Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Lydia walked out of Heights Elementary with Ty by her side, satisfied that a major to-do had been crossed off her summer list. For most of the week, she’d been eagerly anticipating the delivery of her new classroom table and chairs.
When the truck pulled up shortly after lunch with three large, heavy boxes that two men plunked down in the middle of her driveway, she’d been slightly less excited.
“Thank you for helping me get all of that stuff over here.”
“No problem,” he said, dressed in a dark-green tank top and black athletic shorts, moving with her down the sidewalk toward the staff parking lot. “Having the truck comes in pretty handy.”
“Yes.” She nodded enthusiastically, wearing a sage-green sleeveless shirt and ripped short shorts. “Thanks for helping me put everything together, too. You shaved a couple of hours off my August classroom prep time.”
“I’m happy I could help.”
“I’m happy I have my half-moon table. It’ll make things so much easier when I pull the kids over for their small groups.”
“What do you do in the small groups?”
“Math at one point in the day and reading at another. It allows me to break the kids up based on their academic needs and give them more attention. It also gives me the opportunity to regularly see where everyone’s at so I can make sure no one’s falling through the cracks.”
He nodded. “How many kids do you usually have in your classes?”
“My biggest class has been twenty students, but usually, I have right around fifteen to seventeen.”
Ty huffed out a laugh. “That’s a lot of little bodies to keep track of.”
She smiled as they stepped onto the blacktop. “It really comes down to classroom management. I do a lot of positive reinforcement, have weekly prize jars, and we do something fun at the end of every month if the kids can reach their behavior goals.”
“It sounds like you have it all figured out.”
She grinned because that wasn’t always true. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that there are some days when I hold on for dear life and just get us to the afternoon.”
He laughed, bumping her arm. “I have no doubt that you’re good at what you do.”
She smiled at him, appreciating that he thought so. “I certainly try my best, but no two days are the same. When you have fifteen to seventeen different personalities and each of those personalities has a unique homelife, you never know what you’re going to get.”
“Well, my hat’s off to you, Lyd. I could never do your job.”
“Aw,” she said, bumping his arm this time as they made it to his truck.
They both got in.
Ty buckled his seat belt, then turned over the engine, rolling down the windows to let the heat out of the cabin. “So, what’s next on the agenda?”
A question he’d asked several times over the last few days. They’d been busy since their Tuesday morning date at the shooting range and their impromptu afternoon grill adventure.
She snapped her seat belt into place. “I definitely need to get over to my grandparents’ place and water my grandma’s tree.”
He winced. “I just hope it’s still alive. Watering it one day late sounds risky.”
She glared at him, knowing that he was teasing her again. “Just drive.”
He roared out a laugh as he drove through the empty parking lot. “Hey, I’m impressed that you were able to wait this long.”
“What can I say? I’m mixing things up and living on the edge.”
He laughed again, taking a right out of the lot. “Look out, folks. An unplanned grill purchase and watering the plants off schedule. Things are definitely getting crazy.”
She chuckled as she shook her head, still surprised that Ty hadn’t had to work very hard to talk her into hanging out on his couch for a movie instead of heading over to her grandparents’ house after they ate their dinner last night.
She’d found herself creating a new routine with the man sitting by her side.
The last few days had passed in a blur of workouts at the gym, running random errands together, occasional grocery store stop-offs, rooftop dinners, and quiet nights spent at his house or hers, watching something on the TV—the typical stuff two people did when they shared a life together.
Minutes later, he turned into her grandparents’ neighborhood, where large brick homes exuded quiet wealth. Not long after, he pulled down their long driveway. “Nice place.”
She nodded, staring at the elegant two-story house that her grandma and grandpa had lived in her entire life. “Yeah. I love coming here.”
Getting out, she headed up the walkway, using her key in the front door, breathing in the familiar scent of home as she walked in.
Ty followed her into the spacious entryway.
“The kitchen’s this way,” she said, leading him down a hall past a sitting room, her grandma’s cozy library, and her grandpa’s office that he didn’t use nearly as much as he used to.
They stepped into the large, airy space with pretty granite countertops, pale-blue painted cabinetry, and high-end appliances.
“You could make quite a feast in this space,” Ty said as his gaze tracked around the room.
She nodded, reaching under the sink for the watering can. “It’s happened a time or two, especially when I was a little girl.”
“This house must be spectacular during the holidays.”
She grinned as she turned on the water, filling the can. “Grandma Gail certainly pulls out all the stops.”
He smiled back. “So, where’s this tree that you’re babysitting?”
“In the living room.” She shut off the water, nudging her head, starting in that direction.
Moments later, they walked into the massive, window-filled room, and Ty whistled through his teeth as he stared at the thriving olive tree. “This thing has to be ten feet tall.”
She chuckled as she began to give the roots a drink. “I know. It’s a little crazy.”
He ran his thumb over one of the leaves. “Why isn’t it outside?”
She shrugged as she chuckled again. “I couldn’t tell you. All I know is Grandma Gail loves it. She’s had it for years.”
“I’d hate to be the poor sucker who has to repot it.” He frowned. “How would you repot it?”
She shrugged again as she shook her head. “I guess that’s a question for a tree expert.”
“Who’s going to take care of your grandma’s beloved tree while we’re in Mass?”
“The neighbor.”
He turned a circle, studying the room.
“You’re welcome to look around.”
He shrugged. “I can wait for you.”
“For the most part, it’s just a typical house with all the things you would expect to find in one.” She set the empty can by the fireplace and started back down the long hall toward the staircase.
Ty followed her up the stairs and down another hallway.
She stopped at the third door on the right—her room that she loved with the antique four-poster bed.
“This was my room. When I was a little girl. I slept in here when I came over for sleepovers. Burke slept in there.” She pointed to the blue-painted room across the hall.
“This became mine permanently a couple of months after I turned fourteen. I slept in here until my last summer break from college.”
“You moved in after the accident?”
She nodded, wandering over to the window seat that overlooked the pool and large gardens below, sitting on the plush cushion.
“My dad’s family wanted me up in Massachusetts with them, but I couldn’t do that to Grandpa Roger and Grandma Gail.
Uncle James, Aunt Cindy, Will, and Gram-Gram had each other, but my grandparents had just lost their only daughter, their son-in-law, whom they loved like their own, and their only grandson. ”
Ty sat next to her, capturing her hand. “That’s really tough, Lyd.”
She shrugged. “After life started to settle down again, we all decided that I would spend a month up in Mass every summer, but ultimately, I know my mom would have wanted me here. My parents were intentionally raising us in Oliver Heights. My mom understood that we had responsibilities as members of a prominent political family, but she didn’t like politics at all.
She limited our exposure to it until we were older, which my dad respected. ”
Ty nodded. “Your dad worked for your grandpa’s law firm?”
She nodded. “Dad and Grandpa Roger practiced family law. The plan was for my dad to eventually take over the firm, but that never happened.”
“You didn’t want to be a lawyer?”
She wrinkled her nose as she shook her head.
“I find law to be horribly boring. I’ve known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl—when my friends and I used to play school.
” She looked at their intertwined fingers.
“Sometimes, I think Burke would’ve gone into medicine like my mom, but it’s hard to say for sure. ”
“You’ve lost a lot.”
She shrugged again, knowing that her parents would have wanted her to focus on being happy. “I also have a lot. I’m so lucky to have so many people in my life who love me.”
He nodded. “That’s a really great perspective.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
“Your childhood home. That’s not far from here?”
She shook her head. “It’s just a couple of miles away. I can show you.”
He adamantly shook his head. “Not if it’s painful.”
She stared at their hands again, surprised that she was sharing so much about her past with him.
She met his gaze, seeing the compassion in his eyes, understanding that she wasn’t talking to Special Agent Tyler Corddry.
She was talking to the sweet, funny man whom she’d spent the last two weeks getting to know.
It was easy to talk to him and be vulnerable, which was something that she never expected. “It’s not. Or mostly, it’s not.”
“Then I’d love for you to show me.”
Ten minutes later, Ty pulled up across the street from the stately brick and black shutter house that she’d grown up in.
She stared at the bedroom windows that had been hers. “I loved this place. My home. Everything was so warm and safe. Then they got on the helicopter.”
“I’m sorry, Lyd. We don’t have to do this.”