Erin sighed and let herself be led up to the front doors where a handsome young man in jeans and a red “Charlie’s” T-shirt took their names. He flashed a huge grin at the pair of them. “Just you two this evening?”
“Yes.” Erin returned his smile and nodded. And the sooner they ate, the sooner she could leave. The loud noise and constant chattering of other patrons already wore on her. The waiter showed them to a small table near the back and immediately brought their drinks.
Erin sipped her water and studied the menu in front of her. She winced slightly as the surrounding sounds invaded her personal space.
“What’s wrong?” Kendra looked at her worriedly and put her own menu down.
“The noise.” Erin tried to smile and brushed an errant lock of blonde hair back behind her ear. “I find that it’s a bit much.” She looked at her menu again, and the noise dimmed considerably. The menu dropped from her hands as she looked at her assistant.
“Did you hear that?”
“Hmm?” Kendra sipped her soda. Her wide blue eyes studied the menu and looked back up. “What was that?”
Erin looked around. “Did it just become quieter in here?”
“I think a large group just left.” Kendra motioned to the general direction of the door. Erin glanced over but didn’t see anyone. She shrugged and picked up her menu.
They both ordered chicken flautas when the waiter came back, and Erin reached for her water again to have something to do with her hands. Kendra simply folded hers in front of her and smiled.
“How long have you been teaching?”
“For a decade.” Some of the tension eased from Erin’s shoulders. She loved to talk about her career. “I looked for a job as soon as I finished college. Luckily for me, our school had an opening. I slid right in.”
“Lucky school.” Kendra grinned. “The faculty is top-notch. And the children are remarkably bright.”
“Aren’t they? I’m very fortunate to work with the people I do.”
“I feel the same way.” Kendra sipped her water. “I wondered if there is much to do in this town. Something on the weekend, perhaps? A way to bide the time?”
“Your books getting old?” Erin grinned, and her eyes sparkled.
Kendra laughed. “Not really. But I would like to socialize a bit. Get a feel of the town and its people. I like what I see.”
Erin shrugged. “I’m not exactly a social butterfly. This place is always good for a nice meal. We don’t have but a couple of nice restaurants. Rural Iowa isn’t exactly a hotbed of society.”
“But you went with friends to a bachelorette party? Was the establishment nice?” Kendra prodded.
“Yes.” Erin sighed. “But not my cup of tea at all. And it’s led to an unfortunate incident.”
Kendra leaned forward anxiously. “What unfortunate incident?” She looked upset.
“Don’t worry.” Erin tried to smile. “Just a dinner date that I didn’t want.”
“Oh.” Kendra nodded. “And you consider ‘dating’ to be an unfortunate incident?” Her blue eyes studied Erin closely.
Erin shrugged uncomfortably.
“I don’t mean to pry.” Kendra held up her hands and moved back in her chair. “I apologize for being so intrusive. I think I’ve overstepped my bounds.” She sighed. “My sisters rubbed off on me more than I thought,” she muttered.
Erin laughed lightly. “I appreciate your concern. I really do. I have no family. No one to discuss these matters with. And all my co-workers want to matchmake for me.” She rolled her eyes expressively. “Mary thinks that since she did such a great job with Tara, I’m next on the chopping block. It’s not a good thing.”
“You have no wish to make a match?”
Hazel eyes flitted through her mind before she shook her head firmly. “I’m satisfied with my career. My life. Why upset the applecart?”
“Why indeed?” Kendra murmured.
Their flautas arrived minutes later with sides of sour cream and guacamole. They were crispy brown and smelled inviting. The aroma made Erin’s mouth water, and she began to appreciate how much she missed eating someone else’s food besides her own. Sometimes she ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich standing up. She felt something brush up against her head, and she looked up. But there was no one there.
Erin took a bite and smiled. Yes, indeed. There was certainly something to say for eating out once in awhile. She glanced over at Kendra. Her assistant seemed to be enjoying the meal, also. It must be hard to be separated from her family. All alone in the small town. Erin frowned. Maybe she should make more of an effort to help Kendra out. Or at least find something to help occupy her time.
“What made you decide to move here and look for work?” Erin took a sip of her drink and waited for Kendra’s answer.
“It was a calling.” Kendra grinned. “I was meant to be here. I’m sure of it.”
Erin asked before she could stop herself. “What’s your family like?”
Kendra cocked her head to the side. “They’re wonderful. My mother and father are away quite a bit. They travel. But my sisters and I are very close. Eden is the oldest. You won’t find a wiser woman in the world. And she has a way about her. She’s very calming. And she has an uncanny knack for knowing what’s wrong and then fixing it.”
She sighed. “And then there’s Wilda.” Kendra snickered. “She’s a redhead with a fiery temper to match. But her heart is true. And she would give anything she had to make sure all of us were happy. No matter the cost to herself.”
“And the other sister?”
“That would be Tempest.” Kendra shook her head. “She’s a bit of a control freak. Wilda is fiery, but Tempest has a wildness about her that she has a hard time getting a handle on sometimes. She’s brisk to the point of being rude.” Kendra laughed. “But she’s also loyal and true.”
“They sound wonderful.” Erin tried to keep the wistful tone out of her voice.
“You don’t have any family?” Kendra pried gently.
“I’m an orphan.” Erin lifted her chin and tucked her blonde hair behind her ear. “I raised myself for all intents and purposes. I often wondered what it would have been like to have had someone with me. But that’s in the past.” She hurriedly took a drink of her water before she could say something else. Something truly pathetic and needy.
Erin was self-sufficient for a reason. She had survived her trial by fire. Life was hell through her formulative years. There had been no one to bear the brunt for her. So she had taken it all. Every humiliating moment.
Kendra’s hand covered hers for the briefest of seconds. “I’m saddened by the fact that you didn’t have a family to look out for you as one should.”
Erin stiffened at the contact before the words registered. And then she relaxed. Kendra didn’t hand her the standard “I’m so sorry for you” line. It was one that set Erin’s teeth on edge. She didn’t need anyone’s pity. But Kendra’s statement soothed her.
“Thank you,” she murmured. “That was one of the reasons I wanted to teach.” Erin grinned. “I seem to have a need to help others, especially children. They’re so joyful. So precious and alive. And I wanted to try and be a part of that as much as I could.”
“You have no desire for children of your own?” The words were gentle.
“I’m not mother material.” Erin looked into Kendra’s blue eyes, so like her own. “I touch children’s’ lives through my teaching. It’s enough.”
Kendra nodded, and they moved back to general conversation about the small town they lived in and where to shop for groceries and necessities. Erin looked at her watch and groaned.
“What?”
“It’s almost eight o’clock. And I have reams of papers to grade.” Erin glanced down at her empty plate. “But thanks for the dinner invitation. I think I’d almost forgotten what it was like to eat something besides a sandwich.”
“You should get out more often.” Kendra smiled and paid the bill before Erin c
ould blink. “And I wouldn’t mind helping grade those papers. I don’t have any plans for the rest of the evening.”
“I wouldn’t want to impose on you.”
“Nonsense.” Kendra guided her through the throng of people near the front door. “I don’t watch television. And I haven’t bothered to rent any movies. It would be a dull evening of me watching the shadows move across my yard.” She glanced at Erin. “You’re saving me from a fate worse than death.”
“It’s called boredom.” Erin’s lips twitched. “Fine. Have it your way. But when your eyes start to cross, don’t whine to me. Remember, you asked for it.”
Kendra grinned. “I’ll remember.”
* * * *
Kendra followed Erin to her house and parked behind her in the driveway. Erin killed the engine and stepped out. She scowled as soon as she saw what waited for her on her porch. She was going to kill someone. And that someone was Daniel Rodriguez. There were two large bouquets of flowers adorning her porch. One was a lily festival of blues and purples that spilled out of a large clear vase. The other was even more magnificent. Dozens of red and white roses twined through baby’s breath that wound through a white woven basket.
Kendra chuckled and moved forward. “Doesn’t do anything small, does he?”
Erin frowned. “Not so much.” She stooped to pick up one of the arrangements when she saw what was behind them. Her heart stopped, and the breath left her lungs. She could handle flowers. Flowers were innocuous. People sent them with little or no thought at all. But Daniel Rodriguez didn’t do anything by half-measures. And he saw far too much already.
Flowers were nice. But the way to her heart was through her children. And the fact that he saw that scared her. Because it meant he was already too close. Erin looked down at the items on her porch and fought the scared feeling that threatened to engulf her. There was construction paper, thirty-five pairs of scissors, and various other classroom supplies to ensure that her children enjoyed their school experience.
Friday was less than two days away. But Erin’s panic attack started now.
Chapter 4
Kendra reached down to touch the lilies and fairly crooned. “They’re gorgeous.”
“Yes.” Erin scowled and opened her front door. Both women scooped up the gifts and took them inside. Erin placed the red and white roses on her coffee table. She turned and motioned to the lilies. “You’re welcome to take them.”
Kendra smiled. “No thank you. They are meant for you. You should put them in a place you can enjoy them.” She strode into the kitchen and put them on the small white table. “They’ll be perfect here. You can enjoy them in the morning and evening.”
“They’d be perfect if I was interested,” Erin muttered.
“Did you say something?” Kendra walked back up behind her and motioned to the school supplies on the beige rug. “The kids will go crazy for that stuff.” She picked up a pair of scissors. “They each cut different shapes. How clever.”
“Clever,” Erin repeated with a small scowl.
Kendra’s lips twitched. “You can’t deny he has style.”
Erin arched an eyebrow and grinned. “That you can’t. Even if he is a persistent man. Overly persistent.”
“So he wants to date you.” Kendra smiled kindly. “You’re a beautiful, successful woman. Mr. Rodriguez sees that. Maybe he’d just like to get to know you better.”
The grin faded from Erin’s face. And that was the worst part. Her life now didn’t remotely resemble how it used to be. The horrific remembrance of her former life.
“Erin,” Kendra said softly and laid her hand gently on Erin’s arm. “Look at me.”
Erin raised troubled blue eyes and looked at her.
“I have two gifts for you.” Kendra’s blue eyes sharpened and pierced Erin’s. “And my first is now. I give you acceptance. Acceptance of your past life. Acceptance of gifts given from the heart.” Her grip tightened for a second. “Acceptance of yourself and the choices you made almost two decades ago.”
Erin shuddered as the words penetrated her conscious and settled deeply into her subconscious. Peace moved over her slowly, but didn’t dissipate the shadows. It merely cushioned them and took off the edges. Her eyes cleared slowly. “Did you say something?” She frowned and looked down at Kendra’s hand on her arm.
“Accept his gifts, Erin. They are truly given.”
“Yes.” Erin smiled again. “They are, aren’t they?” She picked up the school supplies. “The kids will enjoy these. And I have just the project for them to work on.”
“I knew you would,” Kendra whispered. She glanced at Erin’s schoolbag on the table. “I assume the mountains of homework are in that little bag?”
“Yes.” Erin picked up her roses and inhaled the sweet fragrance. “I’m going to find someplace to put these. Would you like a drink before we get started?”
“Just water. Thanks.”
Erin nodded and went to put her roses where she would enjoy them.
* * * *
Thursday. One day before Friday. Erin massaged her temples around noon and told herself to calm down. Rain beat down steadily outside so her kids were all inside trying out their new school supplies courtesy of Mr. Daniel Rodriguez. Kendra moved from table to table and helped where it was needed. Erin sat at her desk and let the steady beating of the rain move through her. It was calming. Peaceful. And didn’t look like it would let up any time soon. The forecast called for rain through the weekend. Erin tried to concentrate on the papers in front of her, but it was no use.
Mr. Rodriguez wouldn’t get out of her head. His gentle smile. Those hazel eyes. The utterly inept way she handled their last meeting. And then a dinner with his family? His mother? Erin tucked her blond hair behind her ear and fought the shudder that struggled to escape. Her blue eyes narrowed. It would be okay. Wouldn’t it? One little dinner?
“Erin.”
Her head shot up, and she focused on her assistant. Kendra held up two lovely pieces of art.
“Leslie and Jeff made these. Aren’t they beautiful?” She beamed like a proud mother.
“Utterly.” Erin smiled up at Kendra and felt her fears ease. Some people were just as they seemed. She could accept that. Follow through with the dinner. It would be new and different. And that’s just what she needed.
Erin dropped her head back down and caught up with the rest of her grading. Kendra kept the kids occupied for the next couple of hours with more stories and art. And when the bell rang, the kids actually groaned at the interruption. The sound brought a smile to Erin’s lips.
“Well. That’s a first.” She shot a look at Kendra who laughed at the words. “Okay, children.” Erin pointed to the door. “Bus riders in the doorway closest to Mrs. Peterson. Car riders in the doorway closest to Mrs. Taylor.” Children gathered their belongings up and moved to either doorway.
Five minutes later, Erin escorted the bus riders to the buses and watched the rain pour steadily down. At least there wasn’t any lightning or thunder. The kids didn’t seem to handle that nearly as well. A puddle was fine. A puddle with the sky lighting up and rumbling wasn’t nearly as fun.
She shut the school door behind her and walked down the corridor back to her room. Kendra took the car riders out front. And it was her turn to see that each student made it into the proper vehicle. Erin glanced at the new janitor and waved a hand. The janitor returned the wave and went back to mopping the hallway.
Life was good.
The unbidden thought startled Erin so much she nearly stopped in her tracks. As it was, she barely made it to her room before she began laughing. Life was good, damn it. Her kids were doing well. She had an assistant she liked to talk to. Her friends were well and happy. And she had a date tomorrow. Erin quickly gathered up her belongings and headed home to order some pizza and finish her assignments.
* * * *
Kendra stopped dead in her tracks. The new janitor slowly swept the wet mop back and forth in the sch
ool’s hallways. The woman’s back was to Kendra, but she would have recognized the ebony hair pulled back in a tight bun and the elegant body encased in gray overalls anywhere.
“Tempest!” she bit out.
The mopping stilled, and the woman turned around. Tempest smiled until she saw the look on Kendra’s face.
Kendra scowled. “Just couldn’t resist, could you?”
Tempest’s blue eyes sparkled. “Your school needed a janitor, sister. What was I to do?”
“Gee. I don’t know.” Kendra’s voice was sarcastic. “Stay the hell back on your cloud, perhaps?”
Tempest’s laughter echoed throughout the empty hall. “Don’t worry so, Kendra. I’m merely here if you need assistance.”
“I am the youngest, Tempest. Not an infant. If I needed your assistance, I would have asked for it.” Kendra stalked over to her and motioned to the mop and bucket. “I suppose there is some sort of justice in this.” She looked at Tempest again. “What kind of enchantment did you use, anyway? You look more suited to the runway than the restroom.”
Tempest shrugged carelessly. “I merely applied for the job, young one. They were only too anxious to hire me.”
“I bet,” Kendra snorted. “Listen.” She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t need you here. You can hang out and scrub toilets and vacuum all you want, but you had better not interfere with my assignment. Got that?”
“I couldn’t have missed it, sister.” Tempest’s lips twitched. “Wilda would be proud.”
“And you can let the others know that I won’t be needing their help, either.” Kendra arched an eyebrow and waited a minute.
Tempest closed her eyes and relayed the message. She opened her eyes and smiled. “Our sisters said they wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Promise me.” Kendra’s gaze was unwavering. “All of you.”
“We promise.” The words of the three sisters came from Tempest’s mouth.
“Good.” Kendra let out the breath she’d been holding. She glanced down at the soapy water and mop again. She pointed at the floor. “I think you missed a spot.” She smiled at her stunned sister and whistled as she left the building.
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