Maggie felt as though the whole world was resting on her shoulders as she strode into Principal Witherspoon’s office. She left the door open in hopes that Laredo would be there in just a few minutes with reinforcements in the form of the board of directors. For now, there was still a chance to let Olivia redeem herself—maybe.

“What do you want?” Olivia turned in her executive chair and pegged Maggie with a hot glare that could have started a forest fire. “Your time here is limited. You might want to start looking for a new job. You and that gym teacher boyfriend of yours.”

“Why was that such a big deal?” Maggie wondered out loud. “He wasn’t interested in you. So what? You’re beautiful. Go find another man if you want one.”

“He chose you over me!” Olivia sniffed. “Do you really not know how unacceptable that is? You’re a redhead with all of that pale freckly skin and ugly red hair. Why would any man want you?”

“Because she is a beautiful person inside and out.” Darren suddenly appeared in the doorway. He was matching the heat of Olivia’s glare as he moved to stand beside Maggie. Then he put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I got here as soon as I could. Laredo is in the parking lot with quite a crowd. I think he’s giving them the quick version before they come inside.”

The snarky grin slid right off Olivia’s face. “What crowd? Where?”

Darren pointed at Olivia. “You tried to expel my niece.”

“Even worse,” Maggie added. “Those boys told me where they learned all of that stuff to tease poor Bella. You told them things that Bella doesn’t even know! How could you do that to a child?”

“She’s a brat.” That seemed to be enough in Olivia’s book. “And Laredo Hernandez can’t do a thing about it.”

“That’s the thing.” Darren scratched his chin. “I know you think we’re all dirty ranchers with no class or culture, and that might be true if you were talking about me. But you poked at Laredo. You realize that he plays golf and attends social events with your board of directors. Right?”

The pale pinched look on Olivia’s face spoke volumes. No. Apparently, she had not anticipated that small detail. Maggie could hear a group of people out front where Rhonda’s desk was located. Soon they were spilling into Olivia Witherspoon’s office, and they did not look happy.

Maggie recognized Mr. Burdette almost immediately. Julian’s father’s face was mottled red with anger. “Is it true that you were going to expel a girl because my son teased her and she belted him one?”

“Mr. Burdette, you must understand.” Olivia shot to her feet and spread her hands before her as though she were trying to look the part of dedicated educator. “Bella Hernandez has been beating up your son, Julian, for weeks now!”

“Julian has been teasing the crap out of her,” Burdette shot back. Then he nodded to Maggie. “I’ve been meaning to talk to Ms. Brown about how to make Julian understand that you can’t bully others.”

That was news to Maggie, but she wasn’t going to say anything at this point. To date, Burdette hadn’t seemed that concerned about his son’s bullying. Then she remembered the incident Julian had described with his sister.

Sure enough, that was what was on Burdette’s mind. “My son called my daughter a whore last night! He told her whores didn’t get dessert because they were cheaterpants!” Burdette fumed.

The other parent board members gasped out loud. One of them—Maggie recognized Sawyer’s mother—couldn’t stay quiet. “Where did he learn that kind of language? Is that what they’re getting here at school?”

Olivia sputtered. “I cannot imagine where he would have gotten that!” Then she gestured to Laredo. “But families like these with their low origins don’t always train their children like the rest of us.”

Maggie gaped, as did several other ranchers who happened to be both on the board and in the room. Laredo was now staring at the ceiling as though he could not be sure of holding onto his temper.

Finally, Laredo made a gesture to indicate Olivia Witherspoon. “Does anyone see what I mean now?”

Maggie cleared her throat. “Um, Mr. Burdette, when I asked your son where he’d learned that word, he told me that he’d had a discussion with Ms. Witherspoon about a special project he was going to do with her that would not get him into trouble, but it involved some language and some other behavior, including additional bullying in order to make Bella Hernandez lose her temper.”

If there was a perfect moment to drop a bomb, Maggie had certainly found it. Burdette swung around to look at Witherspoon, and it was obvious that he was absolutely done with the current principal. He gestured toward Olivia Witherspoon and then looked around the room at the assembled school board crammed into the office.

“Do I have a motion?” Burdette called out.

Olivia drew back in horror. “You can’t do this!”

“I move,” Sawyer’s mother said loudly over Olivia’s protests, “that we terminate Ms. Olivia Witherspoon’s contract prior to the legal termination date due to her unseemly behavior as an educator.”

“I second the motion,” Laredo growled.

“You’re not on the…” Olivia shut up when she realized that she had completely underestimated the Hernandez family.

“I was appointed to the board for today’s special session,” Laredo informed her. “It’s in the bylaws. You should have read them. You might have found them interesting. Especially since you’ve violated half a dozen school rules with this little stunt. And that makes your employment contract null and void. So, welcome to unemployment, Ms. Witherspoon.”

“Now.” Burdette was looking toward Maggie. “Shall we name the counselor as interim principal?”

“No!” Maggie practically shouted the word. “Rhonda—the secretary—has plenty of years under her belt as a principal. She’s the one who has been doing most of Witherspoon’s work anyway. At least on the administrative side of things.”

“Seriously?” Burdette swung around to look at Olivia. “What is wrong with you?”

“I don’t have to take this!” Olivia flounced out of the office just in time to pass Rhonda, who was stepping inside.

Rhonda frowned at Olivia’s retreating form. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Just got fired,” Maggie informed her. “And you’re going to take over her job.”

“Oh. All right, then.” Rhonda waved to the other members of the board. “Then my first order of business is to refer the board to the emailed employment application for Darren Hernandez.”

“Oh, I got that,” Burdette exclaimed. “You’re talking about the football player who wants to be the gym teacher.”

“Exactly!” Rhonda nodded emphatically. “He’s very qualified, and he can get his teaching certificate while he is employed here.”

Beside her, Darren was looking very surprised. “I can?”

“You already have the degree,” Maggie reminded him. “Which you never actually told me about, you goofball! Your brother told me that.”

“He did?” Darren stared at Laredo. “I thought you weren’t supportive of my working here.”

Laredo snorted. “You’re far better at this job than you are at the office.”

Burdette gave a huge grin and slapped Darren on the back. “My boy says you’re considering starting a football team here at the school.”

“I think it would be a good idea to have several sports available for both girls and boys.” Darren seemed a little overwhelmed. Maggie slipped her arm into his and gave it a squeeze. Darren covered her hand with his and squeezed back. “Kids who are involved in sports are less likely to be in trouble because they have an outlet for their frustrations.”

“Great idea!” Sawyer’s mother was already clapping. “But I have to get back to the office. So, let’s just hire this young man and be done with it. Yes?” She glanced around the room, and the other parent board members were nodding emphatically. “Does anyone want to grab lunch before they head back?”

It was like the party had broken up so suddenly that Maggie couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the people before they bolted and were abruptly gone. Laredo gave her a little wave and then slapped his brother on the shoulder before following the others out of the office.

Rhonda made a shooing motion toward Maggie and Darren. “If you don’t mind? I have to find someone to answer the phones and then get organized so I’m not a complete failure at being a principal.”

“You won’t fail,” Maggie told Rhonda confidently. Then she grabbed Darren’s hand and dragged him out the door and down the hall toward her own office.

“What are you doing?” Darren asked as Maggie closed her door.

She didn’t answer him. She didn’t really have the words. It was all just so overwhelming right now that she needed one thing and one thing only. She put her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest. Inhaling deeply, she snuggled as close as she possibly could.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Darren gently touched her face with his fingertips.

She closed her eyes and reveled in the sensation of the way he stroked her with such gentleness. Tracing her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, he moved to her eyebrows and then gently brushed her hair behind her ear. He pressed a soft kiss to her temple and then hugged her close.

It felt so good to be held by him. Darren was unlike anyone else she’d ever met. What you saw was what you got. There were no tricks or double meanings or anything of the sort. He was a good man, and she wanted him in her life permanently.

“Darren,” she whispered. “I’m so glad you came to pick up Bella the other day. I can’t believe it’s only been a week. It feels like a dozen.”

“Time seems to speed by when there’s so much drama happening, huh?” He sighed and cupped her chin in order to lift her face away from his chest. “You have been a blessing from the moment I met you. You have changed my life in so many ways you cannot even begin to understand how much it means to me.”

“You’ve changed my life too.” Maggie wondered if he would ever realize just how much. “I was the woman in the background before you showed up. I just sort of let things happen and tried not to get too involved or ruffle too many feathers. Now I’ve managed to ruffle just about everyone’s feathers, and I’m glad! This school is a better place now because of you.”

He leaned down and took her lips in a soft kiss. He moved his mouth against hers over and over again. She felt his tongue begging for entry and parted her lips to welcome him inside. Moving her hands to his shoulders, she felt tiny frissons of excitement run throughout her whole body. His kisses were electric. She felt so alive in his arms. It was as though everything in her life had been leading to this moment and this man.

“I need you so badly, Maggie. I want you in my life”—he paused for a moment—“in our lives forever. Do you know what I’m asking?”

“Say the words,” she whispered against his lips.

“Marry me, Maggie. Make me the luckiest cowboy in Colorado.”

She giggled because she felt as though the whole world was hers for the taking. This was the perfect moment in the perfect day. And forget Colorado, she was the luckiest woman on the planet!

“Yes!” Maggie said excitedly. “I would be absolutely thrilled to marry you, Darren Hernandez!”