by Karey White
She straightened her shoulders, determined to forget about the principal and focus on her students. “Okay, take out your pens. We’re going to practice writing sonnets.”
Chapter Two
Dane walked into the faculty lounge. As always, his gaze scanned for Julie. She had her back to him, her long, golden hair curling about her shoulders, as she talked to the history teacher, Clive Hansen. As usual, her hands flew in the air as she spoke. Whatever she said was apparently fascinating, because the man couldn’t take his gaze off her.
Dane understood, because he had the same problem. She made it too easy. She never looked in his direction anymore, which allowed him to look his fill.
Dane cleared his throat. “Okay, folks, let’s call this meeting to order.”
Karen McDonald, his super-efficient secretary, hurried forward to give him the agenda.
As everyone took a seat around the oval table, he laid the sheet of paper in front of him and scanned the list of items to discuss. One was the fundraiser Julie was in charge of. Once he brought it up, she’d have to talk to him directly. It immediately went to the top of the list.
“Okay, everyone. It’s time to talk about the fundraiser. Julie, I believe you’re in charge this year, so I’ll turn the time over to you.”
As usual, Julie’s gaze slid away from his as she stood. She looked nervous, her beautiful, heart-shaped face serious as she looked around at the other teachers. She cleared her throat. “As many of you know, we’ve been doing the same tired old fundraisers for years. Specifically, selling candy bars and wrapping paper. The kids have come up with some new ideas this year that I think you’ll all be excited about. It’s something that’s never been done before, and the kids are ready and willing to step up to make it a success.”
She cleared her throat again. “As you all know, I teach honors English. We’ve been reviewing great love letters in history.”
Dane couldn’t help it. He flinched as Julie looked his direction, her brown eyes wide and vulnerable. She straightened her shoulders, and her cheeks pinked before she looked away.
Dane tried to keep his expression, blank. But love letters? Really? After what had happened between the two of them?
She took a deep breath. “Anyway, the kids came up with the great idea of writing and selling love letters at lunchtime in the commons. It will give them a chance to use their writing skills, and we think it could really take off with the student body.”
“Wait,” Dane said, holding up a hand.
She didn’t so much as glance his direction. “We could sell generic love letters in bulk and personalized love letters for a higher price. We plan to call them all love letters, but they could also be personalized notes of appreciation for parents, friends, or teachers, too. Some will be in poetry.”
Dane could see teachers around the table shaking their heads in disapproval.
“We realize that the possibility exists that some letters could be given in jest,” Julie spoke faster. “But I trust my students not to cross any lines, and I think this will be a good experience—”
Dane stood. “No.”
Julie straightened. “But the kids are really excited about it.”
“While I appreciate the fact that you’ve put a lot of thought into this—”
“Not me! The kids. Believe it or not, this wasn’t my idea at all.”
He sat back down. He didn’t believe it. Not for a second. What he believed was that she came here to beleaguer, harass, and otherwise torture him. If that was her agenda, she was succeeding. “Be that as it may, I see too many problems associated with the idea.”
Her eyes narrowed. “For instance?”
He tapped his index finger on the table. He really wished he could give her what she wanted. He wished she’d look at him with gratitude rather than with anger. “Hurt feelings. Bullying. Kids sending love letters to other kids in a mean-spirited way.” He considered keeping his mouth closed, then changed his mind. “Or, someone who isn’t ready for something as big as a heartfelt love letter coming his or her way and unintentionally hurting the sender’s feelings.”
Julie glared at him from across the table; hopefully she’d received the message. He’d never been able to smooth things over with her after he’d reacted so horribly, and taking the chance now, in a room full of people, ensured that she’d actually hear him.
She laid one clenched fist on the table. “I think the kids may surprise you if you’d give this a chance.”
“They’ll have to surprise me in other ways. Like in how much money they make. We’re planning for the proceeds to buy a Wolverine sign to place on the outside wall of the gym. The seniors are really excited about it. If we use a tried and true formula, we can pretty much count on making the $3,000 needed for the sign. If we do an untried and untested fundraiser, it could end up being a flop, and we won’t have the money when we need it.”
“It won’t flop.”
“It could. You can’t guarantee it. I say we go with chocolate bars.”
Julie took a deep breath. “I say we take a vote. And keep in mind my honors English class will be completely disappointed if this isn’t approved. So who’s for the love letters?”
Most faculty members looked away, and only one, Julie’s best friend, Kayla Stone, raised a hand in support.
As Julie’s mouth tightened, Dane found himself feeling sorry for her and wanting to comfort her. Not that he would or could in the circumstances.
“Are you kidding me?” She lifted a hand into the air. “Come on. Do we really want to send these kids the message that creativity is not to be encouraged? How are they supposed to feel when I go back and tell them that it’s going to be candy bars again? How can I face them?”
Dane shrugged. “By telling them that sometimes playing it safe will help them reach their goals?”
Julie placed her palms on the table and leaned toward him. “Fine, but there are two parts to this, and the second one involves you personally. Are you going to disappoint them twice?”
Dane sighed as he looked over at Julie, who was quivering with passion, and he really hoped he could give her the second part of what she was asking for. “Okay, let’s have it. What is it?”
“You said yourself that the kids usually make about $3,000 on these fundraisers, right? Well, they came up with a plan to help sell the love letters—”
“Candy bars,” he said.
“Fine, candy bars. If we sell $5,000’s worth of candy bars—”
The math teacher snorted. Julie glared at the man and Dane was glad her ire was raised at someone else for the moment. But he had to admit he agreed with Scott. No way could they raise that much in four weeks.
“Yes?” Dane prompted. “If your fundraiser makes $5,000…”
“Then you’ll shave your head at the Valentine’s dance.”
Dane’s brows rose. He chuckled. “Shave my head? No way. It’s January. I’d freeze.”
“In Southern Utah? You’ll be fine. Besides, it would give the students the motivation to sell more candy bars.” She stressed the last two words.
He shook his head. “Forget it. Chalk the whole thing up to a bad idea.”
“According to you, they won’t possibly sell that many candy bars anyway. You implied that $3,000 is their limit. What do you have to lose?”
“My hair.”
Laughter filled the room. He’d be tempted to agree if he didn’t think the reason she wanted him to shave his head was because she wanted payback. He knew good and well what this was really about. When she’d written him that cursed flowery, eloquent letter six months ago he’d thought she was joking and laughed. Only when he’d looked up to see her watching him across the commons, her expression devastated, had he realized she’d been sincere.
“Fine,” said Julie. “I’m sure the kids will be surprised at your lack of support.” She finally sat down.
Dane took a breath. “Okay, next on the agenda.” As the meeting continued, he tried
his best not to look at Julie smoldering at the other end of the table.
When the room started clearing, she was the first to gather her things. He considered calling her back and trying to talk to her alone but knew it wouldn’t do any good.
She was as unforgiving as she was beautiful. And he needed to come up with something better than a short talk in his office if he was ever going to win her back.
Chapter Three
Dane looked over at his friend Chad, realized he was almost done folding his parachute, and pressed his own against the picnic table to make sure all the air was out of his next fold. He looked up at the empty sky. “Where’s the plane?”
Chad shrugged. “I talked to Jerry this morning. He should be here anytime. Did you bring your gloves?”
“I did.” The weather wasn’t too bad. A clear day, mid-forties, in January was certainly bearable. Having grown up in Minnesota, he found Southern Utah practically balmy. But when they made the jump out of a plane at 12,000 feet above ground level, it would be freezing. Fortunately the adrenaline rush would offset some of the cold.
“So what’s new on the Julie front?”
“Don’t ask.”
Chad lifted his head, blue eyes amused, brown hair lifting slightly in the breeze. “Come on. I’m asking. I really want to know.”
“She wants me to shave my head.”
“What? And then she’ll take your sorry butt back again?”
“We were never a couple, so she can’t exactly take me back, can she? Not that getting together was ever on the table. If it were, I’d shave my head today, tattoo it with her name, and walk in a Speedo down Main. Bluff Street too, if she wanted. But, no. I think the humiliation factor is all Julie is thinking about here. She wrapped it up in a fundraiser. If we make so much money will you shave your head? She thinks it’ll inspire the kids or some such crap.”
Chad was laughing by this point. “Oh, man. That sucks. She’s never going to forgive you, is she? Hearing stuff like that makes it scary to date these days. You never know if you’re going to end up with a psycho or not, you know?”
“Julie is not a psycho. She’s the furthest thing from it. She’s passionate, that’s all.”
“Yeah,” Chad said doubtfully. “I guess. But still. Her writing you that love letter and all… then not talking to you when you didn’t give her back your heart on a platter or something. I’m just sayin’.”
Dane finished packing his parachute and looked up so he could glare. “Sayin’ what?”
“I’m just sayin’ get online, find a date, and forget about Julie. Or better yet, let me set you up on a blind date. It’ll be fun.”
“I’m still holding out hope that she’ll change her mind and decide I’m one of the good guys.”
“Dude. Wake up. She already did change her mind about you. She liked you, and now she doesn’t. Anyway, you weren’t even that into her when she wrote that letter.”
He checked his gear again. “I wasn’t sure how I felt back then. I was confused. It’s not easy to admit that there may be only one girl in the world for you when the world is full of them.”
“And now you know?”
“Now I know.”
“Because of her letter?”
“Among other things.”
“Like what?”
Dane shrugged. Her hair, her face, her curvy figure, the passionate way she attacked life. Everything about her appealed to him. He thought about the cat currently taking up space in his house. Five months ago, as a kitten, it was supposed to have gone to Julie. It was meant to soften her heart. When she’d refused to accept it, or anything from him, he should have gotten rid of the thing. But in his mind, it was still Julie’s cat, and as soon as she forgave him, he’d try giving it to her again.
A soft buzzing turned out to be the airplane they’d been waiting for, and they turned to watch as it descended, finally landing on the short tarmac near the Hurricane, Utah, sign.
“Let’s go,” Chad said.
Dane finished strapping on his gear and zipped his jumpsuit. He checked his shoelaces, popped in a breath mint to avoid cotton mouth, and picked up his pack and helmet. He grinned. “Let’s do this.”
As they walked out, Jerry hopped out of the small airplane and greeted them with a firm handshake. “You boys ready?”
“Ready,” they both agreed.
Jerry helped stow their gear. Chad climbed into the plane, and Dane followed.
Once they were settled, Chad asked, “Do you still have it? Her letter?”
“Yes,” he said, as Jerry climbed back inside, did a check, and guided the plane toward the far side of the runway.
“You ever going to let me read it?”
Dane shook his head. “Not on your life.”
“Must have been some letter. Have you ever considered the fact that pining for Julie is your way of staying out of the dating game? Playing it safe? I mean, I get it. It can be a total drag doing that first meet and greet and trying to come up with something to say.”
Dane turned to look at his friend. “Are you saying I’m playing it safe? You do realize I’m about to jump out of an airplane, right?”
Chad grinned and slapped Dane on the back. “Dude, seriously. Even I know that risking your life is way easier than risking your heart.”
As the airplane rose into the air, Dane looked out the window. Was that what he was doing, staying safely in bachelor mode by pinning his hopes on a girl who wouldn’t have him?
He shook his head to clear it. Maybe it was time for him to take this game he was playing with Julie to the next level. Find out if there really was anything there, and if there wasn’t, admit it was time to move on.
Chapter Four
Julie was running a bit late. In fact, she was a little reluctant about facing her class today. To make things worse, when she finally walked into honors English, the kids, half of them sitting on top of their desks, were already in a heated discussion.
She moved to stand in front of her own desk. “What’s up?”
Evan straightened from a slouch. “We heard that Principal Parker says we can’t write love notes. It’s not like we were dying to anyway. It’s just that we want to make some real money.”
Julie slowly set her book bag beside her chair, giving herself time to think. She straightened. “Kids, I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I went to bat for you, but he refused.”
“Is he still going to shave his head if we sell a lot of candy bars?” Hannah asked.
Julie shook her head. “No. He’s not going to do that. Again, I’m sorry.” She looked at their disappointed faces and wished there was something she could do.
“What exactly did he say?” Caleb asked.
Julie shrugged. “He just said no. He didn’t give a reason.” She tried to keep her face carefully neutral, because she was afraid she might look guilty. She felt guilty. While she couldn’t know for sure, she suspected that she might be part of the reason he’d refused. No doubt after she’d humiliated herself in front of him six months ago, he considered her some kind of crazy person. He probably wouldn’t do anything she wanted for fear she’d fall for him again.
Which I won’t.
But for him to take her sins out on the students? She really hoped she was wrong. Maybe he just had a bad case of vanity.
“But if all we get to do is sell candy bars, we still want to motivate kids to buy them.” Jae, who rarely spoke, shook his head in disgust. “We want this fundraiser to go on record as being the best. The one that classes coming after us try to beat.”
The others murmured in agreement.
“Oh.” She smiled at their competitiveness. All of them were straight-A students with several honors classes. Rivalry was apparently part of their makeup. “That’s an admirable goal. Since the love letter idea has been nixed, why don’t we try to set a record with the candy bars? I like it. I’ll do anything I can to help.”
“Ms. Ashburn,” Jae spoke up again. “That’s fi
ne and whatever, but in my last school, the principal shaved his head at the end of the fundraiser, and we earned a ton of money. Why won’t Principal Parker do the same? Believe me, it’ll get more kids buying. Can’t you talk to him again?”
Julie looked over the expectant faces and wished she could do something. Finally, she bit her lip and shook her head. “I really am sorry, but the principal was pretty adamant.”
The kids looked angry and disgusted. Julie drew in a breath, then then slowly released it. She picked up her book. “Okay, let’s get some work done. Please open your books to the section on Elizabeth Barrett Browning.”
A series of groans went around the room, and the kids were slow about doing it, but eventually everyone took their seats and opened their books.
It was a shame about the fundraiser. These really were good kids. Was it possible that now that Dane had a chance to think about it, to get used to the idea— he’d change his mind? Even she had to admit that he was basically a good guy.
Maybe if she went to his house, rather than putting him on the spot in the faculty room, she could get a better response. It might be worth a shot. And if he refused again, at least she’d know that she’d tried her best.
If she didn’t tell the students her plans, they wouldn’t have to be disappointed twice if he refused. Decision made, she opened her book.
Chapter Five
As Julie approached Dane’s house, her heart pounded in her chest. She shouldn’t be doing this. She stopped on his front porch, arms crossed as she stared at the stark white door, and forced herself to even out her breathing. What if she said something stupid? What if he said something horrible? What if her coming here made everything worse? She quickly raised her fist before she could change her mind and knocked sharply.