Chapter Two
B y the time Amanda Harrison regained control of her tongue—and her brain that controlled that tongue—the interest lighting her sister’s face was turning into full-blown fascination.
Not good.
She didn’t consider her current stymied state all that remarkable.
Annoying? Yes. A little exhilarating? Sure.
But she’d already left one mystery behind in England, no way did she need to investigate another in her hometown—in the form of her strange reaction to the newcomer. She was practically a newcomer herself. She’d barely been back two months.
And in those few months, her sister had tried to set her up four times.
Oh, she recognized Emily’s expression all too well, and understood that her fascination always led to matchmaking.
This wasn’t good.
Even though Holden’s friend, with his dark skin and warm brown eyes, was finer than fine, and gorgeous at the same time , Amanda was not interested. Besides, she knew through her sister that the guy had lost his wife just two years ago.
Despite never being in love, Amanda had to assume he was still going through the grieving process. The last thing the widower needed was people trying to help him move on.
Dante could do that on his own and in his own time.
Amanda refused to be pushed on him.
Best to stifle whatever was going on in her sister’s matchmaking brain and the strange awareness rushing through her own body right now.
“You work at The Early Years Academy?” The low timber of his voice momentarily stole hers and sent an unexpected smattering of goose bumps over her skin.
It felt nice, but she did her best to overlook it.
“Yes, I do.” She nodded. At least for now. She had an application in at the local school district. “Is your son three?”
Ignoring the goose bumps was one thing. Trying not to get lost in the depths of his chocolate brown eyes again was another. Her body was still tingling from their initial glance five minutes ago.
“No.” He shook his head. “Not until October.”
She smiled. “Then the ‘probably’ in Holden’s statement is correct. I teach the three-year-olds in the preschool part of the building. Noah will be in the daycare side and in the section with other two-year-olds, like Mindy. But I do substitute in other sections when needed.”
The academy had two teachers assigned to each preschool class but only one to each daycare section, so if they needed help in the daycare they always pulled from the preschool.
“I see.” He smiled back and her pulse jumped. “Well, at least he’ll already have a friend in his class.”
She followed his gaze and watched the cute little girl holding Noah’s hand, her blonde curls bouncing as they both ran after a little boy Amanda knew well. “Dillan is in my class, but he’ll be moving up to the four-year-olds’ class before Noah turns three.”
“Pretty sure he’ll be having many opportunities to play with Dillan outside of school,” Hunter said, walking toward them. “Christa will be inviting Noah over for many playdates.”
She’d met Dillan’s father and mother both at the preschool and at her sister’s house. In fact, she’d met all the ESI guys there and at Lyndsey’s, her sister’s childhood friend who now happened to be married to the local sheriff. The couple often held barbeques in their backyard just down the street.
“That’s great.” Dante nodded. “I’m sure Noah will like that. And I’ll be happy to return the favor.”
“Speaking of favors,” Emily said, her mischievous gaze sending a shaft of alarm through Amanda. “If you run out of sugar, you can always borrow some next door. I’m sure my sister would be happy to share some of her sugar with you.”
Heat rushed to the top of Amanda’s head so fast, it not only flushed her face, it also nearly fried her brain. “Emily!”
“What?” The idiot grinned. “You mean you wouldn’t give this poor guy a cup of sugar if he asked?”
Beyond mortified, she turned her back on her so-not-funny sister and faced Dante. “I am so sorry. Please ignore her. She means well, but I sometimes think she forgets we’re people and not animals that she rescues.”
He laughed, but Amanda detected a note of wariness in the sound.
“You’re really my neighbor?” he asked.
She nodded, pointing to her right, his left. “I’m renting the brick ranch. I signed the lease the day it was listed, two months ago. Ask me why.”
His gaze narrowed. “Why?”
“Because I couldn’t deal with one of my former roommates,” she replied, ignoring her sister’s grunt. “You see, she recently found her true love and thought by fixing me up with every Tom, Dick, and Harry that it would eventually help me find mine.”
“I see.” His lips twitched. “Take it that didn’t work.”
She nodded. “You would be correct, sir. Turns out I don’t need a guy to make me happy, moving did that.”
Dante, Holden, and Hunter all chuckled.
“Hey!” Emily not so playfully punched her arm. “Was I that bad to live with?”
Amanda ignored the urge to rub the ache and pulled her sister in for a hug instead. “No, of course not. But I was happy to leave,” she said, releasing Emily. “You two lovebirds didn’t need me invading your nest and privacy any more than I did. And I truly appreciate you two saving me from having to stay with Mom and Dad when I returned from the UK. I love them, but my room still has all my high school things in it. Nothing’s changed except time. I’m twenty-nine, not eighteen.”
“I understand, trust me.” Emily laughed. “Why do you think I bought my place before I left Houston?”
Her sister had worked in Animal Control for the Houston Humane Society for years and had only recently moved back when Harland County opened its own branch.
Holden slid his arm around her sister and smiled. “Well, I for one am glad you moved back here, Emily.” Adoration was still evident in his eyes when he pulled his gaze from Emily to look at her. “And I know Emily is glad you moved back too, Amanda. She was worried about you.”
Her chest tightened. She’d been so careful to keep her problems and concerns to herself.
Had her sister sensed something during their many Zoom calls?
She lifted her chin. “Why?”
“Because you were teaching all alone in England,” Emily answered.
Amanda blinked. “Em, I wasn’t alone. There are over sixty-eight million people living there.”
“Exactly.” Emily crossed her arms. “What if you got in trouble? Or needed help? You had no one to have your back.”
Her heart rocked. Little did her sister know how right she was…
“As you can see, I’m fine,” she said and smiled, hoping to lighten the mood…and change the subject. “But I’m sorry if I worried you. Payback is kind of a…not so nice word.”
She was still working on curbing her language. Back in England, Amanda had taught high schoolers and she’d learned a few new words from them. Outside of the classroom, of course.
“I’ll always worry about you, Amanda,” Emily said, bringing her mind back to the conversation. “You’re my sister.”
She nodded. “But you’re my kid sister. It’s my job to worry about you.”
“Only by eleven months.” Emily smirked. “I worry about you and Olivia, and she’s three years older than you.”
“True, but I’m used to looking out for you,” Amanda said. “Been doing it since before I was born.”
Dante, Hunter, and Holden raised a brow, their gazes were curious.
Emily snorted. “What?”
“Yeah, look how I left you all the DNA for curly hair in Mom’s womb and I got this.” She lifted a handful of her poker-straight hair. No number of hot irons or rollers ever worked. Her hair was too fine to hold a curl. “It’s boring and dull.”
Kind of like her.
“I think your hair is beautiful,” Dante said, shocking her silent. As a matter of fact, none of the others made a sound, they just watched on. “It suits you.”
Warmth spread through Amanda’s chest and seeped into her face again. “I...uh, thank you.”
If it weren’t for the flash of shock he blinked away, Amanda probably wouldn’t have found her voice. The poor guy appeared just as surprised by his words as she was, and yet he didn’t try to retract them.
She admired a person who took responsibility.
Unlike her friend. Her friend some people thought was her boyfriend. The guy who’d gone missing…
“I hope I didn’t embarrass you,” Dante said, his words drawing her back to the present. “Sometimes my mouth speaks without my brain’s approval.”
Oh, man, could she relate.
She laughed. “No worries. Sometimes I suffer from the same affliction. It’s called Emily.”
He chuckled, and her sister opened her mouth, but her fiancé quickly covered it with his hand.
“I think you should probably save it for another time, hon,” Holden said then removed his hand when her sister raised a brow.
Emily turned her attention to Dante, and Amanda found herself willing her sister to behave. “I was just going to officially say, welcome to Harland County and I’m glad Holden will have another of his human friends close by.”
Wow, she actually did behave.
“Thank you.” Dante smiled. “And I heard you were instrumental in reuniting him with his K9 best friend. Is Braddock here?” He glanced around.
“No,” Holden replied. “We weren’t sure if Noah was afraid of dogs or ever around any.”
Dante shook his head. “He isn’t afraid of them. He loved playing with the neighbors’ two Labs back in Phoenix.”
Braddock was an amazing dog. The most amazing dog Amanda had ever seen. Holden had apparently been his handler in the military. The beautiful Belgian Malinois was intelligent, sweet, shadowed Holden’s every move, and adored Holden almost as much as her sister.
“Next time you come over, bring him,” Dante said. “I’d love to see him again.”
“Will do.” Holden grinned. “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see you, too.”
The wind picked up a little and Dante glanced at the sky. “We might want to move the party indoors before it rains.”
She looked at the sky and frowned. “But it’s still sunny.”
“Yeah,” Emily said, gazing upward as well. “There isn’t even a cloud.”
Hunter shook his head. “If Dante says it’s going to rain, it’s going to rain.
“Yes,” Holden agreed. “Dante has a knack for detecting those things. It’s called a Danterometer .”
“Is that right?” she asked, a grin tugging at her lips.
Dante choked out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s the nickname the guys gave me overseas.”
“Because it’s true,” Holden said. “He always had a knack for forecasting the weather. He was like a human barometer.”
The handsome man opened his mouth to respond but his son suddenly rushed over with the other two kids in tow.
“Daddy!” Noah propelled himself at Dante, who effortlessly gathered him in his arms. “Did you see me? Did you see? I went down the slide.”
“I know, little dude.” Dante smiled. “I saw you and your new friends having fun.”
“ Dats Mindy and Diwin ,” Noah informed, pointing at the kids down by his father’s legs.
Dante said hello and Mindy smiled shyly while Dillan smiled wide.
“Wow. Hello, sir,” Dillan thrust out his hand and pumped Dante’s up and down then released him to turn to Hunter and grin. “Dad, you told me your friend and his son were moving here but you didn’t tell me it was the Falcon!”
Hunter chuckled, picking Dillan up. “My bad.”
A frown rippled across Dante’s brow. “Falcon?”
Amanda laughed. “Dillan is big into superheroes. His dad is Captain America, right, Dillan?”
“Yep.” The little boy grinned from ear to ear, his chest puffed out as he settled against Hunter’s chest. “And I’m Ironman.”
“Oh.” His smile returned. “Nice to meet you, Dillan. I mean, Ironman.”
“Thanks,” the little boy said then his gaze moved past Dante and he spotted her. “Miss Amanda! What are you doing here?”
She smiled. “Hi, Dillan. I’m here for the same reason as everyone else. To help Noah and his father move in.”
“Did you meet Noah?” Dillan asked.
“No, not yet,” she replied, realizing she hadn’t met the boy.
Dillan reached out to tug on Noah’s shirt. “Noah, this is Miss Amanda. She’s my teacher and she’ll be yours when you’re three. She’s cool.”
“Hello, Noah.” Still smiling, she tipped her head to catch his gaze. “That is one great swing set you have there.”
He nodded. “I like the slide.”
“I noticed,” she said. “You’re a master at it.”
He smiled. “Yeah.”
All of this talk seemed to snap Mindy from her shyness, because she rushed forward to hug her legs.
“ Missmanda! Missmanda ,” the little girl repeated as she hugged tightly.
“Hi, Mindy.” She chuckled, bending down to pick up the sweet little girl. Amanda met Dante’s gaze and the warmth inside his chocolate brown eyes ricocheted through her. Giving herself a mental shake, she focused on his son. “Sometimes I help out in your class,” she told Noah. “We’ll have fun, isn’t that right, Mindy?”
She drew back to look into the cutie’s big, blue eyes. “Yeah, Missmanda colors and sings, too. Can we do it now?”
“Maybe another time,” someone said from behind her.
Amanda turned around to find Mindy’s father smiling at them. “Hello, Cooper.”
He grinned back. “Hello, Miss Amanda.”
“Daddy!” The little girl lunged for her father.
Amanda released her after she was sure Cooper had a good grip.
“Hey, princess,” he said, kissing her temple. “You having fun with Dillan and your new friend, Noah?”
Mindy nodded. “Yes. We were playing stuperheroes .”
“Yeah, and now we have a new command center,” Dillan said, wiggling so Hunter set him on his feet. “Come on, Dad. I’ll show you.” The little boy grabbed his father’s hand and pulled him toward the swing set.
“Yeah.” Noah squirmed and once Dante set him down, he grabbed the guy’s hand. “Come on.”
“Yeah.” Mindy did the same. “’mon, Dad.”
The kids led their fathers to the swing set, and she stood smiling with Emily and Holden.
“Boy, they sure do have great imaginations,” her sister said.
She nodded “I know. It’s wonderful.”
“What’s even better is the mischief those three are going to get into,” Holden said, a big grin on his face. “Man, I can hardly wait until Mindy hits her teens and those boys start doing the following.”
She laughed along with her sister. “That will definitely be interesting.”
Lyndsey and her husband, Gabe, the sheriff wandered over, smiling as they caught the end of their conversation.
“That’s when the fun begins,” Lyndsey said.
Gabe snorted. “Hope those boys learn to swim, cause Cooper plans to install a moat by then. He’s already got the plans drawn up.”
They all laughed.
“Hey, Holden, you got a minute?” Gabe asked when they sobered. “I’ve got a question about Chief.”
Chief was the guy’s gorgeous gray pit bull. He went everywhere with him.
“Yeah. Sure,” Holden said, then nodded at them. “Excuse us.”
When they walked away, Lyndsey turned to Amanda and grinned.
“What?” she finally asked when the woman didn’t speak. “Do I have dirt on my face or grass in my hair or something?”
“No.” Lyndsey laughed. “I was just watching you interact with your new neighbor. You two make a cute couple.”
She groaned. “Oh, not you too, Lyndsey. The guy is a widower. Don’t go trying to push me on him.” She divided her gaze between Emily and Lyndsey. “Please, promise me you two won’t do that.”
“I promise,” Lyndsey said with a pout.
Good. She’d grown up next door to Lyndsey, and knew the woman never lied. Her word was her bond.
Amanda transferred her gaze to her sister. “Em? I need to hear it from you too.”
“Okay, I promise. But you can’t tell me you didn’t find him attractive. I know you, sis. You don’t blush unless you mean it.”
Damn her stupid body and her lack of control over it.
“Fine.” She blew out a breath. “Yes, he’s handsome, but he’s also my neighbor, a fairly recent widower, and the father of a soon-to-be student of mine. No matter how attractive he is, that’s a no-no in my rulebook. So, get it out of your conniving heads.”
Even though The Early Years Academy didn’t have a rule against it, Amanda did.
She also had a rule against seeing someone she worked with, which she’d broken recently. And that had been a big mistake…
Breaking that rule was not going to happen again. But she had the feeling she was going to have a tough time getting her body on board with that curriculum.