Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
“No.” She rested her chin on my shoulder now, her eyes huge. “I’m in love with you.”
Fuck.
My heart hammered hard, racing toward her all while speeding away, as euphoria and dread filled me in equal measure.
“And I know you’re not ready for that, but I want you to know that I haven’t forgotten what you said … and I’m waiting for you. I’ll wait for you to be ready. To work through what loss has done to you until you’re ready to be brave. To be with me. One day, loving someone like your dad loved your mum won’t scare you, Brodan. And I’ll be here. I want to be the someone you love like that.”
Pain cracked through my chest.
That was what I got for telling this girl everything.
And it hurt that she thought time would conquer my fears.
Before I could say anything, she reached up, cupping my cheek tenderly, before she pressed her soft mouth to mine.
For a moment, I was weak.
Because I loved Monroe Sinclair more than I loved anybody in this world.
I kissed her back. Just one more taste, I told myself.
But then I felt her chilled hands slide under my T-shirt, jolting me back to reality.
In my panic to end this, to stop her from wasting her life waiting for me, I immediately blurted out the lie, “I met someone at uni. I have a serious girlfriend.”
Monroe jerked back in shock, expression wounded and horrified.
Then she promptly threw up at my feet.
9
Monroe
PRESENT DAY
* * *
I always got butterflies on parents’ evenings. When I first started teaching, I didn’t. But over the years, I discovered you really never know what you’re going to get when a parent walks into your classroom to discuss their child. Unless, of course, they were a helicopter parent and were constantly phoning the school to catalogue their child’s needs as if I didn’t have other children in my classroom. I wanted to give all the kids exactly what they needed, but that was impossible when I was one person teaching twenty children all at once. I did my best, and I was proud to say that I really gave them everything I had.
When a child wasn’t succeeding in my classroom, I made it my personal mission to help them because I felt like I wasn’t succeeding right along with them.
Perhaps the butterflies for tonight, however, had more to do with the fact that I’d be interacting with parents that I went to school with. I’d also see Thane Adair for the first time in eighteen years.
My first parent was, lo and behold, Michelle Kingsley. It was clear from her frosty demeanor and nitpicking that she’d not forgotten our high school altercation over Brodan. Fortunately, her son was a sweet kid, and I had nothing but good things to say about him. He must have taken after his father, whom I knew had divorced Michelle a few years ago.
Thinking Michelle would be the worst of the lot, I tried to relax as the evening wore on.
I caught sight of Thane and his wife Regan waiting outside my classroom with the other parents and took a deep breath as I welcomed in the mum of a new student.
“It’s nice to see you again, Ms. Harrow,” I said as I gestured for her to take a chair opposite my desk. We actually met a week ago when her daughter Callie enrolled at the school. Sloane Harrow was a very young mother. It would surprise me if she was older than twenty-five, making her a teen when she had her daughter. I knew from our first meeting that she and Callie had moved from Los Angeles on Sloane’s work visa. She’d gotten a job at Ardnoch Estate as a housekeeper. It was all a bit mysterious to me why Sloane would leave the States for a remote village in the Highlands, but it was her business.
Sloane smiled as she sat down, and I noted not for the first time how pretty she was. She had a sweet look, a natural attractiveness that wasn’t overdone, but her smile was glamorous. I wondered if all LA people were born with that certain star quality. Sloane’s sun-streaked, shoulder-length blond hair fell around her face in beachy waves, her skin glowed with a tan that would disappear after a few months in a Highland winter, and a reassuring warmth filled her large, dark brown eyes.
“I know Callie only started a week ago, but I wanted to let you know how it’s going.”
“I really appreciate that.” Sloane nodded, clasping her hands in front of her. “She really likes you, and it’s made all the difference that she has a teacher who makes her feel safe and comfortable. I wanted to thank you.” She reached into her large handbag and pulled out a Tupperware box. “I bake. I hope you like cupcakes.”