Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
“Be careful, Addison! Watch where you’re going!” Olivia smiled at a little girl who had nearly bumped into one of her classmates.
“Oops, sorry, Miss Olivia!” said Addison, scampering to the side.
Olivia winked at her and turned back to the doorway of her classroom, where students were still filing in for the day’s camp. She was looking forward to the day they had planned, and she hoped the kids would be excited about it as well. After some learning games and a writing exercise in the morning, they were going to bob for apples as a fun fall activity just before lunch. Even though it was still August, Olivia was looking forward to autumn, and several of her students had told her that they felt the same way.
“All right, is everyone settled in their seats?” Olivia asked once every student had arrived. A couple of kids scampered into their seats after she asked the question, but she smiled at them reassuringly. “Listening ears on? Very good. What about your thinking caps? I hope nobody forgot their thinking caps. I forgot my thinking cap once, and it was rough.”
The room filled with giggles. Olivia grinned at her students and turned toward the white board. “Okay. Now we’re going to try to guess a word. The word has four letters in it, so I’ve drawn these four lines on the board—”
A gentle knock sounded on the door, and a moment later, Maddie pushed it open.
“Hey,” she said. “So sorry to interrupt, but you’ve got a couple of extra campers today.”
Maddie ushered two kids into the room, a boy and a girl. They were both gangly, with dark curly hair and big eyes. Olivia thought they were absolutely adorable, and there was something about them that captured her heart from the first instant.
“Well, I’m so glad you’re here,” Olivia said, smiling at the kids. Their extreme resemblance to each other told her that they were twins. “What are your names?”
“I’m Max,” said the little boy, grinning. “Where can I sit?”
“Welcome, Max! You can sit anywhere where there’s an open chair.”
“Cool!” Max scampered off to the nearest table and sat down next to a couple of other little boys. “Hi, I’m Max,” he whispered to them, and soon the three of them were having an energetic, whispered conversation.
The other twin held back, standing near Maddie as if she was afraid to step forward into the room. Her eyes glanced here and there nervously, and Olivia’s heart went out to her.
“And what’s your name?” she asked gently.
“Haley,” said the little girl, her voice barely audible. She looked a little overwhelmed.
“You can take a seat right over there, Haley,” Olivia said, gesturing to an empty seat next to a little girl who she knew was particularly nice. “Everyone, start thinking about what this word might be. I’ll give you a hint, it has something to do with the sky.”
Some of the kids started calling out guesses immediately, but she just smiled at them as she stepped over to Maddie for a quick conversation.
“Anything I should know?” she asked softly. Max seemed perfectly at ease already, but Olivia wondered if there was anything she should be aware of about Haley, who seemed as frightened as a bird caught in a cage.
“I don’t know much about them,” Maddie said, her voice also soft. “Their dad is new in town. He seemed concerned about leaving Haley here, but I assured him she’d be fine.”
Olivia nodded, smiling. “She definitely will be. She’s probably just nervous. Totally understandable, especially if they’re new here.”
“I’m sure you’ll make her feel at ease in no time.” Maddie beamed at her. “Good luck!”
Maddie slipped out of the classroom, and Olivia took her place by the whiteboard.
“Okay,” she said, her voice carrying through the room. “Four letters, something to do with the sky. Who knows what this word is?”
The room filled with the sound of shouted answers.
“Ben is right,” Olivia said, laughing. “This word is ‘rain.’”
She led the kids in some word-guessing games—which was a sneaky way of helping them practice their spelling—and the whole time, she kept a special eye on Max and Haley. Max guessed just as eagerly as the other kids, and Olivia deduced that he played sports, since he had a quick, precise energy that hinted he was used to being active. Haley, however, was a mystery to her. The little girl sat quietly and listened, her eyes wide.
When the kids moved on to their next activity of coloring pictures of scenes from different countries, Olivia made a beeline for Haley’s chair.
“Hey,” she whispered, crouching down and smiling at the little girl. “How’s your day going?”
Haley just kind of blinked at her, not saying anything.
“We’ve got some more fun lessons planned for this morning,” Olivia assured her. “In a little while, we’re going to practice reading with puppets! It will be a lot of fun.”
Despite how bright Olivia’s smile was, Haley wasn’t returning it. The teacher wasn’t daunted, however.
“And then after lessons, we’re going to bob for apples. Does that sound like fun?”
Haley still didn’t say anything, but her eyes lit up when she heard about bobbing for apples. Olivia smiled, confident that she’d have no trouble getting the little girl interested and helping her feel comfortable in the class.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Olivia whispered, and Haley nodded. “I was the new girl in school—and at a few jobs—once or twice. I was really nervous, but then I ended up having a great time. I made some amazing friends.”
“Okay,” Haley said, her voice soft. She offered Olivia a sweet smile, and Olivia beamed back at her.
I’m so glad I was able to ease her worries, Olivia thought. She’s already stealing my heart!
She winked at Haley and began to move along the tables, making sure none of the other children needed help. She noticed that Max was having a great time, and she hoped that his sister would start feeling just as comfortable soon.
Corey glanced at the clock for what must have been the hundredth time. He had felt restless ever since dropping Max and Haley off at Little Clams that morning.
They’re going to be fine , he told himself firmly.
He winced. He knew Max would be fine, but Haley was a handful sometimes. She was unlikely to have any kind of outburst at school, but sometimes she was so shy that teachers weren’t able to get her to participate in anything. He hoped Haley’s teacher that day didn’t get frustrated with her.
He reminded himself of how sweet the woman who had met them there was. Her name had been Maddie, and he’d been able to tell that she was great with kids. Even so, he’d felt anxious about dropping the kids off in a new place—especially when they were going to spend such a long time there.
Keeping them there with him at the shop had been out of the question, however. He needed to install shelves that day and replace some of the electric lights with better fixtures. That was work he needed to be able to give his full attention to, without worrying about his kids getting into mischief. He needed his shop to be ready by the end of the week, and when he’d learned about Little Clams, he’d realized it was the perfect solution to his problem. That way, his kids could stay occupied and have fun, and he wouldn’t be as stressed about them.
That had been the idea, anyway. Unfortunately, he still felt stressed and worried, wondering if his kids were having a good time at the school. He imagined Haley sitting somewhere by herself, pale as a sheet and not talking. He swallowed, wishing he knew what to do for her. It pained him to feel so helpless when he loved her so much.
Finally, his work at the store reached a stopping point. He’d installed all the shelves and replaced all the light fixtures that needed to be replaced. All that was left for him to do was arrange his merchandise tastefully around the space. That could wait for the next day.
He glanced at the clock again. If he left right then, he would arrive at the school early, but he didn’t want to wait anymore. Picking his keys up off the counter, he hurried out of the store, locking it behind him. He got into his car and drove as quickly as he could through the charming streets of Blueberry Bay. The sun was shining brightly, and he made a mental note to take the kids to the beach as soon as he had the time.
He was the first parent to arrive at Little Clams, almost fifteen minutes before the end of the camp. He parked his car in the parking lot and went inside, where he sat restlessly in the lobby, tapping his foot against the floor and staring at the sunshine yellow wall in front of him.
At last, classroom doors began to open. He stood up and hurried down the hallway to the room that was marked with Max and Haley’s grade level. He stood to the side as kids poured out of the room, laughing and chatting excitedly.
“Hi, Dad!” Max cried, appearing suddenly and giving his father a hug. “Today was awesome!” He turned and ran after a couple of other boys. They all seemed to be talking excitedly about something—Corey heard the words “frogs” and “spaceships.”
He looked back inside the classroom, worried that he was going to see Haley sitting by herself in a corner, looking close to a meltdown. He didn’t see her.
At that moment, Maddie stepped out of the classroom, and he waved at her to get her attention.
“How did Haley do today?” he asked.
She smiled at him. “Come see for yourself,” she said, nodding her head toward the classroom door. Corey poked his head inside the room and saw Haley still sitting at a table, excitedly bent over a craft project. She was laughing and talking excitedly with her teacher, who was very pretty and smiling down at Haley like the two of them had known each other forever.
Corey’s heart did a somersault when he saw it. Relief flooded him—and he also felt a sudden rush of respect and admiration for the teacher, who had been able to work such wonders with his daughter.
At that moment, the teacher looked up and smiled at him. Haley looked up a moment later, and her face lit up into a grin.
“Hi, Daddy!” She stood up and hurried over to him, holding her craft. “Look, I made a mask! It’s a rainbow tiger, see?”
He hugged his daughter, genuinely impressed with how good her artistry was. “That’s amazing, Haley! Great job.”
“I had such a good day today,” she told him, gushing. “I want to go show Max and Addy my mask!”
She scampered off into the hallway, and Corey stared at her for a moment, feeling dazed. He couldn’t believe Haley had had such a good time in a new classroom.
“She’s such a sweetheart,” said the teacher, smiling and coming toward him.
He nodded. He realized he suddenly felt nervous around this teacher. It was probably because she was so pretty—she had incredible curly brown hair, and her eyes gleamed with kindness. “Thank you so much. This isn’t usual for her. Haley generally doesn’t do well in these kinds of settings—I mean, when she’s somewhere new, surrounded by new people.”
The teacher nodded. “I completely understand. I’m Olivia. Nice to meet you.”
She held out her hand and he took it, shaking it firmly.
“I’m Corey. Nice to meet you.”
They smiled at each other for a moment, and then Olivia said, “She’s such a sweet girl. I’m glad I was able to make her feel more at ease. A lot of kids are shy at first—it’s my job to help them realize that they’re in a safe space. I just made sure Haley felt like she had at least one friend from the get-go.”
Corey found himself smiling. He felt drawn in by Olivia, and her clear passion for teaching. “Thank you again. I’m so relieved she’s found somewhere that she wants to be.” He found himself wanting to tell Olivia all about their troubles—about the loss of his wife, and how hard things had been for him and the kids. But he swallowed the words, not being used to sharing much about his personal life. Besides, as much as he liked her, this woman was a total stranger.
“Of course.”
“I’d better get going,” he said. “I lost track of where they are already.”
She laughed—a bright, energetic laugh—and he smiled at her one more time and left the classroom.
As he and the kids drove home, he listened to them talk excitedly about how fun their day had been. He kept picturing Olivia vividly as they described how well she had taught them. He could just imagine her smile, and her cheerful tone of voice. Even after the kids had scampered into the house and he was left alone in the yard, he kept thinking about Olivia.
Am I just entranced by how well she handled Haley? he wondered. Or am I attracted to her?
Either way, it was hard for him to stop thinking about her.