Chapter Five
Felix
The end of the school year always made me melancholy.
Saying farewell to my students as they headed off to their summer break.
Saying goodbye to my fellow teachers as they scattered in many directions.
Saying adios to the administrators who held the place together.
Most of all, I disliked the idea of being rootless for two months. I’d applied for a school in the next town over that ran classes all year long with several weeks-long breaks scattered throughout the year. I hadn’t been accepted, but Cedar Street Elementary school had been happy to snap me up.
I’d landed where I was meant to be.
“Hey, Mr. Stevenson.”
Angus Braun, my favorite student, waved. Yeah, I wasn’t supposed to have favorites. But with kids like Angus, that adage proved difficult.
“Hey, Angus.” The young boy’s deep-brown eyes spoke of a soulfulness few his age held. His mother died when he was five, and then his father when Angus had been all of eight.
The handsome man who stood next to him was his uncle, Stanley. Both Stanley and his husband Justin were very involved in Angus’s education.
With my pupil being so bright, I’d chosen to give him extra work to keep his mind occupied.
Angus ate it up.
Stanley extended his hand. His brown eyes matched Angus’s, but his dark-brown hair was liberally peppered with serious amounts of gray. He held a young girl, maybe five years old, in his arms.
“This is Opal.” Angus pointed. “She’s my sister.”
“Uh…” Stanley frowned. “Well, sort of…”
I arched an eyebrow. None of my business, but the guy looked a little confounded.
“We’re fostering her.”
“Like, forever.” Angus put his hands on his hips. “That makes her my sister.”
Articulate, even at ten. He was my brightest student in the fifth-grade class.
Stanley cleared his throat.
“Angus, why don’t you make sure your desk is cleared out?” I offered a smile.
He glanced between the two of us. “I get it. No-kids discussion.” He pointed off to the corner. “I want to play with Kylie, anyway.”
“Yes, that’s great.” Stanley indicated the young girl at the other end of the playground. “Oh, and isn’t that Adam there as well?”
“Yep.” Angus started to stalk off.
“Take Opal with you.”
Where I expected my student to complain, he waited patiently while Stanley set the young girl down.
He grabbed her hand and headed off to join the group of kids.
I turned to Stanley.
“Opal’s mother has…problems. We thought she was getting help, but she wasn’t. And now she’s taken off, and there’s a warrant for her arrest.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. And we’re trying to figure out how much to tell Angus. I mean, my husband’s a counsellor who’s getting his PhD in child psychology, and he works at Healing Horses Ranch with another child psychologist—”
“Adam’s mom?”
“Yeah, Denise Lang.” He rubbed his forehead. “Angus loves Opal. Considers her a sister. But social services might take her away.” He sighed yet again. “Or they might not.”
“Whatever you need me to do, just let me know.” I wasn’t certain how I could help—especially since Angus wasn’t going to be in my class anymore.
“I think…I just needed to tell someone else, you know? All our friends are invested. They all think we should just adopt Opal, but it’s not that simple.”
“And this is breaking your heart.” I might not know the man well, but even I could see the strain and pain.
“Yeah. That.” He ran his hand over his short hair. “Oh, and we’re going to be neighbors, and—”
“What?” I gaped. Like mouth dropping open.
“You bought the old Graman property, right?”
“Uh, yeah…”
“Well, your house is next to Maddox and Ravi’s.” He cleared his throat. “Maddox might be my ex, but we don’t talk about that.”
Uh, awkward. “Okay…”
“We live a couple of properties down. About half a mile. Angus bikes between the two houses, so he’ll be riding in front of your house. I just wanted you to know so you wouldn’t be surprised.”
“How did you find out?” I squinted.
“Well, your realtor is Cadence Crawford. Cadence helped me buy my property, and we’re kind of friends and, well, you know…”
A lot of trailing sentences in this discussion. “I guess there isn’t really realtor/client privilege.”
Stanley’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean for him to get in trouble.”
I offered an impish grin. “No worries. Especially now that Angus isn’t in my class anymore. Point out my property and let him know he’s welcome anytime. As long as he tells someone where he’s going,” I added.
“He’s got a cell phone and instructions on how often to keep in touch.” Stanley shook his head. “They grow up so damn fast.”
“Yeah. This is my second year teaching. In a couple of years, those first kids will be off to high school.”
Stanley snickered. “You’re young, Mr. Stevenson.”
“Please, call me Felix.”
“Yeah, I can do that. And it’s Stanley.”
Since I’d been calling him that in my mind this entire time, it didn’t require much of a mindset shift. See? Letting go of this school year already.
A cry from the group of kids caught our attention.
Before I could register anything, Stanley sprinted away. For a guy who was almost fifty, he moved fast.
I followed at a more sedate pace since he was already at the kids’ side.
He swept Opal up into his arms.
“Is she okay?” Angus’s brow furrowed. “She tripped.” He caught my gaze. “Honestly, we didn’t push her.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.” Stanley brushed her hair from her face.
Adam and Kylie looked just as bewildered.
“Papa,” Opal wailed, wrapping her arms around Stanley’s neck.
My heart took a knock. I wanted that. A kid of my own.
And I couldn’t fathom the uncertainty Justin and Stanley faced with Opal’s future up in the air. How would I cope if I cared that deeply for a child who might be taken away at any moment?
Well, as long as Josette and I were able to have children of our own, I wouldn’t have to face the uncertainty that foster parents faced. And although Stanley was Angus’s uncle, he and Justin had adopted the boy, offering all the protection they could.
Oh, Opal had scraped her knee. Didn’t look too bad, but looks could be deceiving. “Would you like me to get the first aid kit?”
Stanley shook his head, pressing another kiss to Opal’s temple. “We should be heading home. I’ll take care of it there.” He smiled at Angus. “Everything’s going to be okay. Say goodbye to Mr. Stevenson.”
Angus turned to me. “Goodbye, Mr. Stevenson.”
A lump caught in my throat. “Goodbye, Angus. You can always talk to me, okay? Even if I’m not your teacher.”
“Yeah, I know that.” Angus gazed up at Stanley. “Just like I can always talk to my dad.”
Stanley blinked.
I hadn’t realized, although I probably should have, that Angus referred to his uncle as his dad. Likely it wouldn’t have registered until I had the two before me.
“Papa, home.” Little imperious Opal.
“Yes, darling, home.”
Angus scooped up his abandoned backpack, and the family headed out.
That. That’s what I want. Teaching kids was great, but I wanted some of my own. And I assumed Josette did as well. Although I probably should check with her on that assumption.
An hour later, as I pulled into my driveway, my heart sank when I spotted her car.
Jesus, she’s your fiancée, you should be excited. And I was…to a certain extent. I was also tired and looking forward to having a burger with Jacob. Every night this week, I’d brought home fast food, and we’d sat on the porch and eaten together while I’d recounted my adventures of that day and he’d give me an update on the renovations.
Truthfully, I was in awe. Josette liked to watch renovation shows with me, and those projects always took weeks or even months.
Jacob maintained my needs were simple, and that’s why he’d be done at the end of next week.
That felt fanciful but, as of tomorrow, the master bedroom would be finished, and I’d be sleeping in the bed instead of in the tent.
I hadn’t told anyone of my irrational bear fear.
Well…not irrational. Just because there hadn’t been a bear attack in years didn’t mean they wouldn’t take a swipe at me, given half a chance.
“Felix.” Josette waved from the porch where she stood next to Jacob.
The front lawn and street were empty of vehicles save Jacob’s pickup truck, so obviously his crew had knocked off for the day.
Feeling like an idiot, I carried the bag of food along with the drink tray, with just two drinks, up the steps to the front porch.
Jacob caught my eye and gave me the what can we do about her, she’s my sister look that I now realized he’d been giving me for years.
A warning?
“Oh, you brought dinner.” Josette nabbed the bag and opened it. “Two big burgers and onion rings?” She wrinkled her nose.
Jacob snatched the bag from her. “Felix brought that for me. He’s taking you out to dinner.”
I blinked. “Uh, yeah. Stavros’s?” At least I wouldn’t need reservations at the best Greek restaurant in Cedar Valley.
Josette put her hands on her hips.
Jacob rescued the drink tray I was about to drop.
“But I wanted to go over the decorating with the two of you.” She offered a little pout that was, frankly, adorable.
I could never refuse her anything.
“We can stow the burgers and onion rings in the fridge.” I eyed Jacob. “Then we can do the interior decorating stuff, and then the three of us can go to Stavros’s.” The restaurant wasn’t all that romantic, so the three of us hanging there wouldn’t be too weird.
No, not weird at all.
Oh God.
Why did I feel like Josette was the third wheel? Because I’d looked forward to being alone with Jacob?
Quite possibly.
Quite probably.
And that was all kinds of wrong.