Chapter One
The last of the students shuffled out of the room, and I leaned against my desk wondering what in the world I’d signed up for. The silence wrapped around me and so did the dawning realization that I’d be stuck on the island all summer. It seemed like a good idea a few weeks ago, but once I arrived, I started having immediate doubts. Maybe teaching tenth grade summer school wasn’t the best idea to keep busy. I had more than enough to occupy myself with managing my dad’s affairs and getting his house ready to sell, but it was too late now. I’d signed a contract, and I needed to make the best of the situation. It was very clear none of the students wanted to be here and I didn’t blame them. Who would want to spend a summer indoors on the island? I needed to come up with a plan to get them interested and keep myself focused along the way.
Easier said than done.
I looked around the dull and dingy classroom and eyed the yellowed Shakespeare poster that been on the wall since I’d attended school here, and I didn’t need to count the years to know that had been a very long time ago. The beige walls were spotty from years of touch-up paint, and the only improvement I’d noticed was that the individual scarred wooden desks had been replaced with long, plastic tables. This space was dismal. I totally grasped why the kids wouldn’t want to be stuck inside this room all summer while their friends got to run around the island.
I’d always loved summers on the island, but that was before my family splintered apart with never the hope of coming back together again.
I kept in a sigh and began organizing the students’ papers in a folder. So much of this place had stayed the same. It was like going back in time and the only thing that had managed to age during the process was me. Not a very amusing thought since there were moments l still felt like a teenager inside.
A breeze swept through an open window in the classroom lifting up one of the loose papers from the desk. I reached over and snatched the sheet out of the air and plunked it back down, anchoring it with my empty coffee mug. The sound of a metal ladder clanging along the side of the brick building caught my attention, and I glanced out the window to see the most well-defined stomach peeking out from under some guy’s shirt as he climbed up the ladder. My eyes were glued to his abdomen as he reached up to work on whatever it was he was doing, and it appeared I really had been flung back into high school.
I needed to get out more.
Instead of turning my attention away, however, I kept staring at this small gift from above and trundled over to the window as he worked his way up the ladder. Complete disappointment washed over me when his shirt fell to cover his stomach, but I still stood at complete attention hoping for one last glimpse. It wasn’t until I heard a woman clearing her throat behind me that I realized how close I’d gotten to the window and the man outside it. I had no idea what had come over me.
I spun around, and my eyes met with the woman who’d hired me and two other female teachers who I’d seen around the campus.
Such was my luck.
As the embarrassment slowly permeated every ounce of my body, I noticed all of the women displayed a sort of knowing smile, but none of them said a word so I stood in place, cheeks flaming. My mind raced in every different direction to come up with a clever comeback, and of course, nothing of the sort came to mind.
“I was just checking to see what all of that ruckus was about outside,” I stuttered, knowing my fair complexion gave me away. One of the many gifts about being a redhead—I lit up like a Christmas tree. “You know…in case he was in danger or the ladder wasn’t steady. I thought I should get a closer look. It sounded pretty dire.”
“Indeed. I can understand that,” Rosa replied, still grinning. She was the principal and the woman behind getting me onboard for summer school. Her dark hair was trimmed short, and despite the warmth of summer, she wore a cream linen suit. Most teaching positions went to locals, but she had known my father and understood my situation and for that I was grateful. “We wanted to stop by and see how your first day went. You didn’t run screaming out the doors, which I take as a good sign.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Nope. Not gonna run. I’m hoping I can get the students interested in history before the summer is over. I only had a couple of texters, and I can’t say I blame them. The weather is beautiful, and I couldn’t imagine being stuck in school all summer at that age.” I smiled and heard the clank of the ladder again as it got moved along the building, but I stayed put, staring directly in front of me. I wasn’t going to fall for that trap twice, but I noticed one of the teachers looked out the window, and it was difficult not to follow her gaze.
“As the summer goes on, their attention span gets worse,” the other teacher said, stepping out from behind Rosa. She reached out her hand and I shook it. “I’m Samantha. If you need anything, I’m only two doors down.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.” I nodded. “What’s your subject?”
“This summer I’m teaching biology,” Samantha replied.
The other teacher ripped her gaze away from the peep show outside and brought her eyes to mine. “I’m Tessa and I’m four doors down, across the hall. I teach math.”
Tessa was in a pair of black capri leggings and an oversized pink shirt. Her hair was in a bouncy ponytail, and her smile made me feel as if I’d known her for years. Samantha, not so much. Samantha followed Rosa’s lead and wore a white tailored suit, and I had the distinct feeling it would only be to my detriment if I asked her for any help or advice. I sensed she was a woman with an agenda and any questions would be a sign of weakness.
“Well, I hope to be able to get the kids outside,” I started.
“Off school property? That’s always a hassle and never worth the headache,” Samantha spouted.
Tessa opened her mouth as if she was going to object, but shut it quickly, locking eyes with me.
“Stop by the office on the way out, and Martha will get you all the necessary paperwork you need ahead of time if you decide to do that. I think any method that encourages the students to learn is a plus,” Rosa replied, giving me a wry smile.
Samantha looked agitated and flashed me a cold stare, and it was hard not to chuckle as Tessa rolled her eyes at Samantha’s agitation. The island dynamics were already at play.
“Well, thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to teach this summer,” I said, hoping to tidy up the classroom quickly and get to the house that had so much left to do. Every second I devoted to the home was a second closer to getting off the island.
“Don’t forget, we have an opening for full-time status this fall,” Rosa reminded me.
My stomach clenched at the thought of having to stay around any longer than the end of August. It wasn’t that I didn’t have good memories being back here, but there were also plenty of sad ones, and I doubted I was ready to relive any of them, good or bad. The sooner I could get off the island, the better.
“I appreciate the offer, but I think this assignment fits me perfectly.”
Rosa nodded, and I smiled as I watched all three women walk out. Only a few seconds passed before Tessa reappeared.
“Just ignore Samantha. That’s what we all do. She knows Rosa is going to be retiring in a few years and has decided to make it her mission to be the next principal. Not gonna happen if you ask me, which you didn’t.” Her grin widened, and I noticed what a pretty plum color her lips were naturally. In order to get anyone to see mine, I had to paint several coats of gloss on top and hope that I didn’t lick it all off before the morning was over.
“I figured something had to be going on.” I glanced out the window without even thinking and saw that the ladder had been moved but was still in view.
“It’s always a treat when he shows up,” Tessa chuckled.
“How often does he show up?” I asked.
“Not often enough.”
I laughed and reached up to close the window as the mystery man began stepping down the ladder. My fingers fumbled as I dropped the blinds right before his face appeared in the window. I could shut the window later.
“You won’t be disappointed,” Tessa explained, wiping my board down for me.
I wondered if she knew I hadn’t closed the window yet.
“With what?”
“The whole package,” she mused.
“Package?” I asked, trying to act as if I had no idea what she was referring to.
“The guy outside. He’s the complete package. One hundred and ten percent perfection.”
I shook my head. “Doubtful. No man ever is and if they are, it’s only a mirage. I’ve sworn off men completely—no matter what kind of package appears.”
Tessa threw up her hands and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m tellin’ ya. He’s really got it going on. And he’s a twin.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her latest revelation. As if being a twin was a benefit. My chest tightened, and I dropped my gaze to the desk, pushing away the guilt that flooded through me.
“Does he work at the school?” I asked.
She shook her head, her ponytail extra springy with the excitement of relaying the bits of gossip. This was one of the many things I remembered about living on the island. Word always traveled fast about a person. “He works for some construction company on the mainland.”
“Aww… I see.” I smiled as her words hit me. I’d forgotten how most of the islanders referred to Seattle and the general vicinity as the mainland. It was an entirely different world over here. The pace was slower and the smiles kinder. Maybe being here was what I needed for the summer, a way to escape the reality that had so stubbornly presented itself time and again back in New York.
“But I’ll tell you this, whenever the construction contract is up for renewal, all of our moods change as we wait to hear who’s won the bid. It happens every two years, and I can tell you it’s a real mood shifter around here. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t the main reason so many of us sign up to teach summer school.” She winked.
“It’s not for the betterment of the students?” I teased.
“Well that too. But he’s a strong second. And most of the repairs and maintenance around the campus are done in the summer. I always make sure my classroom is in tip-top shape before summer school ends and fall quarter begins.” She was almost beaming and I couldn’t help but laugh. Being around Tessa was a definite mood lifter.
“I can’t imagine why,” I replied, still smiling. “But his workout regimen certainly seems to be working well for him.” I couldn’t believe those words tumbled out. I would absolutely die if the man on the ladder knew I was in here even having a discussion like this. I wasn’t easily impressed, and I never really talked about men or the fact that I noticed them to anyone. It wasn’t my style and within a matter of hours on my job here, I got caught red-handed ogling over some stranger’s six-pack. Not my finest hour and certainly not the gossip I wanted circulating around the island. There was already enough misinformation running rampant about my family here. I needed to stay buttoned up and not let myself make any mistakes. It was the least I could do to honor my father’s memory.
Tessa was on her way out the door. “If you don’t have any plans tonight, I’ll be over at Mudflat Tavern around seven, munching on…”
“The famous fresh-cut french fries with chili and cheese sauce?” I interrupted.
“How’d you know?” she asked, turning around to face me.
“I grew up here and that was the only reason we ever went to Mudflat,” I said grinning, as the memories filled me with unexpected comfort. Even though there was a tavern in the name, it was a family restaurant, one that my family frequented quite a lot.
There was outside seating on a deck that overlooked the Sound. The restaurant even had a pier for boats to dock and pick up orders to go. I remembered one of the times I’d been there, I was running my hand along the old wooden deck railing when a splinter rammed right under my skin. It wasn’t a typical splinter. In fact, it looked more like a knitting needle once my father managed to get it out of my palm. When it happened, I didn’t say a word, but my dad knew immediately because I stopped moving, and my already pale face had competed with Casper to take home the award for most ghostly appearance. That was right before I fainted from the pain. Needless to say I got free cheese fries for life. Not that I would hold them to it after all these years… but I never trusted wood railings after that.
“So you understand their addictive quality?”
“Absolutely do and I’ll have to take you up on the offer next time. I’ve got some things I need to take care of tonight.”
“Totally. The offer is always there.” She flashed a grin and walked out of the classroom, leaving me alone with the ache of memories I’d never intended to visit today. I wanted to believe that being back here was going to be good for me, but as each day ticked by I wasn’t sure.
I pushed the folder with the students’ papers into my bag. My desk was as empty as it was when I entered this morning. I’d definitely need to bring in some fresh flowers or something to liven it up a bit.
The sound of the ladder jiggling had stopped so I snuck over to the window and before I had a chance to lift the blinds and close the window, a husky laugh washed over me from behind. I turned around to see the man, who’d been hanging outside my window, right in front of me, grinning as if he held a secret I wasn’t privy to.
And Tessa was right. He was the full, complete, impossibly perfect package. Every amazing ounce of him looked delicious. His gaze met mine, and all I could do was turn right back around to secure the window and hide my embarrassment for the second time in less than ten minutes.
“You know, we have feelings too,” he said bemused.
Oh, dear Lord.
As I worked the window shut, I flipped the locks in place and brought the blinds down once again before turning to face the music and the man. I let out a silent sigh and slid the smile off my lips. I didn’t need his head to get any bigger than it already was.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, walking over to my desk.
“Oh, but I think you do.” He flashed an even wider grin, and my heart nearly stopped on the spot. I wanted to be swallowed up in the ground and transported all the way back to upstate New York. So I did what any normal human would do when faced with an overly cocky man, I grabbed my bag and walked past him.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I muttered.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. By the sound of it though, the teachers around here do enough of that for me. But don’t listen to anything they tell you.” He winked, and I couldn’t help myself from stopping right where I was, which happened to be in the doorway, while I wondered how much he’d actually heard perched outside my window.
We both stood in silence for a few moments. His vibrant, blue eyes held an intensity that was intriguing as he let the words sink in. He definitely had the upper hand, but I would change that. The smile swept all the way through his expression, and it was impossible not to be a little interested in the man on the ladder, who was now smirking in front of me. His dark blond hair and olive skin tone was a disastrous combination for someone trying to stay uninterested. His broad shoulders filled out his shirt and the slouchy jeans he was wearing made my eyes want to do another dip, but I refused to give in.
He knew he was good-looking. There was no way a person could be that attractive and not know it, but there was also something absolutely adorable lurking behind his gaze. He was trouble, and I certainly wasn’t looking for trouble this summer. I’d left enough of it behind to last a lifetime.
He leaned along the doorway and stretched his arms slightly, but I refused to fall for it. I did not look down. I kept my gaze securely fastened on his. I was less than a foot away from him, and I felt every bit of that closeness. To say I felt electricity zipping between us would be a great disservice to the storm I felt brewing inside of me, and I wholly blamed the man in front of me for knowing how to make a woman swoon. It had to be a learned technique otherwise all the teachers here wouldn’t be under his spell. I was just annoyed with myself for falling for it or him or whatever this was swelling inside of me.
“So my real reason for popping in on you was to see if there was anything around the classroom that you needed fixed before summer school gets totally underway? I always like to get these rooms started first if there is a task that needs to be completed.”
I looked around the room and the only thing that could help this space was a complete overhaul, and I knew that wasn’t in the budget so I shook my head. “I hope to get the kids outside as much as possible.”
He tapped his fingers on the door and gave a slight nod. “Brave woman. Okay, well if you need to add anything to my list, I’m usually here on Fridays, but I wanted to get a jumpstart for the summer.”
“Thanks.” I said, attempting to get by him.
“So where do you plan on taking the students?” he asked.
I was surprised by his question, but even more thrilled that I’d made it all the way into the hallway. Distance from this man definitely worked in my favor.
“I’m not sure yet. There are so many amazing beaches close to the school that it’ll be hard to pick. Or I could take the students to one of the piers, and we could take a class on wooden boatbuilding. Although, I think getting that to fit into the history lessons might be challenging. I could definitely work it into the maritime history of the island, but only time will tell, which I don’t have much of. It’s probably going to be a very rough go of it. Getting the kids interested during summer school seems almost impossible.”
He’d moved into the hallway with me, and he grinned as his eyes fastened on something behind me. I turned to follow his gaze and saw a huge poster of a pelican. Each classroom was referred to as a seabird. I happened to be in the “pelican” classroom.
“So are you a pelican or a pelican’t?” he asked, his eyes twinkled with a mischief that made me want to know more about him.
“Excuse me?” I asked, not sure I heard him correctly.
“Are you a pelican or a pelican’t? You strike me as a pelican.” His brow rose, and I couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the most horribly wonderful pun ever heard by mankind. “But you were starting to sound like a pelican’t.”
“I suppose I’m in the former group.”
He folded his arms and his smile deepened. “And which group would that be?”
“I’m not going to say it.” I smiled, glancing at the noble pelican on the poster. I liked it even more now.
“You’re not going to say which group you fall into?” he asked.
“Nope.”
“Well, I’m a pelican. Always have been a pelican. Pelican’ts drive me nuts, but until I hear you say it, I guess I won’t know which group you truly fall into.”
Tessa poked her head out of her classroom and gave me the thumbs-up sign and I wanted to shoo her away. Everything about this encounter was so awkward and he was eating it up.
And I loved every second of it.
My cheeks were almost hurting from the amount of smiling that started when I first saw part of this man balanced outside the window, and it took everything in my power not to give into temptation and hand him what he wanted. But I was doing it for my own sanity. I couldn’t afford to start any relationships in the near or distant future.
“I guess you’ll just have to wait to see which group I fall into.”
“I don’t think I caught your name,” he said. “And it’s not listed on the door yet.”
“Victoria.” I didn’t dare ask for his.
He flashed a knowing grin, which worried me slightly, but I shook it off.
“Well, it was nice to meet you, Victoria. I hope I get the pleasure of standing on a ladder right outside your window next week, and just maybe you’ll sign up for summer school next year.”
My cheeks reddened again, and I let out a completely unattractive chortle-laugh and shook my head. “You heard that?”
“I heard it all.” He smiled and walked into my classroom, leaving me to wonder what in the world I’d gotten myself into.
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