn’t need to see that. They’d been able to tolerate each other the past couple of weeks. She wanted to keep things on even keel.

  “Oh! It’s Tuesday!” She’d forgotten about him coming. “Boys and girls, let’s get the room back in shape. It’s time for DARE.”

  The students greeted Trooper Lehmann with their excitement about the project and told him of the crafts sale next weekend at the festival. Their voices clamored together as they moved desks and told him they didn’t know what Mrs. Carpenter was going to do with the money. It was a secret.

  Michael’s glimpse caught her eye over the heads of the children. An approving smile stretched across his face.

  She averted his gaze. “Students, we don’t want to keep Trooper Lehmann waiting.”

  His smile turned to a frown. Well, she couldn’t worry about his ego right now.

  She started folding the precious quilt. A large, helping hand brushed hers, sending pin-pricks of heat up her arm. Michael picked up the opposite corner. She sensed his stare as she finished the task, not looking at him. She kept a close eye on that one patch…

  They had shared the classroom for the past three weeks, but that didn’t mean she was comfortable around him. Truth be told, she was still ticked about the discussion of her dealing with Rob’s death.

  Gathering the quilt into her arms, she glanced his way and nodded, “Thank you,” she said, and then moved to sit at her desk, hoping he caught her signal to get started.

  He did.

  The worst part was though, that sitting behind her desk, she had the most glorious view of Trooper Michael Lehmann’s incredible backside. And even if she didn’t want to, she couldn’t help be drawn to the tautness of his back and shoulders, and the firm cup of muscle that made up his, um, tight little rear view.

  Okay, so it wasn’t like she wanted to be there, was it? She was sort of captive. She couldn’t leave the room—no, she had to be there. So, she sat behind him and listened. And watched. Occasionally glanced lower. Not really paying attention to that damn cute butt of his. Really, she wasn’t.

  Kate!

  Okay, so what if his muscles rippled under that brown uniform shirt, and with each movement of his arms, she found herself mesmerized by every motion? What if?

  Stay away from Michael Lehmann.

  The voice jumped out from nowhere and an icy chill ran through her. Dammit! For days she contemplated who had called, and why the mysterious caller wanted her away from Michael. She had no clue. She considered telling him, but decided against it.

  Likely, the call would not be repeated.

  Of course, the nightmares were still there. Way too often.

  Stop it. Don’t think about all that.

  She looked again at Michael’s butt. There, that was better. Get your mind off the caller and the nightmares. Think about sex.

  No, that wasn’t good, either.

  She squirmed and angled her chair to look at her class, then forced herself to stare at the wall and listen as Michael wrapped up a lesson on self-esteem, stressing to the students that there was no place in their lives for drugs or alcohol if they wanted to feel good about themselves.

  Okay, so far so good.

  She purposely looked to Danny, who was hanging on to Michael’s every word. Michael was good at drawing the boy into the discussion. She admired the way he did that. It was not so much like a teacher teaching a class, but like a friend having a conversation with friends. She was a little envious of the rapport he built with the class so quickly. It was something that sometimes took her weeks to attain, but he mastered it in only a few short sessions.

  “Students and teachers. May I have your attention?”

  Jerked out of her daydream state, she listened as Jim Hamilton dismissed the students for the day. She stood as he continued, “…and don’t forget the Legend Fall Festival next weekend. Remind your parents to sign up to work at the school booths. Have a good evening.” With that, he dismissed them.

  Kate stood and nodded to her students. Michael stood at the door, patting shoulders and saying goodbye to each child as they left. Danny, always the last to leave, gave Kate a swift wave and then came up beside Michael. His arm went around the boy’s shoulder as they rounded the corner and walked down the hall.

  She was glad for Danny. He needed attention and was glad Michael could give it. His foster father left a lot to be desired, she had learned, and Danny needed a male role model. The fact that Michael was a police officer was hopeful. He needed to gain
trust in adults again. She couldn’t be more pleased that it was Michael he had latched on to, but she liked to think that perhaps she might have a hand in that also.

  Glancing down, she focused on the quilt laying on the desk. It was beautiful, even if she did say so herself. She spread it out again admiring her students’ work. A warm feeling of accomplishment flooded through her. Gently, she ran her hand over the smooth, cotton appliqués with the embroidered names of each student underneath. Her hand came to rest on Danny’s patch, still feeling uncomfortable with it.

  “Kate, it’s beautiful!” Patti stepped up behind her. “No wonder you’ve been keeping this a secret. You didn’t want to show us up. This makes my pot holders look sick. How in the world did you get those kids to work like that?”

  She swiped a tear from her eye with her fingertip. “Oh, I don’t know. I guess they’re just a special bunch of kids.”

  “They’ve got a special teacher,” Michael interrupted. Kate hastily pulled at the quilt.

  “Yes, they do,” Patti agreed, then gave Kate a glance. Her eyes widened as they made a trail from the tip of Michael’s honey-brown head to the toes of his spit-shined shoes, as if she were inspecting a hunk of meat she was about to buy.

  Kate wished Patti knew how ridiculous she looked.

  Reading Patti’s signal, she said, “Oh, sorry. Patti, this is Michael Lehmann. He’s the officer working on the DARE program. Michael, Patti Baker.”

  Patti held out her hand and Michael took it. “Nice to finally meet you… Michael,” she breathed. “I’ve noticed you across the hall for a couple of weeks now, but it seems Kate wants to keep you to herself.”

  Kate shot her a look that she suspected Patti instantly knew what it meant.

  “I mean,” she stepped up closer. “I…I wondered when you were getting around to the rest of us? You know, spread the wealth?” One corner of her mouth went up and she cocked her head to the side. “Or is that, spread the love.”

  Kate sighed. Michael chuckled and Patti smiled back like an adolescent with over-active hormones. She wanted to gag.

  “You can let go of his hand now,” Kate said dryly. I can’t believe it. I’m jealous.

  Patti’s gaze dropped to their hands and she let his go. “Oh! My goodness. I’m sorry.” Her hands fluttered to her neck and she stepped backward. “Kate, I’ll talk to you later. I’ve got a zillion things to do before I leave.”

  She watched her go. “All right. I’ll call you later.”

  “Yes. Call me.” She made a gesture with her thumb and pinky at her ear, gave Kate an intense look, and tilted her head toward Michael. Then she was gone.

  They were alone, without a room full of preadolescent kids and a man-crazy Patti. Michael’s presence was overpowering and she had a hard time ignoring the tightening sensation in the center of her body. She also didn’t quite know what to do with her hands. Tension hung thick as fog on a Smoky mountain river.

  “She’s a character.”

  “That’s an understatement.” She sniggered.

  “A good friend?”

  “Yeah. The best.”

  “Then I like her.”

  She squared a look at Michael. Why would he like her just because Patti was her best friend? “We’ve known each other for years.”

  “Someday I hope we can say that about each other.”

  Shit.

  Her fingers fluttered across her desk, clutching at the quilt again. A gnawing sensation gathered in the pit of her stomach. Michael’s watching her every move was making her extremely nervous.

  Finally he eased her pain by changing the subject. “Kate, the quilt idea is great. What are you going to buy with the money?”

  Thankful for the turn, she explained about the craft booth and the computer. “We need to boost our classroom into the twenty-first century,” she said. It wasn’t what she wanted to say.

  They both fumbled around for a few more seconds. Her palms were sweaty, and now that he was standing right there in front of her, she couldn’t look him in the face.

  Why am I doing this to myself?

  Michael turned toward the door. “Well. Guess I’d better be going.” He took one step forward and turned sharply back on his heel. “When is this festival?”

  She relaxed. “Saturday. The school booth will be set up all day, but the auction is around six-thirty, on Main Street, near the Town Hall.”

  “Good. Maybe we… maybe I’ll see you then.”

  “Won’t you be here Thursday?”

  “Of course… I thought, well, I guess you’ll be busy most of the week.”

  “Oh, yes. I’ve got to work most of Saturday at the booth.”

  “Okay, well, if it’s all right, I’ll come by. Maybe we can grab a soda or something.”

  She took a deep breath and waited before answering. “Michael…?” she whispered.

  But he left before she had a chance to reply.

  Chapter Nine

  On Thursday, while her students were in music class, Kate sat at her desk grading papers, surprised at what she was seeing. The day before, she arranged for some one-on-one tutoring for Danny, in an attempt to catch him up to speed. She met with Bill Alexander, a retired teacher who volunteered his time at the school, to give him Danny’s work for the next three days. Having sent plenty, she figured they would be busy for some time.

  But Danny completed every assignment and more. Every Math, Reading, Science and Social Studies assignment was complete.

  “There’s no way.” Kate shook her head in disbelief. Either Danny was smarter than she thought or Bill was fudging and helping him a little too much with his work. She knew how bored Bill got stuck in that room all day and sometimes he couldn’t resist “helping out,” as he liked to call it. Which in turn was more like doing it. Well, she’d have to find out.

  Located in the basement, the tutoring room was isolated from the rest of the school, tucked into a small room next to the teacher’s lounge and copy room. The book storage room and the PTO president’s office were close by.

  At the bottom of the steps, she rounded a corner and immediately heard shouting.

  “I didn’t take it!” That was Danny.

  “I want it back, now!” That was Bill.

  Oh no.

  Picking up speed, she entered the room in time to see Danny, red-faced and angry, standing nose-to-nose with a purple-faced and fuming, Bill Alexander. Both their voices raised, their faces animated.

  “Now, Danny. I want it back now!”

  “And I told you…”

  Kate stepped up. “Whoa. What’s going on here?”

  At the sound of her voice, Danny’s body swirled. “I didn’t take it, Mrs. C. I swear, the old man’s crazy. I didn’t take it.” Danny’s voice pitched higher with each statement.

  Kate looked into Danny’s eyes and then turned her gaze on Bill. “What happened?”

  Bill let his hands drop from his hips and exhaled deeply. “The kid stole my wallet, Kate. He had to. He and I have been the only two in here all day. It’s gone and he had to do it.”

  Kate’s surprised gaze returned to Danny.

  “Uh-uh, don’t look at me like that.” He stepped two steps backward.

  “I’m not accusing you Danny. Let’s talk about this.”

  He backed up another three steps. “Nothing to talk about. I didn’t do it. If you don’t believe me, then I can’t help that.”

  “I didn’t say I don’t believe you.” Kate counter-stepped him and drew closer. “I said we need to discuss this.”

  “But I told you…”

  “Don’t listen to him, Kate. Had to be him. No one else in the room.”

  Kate turned to Bill, a little agitated with his interruption. “Okay, Bill, you’ve said that already. But how do you really know?”

  “He don’t.” Danny glared at Bill.

  The older man returned the glare, almost as belligerent as the child.

  “I laid it on the desk this morning. I got
that bad back, you know, and it hurts to sit on the wallet, so I took it out and laid it on the desk. I went to the restroom and came back, and it was gone. He was the only one in the room.”

  Kate shook her head. “Not smart, Bill.” Then she turned back to Danny. “Well?”

  The boy’s face turned crimson. His head shook back and forth and Kate could see tension building in the tendons in his neck. This kid’s about to blow.

  “Danny…” Her voice softened.

  He shouted. “You believe him, don’t you? Everyone always believes the adults, never the kid. I can’t believe you don’t believe me.”

  “But Danny, you were the…”

  “Yeah, the only one. Well, I didn’t do it!” With that final plea, he turned and fled the room.

  Before Kate could react, he was up the stairs. “I’ll get him,” she directed to Bill over her shoulder. “You look for your wallet.” She took off but by the time she reached the top of the stairs, she caught only a glimpse of Danny’s back and a flash of daylight as he pushed through the exit doors.

  I don’t have time for this!

  Glancing at her watch, she plunged through the door after him. She had twenty minutes until her students arrived back in class. I’ll never find him.

  Shooting her gaze in all directions, her eyes widened.

  “Michael?”

  He stood beside his cruiser, struggling with a scrambling, flailing, yelling Danny. She jogged toward them.

  “Lemme go you stupid bastard!”

  “Oh, dear,” Kate muttered.

  “Stop kicking me, Danny, or I’ll have to throw you in the back and cuff you,” Michael returned, angry.

  “I don’t think so!”

  Both man and boy stopped struggling at the sound of Kate’s voice. He released Danny. They stood side by side facing her.

  “I’m trying to calm him down.”

  Hands on hips, she stared at the Trooper. “Oh, and I’m sure if a uniformed officer told me he’d throw me in the back of a police car and cuff me, I’d calm down. Sure. Makes sense.” Especially if I’m innocent. She glanced at Danny whose surprised look made her want to giggle. She returned to Michael, not changing her facial expression. “He’s not one of your drug offenders. He’s a child.”