Chapter 4
ASH
The following night, Ash sat with his knees bumping the top of a tiny desk in Maya’s kindergarten classroom, his gaze trained on the enthusiastic blonde woman who paced the floor in front of him.
Miss Lawrence—Allie was describing the activities her kindergarteners were working on and the progress they had made so far, her eyes lighting up and her hands dancing in the air as she talked her way around the room.
It wouldn’t have occurred to him if she hadn’t said something about it yesterday, but Ash couldn’t help noticing that Allie was in constant motion. From her feet to her fingertips, she seemed to exude a joyful energy that reminded him a bit of Maya.
And her need for movement didn’t seem to detract from her teaching abilities. Every parent in the room was leaning forward to listen to her every word, and it was easy to imagine her students being equally mesmerized.
A small measure of relief at seeing an adult role model for Maya who was energetic and successful eased the tension in his shoulders. He worried about his daughter a lot these days—too much probably.
The truth was, unless he did something incredibly foolish with his money, she would never have to worry about having a roof over her head.
But he wanted more for her than to be one more pampered princess depending on her rich daddy.
He wanted her to have a career of her own, something to give her life purpose, something for her to feel passionate about.
Like I used to be passionate about the beverage industry, he thought to himself darkly.
When the teacher at the school in the city told him that Maya was naughty and disruptive, it broke his heart.
But he sort of understood. He’d seen her himself, tearing through the penthouse and knocking down a vase of flowers or spilling drinks while trying to climb over the dinner table to reach something.
The expression in her eyes when he talked to her about her behavior afterward was always ashamed, but also worried—like she didn’t want to do it again, but she knew she probably would. She just couldn’t help herself.
It was part of the reason for the move to the country. If Maya had acres to explore, plenty of fresh air, and maybe a more understanding environment at school, then maybe she could run off all that frantic energy and concentrate on her learning.
And he didn’t want her growing up into one of the teens he saw sleepwalking through the building lobby, permanently scowling at their phones, looking unmoored from the world and each other.
“If anyone has any questions, or would like to talk about their child’s progress, please feel free to stay back,” Allie said, stopping her pacing at last to smile at the gathering of parents. “And of course, please help yourself to homemade cookies or lemon loaf.”
Ash was amazed to see almost everyone just file out. Only one or two parents stopped to briefly thank her for her presentation or grab a cookie for the road.
He thought it was charming that she had baked treats for her students’ parents. But everything about Allie Lawrence was charming.
Stop that, he told himself inwardly. She’s Maya’s teacher.
He had already caught himself wondering how he looked as he got ready for tonight, and he’d even splashed on a little spicy aftershave.
Idiot.
He’d been burned badly enough by Maya’s mother that he shouldn’t have any problems steering clear of women for a good long time.
But there was something about the forthright and wholesome young schoolteacher that had his pulse pounding in spite of himself.
“Hi there,” she said, smiling at him.
The other parents had all moved on now, no doubt making a cursory tour of the art room and gym, as they had been invited to do.
“Hi, Allie,” he said.
“I’m glad you came,” she told him, her cheeks coloring slightly. “Shall we sit?”
“Sure,” he said, resisting the impulse to pull out her chair.
“I was hoping we could talk more about Maya and her progress,” he said as he took a seat across from her, thankful that there was another adult-sized chair there for him. It would have been tough to have any kind of serious conversation while sitting in one of the tiny student desks.
“Of course,” Allie replied with a smile. “Maya is such a bright child, and she’s having a better time focusing now with our adjustments.”
“Adjustments?” Ash asked.
“We started doing a little more movement between lessons yesterday and today,” she explained.
“The movement stuff is for Maya?” Ash asked, amazed.
“Well, movement is beneficial for all children,” Allie said. “But yes, she’s the reason I started looking into ways to help kids with extra energy. It’s the kind of thing I wish someone had done when I was her age.”
For a moment, Ash was too blown away to know what to say.
“She’s not my only student who gets wiggly,” Allie said quickly, a worried expression in her eyes, like maybe she thought he didn’t like the idea of things being done differently just for Maya.
“It’s incredibly generous of you to adjust your routine to help Maya,” he said, fighting the urge to reach out and cover her hand with his. “And it makes me feel all the more confident that what I’m going to ask you for would be worthwhile.”
Ash suddenly found himself a little nervous, which wasn’t like him.
“What are you going to ask me for?” she asked, eyes widening.
“Well, I think maybe I should offer you something first,” he said, sitting back a little. If he just thought about this like a negotiation, he’d be fine. Ash was good at things like that.
“Well, what might that be?” she asked again, cocking her head slightly to the side in a way that almost made him smile.
“You want a greenhouse for the school,” he told her. “But the school can’t afford it. I can help.”
He expected her to lean forward and for the sparkles to light up in her eyes again.
Instead, she frowned for a moment before replying.
“The problem isn’t really fundraising for the structure or even building it, really,” she explained. “It’s more the maintenance. The school can’t cover it.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Ash said.
“I don’t suppose you can handle glass repairs and irrigation systems, can you?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said. “I could handle that.”
A school greenhouse was a small-scale project. Even if he had to pay to have the thing rebuilt every year, it would never make a dent in his finances.
“What about HVAC and deep cleaning?” she asked.
“Not a problem,” he told her.
She nodded slowly, but she still wasn’t smiling and her eyes were their usual blue, not lit up like a sunny sky the way he’d been hoping.
“Listen,” he told her. “I’ll handle all of that, and anything else you can think up for a greenhouse, if you’ll do something for me.”
“What’s that?” she asked, leaning forward again.
“Maya is behind in kindergarten,” he said, sighing. “I know that. I didn’t have the heart to make her go to preschool when it was so hard for her to behave. And the teacher in the city was too upset about her getting into trouble to worry about whether she had her fundamentals down.”
Allie’s eyes were so sympathetic, but she just nodded, like she understood. It made him want to cry and bury his head in her lap like a little boy.
What’s the matter with me?
“Anyway,” Ash said, trying to pull himself back into negotiation mode, “Maya could use extra help catching up, after school maybe, or on the weekend. I’d pay you, of course.”
“No need,” Allie said. “I’ll do it. I’m happy to.”
He was so surprised that he froze for a moment. He’d come here ready to wheel and deal.
Instead, Allie was eager to help.
She really wants that greenhouse, he reminded himself.
But this had still been too easy. Shouldn’t she be asking for something for herself, not just for the school? Shouldn’t she at least be asking about the pay?
He wanted to ask this amazing woman out more than ever, but couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. If she said no, it would make things awkward for Maya. The best thing he could do right now was get up and head home.
“Can I add one more term?” he heard himself ask instead.
“I’m listening,” she said, her eyes twinkling like she thought this whole thing was funny.
Somehow, it made it even easier to open up to her a little.
“My ex has made things more stressful for me than they have to be,” he said carefully. “But I respect her place as Maya’s mother. Anyway, Maya invited her to the school festival tomorrow, and she’s coming with her boyfriend. I just... Well, I don’t really want to be there alone.”
“No problem,” Allie said right away. “I’ll go with you.”
Ash wanted to play it cool, but he couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off his face. He shouldn’t be this happy.
Get it together, Tailor, he told himself. It’s just a school function. It’s not even a real date.
Not yet.
“I’m sure it’s hard being new in town,” Allie continued. “But you and Maya won’t be there alone. And I can introduce you all around.”
“Thank you,” he told her, not worried that this wasn’t the real date he wanted with Allie.
It was a way to spend some time with her, and that was a start.
And after all, he was Ashwin Tailor, he’d never met a challenge he couldn’t crush.