12. Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Law
I considered keeping the kids out of school for another week, just to let them settle in more. But I also knew how important it was for them to start getting into a routine, and the sooner they did that, the faster they would get comfortable. Considering the education standards between Arizona and New York, I figured the kids would be behind in some things, and probably advanced in others, and the quicker they got into the swing of things, the faster they would get on level with their peers.
I’d had their previous schools transfer their records, and I’d filled out the majority of the paperwork online, so when we arrived just before the first bell, we could go straight to the office. Principal Susan Altmann was there to meet us with a welcoming grin. Wearing her hair in a low ponytail, she seemed both approachable and professional with the jeans and t-shirt, covered by a blazer and jeweled flats on her feet. She greeted us with enthusiasm that immediately put my children at ease.
Because Harper was in sixth grade, she needed to be tested on a few things to determine which classes she would be placed in. We knew that going in, and I’d prepared Harper as best I could. She still looked a little nervous as she followed the resource teacher, Mrs. Robuck, out of the room, but looked back to give me a thumbs up, which I returned.
“Now, shall we head to your classes?” Mrs. Altmann said, her smile wide. “Your dad can come with us to drop you off, and then come back here to finish up your paperwork. How’s that sound?”
I liked that she spoke directly to the kids while also giving us all the info we needed. Tristan bounced on his toes and his hand shot into the air. “Me first!” After a second, and a look from me, he added, “Please.”
“That’s a good plan.” Mrs. Altmann held the door open and gestured us into the hallway, then led the way to the elementary wing. “Ms. Donoghue is very excited to meet you, Tristan. She’s been our kindergarten teacher for ten whole years and she loves new students.”
We stopped at a door not too far away, the bright colors and number and letter signs a dead giveaway as to what was inside. The door was open, as kids were filing in as their buses arrived. Tristan didn’t hesitate to walk straight in.
“Bye, Dad!”
Ms. Donoghue, who’d been supervising from the front of the class, immediately walked over to Tristan and bent over. “Hi, friend. You must be Tristan. I’m so glad to meet you.”
I watched for a moment as she directed Tristan to the wall where a cubby and hook had been assigned, so that he could hang up his coat and bag. Marlie slipped her hand into mine and I squeezed her fingers. She was nervous, I knew that, and it was all I could do to reassure her.
After a moment, Mrs. Altmann spoke. “Marlie, your classroom is just three doors down.” She gestured toward the room. “There’s only ten children in third grade this year, and Mr. Huntley can’t wait for you to join his class.”
Marlie was dragging her feet as we walked the fifteen feet down the hall. This door was open too, but she stopped just shy of seeing it. I got down to her level and gave her a big hug. She clung for a moment, and then took a deep breath before pulling back.
“It’s gonna be fine, baby girl.” I kept my voice low. She nodded, but her eyes were wide. This whole thing was scary, but she was brave. “It’s just like every year when you start a new grade. Except this year, you get to do it twice!”
Marlie rolled her eyes, because it clearly wasn’t the positive I was trying to make it sound like, but she stepped back and let Mrs. Altmann lead us to the door. Mr. Huntley was a giant of a man, tall and broad shouldered, but had a pink streak in his blond hair and a tattoo peeking out from the edge of his short-sleeved shirt. He noticed us immediately and crouched down, holding out a hand.
“Marlie? It’s so nice to meet you. Come on in!”
It took Marlie about five seconds to move, but then she shook his hand. Mr. Huntley stayed in the crouch as he pointed things out, like her desk and where she could hang her coat. He winked when he saw me staring, and I was relieved she had someone who seemed to understand her.
Knowing it would make things worse if I stood around, I turned my attention back to Mrs. Altmann. “Paperwork?”
“Right this way.” She led the way back to the office. “K through eight are in this building, and the high school classes are in the annex. There’s roughly three hundred children total who attend the school, but there’s not a lot of intermixing between elementary, middle, and high school kids.”
I listened as she prattled on about a few of the accolades the school had amassed over the last handful of years, but really, that wasn’t important. Teague assured me it was a good school, and that was all I cared about. My kids would get the education and support they needed.
When we got back to the office, Mrs. Altmann left me with one of the secretaries. Janelle pulled me into a small conference room to go over the paperwork. She confirmed that they had received the records, went over all the health forms I’d already filled out, and then slid another form across the table.
“This is for you to approve trusted adults to pick up the children. If you want anyone other than you or the children’s mother to be able to do so, just put down their information. Every adult who signs out children needs to come to the office and present ID.” Her eyes sparkled as she added, “Don’t be surprised if you get asked the first few times. We learn parents pretty quickly, so after that, Rose or myself might not ask. But if there’s anyone filling in, you might be here for years and they’ll still ask. Please don’t cause a ruckus. Oh, you need a pen.”
I took the ballpoint she offered. “I’d rather be asked every time and know my children are safe,” I assured her.
The form was already pre-filled out with both mine and Catilyn’s names, which I appreciated. We’d made the school aware of our situation, knowing it wasn’t exactly usual, and they’d been understanding. Beneath that were a few more slots. Charlie was a no brainer, and I immediately wrote in his name. After a second, I added Teague’s too. Between the three of us, someone would always be available to get the kids if there was an emergency right? But even though I was confident in that, I fiddled with the pen for a moment. At the last moment I added another name.
Oak Mulligan.
I stared at it for a few seconds before nodding and passing the form back. Janelle looked it over, and her eyes lit up. “Oh! You’re attached to the Mulligans. I’d wondered why you decided to move to our tiny, albeit charming town.”
Her tone invited conversation, an explanation, but I wasn’t about to give her one. I didn’t know her. I just smiled and nodded. “Yep.”
Janelle blinked. “I don’t recognize this last person though. Oak?”
I wanted to bite out that it wasn’t any of her business, but I also knew small towns were known for nosiness for a reason. Besides, if on the rare chance Oak was the one to pick up one or all of the kids, the office needed to know he was legit. Technically, me putting his name down should have been enough. But I offered a tidbit of information, since she clearly knew who the Mulligans were, so that there wasn’t any confusion.
“He’s Mary and Sean’s grandson.”
Janelle nodded, but from the way her brows beetled together, she was still confused. To her credit, the only thing she asked was, “Is he over eighteen? Unless it’s an older sibling and the parents have given express permission, we don’t allow anyone under the age of eighteen to sign the children out.”
That was fair enough, though it was irksome to be reminded of just how young Oak was for some reason. I did my best to keep that out of my tone. “Yes, he is.”
“Okay then.” Janelle drew out the words, still, I was sure, wanting information. I wasn’t going to give it. After a few seconds, she turned her attention to the other forms. “If you could just look this over to make sure the address and everything is correct?”
And so it went, checking through the forms I’d filled out, making sure address and phone numbers, as well as other tidbits of information were correct. Though it felt like it dragged, it really only took about thirty minutes. Once Janelle assured me everything was correct, I was ready to leave.
“One last thing. Here’s the instructions for drop off and pick up lines. I know it’s kind of a pain,” she pulled a face, trying to be funny, but I didn’t react so she continued, “but it’s important that the rules are followed so that everything goes smoothly. Can you look it over and make sure you don’t have any questions?”
I did, skimming the document quickly, but it wasn’t too different from the procedure at the previous school. The children attended after school care before, but they wouldn’t be this time. I would be able to pick them up and settle them in the office with Charlie if I had work to still complete. I’d considered signing them up for the bus route, but when I saw the times they’d have to get on and be dropped off, and realizing because of the distances between kids how much time mine would have to sit on the bus, I decided this was a better option. And if I were honest, I was glad to be able to do it. It would be easier on my munchkins.
Finally, all paperwork done, with the kids officially enrolled at Fairville Academy—which made it sound far more pretentious than it actually was—I left and headed back to Black Dog.
It wasn’t a long drive, and I was already learning the roads after just more than a week. Pretty soon I knew I wouldn’t need the GPS at all. As it was, I made it back just in time for Nic’s “staff meeting.” I hadn’t really even begun work yet, though I’d handled snow removal in the past few days, so I figured that was what the meeting was about.
That thought changed the moment I set foot in the lobby and saw Oak, Charlie, Nic, and Dana crammed into the office. Surprisingly, Teague was there as well, leaning against the back wall, my brother sitting in his chair but practically against Teague’s legs. Teague had his hands on Charlie’s shoulders, massaging lightly, and I couldn’t help the smile that Charlie allowed that touch.
“Sorry I’m late,” I apologized as I squeezed into the office as well. I found a perch next to Oak, leaning against the table on the far wall. Dana was in a chair, but Nic hoisted her tiny self up onto the desk, folding her legs underneath her.
“You’re not late. We saw you pull into the lot, so we gathered.” Nic waved that away, like it was no big deal. “But now that we’re all here, let's talk about all the stuff.”
“Cora’s not here?” Charlie asked, brow crinkling.
“Cora only works dinner service with me. Nothing there is changing, so I told her she didn’t have to attend if she didn’t want to,” Dana said.
Nic nodded. “This is about everything else. Which is why Teague is here. We’ve hired him to help part time with renovations. Need to put those carpentry skills to work.”
Teague clearly already knew that, and he flexed an arm, showing off impressive biceps. Laughter washed through the office, though Oak grimaced. It was mostly for show, I guess, but it made me laugh harder. I bumped Oak with my shoulder so he knew I agreed.
“All right. So when Dana and I bought the place, we put off the cabin renos, knowing it was better to focus on the Inn itself with our limited resources at the time. But now that Law has joined us, and Teague can give us some of his time, we’re going to focus there. Our plan is to get everything complete this spring so that we can start renting the cabins this summer.”
Beside me, Oak went stiff. I probably wouldn’t have noticed except there was barely three inches of space between us. I glanced at him, and though his expression was neutral, he held his entire body like he was bracing for bad news. I leaned slightly closer and nudged him with my elbow, but Oak gave a single, short shake of his head. I tried not to frown.
Nic was spreading papers out on Charlie’s desk. “Our revenue is up, which is awesome. We’ve made a little bit of a name for ourselves. I couldn’t be happier. We couldn’t be happier. We need to keep that momentum going. By getting the cabins ready, we’ll be able to rent for longer stays. Bigger groups. People who just want to get away. Most of the cabins are structurally sound, and just need a lot of cosmetic work. Cabin Three needs a complete overhaul inside, since the roof had a leak. And Cabin Seven got attacked by a fallen tree right before we took possession so will probably need part, if not all, of the back wall rebuilt.”
I was listening to Nic, but I couldn’t stop staring at Oak. Outwardly, he seemed to be paying attention too. But the way he was holding himself, the way he chewed on the inside of his bottom lip, had me on edge. Something about this news unsettled him, and I couldn’t figure out what. I probably shouldn’t care either, but I did. No one else seemed to realize how uncomfortable he was. I nudged him again.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered. Not that it mattered, because we were in such a small space everyone heard my barely spoken words. Just like that, four other sets of eyes latched onto Oak, and he all but squirmed.
“Nothing. I’m fine.” He shot me a glare that lacked the heat it should have. I knew he was trying for intimidating, but it wouldn’t work on me. I saw the pain in those blue depths.
“Oak?” Nic asked, her tone a little more commanding.
Perhaps it was because she was his boss, or maybe because he knew her better, but he breathed out a tiny sigh. “When do you want me out?”
Nic blinked. “What?”
Oak cleared his throat. “How long do I have before you need me to move out of the cabin? I’ll need some time to find a new place to—”
“No!” Nic’s shout was loud, but she didn’t care. “No, I’m sorry. I thought you knew, or else I would have opened with that or talked to you about this before and made sure you knew that you didn’t have to move out. You never have to move out. That cabin is yours for as long as you want it. I’m talking about the other seven, not yours.”
Oak picked at his nail for a few seconds before he lifted his gaze to her, squinting as though he was trying to make sure she was telling the truth. “You sure?”
“Yes.” Nic gave a nod, then looked at Dana who was smiling and nodding as well. Nic smirked. “Besides, with you being right there, we can pay you extra to be on-call for any problems cabin guests have.”
Oak let that sink in, then he smiled. It lit up his whole face. I nearly lost my breath. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized I’d never seen a true smile out of him. I’d recognized that he was cute, but I didn’t comprehend just how pretty he was. Gorgeous, really. And I just wanted to wrap him up in my arms and assure him everything was going to be fine.
Which is exactly what I did with Marlie earlier, so clearly that was the mode I was in. I saw him like I saw one of my kids, in need of care and support. Even as I thought it, I knew it was a lie. I saw him as much more than that. Which was ridiculous. I was fourteen years older than he was and had absolutely no business lusting after him.
“Okay. Yeah, I can do that.” Oak sounded pleased with that arrangement.
“Good. Okay. Now, back to the planning. I’ve done assessments, and I think we need to start with…”
I listened with half an ear as Nic laid out the plans for how and what renovations were needed. The rest of my brain was occupied with thoughts of the young man beside me, and how I’d been ready to offer him space in my house if he had to move out. How his smile made my stomach jump and how right he’d felt in my arms when I hugged him. I was too old for a crush. I was especially too old for this crush.
I had to focus on my kids and my new job. I had no time, or more importantly no business, to have my first crush on a man in more than fifteen years. Any thoughts other than brotherly and friendly toward Oak would have to be quashed until they disappeared.