He’d stopped by Rebecca’s office to say he’d let her know the moment he heard, then he’d driven straight from Kendal back to the city for Friday night dinner with the family. Seconds before he’d pulled into his parents’ driveway, Patrick called. Will flicked the button on his steering wheel to accept the call.
“Will, it’s Patrick Dunn.”
He blew out puffs of breath as he navigated the circular drive and came to a stop.
“I won’t beat around the bush. You had an impressive interview, and I’d like to offer you the position.”
His head fell back against the cushion, and he stared at the ceiling. At the heavens above. “Patrick, I’m . . . I’m so happy to be coming back to Kendal. I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity.”
“We’re happy to have you on the team. I’d like you to come in next week to sign the contract. Margaret has agreed to let you shadow her for the remaining days of the semester if you’re available.”
“Definitely. That sounds perfect. Thank you so much, Patrick. This is the best news I’ve heard in a long time.”
“My pleasure. See you next week.”
He clicked off the call, elated beyond measure. Sinking back in his seat, he peered up through the car’s sunroof just as the clouds parted and a ray of light shone through. It had to be a sign. “Thanks, Aly,” he whispered to the sky.
But Will couldn’t let himself get too lost in daydreaming yet. Not before he shared the news with Rebecca. The call went to voicemail, so he kept his message brief. “Hey, I wanted you to hear first. I got the job. I know we talked about this, but if you have any reservations, please let me know, okay? I’ll call you later on. Bye for now.”
Exiting his car, he stretched to his full height and braced himself for the next conversation. Breaking the news to his parents. He didn’t plan on asking for their permission. He’d inform them of the new direction his career was taking.
Will and Joey sat on the sofa, Isabelle and Edward on wingback chairs opposite them. Same as every visit over the past couple years. Only now, the underlying tension had all but dissipated. Changes had begun to sprout in the new year. Little things, here and there. Memories shared. Family pictures popping up over the mantelpiece.
He didn’t dread coming here anymore. He didn’t fear disappointing his parents out of residual guilt. There was no reason to feel guilty about being happy.
“When do you plan on telling us whatever’s got you grinning like a Cheshire cat?” his mother asked after catching him staring off into space for the third time.
Will slid to the edge of the sofa and set his drink down. “When I quit my job at the agency, I admit I wasn’t really sure what I was getting myself into. All I knew is that I wanted to make a difference. I thought teaching health, wellness, physical activity would help me to encourage other teenagers to make good choices—which it has, to a degree. But teaching is about so much more than the subject matter. It’s about the interpersonal connections. The bonding that happens outside of the classroom. The lessons you learn from your students along the way.”
Joey reached for his phone. “Hold on. Let me find some inspirational music.”
Will rolled his eyes and pressed on. “I haven’t been happy at Crestwood,” he confessed. “They don’t need me there, not in the way the kids do at Kendal. It’s my home. It’s where I belong.”
“Do they have any openings there?” his mother asked. Edward hadn’t spoken yet, but he’d listened, and that spoke volumes.
“I had an interview there for a Phys. Ed. and science position this afternoon.” He tried to fight the smile that threatened, but it was no use. “I got the job.”
Joey slapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, buddy! Congrats!”
His mother stood and tugged him to his feet for a hug. “We’re so happy for you, Will. Aren’t we, dear?” she asked, glancing back at Edward.
He nodded and raised his glass. “To a new beginning.”
Isabelle returned to her seat. Will clinked glasses with Joey, and they all drank to the toast. Alcohol mixed with total and complete contentment buzzed through him. There was so much to celebrate. Aly’s House, the name they’d decided on for their program at Sunnybrook, was taking shape by the day, and now he and Rebecca could both act as PE consultants.
“Oh, and Will?” Isabelle began, a knowing smile on her face. “Please bring her by next month. We’d love to meet her.”
Will stared at her blankly. “What? How did you . . .”
“Mom wanted to know why you’d been so bummed after the holidays, so I might have let it slip that you had a girl back in Kendal. Now she can stop bugging me about growing the Whitney family tree.”
Incredulous, he gaped at Joey.
“What?” He shrugged. “I’m just the concerned older brother.”
“Older blabbermouth, you mean?”
Isabelle cut short their brotherly bonding. “We’ve known for a while that your heart wasn’t in it at Crestwood. I’ve been working on your father.”
Edward chuckled. “It’s gonna take a lot more work. And scotch.”
He and Will met eyes, and a genuine respect passed between them.
“Shall we have some dinner, then?” his mother asked. “Let’s celebrate.”
Will stood and followed his family into the dining room. He’d love nothing better than to bring Rebecca here, for her to meet his family and them to meet her.
June came busting in with stifling temperatures that made the school almost unbearable at times. Thank the Lord for fans and the shady trees by the soccer field. One more week, and school would be out for the summer.
She breezed into the PE office, glad that Berg had already plugged in the fan. Unloading the supplies from her bag, she paused when she spotted a wrapped cafeteria cookie on the corner of her desk. What was that doing there? Truth be told, she hadn’t eaten one since she and Will had broken up last year, which sucked ’cause they were damn good cookies, and cookies were kind of their thing. But they could totally be their thing again now that they were a thing again.
She heard a key wiggling in the lock and tried to shake off her goofy grin. Berg would only mock her for being all moony over the guy.
But it wasn’t Berg who came through the door. It was Will.
She gasped, utterly failing to repress her joy at seeing him. “What are you doing here?”
A slow smile spread across his handsome face. “I just finished signing my contract. I’m official.”
“Congrats, teach!” She beamed. “You’re a regular brown-noser, earning your initial teacher certification, graduating at the top of your class . . . and showing up for work months before your contract takes effect. I mean, not that I’m complaining, but your job doesn’t technically start until September.”
He came closer. “Huh, you’re right. Should I take back that cookie? Save it for September?”
She pressed a hand to his chest, not repelling his advance, but not holding him either. His heart beat fast and hard against her palm as her own pulse rate kicked up. “Well, let’s not be hasty.”
He laughed. “I’m here so I can shadow Margaret for the week.”
He was working there. They were colleagues. He’d chosen Kendal. Her town. Her school. Her world. Her. “I suppose you and Mags will be in cahoots now.”
“We always have been,” he teased. “I think she likes me.” He rested his palm on her hip. “I hope you still do, too.”
She melted under his touch. “I do.”
He didn’t even try to school his features, damn him. His face blossomed into a smile that made her knees turn to jelly. “Now that I’m a colleague and not a student teacher, do you think it’s okay for us to be together?”
“I don’t know what Patrick will say, but—” She dove for his mouth. Poured all her emotions into the kiss. All the frustration and heartache. The loneliness, the yearning, the relief. The love she’d felt and could never quite shake when it came to this man. He nipped at
her bottom lip, gingerly tugging it. They rubbed noses. She kissed his chin.
Will broke the embrace and stared at her intently. “You think you could learn to love . . . working with me?”
She smiled, pecked a kiss to his lips. “That’s the thing about life and love. You never stop learning.”
* * *
The End
A Sneak Peek!
Keep reading for a sneak peek of the next book in the Make Me a Match series . . .
* * *
Love Unleashed
* * *
Hannah wiped her icing-covered hands on the front of her apron and stood. The kids were well on their way to creating culinary masterpieces fit for any canine. Drops of icing speckled the floor beneath their workspace, but Muffy would happily take care of that problem. She spotted her lovable pooch approaching a distracted Kent. Muffy brushed her snout against his hand, and the man jolted at the contact, nearly bumping into the display of dog food bags.
Lord, the guy was touchy. Did he really hate dogs that much . . . or was this more of a phobia? Muffy glued herself to Hannah’s side as she approached him. “You okay?” she asked Kent.
“Yeah, fine,” he muttered. “Just lost my balance.”
“Okay,” she said, dragging out the word. “I have to say, I wasn’t expecting to see you here today. At least not without your posters.”
His lips curved in the barest of smiles. “I didn’t know this was one of the chosen stops.”
She wanted to ask if he would have changed his mind about chaperoning if he’d known, but she refrained. “Only thirty more minutes and you can leave and pretend you were never here.”
He played with the leftover stick from the treat she’d given him, twirling it between his index finger and thumb, the action weirdly mesmerizing. “You know, for someone who hates puns so much, you shouldn’t go around handing out ‘pupsicles’ to impressionable kids.”
Smirking, she asked, “Which impressionable kid is yours?”
Kent didn’t have to point her out. The rosy-cheeked, pigtailed girl who’d already stolen Hannah’s heart walked toward them, holding out her freshly-decorated peanut butter paw for their inspection.
“Daddy, look what I made!”
Kent dropped down to her level. “That’s the best-looking biscuit I’ve ever seen. You did a great job, sweetie.”
“What do you think, Miss Barker?”
Hannah’s chest swelled at being asked, and she bent for a closer examination. “It’s almost too perfect to eat!” Beside her, Muffy stuck her nosy snout out and licked her lips. “Muffy doesn’t seem to agree, though,” Hannah said with a laugh.
“Can I give this to her?” the girl asked. “I’ll make another one.”
She glanced to Kent to see if he’d object and was relieved when he gave a nod of assent. “Sure, hon. Go ahead.” Hannah instructed Muffy to sit before being fed. The other kids abandoned their work station for an up-close view of the proceedings. “If you toss it in the air, she’ll catch it.” To their delight, Muffy caught the thrown biscuit mid-air, then she flopped on her belly to savor her treat. The kids crowded around, petting her baby girl who wouldn’t hurt a fly, but Kent kept a watchful eye on them.
“What’s your daughter’s name?” Hannah asked, in part to ease his obvious discomfort.
He met her gaze. “Diana.”
Diana? She blinked. “Wow. You are really playing up this bit.”
“What bit?”
“You know full well what bit,” she shot back. “Diana, the Amazonian goddess. Was she sculpted from clay?” He stared back at her, expressionless. “Superman and Wonder Woman right under the same roof? This is not a coincidence, Kent Clarkson! You’re a geek so just admit it.”
Whether it was her mocking tone or the sharp jab of her finger at his chest that finally broke him, she’d never know. But he cracked and cracked hard, laughter spilling out of him like loose change. And it bothered her how much the sound of his laughter bothered her, and made her skin feel all hot.
Schooling his features, he said, “Most people don’t pick up on the connection.”
She’d grown up with three brothers. She damn well knew every superhero, heroine, sidekick, and villain whether she liked it or not. “Yeah? Well, I’m not most people.”
He looked her over then. From head to toe and back again. And her hot skin started to prickle, too. “No, you’re not.”
Her stupid phone alarm went off, signaling it was time for the groups to rotate to the next station. Kent and Diana would be going to the kitchen to bake, and she’d have to stay out front and figure out a way to stop thinking about the way his pupils had dilated when he’d checked her out. Or the deep, rumbling sound of his laughter.
He gave her a wistful smile, then accompanied the kids into the kitchen as the other team of first graders traded places with them, their adorable faces sprinkled with flour.
She clapped her hands, as much to refocus her mind as to gain their attention. “Who’s ready to decorate?” she asked her new crew.
After waving their final group out the door, Hannah exhaled deeply and slumped over the display counter, resting her head on her forearms. Eighteen six-year-olds was . . . a lot. Exhausted beyond all comprehension, she was grateful when Lisa volunteered to start the cleanup process in the kitchen.
“Remind me to give you a raise,” she mumbled against the back of her hand.
Kids were great, though. In small doses. And Diana Clarkson seemed like a super-not-annoying kid. Unlike her father. And truthfully, it wasn’t even that annoying having Kent there with her. She liked his dark-rimmed glasses and wondered if he’d been wearing a Superman tee beneath his button-up shirt.
He was a little too buttoned-up for her liking, though. Too careful, too conservative. Maybe that came from having a kid and all the strings parenthood entailed. Hannah didn’t like the idea of being tied down—unless a bed was involved—and his life was full of strings, obligations.
Okay, enough thinking about someone we don’t need to be thinking about.
Forcing herself into a standing position, she grabbed a broom and rounded the counter. There were sprinkles literally everywhere. Biscuit crumbs, dollops of icing . . . a Wonder Woman doll? Just as Hannah stooped down to pick up the toy, the door flew open to reveal its evident owner, dragging her father behind her.
“Look! There it is, Daddy! I told you it’d be here!”
She raced toward Hannah and threw her arms around her waist. “Oh, whoa, hi!” Hannah eyed Kent as she reciprocated the embrace, his expression impossible to read.
Diana pulled back and smiled, showing the two gaps where her front teeth should be. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
Hannah relinquished the doll, not daring to confess she’d only noticed its presence a couple minutes ago. “She was on her very best behavior. I barely had to lift a finger.”
The door squeaked open again and in walked Carol, one of her longstanding clients. She brought Buster, her bulldog, in once a month for a full-day spa treatment with Rafael, her pooch more pampered than most people were.
“Excuse me for a minute,” she said to Diana and Kent. “Carol, I’ll go and check on Buster and see if he’s all set.”
“No need,” called Rafael who came out from the back with Buster waddling at his side. “He had his blueberry facial this morning and an aromatherapy ozone bath. We took a lovely long stroll, had a massage, and he just finished his mud mask.”
“Oh, look at you. You’re just glowing!” Carol gushed.
Hannah caught Kent’s dumbfounded expression and bit back a laugh. She’d be the first to admit the treatments people paid for were nothing short of excessive, but pet owners would do anything for their beloved fur babies.
Rafael handled Carol’s payment at the counter, and Hannah returned her attention to the other two shop dwellers. “And now you know all our best-kept spa secrets.”
“What’s a spa?” Diana asked. “Can I see it
?”
“Diana,” Kent gently chided. “We’ve already taken up enough of Hannah’s time.”
The hopeful expression on Diana’s face tugged at Hannah’s heartstrings. “Tell you what, I’ll give you the free five-minute tour. But only if it’s okay with your daddy.”
Kent glanced from Hannah to Diana and shrugged. “I can’t fight two strong-minded women.”
Hannah held out her palm for a high five, which Diana smacked in triumph. “Compliment accepted,” she said to Kent, her chin raised. “Okay, kiddo, follow me.” She clasped Diana’s hand and led her to the rear part of the shop.
When they rounded the corner and entered the spa area, Diana gasped. Yep. Same reaction most everyone had at first sight of Rafael’s oasis. The tranquil space, encased by white brick walls, featured a walk-in jacuzzi tub, a rattan table topped with plush cushions for massages, strategically placed candles and potted plants, a plethora of towels, pillows, brushes, and fluffy beds for post-walk naps. Oh, and not so much as a trace of wet dog smell. Rafael was a wizard.
Diana investigated every nook and cranny, her eyes full of wonder. “This is like a fairytale. It’s a puppytail!”
Hannah laughed. The apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“I wish I could have a dog. Daddy won’t let me get one.”
She empathized with the young girl, remembering how desperately she’d wanted a dog growing up, too. Her parents claimed raising four children was enough work, thankyouverymuch. Hannah had found other ways of interacting with dogs—started her own dog-walking business for neighbors, volunteered at the local animal shelter—whatever she could do until she got her own place and her own Muffy.
“Maybe someday, hon. You’re still pretty young yet and dogs are a lot of responsibility.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“But in the meantime, you can stop in and visit us here whenever you want, okay?”
Learning to Love Page 25