Her First Vacation

by Leigh, Jennie

  They had a party on the final day before Christmas break. In elementary, they had parties for just about every possible occasion. The children exchanged gifts with each other. Most of them brought a present for her as well. It was the same thing every year. Some parents bought gifts for their children to give her while others made things. It meant she always went home with a stunningly eclectic mix that might include anything from a customized coffee mug, to a Christmas tree ornament made from a pinecone, some glitter, and a piece of string. She cherished each and every gift. When she’d lived at home, she’d decorated her room with the trinkets her children had given her over the years. Now her entire apartment was dotted with items from her children. Expensive and handcrafted, they all got equal respect, silent reminders of the lives she had touched.

  Today, school would get out early. They should have gone a full day, but there was a cold front coming through this afternoon, and the decision had been made to send the children home early instead of risking getting caught in a sudden snowstorm. They were about to go home for Christmas break anyway. Everyone knew no one would be doing anything important today. So as lunchtime rolled around, Claire helped her children gather their things into their packs. She bundled them into their coats and mittens, then laughed as the bell finally rang, and they all screeched with glee. She walked to the front door of the school, watching as her class dispersed to their various buses. She waved at them as they took their seats, unconsciously dodging the other youngsters that scrambled through the cold to get to their buses. Finally, the elementary was empty, except for the few children who were lucky enough to have parents that picked them up. Claire was watching the buses pull away when she felt someone move up behind her. She turned to look up into the gaze of the assistant principal.

  “Another Christmas. It amazes me how quickly they get here. Before you know it, we’ll be taking spring break and then, it’ll be summer again.”

  Claire nodded. “I know. When the year starts, it always seems like there’s so far to go and then, suddenly, it’s over, and I’m left feeling like I was caught up in some kind of whirlwind that moved through time in the blink of an eye.”

  He laughed. “Thirty-five little whirlwinds is more like it.”

  Claire smiled. “I did choose elementary.” She pulled her face into a mock frown. “What was I thinking?”

  They both laughed, until a cold burst of wind caused Claire to shiver suddenly. He reached out to touch her.

  “It’s too cold to be out here without your coat.”

  She felt it, then. She heard it. The interest in his eyes was unmistakable. She felt an instinctual urge to back away, but told herself not to. Derrick Chalmers was a good man. A steady, decent man. He was in education because he truly cared about children. He understood her passion for her work, and he admired it. All in all, he was exactly the kind of man she should be looking for. The perfect prospective husband and father. They’d gone out a few times. Had dinner and coffee and talked about work and countless other things. She liked him a great deal. She respected him. So why, she silently screamed at herself, didn’t she want him?

  He put his arm around her, and she let him pull her to his side and shelter her from the cold. She could feel his warmth, smell the scent of his aftershave. He was handsome enough that more than a few of the women at the school, single and otherwise, had shown obvious interest in him. There was even a hint of something in his eyes when he looked at her that suggested he might know enough about a woman’s body to give her pleasure if she ever allowed him to really touch her. She just couldn’t understand why she didn’t snatch him up while she had the chance. She shivered again, and Derrick nodded toward the door.

  “Come on. The kids are all gone, and we should be too. It’s Christmas break, for heaven’s sake. Time to go home and kick back for a few days before getting back into the grind again.”

  She smiled up at him. “Careful or I might begin to think you don’t love your job.”

  He grinned. “Wouldn’t want to give you the wrong impression. You know I love having five hundred children underfoot all day. Along with a thousand parents and a few thousand grandparents and all their aunts and uncles and cousins and-”

  She cut him off with a laugh. “All right, all right. I get the picture. You need a break as much as the kids do.”

  He turned, his arm still around her shoulders, and opened the door. “What I need is a nice bottle of wine, some soft music, and someone to share it with.” They were stepping across the threshold as he spoke. “Care to join me?”

  Claire lifted her gaze to his and felt a rush of something very close to anger. Damn Colin for touching her so deeply. He’d made it impossible for her to look at any other man objectively. She told herself to accept Derrick’s invitation. He wasn’t just asking her to share his wine, she knew. He was hoping she’d agree to share his bed. He’d certainly made no secret of the fact that he was attracted to her. What made it all the more terrible for her was that he’d been friendly with her even before she’d made her stunning transformation from shabby to chic. He’d even asked her to have coffee with him once the year before. She’d been so stunned by the offer, that she’d refused him outright without even considering he might actually want to spend some time with her. So here she stood with a good man asking her for something she knew she couldn’t give him. She drew a slow breath.

  “Derrick-“

  He shook his head. “You don’t have to say it. I can see the answer in your eyes.”

  She felt her face pull down into a frown. “I’m sorry, really I am. I like you. A lot. But I just can’t let it go any further.”

  He nodded, his eyes full of understanding she knew she didn’t really deserve. Finally, he lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. He bent forward and lightly brushed his lips against hers, then pulled back and gave her a genuine, if somewhat sad smile.

  “I hope he appreciates what he has in you.”

  She frowned. “Who?”

  “The man who holds the keys to your heart.”

  She was momentarily too stunned to say anything. She felt the tightness in her throat and the moisture gathering in her eyes. She blinked quickly to clear the tears before they could even form. She forced herself to shake her head.

  “I’m afraid he doesn’t.”

  “Then he’s a damned idiot.”

  Claire could only nod. “Yes, I believe he is.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Colin forced his hands to loosen their grip on the steering wheel before he left permanent indentions in the leather. He didn’t even bother to tell his jaw to unclench. There was no point in asking for the impossible. He should have known better than to think he could just walk back into Claire’s life after five months and find her waiting for him like some faithful little dog. Not for the first time, he cursed his own stupidity and stubbornness. For five months he’d fought to forget her, to pretend that he wasn’t dying a little bit every day that he was away from her. He’d quit his job, over much resistance. He was the best, they said. No one could get as close as he could. They’d give him more money, more time off, whatever he wanted if he’d just stay. Through it all, the only thing he could think about was how much he hated being a career liar. He was sick to death of never being honest with anyone and more than a little queasy at the thought that Claire had somehow reached past all the lies and found the truth.

  In her bed that night, she’d touched his soul. She’d forced him to love her the way a man is supposed to love a woman. Honest and raw and pure. No lies, no pretense. Try as he might, he couldn’t make himself forget it, either. No amount of alcohol wiped her from his mind, and forget other women. He’d tried. After three months of cold showers and hot dreams, he’d finally ordered himself to get out and find another woman. Any woman who might somehow take his mind off Claire, even for a few minutes. He’d gotten drunk enough to take the edge off his inhibitions and set his sights on a pretty little blonde who was built like a Playboy cent
erfold. The closest he got to her, though, was a kiss. A single touch of their lips, and he’d had to push her away. Because she had too much skill with her lips and teeth and tongue. She’d practiced the art of seduction, and it turned his stomach. He walked out of the bar only minutes later, his body tight and hard with the memory of Claire’s innocently erotic responses to him.

  It had taken him another two months to finally admit that he couldn’t keep going like he was. He had to go see her. To tell her he was sorry for the way he’d acted. Hell, maybe he’d even come there to tell her that he loved her. As he’d driven into the school parking lot, he wasn’t sure what he intended to say. And then, the bell had rung, catching him by surprise even before he could get out of his car. The school buses lined up in front of the building should have clued him in, but he’d been too lost in his own world to realize what they meant. He’d watched as hundreds of screaming, laughing kids streamed out the doors and onto the buses. He’d been watching them, feeling an odd crush of emotion on his chest, when he saw her step through the door. After that he couldn’t do anything but stare.

  She was more beautiful than he remembered, if that was possible. Her hair was pulled back from her face, held in place by clips, but it fell free down her back. She wore a pair of charcoal gray slacks that made her legs look like they went on forever and a bright red sweater that boasted an embroidered Christmas tree on the front. She looked like the teacher she was. Still, he felt heat and hunger slam into him with so much force that it made him dizzy. She was laughing as she waved to some of the children. He watched as she wrapped her arms around herself against the cold that she didn’t even seem to consciously feel. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold or her laughter, he didn’t know which. All he knew for certain was that he’d never wanted anything in the world more than he wanted to run to her. He was reaching for the door handle when the man walked up behind her.

  He stood too close, invading her personal space with a casualness that set Colin’s teeth on edge. She turned and smiled up at him, and the annoyance turned to something darker. With each second that passed, Colin felt himself tensing up. Each smile they shared, each laugh seemed to tighten the coil of anger inside him. Then the man put his arm around Claire’s shoulders, and she let him. She didn’t pull away, didn’t act like it made her uncomfortable. As quickly as the anger had come, it vanished, leaving the tension behind. He watched as they walked back into the building, clenched his jaw tightly as the man kissed her. Then sat there, staring at the place they’d stood after they’d both walked away.

  He’d lost her. He’d been a stupid, idiotic fool, and he’d lost her to another man. A man who clearly worked at the school. Another teacher. Someone who could share her love of education and children. Someone who would give her the nice, safe, secure life Colin knew she deserved. They made an attractive couple. He was as tall as Colin, in good shape. They’d have attractive children together.

  Instantly the anger returned. No, not anger. Jealousy. Dark and ugly and too powerful to be denied. He wanted Claire for himself. He wanted to give her the babies he knew she craved. He wanted to be the one she shared her dreams and problems with. He wanted to be the one she wrapped her long legs around every night. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel again as teachers began to slowly filter out of the building. He’d been a fool to let her go. He knew that now. But he knew he wasn’t going to just walk away this time. Even if she had another man in her life. Colin would just have to convince her that he was the man for her. He could do it. He’d seen the way the other man kissed her. Chaste and restrained. Their lips had barely touched before he was pulling away. Colin knew Claire wanted more than that. She deserved more. Beneath those conservative wool pants and that cheerful sweater he’d be willing to bet she was still wearing her sexy lingerie. She was a passionate woman who’d never be happy with any man who didn’t have enough passion to match her. Colin felt a grim smile touch his mouth as he reached to start the car and pull out of the lot. Passion was the one thing he knew he had plenty of.

  Claire stood in the middle of her bedroom, surveying her appearance in the full-length mirror mounted to the inside of her closet door. The dress was a deep burgundy. It hugged her body tightly enough to show her contours without being tastelessly revealing. The short bolero jacket would keep the cold from bothering her on her trip from her car to the house. The slit up the side was just high enough to show a nice flash of leg when she walked. Her hair was loose, falling around her shoulders in soft curls. She’d considered putting it up, but had decided not to bother. The party wasn’t that formal.

  She felt a sigh building in her chest as she found herself considering, again, calling up her mother and begging off. She didn’t want to go to a party tonight. She’d been looking forward to it for weeks, but now she just wanted to curl up with a good book and pretend she wasn’t wishing Colin was by her side. For years she’d skirted the fringes of her mother’s parties. She’d watched all the people in their beautiful clothes as they laughed and danced and ignored her as if she didn’t even exist. She’d hidden herself in the kitchen, playing the role of organizer so that everything ran perfectly. This was the first time she was truly going to be a part of the festivities. It was, in short, a long time fantasy come true. And she didn’t care. If she never went to another party as long as she lived, she didn’t care. She felt her eyes fill with tears and let them fall this time. It was Christmas, her favorite holiday of the year, and the only thing she really wanted was the one thing she knew she could never have.

  Colin nearly didn’t stop when he saw the cluster of cars dotting the drive leading to the home Claire shared with her mother and sister. Obviously, they were entertaining. Just as obvious was the fact that what he had to say to Claire wasn’t something to be discussed in front of an audience. She wouldn’t appreciate him making a scene in front of her family and friends. But he couldn’t make himself keep driving. He’d damn near gone insane in the few hours that had passed since he’d seen her at the school. He had no way of knowing how serious her relationship with the other man was. A big party like this was just the sort of place some men would think a proposal would be romantic. Colin couldn’t handle the thought that she might actually say yes to the potential proposal. Rationally, he knew he was making some crazy leaps, but there was just enough chance that they might be right to make his palms sweat. So he pulled his car in behind the last car in line along the curb and got out into the snow-flecked dusk.

  He walked up to the front door and heard the sound of music coming from inside. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was as he lifted his hand to ring the doorbell. He was trying to figure out what he’d say when the door was pulled open and he was faced with a curvaceous blue-eyed blonde who gave him a smile bright enough to blind him. Her gaze slid over him intimately, before coming back to his face and the smile turned instantly inviting.

  “Well, I don’t know who you are, but I certainly hope you’re in the right place.”

  Colin couldn’t quite manage to make himself return the smile. There was a definite predatory gleam in the woman’s eyes, and he had no intention of encouraging her in the least.

  “Is this the Abernathy house?”

  Her smile widened. “You are here on purpose!” She reached out and grabbed his arm, dragging him into the house before he could say anything else. She was slipping her arm through his when another female walked into the foyer. He blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the similarity of the newcomer to the woman clinging to his arm. They had the same eyes, the same hair, the same killer smile and generous curves. On closer inspection, he guessed the newcomer was older. Quite a bit older, though she held her age very well. She gave the woman at his side a sly smile.

  “Why you devious little minx. You’ve been holding out on me.”

  Colin immediately began to shake his head, but the woman at his side spoke up.

  “No, I simply got here first. He was just standing out there on the stoop
like some early gift from Santa.”

  The older woman’s gaze lifted to him. “And who is this magnificent gift?”

  The younger woman shrugged. “Who cares? I just intend to enjoy him.”

  It hit Colin right at that moment that he knew who this woman was. Diane. Claire had mentioned her to him. This was Claire’s sister. Which meant the other woman must be her mother. A thousand different little pieces suddenly fell into place in his head. Things he’d seen hinted at in Claire’s gaze when she spoke of her sister and mother made instant sense. The woman at his side was pure seductress, a talent he suspected she’d learned from her mother. They were beautiful women who no doubt were accustomed to using their beauty to get whatever they liked. These were the people Claire had been raised with. These, he suddenly understood, were the people who’d helped to convince her she was somehow inferior.

  The truth was, she didn’t look anything like her sister and mother. They were fair and built with the kinds of curves men no doubt drooled over. Hell, if he were being honest, he’d have to admit that before Claire had turned his world upside down, he’d have taking more than a second look if this pair had walked into the room. They had the kind of sly wisdom in their eyes that made a man feel like they would probably rock his world if he could just get close enough to them. And maybe they could. Beside them, Claire would stand out in too many ways to count. He didn’t have to work hard to imagine what her life must have been like living in their shadows.