Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
“Yeah, the Creede boys have stopped making fun of all the trios and started asking intelligent questions about how it works,” the sheriff explained.
Callie’s eyes lit, and Sabrina knew she had to shut it down and quickly. She had no idea who the Creede boys were, but she wasn’t about to get connected to horny, curious dudes who would likely run like that Sawyer person had the minute he’d seen her.
“I’m not looking to be set up. I’m simply here to see my sister and then I’m heading home.” Back to the house she grew up in. It didn’t feel like home. It was so odd. She was sleeping in her sister’s biological father’s guest bedroom, and it felt warmer than the house she’d spent the last few decades of her life in. Of course her mom had never gently woken her up with the promise of pancakes and bacon. And beets. But she could handle beets. Cassidy Meyer was weird and warm and lovely, and Sabrina low-key wished she’d been the one to find out her bio dad was a short-term affair of her mom’s while she was in the Army. Elisa was so happy with her new family, and it was inevitable time and distance would isolate her if she didn’t find a way to stay close to her sister.
Wow. She actually was desperate, but not for some man. She was desperate to have any kind of family at all.
“I was hoping I could talk to you about that,” a deep voice said. She turned and a dark-haired man stood a few feet away from her. He wore a button-down and slacks and loafers Sabrina identified as designer and expensive. “Hello, Ms. Leal. My name is Stefan Talbot and I was impressed with how you handled the kids earlier this evening.”
She’d seen the kids needed some planned and organized activities and she’d taken them in hand. No big deal. “I had fun with them. Honestly, the older kids just needed some guidance about the crafts Nell and Holly set up and then they helped with the younger kids.”
“You were great with them. I hear you’re a teacher back in North Carolina,” Talbot said, and that was when she noticed the woman standing behind him. She was almost certain the woman’s name was Rachel Harper, and she was the mom of Paige, who’d proven so helpful with the younger kiddos. Rachel was watching the conversation, biting her bottom lip like it was taking everything she had not to intervene.
What was happening here? “Yes. I’m teaching kindergarten right now, but I’ve taught third and fifth as well.”
“How would you feel about teaching in an…unorthodox fashion?” Talbot asked.
Was this obviously rich dude looking for a tutor? “I prefer a classroom setting to one on one, Mr. Talbot. If you’re wanting to hire a fulltime tutor, I can give you some places to look. I’m afraid I would miss running a classroom too much.”
The tutor would almost surely end up being more nanny than tutor. She knew she should probably hear the guy out since she wanted to move here but couldn’t without the guarantee of a job. But she had to be honest. Her job was all she had, and she couldn’t compromise on it.
“What if you could run a whole school?” Talbot asked.
She felt her eyes widen but before she could ask what he meant, Rachel Harper rushed to his side. “Not all on your own, of course. Stef, you’re making it sound way bigger than it is.”
“Because we’re building a school from scratch,” he said in low tones, as though they’d gone over this. “I’m not going to trick her.”
Rachel frowned his way but was all smiles when she looked back at Sabrina. “He’s making it sound like so much work. You’ll have a ton of help. Everyone in town will pitch in. Paige is about to start school, and I can’t stand the thought of sending her miles away every day. I want her here in Bliss.”
Oh, she was starting to see the problem. “There aren’t enough children in the area to support one school, much less a normal system. You would need to have elementary, middle, and high school in the same building. It’s challenging but not impossible. The real problem is going to be getting funding. Is this a public school? Because funding is why most rural towns rely on bussing to larger towns.”
“Money isn’t a problem,” Callie said with a grin. “We’re going to play all the billionaires off one another. Between Stef, Seth Stark, and Caleb Burke, you’ll have all the money you could want.”
“Or you could say we all want what’s best for our kids and we’re willing to pay for it,” Stef countered with a shake of his head. “Ms. Leal, I’m not trying to turn Bliss into some bigger town. I only want the kids who live here to have the best we can possibly give them. My son will be educated here. All of our kids will go to school in the town they live in. I would like for you to be a part of it. Maybe the biggest part. It would be an enormous amount of work, but think about it. You have to let your kids go every year. They move on to another class. Not these kids. These kids would be yours. A whole generation to educate.”