CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER NINE
Lily sat at her desk at lunch on Monday. What
was going on? She had passed two fellow teachers who obviously
snubbed her. At first she thought she had imagined it but when it
happened a second time. Uh-oh…Maybe it would pass, whatever it
was.
She sat eating her lunch thinking of Sandy.
Life can be wonderful, can’t it? He’s just what a man should
be – kind, thoughtful, incredibly good-looking, sexy. Wow. Was he
ever... She had never had a relationship with a man before like
with Sandy. Her marriage obviously had been a pretty poor example
of what a relationship should be. What’s that expression about
hitting the jackpot? Staring off into space, a sigh escaped her.
Taking another bite of her sandwich, someone interrupted her
reverie.
“Penny for your thoughts.” An image of Sandy
floated before her eyes. She focused and there he was in worn
jeans, the shirt she was wearing Sunday morning and those great
talking boots.
“Don’t you have to work?” She smiled up at
him. Huh. He looked good in clothes too. She felt her face
warming.
“I had to bring Jesse’s lunch and thought you
might like some too. Dessert, actually.”
“Oh, no. Not the infamous red velvet
cake.”
“The very same.” He winked as he put a small
bag on her desk, raised his eyebrows. “And how do you like my
shirt?” If this was seduction, she was all for it.
“I noticed. You really are trying to put me
off my game today, aren’t you? Remember I have four children coming
back from the lunchroom any minute. Do you want them to see us in a
delicate situation?” Lily winked back at him. He was also a lot of
fun. Being with him made her feel terrific.
Sandy was having the same kind of thoughts.
She was a long drink of cool water, as the cowboys say. Being with
her made him feel like a man again. A sensual man… This pretty lady
had him imagining things he hadn’t in many years. His sexual
appetite had been dormant too long as well. That had been awakened
for sure…
“Okay. I’ll get out of your hair. I wanted to
let you know that my brother, Bill, and I have some family business
to do and I’ll be gone until Friday.”
“Friday? We just met,” she felt her face
blush again, “And now you’re leaving town? Where are you going?”
She actually pouted.
Good. She’d miss him—a welcome sign. “Vegas.
We don’t much like going there, so we try to make our time count.
Lots of meetings, lawyers and financial dealings… The Johnson
Family Trust is a pretty big business. Bill and I try to keep on
top of things.” He slowed and looked deeply into her eyes. “Believe
me when I say I’m not wild about going right now. I’d rather spend
more time with you, sweetheart.” He smiled his sexy smile.
“Sandy,” she sighed. “I’d rather spend time
with you than do most anything.” He took her hand and started to
say something when Jesse came running into the room with Arturo,
Sara and Cole.
“Daddy!” he yelled and sprang into his arms.
The other children gathered around him, grabbing onto his legs and
all talking at once.
“When can we ride the horses again, Mr.
Johnson? Huh?” Their young, pleading voices were enough to melt any
cold heart.
“Soon, guys, soon. Miss Cable, perhaps we
could arrange a field trip to the ranch sometime for your class.
Would that be possible?” Sandy’s smile was as big as his heart. He
put on his cowboy hat, tipped it at her. “Ma’am,” he said. Then he
leaned over and whispered, “I’ll call you.” Leaving the room, his
boots clicking noisily since he’d worn spurs today.
* * *
After school, Lily’s principal, Terri Nolan,
had come by Lily’s classroom. Terri was an attractive, professional
woman who worked hard and expected great things from all her
teachers. They had hit it off in the interview, so Lily was happy
when Mrs. Nolan wanted to hire her.
“Hi, Lily. How are you doing? How were your
classes today?”
She was skilled at managing people and astute
enough to know when problems were arising. She smelled one
today.
“Hi, Terri. Good to see you. Everything went
fine. We’re knee deep in our poetry unit, as you know and I wanted
to ask you about the state standards training coming up later this
month.” Lily was enthusiastic about her job, which was delightful
for Terri to see.
She took a good look at Lily and shook her
head. No wonder there were rumors… Lily was beautiful, sweet, a
nice person and minded her own business. She worked hard at her job
and Terri respected her immensely.
“Ah, Lily, I need to talk to you about
something personal. This is a small town and an even smaller
school. It’s hard not to know your neighbor’s business even if you
don’t want to. I don’t mean to interfere or butt in where I
shouldn’t but…” her voice trailed off.
“Okay. What is it?”
“I’ve seen and heard a few things that I
don’t care for. I’m a big believer of ‘live and let live’, but I
feel I need to warn you.” Mrs. Nolan swallowed hard and blew out a
deep breath.
“Good grief. What’s the problem?”
“I like you, Lily. You’re a good teacher and
a good person. Sometimes, in this life, we meet up with some
unpleasantness that shouldn’t happen. I’ve had things happen to me
that I wished someone had warned me about.” She stopped, obviously
searching for the right words.
Lily nervously bit her lip. “Am I being
fired, Terri?”
“No, no! Nothing like that. It’s just that
some teachers here are trying to create a problem for you. I wanted
you to be aware and maybe on guard.”
“What sort of problem?”
“Please forgive me,” she glanced around
Lily’s classroom. “This is none of my business, but it has gotten
around that you are seeing a certain man in Naples. He’s a
prominent man and I’m afraid a few women are a bit jealous of
you.”
“You mean Sandy Johnson. Word sure travels
fast. We just had one date.”
“Yes, well, that’s all it takes around here.
I wanted to talk to you as a friend, so please just watch your
step. Some of these women could make things difficult for you, at
least for a while.”
“Okay, thank you, Terri. I appreciate your
taking the time to speak to me. I’m not sure how to proceed now,
but I will try to take care.” Mrs. Nolan left as quickly as she’d
come.
Lily was confused and not sure what to say or
do now. And Sandy just left town. She didn’t want him to be
concerned about this nonsense anyway. And what could he do? What
could she do?
At present she would continue to live her
life. Deal with problems as they come up. One day at a time sounded
good but her stress level cranked up a notch anyway.
By Friday, that stress level went into
overdrive. Two teachers were continuing to snub her to the point of
ridiculousness. They were supposed to design a new curriculum
together and now these teachers weren’t speaking to her. How could
they work together? And then she saw Amy Breen’s car parked on her
street at all hours of the day and night. At least she thought it
was Amy’s. It sure looked like the car she’d seen Amy driving.
Lily had come home on Wednesday to find a
flat tire on her car. It had been fine on Tuesday…Also on Tuesday,
someone started calling and hanging up when she answered. On
Thursday, she had found a dead fish in her mailbox. A dead
fish? She was waking up in the middle of the night worrying
about what else might happen. On Friday morning, she walked out her
door stepping smack-dab into a pool of red Jell-O. For Pete’s
sake!
Sandy called her every night, which made the
rest of the time worth living. Lily didn’t mention all the crazy
things that had been happening while he was gone, but she told him
a few times to come back soon. By Thursday, he had suspected
something was going on and he had asked. Lily denied any problems.
I’ll take care of this myself. These are my problems and not
his. She suspected he might worry, which would be sweet, but
not necessary.
Friday after school she drove over to the
sheriff’s office. Bud Moody was the county sheriff and was in his
Naples office once or twice weekly. He was a large man with eyes
the color of Lily’s fudge and had a bit of a paunch. Nice man. She
had heard he was good at his job. She’d see about that.
“Why Miss Cable. How nice to see you. Now
what can I do for you?”
Bud was sitting behind his desk going through
some paperwork. The station was small and his office was tiny with
papers literally everywhere. His desk took up the bulk of the room
with a wooden chair in front for visitors. A deputy was in the next
room doing an inventory of some kind. She took a step into his
office and glanced around, surprised at its tiny size.
“Sheriff, I think I’m being stalked,” she
said seriously.
Bud looked up at her with wide eyes. “In
Naples? Please sit, Miss Cable, and let me know what’s been going
on.”
Lily sat nervously on an uncomfortable,
wooden chair and began to tell him about the various incidents that
had been happening to her. She ran shaky fingers through already
messy hair.
“I’ll need you to file a police report, Miss
Cable.”
“Lily, please.”
“I don’t think any of this would be happening
if Sandy was in town.” Bud glanced over for her reaction.
“Sheriff, this has nothing to do with Mr.
Johnson. These things are happening to me! I know I’m new in town,
but this isn’t normal town behavior to newcomers, is it?” Her voice
level had gone up a notch. She practically squeaked at him.
“Lily, I can tell you what’s happening
without too much investigation. You have stomped all over Amy
Breen’s shoes. She’s had a major crush on Sandy Johnson for years
and he won’t have anything to do with her. You just get to town and
sweep him off his feet.” He arched an eyebrow. “I’m not excusing
her behavior, but that’s what this is about. I’d stake my sheriff’s
badge on it.” He smiled and pointed at his chest where his badge
was pinned.
“For Pete’s sake! We’ve had one date!” Lily
nearly exploded. “Is our relationship the business of everyone in