“Daddy, please don’t leave me here.”
Sophie clung to his neck as if he were a buoy in the middle of the ocean. His heart ached at the thought of leaving his little girl with strangers, but both his mother and Hannah’s agreed that Sophie needed to spend time with children her own age. Grandparents were great, especially when you were a single parent who had no idea how to take care of a six-month-old, but Sophie needed to learn to socialize. Sooner or later he’d have to get used to his little girl living her life. He couldn’t keep her locked up in her room forever so that nobody could hurt her.
“It’s only for a few hours, and you’ll have lots of fun with the other kids.”
Her arms tightened around his neck, even as her chubby little hands held onto her stuffed bunny.
“No, no, Daddy, don’t leave me here. I want to stay wif Gwammy.”
“We’ll go visit Grammy later, when I pick you up, okay?”
Sophie sniffled and let out a sob. His heart broke just a little bit more. How did other parents manage to leave their little ones without feeling as if someone had ripped their heart out? He had to be the strong one, though. He couldn’t show his daughter that leaving her there was hurting him more than it was hurting her.
With Sophie still clinging to him, he stepped through the wooden door with butterflies and bunnies painted on the stained glass, and the chattering and giggles of little kids reassured him a little. Sophie would be fine amongst kids her own age. She’d never been a shy girl, so he was confident she wouldn’t have trouble making new friends.
They went up to the light oak-wood reception decorated with colorful stickers of flowers and butterflies, and a friendly-looking woman in a pink polka-dot blouse smiled at him. She wore a matching plastic headband to hold back her straight, light brown hair, which barely grazed her shoulders.
“Hi, welcome to Spring Bunnies,” she said, looking up from some papers she’d been staring at. Her smile faltered a little when she saw him, but it was only for a fleeting moment. Then it was bright again, and her green eyes seemed to sparkle. “So we meet again. This really is a small town.”
This time, he recognized the woman he’d met at Dora’s shop and at the library, but he was slightly taken aback. He’d thought he’d be leaving his daughter with middle-aged women who’d raised their own share of kids and would know how to take care of his baby girl. This woman looked barely out of college. Would he sound rude if he asked her age?
Sophie tilted her head up from his chest and let out a squeal. He flinched.
“Daddy! It’s the nice flower lady!”
Ellie’s smile broadened. “Well, hello, Sophie.”
Adam frowned, and the smile on her face softened. “I’m your neighbor. Sophie and I met on Saturday, while I was gardening. I didn’t realize you were her dad.”
“And I didn’t realize you were a teacher.” He hoped his tone hadn’t come out too surprised—or actually shocked. She was too young to care for Sophie. He’d thought he’d be leaving his daughter in the capable hands of Dee Brewer, the woman who’d looked after Kacey and Ryley when they moved in with Adam’s family. At least he knew he could trust her.
“Yep. Elise Hawthorne, the new addition to Spring Bunnies.”
“But you said your name is Ellie!” Sophie tugged on the woman’s sleeve, while her face puckered in a confused frown.
Ellie smiled. “Well, my full name is Elise but all my friends call me Ellie, so you can call me Ellie too.”
“Miss Ellie,” Adam corrected, reminding Sophie what he’d taught her during the car ride into town.
“Yes, Miss Ellie.” The woman smiled again and reached for some paperwork on the counter to her right. “So, Adam… I mean, Mr. Cavanagh—or should I call you Sheriff?”
Adam smiled and shook his head. “I’m actually a deputy, and please, just call me Adam.”
Ellie nodded. “Okay, so Adam, I just need you to fill in this sheet with your phone number, your, um… partner’s—”
“There’s no partner.”
His tone was harsher than he’d intended, and Ellie’s cheeks flushed. It was obvious she’d have to know Sophie’s history and would have put two and two together, but it irked him that she thought he’d let another woman into his life so soon after losing his wife. Who’d died because of him. His throat constricted.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude,” she said in a soft tone that made him feel like an idiot. “I know you lost your wife, but I didn’t know if you had someone else who could pick up Sophie in case of emergencies. It’s okay, you can fill in your parents’ details, if you’d like.”
He frowned. He didn’t like that a stranger knew his family history, but then again, what had happened to him was no secret.
“I… uh, I’ll leave my mother’s cell just in case. But you can call me any time. Whatever happens, I’ll come straight away.”
Ellie nodded, her smile coming back. “Hopefully we won’t need to call you, but you know, kids often get sick. If one of them has so much as a temperature, all the others could get sick too. It’s always best to call the parents to pick the sick kids up, so it doesn’t spread.”
Adam took the sheet of paper, and Sophie wriggled out of his arms. She tugged on Ellie’s hand, looking up at her.
“Can Buzz stay wif me? He wants to stay, please.”
Ellie patted her hand on Sophie’s head in such a motherly way that Adam’s heart stuttered. It should be Hannah doing that, not some stranger who was barely out of college and knew nothing of his little girl.
“Are you... um… training for college credits?” he asked a couple of minutes later, when he’d finished filling in all the contact details. He’d included contact numbers for Hannah’s mother, Lauren, and Kean, too, just in case neither he nor his mom could come pick Sophie up. While he’d been scribbling down the numbers, he’d thought of a way to voice his fears without sounding rude. The last thing he wanted was for Ellie to treat Sophie badly because she was mad at him.
She frowned. “How old do you think I am?”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he cleared his throat. “Uh… I… I don’t know… maybe twenty-ish?”
Ellie let out an amused laugh, and Sophie grinned, wrapping her arms around the young woman’s leg. He didn’t like it that Sophie was already so attached to her, especially since he wasn’t even sure he could trust her with his daughter.
“Well, although I’m flattered you think I’m not even out of college yet, I’m actually twenty-eight.” She smiled when his eyes widened in surprise. Well, she didn’t look a day older than a college sophomore. “And for the record, I have a degree in Child and Adolescent Development, with a major in Early Education, and a Master’s in Early Childhood Special Education. I can guarantee I’m perfectly qualified to look after your daughter, Deputy.”
Adam chuckled and scratched the side of his face the way he always did when he was nervous. “I didn’t mean—”
“Oh, yes, you did.” She smiled again—at least she didn’t look mad. “But it’s normal. It’s always hard for a parent to let go of their baby for the first time, especially to leave them in the hands of a stranger who could very well be a psychopath.”
Adam frowned. “Um…”
“Don’t worry, Adam. I checked her references. She’s okay.” Dee stepped out from a side door with a ‘Kitchen’ sign on it, holding two mugs. She handed one to Ellie and stopped at Adam’s side. His mother had done nothing but praise Dee when his cousins were in Spring Bunnies. Maybe he was leaving Sophie in good hands, after all.
Dee patted his back with her free hand and smiled at him. “Sophie will be fine. We have another couple of kids her age, I have no doubt she’ll fit right in. Go keep the town safe now, Deputy. We’ll take care of your daughter.”
Adam hung his head and laughed. In less than five minutes both women had gotten his number. He’d told himself he wouldn’t let anyone see how much dropping Sophie off at pre-K was troubling him, but instead he’d made a fool of himself, questioning the woman’s professionalism and competence. He wouldn’t be surprised if he was the laughing stock of the town before lunchtime.
He lifted his eyes to Ellie with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry I thought—”
“No harm done,” she said, waving off his apologies. “Besides, women love when people get their age wrong.”
“Right, so… I guess I should go now,” he said, crouching in front of Sophie. “Be a good girl, and do what Miss Ellie and Mrs. Dee say, okay?”
Sophie nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, placing a loud kiss on his scruffy cheek. “Bye-bye, Daddy.”
He gave her a kiss and held onto her a little longer, not sure he could really go to work and leave her here.
“Shoo, now,” Dee said, waving her free hand in front of him. “She’s safe with us. Go.”
He nodded and stood up, tucking his hands in the pockets of his uniform pants. Just before the door closed behind him on his way out, he peeked inside. Sophie was trotting along with her teacher, holding her hand and smiling up at her. Hopefully by the time Sophie went off to college he would have stopped being an overprotective papa bear.
* * *
Ellie had been smiling from the moment she woke up. This would be her first day at Spring Bunnies, the first official day of her new life. She’d always loved the first school day and looked forward to meeting all the kids in her group, whose lives she’d carefully studied over the past couple of days. She liked being prepared, being the best possible educator for her little monkeys.
Given her degree, her boss had made sure the most introverted kids, or those who had difficulty separating from their parents and had major meltdowns during the first week, were included in Ellie’s group. She knew she’d have her work cut out, especially since she’d learned that a couple of the kids had lost their mothers and were being raised by either a father or a grandmother. She knew those two would have to be her top priority.
When she walked into the brick building an hour ago, the last thing she’d expected was to come face to face with the handsome man whose mysterious face had been popping up in her mind a little too often for her liking.
The smile she’d sported all morning had turned down a notch the moment she realized who he was. She’d waited all her life to feel the jolt of love that would tell her she’d met her soul mate, and the one time she finally did, it had to be with an unavailable man. Well, technically he wasn’t unavailable; she’d read Sophie’s file, so even before she realized Sophie was her new neighbor, she’d known that her mother had died and Adam Cavanagh was a single parent. But widower or not, all dads were off-limits.
And maybe he was seeing someone now. Not that it mattered, anyway. She wasn’t going to let history repeat itself. She was a professional, and she needed this job. Fantasizing over a father wasn’t smart, especially if she didn’t want Dee to find out what Ellie had kept from her during their interview. She enjoyed living in Spring and being a member of this community—getting involved in a scandal with a town resident wouldn’t earn her brownie points, and she’d be forced to leave if the gossip mill started working.
Her mind drifted back to the memories she’d been trying to erase, to the feelings of guilt and shame that had consumed her for months before she moved to Spring. Believing in fairy tales and happily-ever-afters had cost her a career she loved, as well as her reputation. Thinking it would be okay to date the father of one of the kids in her class because he was divorced—or so he’d told her—had been the most stupid mistake she’d ever made.
She should’ve understood the lie from that very first time he asked her out and took her to a restaurant outside San Francisco, so they wouldn’t upset his son if he saw his father with his teacher. He’d told her the little boy hadn’t taken the divorce well, and Spencer didn’t want to hurt him any more than he already had when he left him with his mother. She’d thought he was a good man, who put his son’s well-being before everything else, and she’d believed his lies.
She should’ve realized something wasn’t right when he never wanted to hang out in the city and always insisted they spend time somewhere, anywhere, outside San Francisco. Or when he asked her not to tell anyone they were dating, until he’d had the chance to talk to his son and explain the situation. But no, she chose to believe his lies.
For six blissful months she’d thought Spencer really liked her, that maybe he even thought they could have a future together. Sure, she’d known all along that a life with a divorced man who had a child with another woman wouldn’t be easy, but he’d been so persuasive when he promised her a happy future, she’d thought they’d be able to make it work somehow.
Until that day when she’d spotted him with his ex-wife and his son. As it turned out, his ex-wife wasn’t ‘ex’ at all. He’d been cheating on his wife all that time, while he whispered sweet words to Ellie and made promises he never intended to keep.
“Miss Ellie, can we play wif Barbies?” Sophie tugged on her hand, bringing Ellie back to the present. Enough reminiscing, Ellie. Time to get to work.
“We’ll do many more exciting things today,” Ellie smiled, walking into the playroom where the other ten kids were sitting in a circle around Dee. “But first we’ll have to introduce you to your new friends. Everybody, this is Sophie.”
A chorus of high-pitched voices chanting “Hi, Sophie” filled the room, and the little girl’s hand wrapped around Ellie’s leg, her tiny body moving slowly behind her. Ellie looked down and smiled at her, pulling her gently in front of her and leading her to the pink and blue rubber carpet where everybody was seated. She sat down and Sophie immediately sat beside her, getting as close as she could.
The little boy who’d been sitting by himself ever since his grandmother dropped him there ten minutes ago scooted close to Ellie’s left side and looked up at her with his big, brown eyes. She smiled and he looked away, clutching his purple stuffed dinosaur to his chest like a lifeline. She was already halfway in love with Sammy. He’d already been through a lot in his three years of life, and after she read his file on Friday morning, she’d known that her main goal this year would be to help him get over his trauma and bring him back from wherever he was hiding.
Dee clapped her hands and the chattering stopped. “Okay, everybody. Before we split into two groups, Ellie and I will teach you a nice song that we’ll be singing every day when you get here.”
Tiny hands clapped and cheered, and as Ellie stood with Dee in the middle of the circle, singing and dancing the Happy Bunny song, her heart soared with joy. This was where she belonged, where she was the happiest. She’d never let another man take it away from her. Never again.