Protector: Doms of Mountain Bend Book 1 by BJ Wane (reading books for 7 year olds .txt) 📗

“Oh, you should have called. I could have driven out to get you. It’s easy to get turned around on our country roads and find yourself smack dab in the middle of one of the surrounding ranches. Not that any of our neighbors would mind. Well, maybe crotchety old man Sanders who owns the Bar S. I can see why he never married. He…oh, I’m sorry. I tend to ramble on. It’s a good thing Drew isn’t here, or he’d give me ‘the look.’” She wiggled her fingers in a mime of quotation marks.

Lisa chuckled, enjoying Jen’s sense of humor and envying the spark in her eyes when she mentioned her husband. She wished she could boast about someone special enough in her life to make her that happy. Instead, there was now someone who wanted to hurt her, or worse, and she couldn’t even contemplate getting that close to anyone. She refused to let her current circumstances ruin her upbeat mood and picked up her bag as Jen grabbed a key off a pegboard and came around the counter.

“I don’t mind you telling me about the people here. Anything you can share about the town will help me get acclimated to a new place. This is the first time I’ve lived anywhere except Phoenix.” She hesitated as Jen turned toward the staircase that hugged the wall, then broached a touchy subject that needed clearing. “I appreciate you taking my reservation without a credit card to hold it.”

Jen glanced at her with her hand on the bottom newel post of the staircase. “To be honest, there was something in your voice that prompted me to take that chance. Whatever you’re fleeing from back home, I hope you’ll find solace here. It’s a great community.”

Her astuteness reminded Lisa of Shawn’s intense focus on her and the warm fuzzies his attention had generated. Given how much calmer and more relaxed she was already, maybe this escape would work out for her after all.

“I hope so, too, Jen.”

****

By the end of her first week teaching in Mountain Bend, Lisa had discovered the vast, end-of-March weather difference between Arizona and Idaho. Back home, she could count on the temperature soaring into the upper eighties and low nineties during the onset of spring and start of the last term of school. Her classroom of eighteen second graders didn’t seem to mind slipping on jackets before going outside for recess, but it had taken her the first few days to remember to remind them when they wanted to dash out the doors.

Going down the row where they were lined up at the door for dismissal, she made sure each little seven-year-old had his or her book bag and jacket before opening the door. “Have a good weekend,” she said when the final bell rang.

“Bye, Ms. Halldor.”

The chorus of farewells was followed by the thunder of small feet hitting the wide hallway from all the grade school classrooms at once. The middle and high schools were in separate buildings next to the elementary school, each class significantly smaller in number than the least populated grades in the Phoenix district. It hadn’t taken Lisa long to get to know her students, or to discover the benefits of working with fewer kids.

She waited until she saw the last of them connect with a parent or designated pickup person out front before returning to her room. Watching the time, she straightened up the desks then filled her satchel with papers to grade before locking her desk drawers and turning off the lights. The staff had welcomed her on Monday, and she’d enjoyed lingering after school to visit and get to know them better in the last few days, but she didn’t want to keep Jen waiting. Lisa was looking forward to moving into the vacant unit in the duplex Jen and Drew owned a few streets over from their bed and breakfast, and was grateful for the money renting it would save her.

Lisa waved goodbye to a few teachers as she walked out to the staff parking lot, the sun warming her face despite the upper fifties temperature she was still acclimating to. Her head was in the clouds, wondering if she’d be safe by the time she returned home in August, before the much colder months of winter, and she wasn’t paying attention to others in the parking lot until a deep, amused voice startled her into jerking around to the right.

“Hello again.”

With her heart thumping overtime, Lisa gazed at Shawn McDuff over the hood of her car. He regarded her with a quizzical expression, and her mouth went dry, her palms turning clammy as she took in the late-day bristles darkening his jawline and the tilt to his head. She couldn’t help thinking about him this past week, recalling his potent stare, broad shoulders, and imposing height, and wishing she’d impacted his life as much as he had hers.

“Sorry. I didn’t notice you. Hello, Sheriff.” Lisa waved her hand toward the schools. “What brings you here?”

“Deputy Sheriff. A tussle between two high schoolers that revealed the pot they were fighting over. Their parents just picked them up.” He strode around the car and reached past her to open her driver’s side door, his thick forearm brushing her hip. Ignoring her hasty sidestep, he leaned on top of the open door and asked, “How are you liking it here?”

Lisa took a deep breath, forcing herself to get her act together. She’d never stuttered over a man before, and usually enjoyed getting to know new people. Even though they’d met before, they’d been so young, and it was such a long time ago, and under difficult circumstances. It was dumb to be hurt he didn’t remember her, and likely not in her best interest if something she said or did