Chapter 6
HARDY
When I pick up Avery from school the next day, Bella waves us down in the carpool line.
“Hey! Do you wanna plan a time for us to get started on the PTO stuff?” she says, glancing at Avery.
I raise an eyebrow until it hits me that she’s talking in code so Avery doesn’t catch on.
“Sure, I have some time now. Will that work?”
“Oh? Oh! Yeah, sure. Isaac is at his dad’s this afternoon so we could do it at my place.”
“Sure, let me drop Avery at the house and have Maggie come over to watch her. What’s your address?” I ask as I open the maps app on my phone and hand it to her.
She types it in. “I’ll see you over there in a bit.”
“Are you going to Miss Carlisle’s house?” Avery asks from the back seat once we pull out of the parking lot. Avery doesn’t quite have all her L sounds yet, so it comes out “Car-while” instead of “Carlisle.”
“Yeah, we’re working together on a special project for the school.”
“I wanna help!” she whines.
“You would be bored, baby girl. We’re going to be talking about boring stuff and making lists. It’s not gonna be fun,” I assure her.
Twenty minutes later, I’m admiring all the inflatables decorating Bella’s yard.
When she opens the door, there’s a huge grin lighting up her face, and I can’t help but smile back. I gesture at the inflatable of an upside-down Santa in the chimney kicking its feet. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”
“That one’s my favorite. I kinda have a thing for Santa, but I love a good stuck-in-the-chimney gag.”
I scan the rest of the yard. “They’re all Santa-themed.”
“It wasn’t intentional. I want to get other ones, but I’m on a budget and stick with whatever I can find for half price after Christmas.” She steps back, ushering me inside.
“So, this is what the rest of your house looks like,” I say, looking around her space.
It’s a cozy little house with simple furnishings yet has a modern feel.
A small kitchen opens to the living room, giving it an open-concept design.
There’s an office and a half bathroom, and I know the bedrooms are upstairs since I was here on that call a little over a week ago.
“Shit, I totally forgot you’ve been here. That was super embarrassing, by the way.”
“The guy that called it in, is he your boyfriend?” Super subtle.
“Who, Brenton? No, he was just a guy I met on DTF.”
I swallow my surprise and start coughing immediately, feeling like I’m choking. She’s on hookup apps?
“You okay there, big guy?”
Punching a fist against my chest, I exhale, finally. “Didn’t take you for a hookup app kind of girl. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
“Chestnut Mountain is a small town, and people talk. And everyone here already knows all my business, so options are limited when it comes to dating.”
My eyebrows pinch. “And how does a hookup app solve that?”
“Well, it’s also a very popular tourist spot. They’re in and out and don’t get attached. And I mean that exactly how it sounds. In and out.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
“Oh, I got it,” I say, a twinge of jealousy hitting me. Why the fuck does the thought of her hooking up with other guys make me jealous?
“I haven’t really dated since my divorce four years ago. Just random hookups when I’m in the mood. Plus, I know as soon as I put myself out there, this town will be talking all about it, and I’m not sure I’m ready for all that. It was hard enough dealing with all the rumors after my divorce.”
I remind myself to ask her more about that later. “Is it okay for me to be here? I wouldn’t want to start any rumors to slander your good name.”
She swats a hand at me. “It’s fine. Avery is my student, and we’re working on a school project.
If anyone says anything, we totally have an alibi.
But if we’d gone down for coffee at Chestnut Roasters, there’d be rumors about us for days.
It would probably be in the town newspaper.
Local, hot mess mom woos handsome firefighter. ”
I rub my jaw, trying to hide my chuckle at her antics. “That is not how the headline would read.”
“What would it say then?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest in challenge as she raises an eyebrow.
“Grumpy firefighter annoys beautiful, young kindergarten teacher.” I shrug.
Her responding laugh is a soft tinkle, like bells jingling on a sleigh. “I’m not sure my teenager would agree with your youthful assessment of me.”
“I think my assessment is accurate. And I believe there was mention of a mom wooing me?”
She swallows, and I track the movement in the column of her throat. I really want to know if we’re on the same page with where this could be headed, and I wait for her reply as I reach out and tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“You can’t say things like that to me...”
I pull my hand back, feeling the sting of her words. “Sorry.”
“I wasn’t done. You can’t say things like that to me because it makes me want to kiss you.”
Neither of us move as her words hang between us, heavy like smoke that refuses to clear. “And you don’t want me to kiss you?” My heart races as I wait for her answer.
Our eyes meet, and a bolt of something passes through me.
Judging by the way my cock is responding to it, I think it’s lust. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be genuinely attracted to someone.
I’ve noticed a pretty girl here and there, but this is more than that.
For the first time since Lydie, it’s not just someone’s looks that I find appealing, and the thought of that scares me a little.
I don’t deserve a second chance at love.
There’s a clatter near the front door, and she steps back, turning toward the noise. “Isaac, is that you?”
“Who else would it be?” a squeaky teenage voice shoots back. “Are your tits covered?”
Her eyes flick to mine in apology as I slap a hand to my mouth to fight back a laugh. “I told you to stop using that as a greeting when you enter the house.”
“How often are your tits out?” I ask, shooting her a smirk.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know you had company,” he says as he enters the room and then turns on his heel.
“Come back here. This is Hardy. He was the EMT who helped me the other night. His daughter is in my class, and he’s helping me with Santa’s Workshop. We were just talking about our plans.”
Isaac walks over to where we’re standing, dragging his feet as he moves. He looks over the papers spread out on the table, and his eyes light up. “That looks cool. Do you need any help?”
“I will never turn down help from you.” She smiles as he takes a seat on the opposite end of the L-shaped couch.
“Hey, I’m Isaac.” He gives me a nod.
“Nice to meet you.”
“She teach you about The Santa Rules yet?”
Bella nods at me. “It’s okay, he’s in on the secret. He’s a Santa now too.”
“She did,” I confirm.
“Cool,” he says, in that way only a disinterested teenage boy could.
“Dad just drop you off?”
“Yeah, a few minutes ago.”
She looks at me, hooking a thumb at Isaac. “It’s like pulling teeth with this one.”
“It’s the opposite for me. Avery doesn’t even need me in the room to have a full-on conversation. She’s just like her mom.” Her eyes soften, and I realize this is probably the most I’ve spoken about Lydie with someone since she died, besides Mike and my therapist.
“It snowed pretty good last night, huh?” Isaac asks.
And we’ve made it to the part of the conversation where we talk about the weather.
“Yeah, I’m really gonna have to talk to Mother Nature about only snowing when you’re here. I had to shovel the driveway all by myself, and I am not built for that anymore,” Bella says.
Isaac leans back on the couch, a shit-eating grin taking over his face, and I know this kid is up to something. It takes Bella a minute to catch on, but once she sees his face, she drops hers in her hands, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Isaac, how many penises are hidden in my yard right now?”
“I didn’t draw any in the yard,” he says, holding his hands up like he’s innocent, but it’s obvious from his tone that he’s not telling the whole story.
“On my house?”
“None.”
“On the windows?”
He shakes his head.
She lets out a deep breath before changing the subject. “How’s your dad?”
“Good. He wants me to come out to his place for Christmas this year since they’re renting a cabin in Aspen.”
I can feel the anger radiating off Bella as her shoulders tense. “Do you want to go?” It’s obvious there’s more she wants to say, but she’s holding it in.
“I dunno. It’s like four hours away, and I wanna be closer to my friends.”
“And it’s my weekend,” she mutters before slapping on a smile, her tone suddenly chipper. “Well, let me know what you decide. I would love to see you on Christmas, but if you want to see your dad too, I understand.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’m gonna go log on. The guys are waiting for me,” he says as he stands, and I watch him walk to the stairs.
Once he’s out of earshot, I hear a muffled noise and turn to see Bella screaming into a pillow. “It’s fine. This is fine,” she says as she fluffs it and places it back on the couch.
“It’s clearly not fine. Why didn’t you say something?”
She leans her arms on her knees. “Isaac is thirteen. He’s a year away from being able to choose if he wants to live with one of us full-time and I don’t want to lose him.”
“You have a custody agreement, right? I don’t think the State of Colorado would allow that.”
“We do have an agreement, but once a kid is fourteen, the courts take their opinion into consideration more. I doubt they would rule against him living with me, but I don’t want to risk it.
Jake can woo him with expensive gifts and vacations, and I can’t compete with that.
His family comes from money, and I’m barely making ends meet on a teacher’s salary. ”
Suddenly, some of her Santa tiers make more sense.
“But what I lack in fancy gifts, I make up for in quality time. Well, as much of that as a teenager can handle. I want him to feel seen and loved when he’s in my house since I know my ex doesn’t spend a lot of time with him.”
“Isaac can see through all that,” I say, leaning forward so I can look in her eyes.
“You think so?”
“I do. I was a teenage boy once. He just needs to know that he’s loved and safe. Plus, he’s at that age where his friends mean more to him than anything else, so you might have that in your favor.”
“Look at you, finding the bright side. Maybe I’m rubbing off on you.”
I’d like to rub something on you.
“Hardy Williams, did you just make a dirty joke in your head?”
My jaw drops, a mix of shock and confusion on my face. “How did you—”
“Your face is beet red, but the tips of your ears get red too when you’re really embarrassed or turned on.”
Why does it make my dick hard that she notices that?
“We should really figure out a schedule for when we plan to get together to work on this.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“And maybe…” I trail off, building the courage to ask for what I want.
Her eyes light up, bright and full of hope. “Maybe?
“Maybe, you could help me with the Santa stuff too?”
“Like a private tutor?” she asks, wiggling her eyebrows again.
“A Christmas coach?” I offer.
“Oh, I love that! And you’ll be my Santa student! My life may be a bit of a disaster, but if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s teaching. And Christmas.”
“We should probably exchange numbers, then?” My palms feel sweaty as I run them along my thighs.
“That was really fucking smooth. Hardy’s got some game.”
“And we probably need to meet again, since we didn’t get much accomplished for the workshop today.”
She smiles, and my heart leaps in my chest at the thought of spending more time with this incredible woman.
——————
Bella
[picture of the hood of a car]
Hardy
What am I looking at?
Sorry, the snow kind of melted so it didn’t hold its shape. It’s supposed to be a penis
Why is there a penis on the hood of your car?
Isaac
I need more than that
That’s what she said
When I asked him last night if there were penises in my yard, he said no
Clearly you didn’t ask the right question
Clearly!
He drew a dick on your car?
Yup. I drove around town all day running errands in a cock car!
A wiener wagon?
A meat machine?
That sounds like a food truck
A jalopy Johnson!
Are we talking just the penis or were balls involved?
It was the whole unit
Then I think we should amend it to jalopy junk
You’re right. That encompasses the cock and balls
It’s decided
Thanks, I needed a laugh
Do you want to stop by my classroom tomorrow so we can keep talking about the workshop?