Wow y'all...I am so sorry! There's got to be some kind of glitch going on with FanFiction right now...whenever I looked at the story on my phone app...chapter three was in its rightful place. But whenever I looked at it on my computer or internet safari tab on my phone...chapter two was in its place! Soon frustrating! Anyway, I hope everyone can see chapter three now...please let me know if you are still having trouble!

Happy Friday! Or if you are in a different time zone and it is not Friday...happy whatever day it is where you are! Thank you so much to those of you who have left reviews and/or followed or liked the story. I am very glad that y'all like it so far. I hope that you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Sansa makes a new friend and encounters an...acquaintance...again in a most unusual circumstance. Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Happy reading! xoxoxo

The next morning, Sansa was ready to go with time to spare. Even though she didn't have to be at the school until eight, she had gotten up at five thirty. Being overly excited to start her new job in a new school, she had barely slept. When she finally did succumb to sleep, her dreams were plagued with visions of Sandor. The rational side of her brain reminded her that she had sworn off men, and insisted that she forget about the tall, handsome man with the scarred face. The other side screamed at her to find out more about him. Something told her it was only a matter of time before she saw him once more. It was a small town, after all, so their paths were bound to cross again.

After showering and drying her hair, she set it in rollers to add some extra volume and went about choosing her outfit. Wanting make a good impression for the back to school meeting, Sansa chose a crisp, white button up shirt with three quarter sleeves, a black pencil skirt, and her black Christian Louboutin pumps. She packed a spare change of clothes into a bag for later when she would begin the arduous task of setting up her classroom. She still wasn't due to be at the school for another half hour, so Sansa carefully descended the stairs on the side of her building and entered the coffee shop. Olenna was propped up behind the counter talking to a pretty brunette who looked to be about Sansa's age.

"Good mornin' Sansa! How are you liking the apartment so far?" Olenna asked as Sansa approached the counter.

"Good morning, Ms. Olenna! I love it. Couldn't ask for better."

Olenna gestured to the young woman sitting on a barstool opposite of her. "Sansa, this is my granddaughter, Margaery."

Margaery extended her hand out to Sansa. "Oh it's so great to finally meet you! Granny's told me so much about you!"

Sansa smiled appreciatively at Margaery. "So you're a teacher too, right?"

"First grade! You and I will be on the same hallway. Have you met the other kindergarten teacher yet?"

Before answering Margaery's question, Sansa addressed Olenna. Her go-to drink in the morning was usually coffee, but nerves were beginning to set in of the reality of a brand new job. "May I have a green tea with honey, please?" Turning back to Margaery, she answered, "No, I haven't met anyone yet. No one was up there when the movers unloaded my stuff yesterday outside of my classroom."

Margaery sipped from her cup. "Well the other kindergarten teacher is Podrick Payne. We call him Pod. He's absolutely precious and really, really sweet. You'll love him."

Handing Sansa her tea, Olenna interrupted. "Pod would be a good guy to set Sansa up with, don't you think?" Sansa laughed at the thought and waved her hand at the old woman. If there was one thing she knew about small town southern women, it was that they were always trying to set people up.

With a hearty laugh, Margaery threw her head back. "Granny, he's still too caught up chasing Ros around! Besides, they're going to be working together. That'd be too much time with each other."

For a brief moment, Sansa considered asking the women about Sandor. All night, and all morning for that matter, she had wondered endlessly about him and felt an unusual desire to get to know him. Surely they would know him and could satisfy her lingering curiosity. However, she quickly decided against it.

Margaery checked the time on her phone. "Well, we should probably get going." She leaned across the counter and kissed Olenna on the cheek. "Love you, Granny." After grabbing her cup, Margaery turned to Sansa. "You wanna ride with me?"

Smiling at her new friend, Sansa happily replied, "Sure, that'd be great!"

Outside in the bright morning sunshine, Margaery opened the door to an older model beat up, light blue truck that was parked in front of the coffee shop. "Sorry about my wheels. My car is in the shop getting new brake pads and I borrowed my boyfriend, Bronn's truck."

"What's your boyfriend driving?" Sansa asked as she slid across the bench seat.

"Oh he's got another nicer truck. This is just his kick-around truck."

"Kick-around?" Sansa echoed.

"It's just his old farm truck that he uses when he doesn't want to mess up his nice truck when he's hauling stuff around on the farm." She angrily punched the clutch and turned the key until the engine roared to life. "Trust me, this one here is a piece of shit. you might want to roll your window down, it has no air," she added with a roll of her eyes.

Sansa laughed at her comment. "So what does your boyfriend do?"

"He's a sheriff in town. One of three. He also works on a cattle farm around here with another guy." With a wide smile, Margaery turned to Sansa. "Hey, you know what? We should all go out for drinks tomorrow night! Bronn has a few single guy friends we could introduce you to. His buddy that he works with on the farm... I think you'd really like him. He's an old grump, but very sweet. You'll probably meet him today, he's also the head football coach. Coach Clegane."

Sansa brushed some hair away from her face that the wind had caught. The thought of dating again was tedious, but she couldn't pass up the opportunity to make friends in her new town. A tiny part of her didn't want to meet this coach that Margaery thought she would like so much. If she was going to be set up with anyone, she wanted it to be the man from the grocery store. "Ehhh...I don't know if I'm ready to jump back into the dating game, just yet. But drinks sounds like a good idea! I'm in."

Margaery beamed at Sansa. The school was right across the street from the coffee shop, but the entrance was at the very end of Main Street. It took all of about five minutes to get into the school parking lot. Margaery parked the truck among the other vehicles and cursed under her breath when the gearshift refused to go into park. Once inside the brick office building, Sansa met the school secretary, who issued Sansa her classroom key, and then Dr. Varys.

The bald man reached out to shake Sansa's hand. "My dear, it is so nice to finally meet you in person. How are you settling in so far?" His smooth, southern voice sounded like something straight out of Gone With the Wind.

"It's very nice to meet you too, Dr. Varys. Everything is going very well!"

"I am so happy to hear that, Ms. Stark. Now you let me know if there's anything you need." After he gathering a few items from his desk, Dr. Varys stepped around it to stand in front of it. "Well ladies, I will see you in the cafeteria in just a little while."

The entire kindergarten through twelfth grade faculty and staff were scheduled to meet in the school's cafeteria for a welcome back meeting. Sansa took a seat beside Margaery on a stool at one of the long lunch room tables.

"So...Sansa. Tell me about you. I want to know everything."

Grinning sheepishly, Sansa gave Margaery a brief overview of her life and how she had wound up in Paradise Holler.

"Well he sounds like a real prick." Margaery commented upon hearing Sansa's description of her ex fiancé.

A young man with a pleasant, round face and a broad smile lowered himself onto a stool across from Sansa and Margaery.

"Oh Pod!" Margaery exclaimed as she put her hand on Sansa's arm. "This is Sansa Stark! She's the new kindergarten teacher!"

Pod's goofy smile widened as he shook Sansa's hand. "Oh...hey you!"

Does this man know me? Sansa narrowed her eyes trying to place him with no luck. "Have we met?"

Looking rather sheepish, Pod chuckled and revealed himself. "Well, no. But I did see you attack that stack of hand baskets with an impressive amount of force in The Market yesterday..."

"Oh God...you were one of those guys at the counter?!"

"Guilty as charged."

Sansa couldn't keep the incredulous smile from her lips as hid her face with one hand. With a groan, she let her hand fall away from her face and laughed along with Pod.

"No worries, Sansa. It seemed like something that I would do."

Margaery rose slightly and craned her neck to get a better look at the faces around the room. "Well shoot...I don't see Coach Clegane, yet. I was really hoping to introduce you to him before our meeting started."

"He probably had to go check cows before comin' up here. Ray said the other day they were havin' some trouble with some steers runnin' through the north fence." Pod commented. Margaery clicked her tongue and lowered herself back onto her stool.

Before any more small talk could be made, Dr. Varys stepped up behind a podium to address the crowd. "Well y'all, it looks like we're still missing one or two, but we're going to go ahead and get started. We've got a lot of information to cover, but I'll try to make it brief 'cause I know y'all want to get back to work in your classrooms."

Sansa listened intently as Dr. Varys spoke about the basic school procedures that always had to be discussed at the beginning of each school year. She ascertained that there were two assistant principals at the school. An older man with a short gray beard, Mr. Seaworth was the assistant principal for grades seven through twelve. The assistant principal for the lower grades of kindergarten through sixth was a slim middle aged man named Mr. Baelish. He immediately gave Sansa the creeps from the way he stared intently at her across the room. To take her mind off of the man whose eyes were blatantly glued to her, Sansa diligently took notes in the binder that she bad brought with her. A door opened somewhere behind Sansa, but she was focusing on jotting down notes, so she didn't look up. About ten seconds later, she felt the table move slightly as someone sat down just two stools away from her. Out of her peripheral vision, Sansa glanced at her new neighbor. Long, blue jean covered legs were folded sharply under the table. Sansa did a noticeable double-take when she let her eyes drift to the person's face. Sandor, the man she had met in the grocery store was sitting right next to her. He had on a light blue button up shirt, and a faded baseball cap. There were a few streaks of mud on his well broken-in jeans and on his square toed cowboy boots as well. All Sansa could do was stare stupidly at him. He tossed a leather bound notebook down in front of him, raised his eyebrow at Sansa, and gave her a wide grin, exposing his straight, white teeth.

"What are you doing here?" Sansa whispered anxiously.

Sandor shushed her with a finger over his lips and then pointed the finger at the front of the room, playfully insinuating that he was trying to hear what Dr. Varys was saying. In reality, Sandor didn't give a damn about the back to school meeting. It was always the same shit every year. He just couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease Sansa. With a smirk, Sansa narrowed her eyes at Sandor and turned back to face the front of the room.

When Sansa's hair moved across her shoulders as she turned, Sandor got a magnificent whiff of what he assumed was her shampoo or maybe her perfume. Whatever it was, it was divine. She smelled just like fresh lavender. Her feminine scent was enough to make his dick begin to swell in his jeans. Squirming uncomfortably on the stool, he pressed his thighs together, willing it to deflate. Sandor flipped open his notebook and tore a piece of yellow notebook paper from legal pad that was tucked inside. After uncapping his pen and writing one word on the top line, he slid the paper to where Sansa sat. Before pulling his hand back to himself, he poked Sansa in the elbow and pointed to the paper.

Once she felt Sandor poke her, she jerked her head towards him and saw him tapping the paper he had slid in front of her. She blushed and bit at her smiling lips as her eyes rotated between Sandor's face and the paper to see what he had written.

Hello.

So we're passing notes, now. What are we, twelve? Sansa humored him and wrote him back on the next line down.

Hello again.

Without looking at him, Sansa slid the paper back to Sandor. A minute later, the yellow paper entered her line of sight.

Surprised to see me again so soon?

Surprised was an understatement. She never thought that the rugged man with the nosy Bloodhound would be sitting next to her in a school faculty meeting. Sansa wrote her response and pushed the paper towards him.

A little. Are you a teacher here?

The paper was slid back and forth between them for the next several minutes. After a few exchanges, Pod noticed and gestured to Margaery, who peeked around Sansa and giggled at the sight.

Yeah, I teach a few math classes at the high school every year. I'm also the varsity football coach.

Ahhh...so this is the man Margaery was telling me about on the way over here. What did she call him again, Coach Clegane? Sansa smirked at the thought and wrote more on the paper.

What do you teach?

Twelfth grade calculus mostly.

Wow for real?!

Nah for fake. I actually just teach underwater basket weaving. Yes...calculus.

Impressive.

What grade will you be teaching?

Kindergarten.

Now that's impressive to me. I can't deal with the babies.

So we're passing notes? I thought you wanted to pay attention.

I already know all this stuff. What I don't know is much about you.

Well what do you want to know?

Everything.

Reading Sandor's words sent a surge of happiness through Sansa's body. The feeling settled in her stomach with a warmth that made her giddy.

Hate to break it to you, but I'm not that interesting.

Sandor was feeling a little bold, or maybe just foolish, but without thinking, he wrote her a question.

You let me be the judge of that. So did you move here with your boyfriend?

No.

Husband?

No.

Girlfriend?

NO.

Haha well you never know!

What about you...girlfriend?

Nope.

Wife?

Definitely nope.

Boyfriend?

Absolutely not.

Hiding laughter behind her hand, Sansa kept writing.

So it's just you and Moses?

That's right. And about 800 cows.

Where is Moses anyway? I thought you said he went with you everywhere.

I left him in my classroom. He's probably asleep by now.

You bring him to school with you?!

Well yea! Being varsity football coach has its advantages. I can't leave my buddy behind, he's my wingman. He's pretty good at sniffing them out...but you already knew that.

Sansa had to stifle another giggle as she remembered the way Sandor's dog had forcefully sniffed her nether region.

Wingman, huh? Never heard of a wingdog.

He helped me meet you didn't he?

Sansa's breath caught slightly in her throat as she read what he had just written. This note passing session was quickly turning flirty. But Sansa found that she couldn't rein herself in.

I guess he did. If he's your wingman, how come you're so...single?

Haven't met the right woman yet I guess. How come you are you so single?

Same reason. Haven't met anyone worth dating.

What kind of man would be worth dating?

Ok, this is definitely flirting! Sansa worried her bottom lip with her teeth as she forced her brain work.

A gentleman.

Sandor looked down at what Sansa had written once she slid the paper back to him. A gentleman, huh? Shit...think, Clegane, think! Sandor had been out of the dating for game so long, his flirting skills were more than a bit rusty. There were no mathematical equations for winning a woman's heart. It was all feelings and emotions. Something Sandor couldn't learn from college or the professional development conferences he was sometimes sent to. But he knew he had to think of something that would get her attention.

I could be a gentleman...

Held in a slightly trembling hand, Sansa's pen lingered over the paper as she tried to think of something clever to write back. Suddenly, Dr. Varys' voice registered in her ears.

"Ok y'all, that's it for this morning. The rest of the day may be spent getting your classrooms organized. Lunch may be taken at your leisure. Most of you will have textbook training and curriculum mapping meetings either tomorrow or Monday, so please read your schedules that I have emailed you very carefully. I need to meet with the athletic coaches for a few minutes. Everyone else is dismissed. Enjoy the rest of your day!"

Before Sandor had a chance to, Sansa snatched up the paper from the table and tucked it between her binder and her chest. She rose from her seat. Sandor rose as well to make his way to the front of the room to meet with Varys and the other coaches. Before he stepped away, he reached a large hand out and gently squeezed Sansa's. Realizing what he was doing, Sansa expelled a small gasp from her lips and looked down at where their hands were connected. He dropped her hand after a second and gave her a wink before stepping around her. Margaery rushed after her out the door as they headed for the kindergarten and first grade building.

"Ok...what the hell was that?!"

Scoffing, Sansa tried her best to act nonchalant. "What do you mean?"

"Sandor just held your hand. Y'all were writing notes to each other during the whole meeting like two sixth graders! What's going on?!" With quick fingers, Margaery snatched the yellow paper from Sansa. Excitement flooded her face as her eyes skimmed over the words. "Oh my God, 'hello again?!' You've already met him?!"

With a smile she could not hide, Sansa sighed. "Yes...I met him at The Market yesterday. His dog all but gave me a rim job right in the middle of the cereal aisle." Sansa used her new key to unlock her classroom door and tossed her stuff onto her desk. Margaery's attention was back on the note.

"Good heavens, Sansa! Askin' each other if you are single, Sandor saying he could be a gentleman for you...y'all have some major flirtin' goin on here!" Margaery squealed a little louder than necessary.

Exasperated, but unable to hide her own giddiness, Sansa snatched at the paper. Margaery giggled and pulled it away. "You like him, don't you?!"

"Come on, let me have the paper."

Margaery dangled it just out of her reach. "I'll give you the paper back only if you admit that you like him."

"I don't even know him!"

"But you know enough to know whether you like him or not..."

Sansa rolled her eyes. There was no denying that Margaery had a point. "Ok fine...I guess I do like him a little. He seems interesting enough. He must be super smart if he teaches calculus."

Margaery set the paper on Sansa's desk and pulled a chair up next to it. "Girl, Sandor is crazy smart! He majored in mathematics at The University of Mississippi where he played football. He grew up not too far from Oxford, where the college is."

By now, Sansa had propped her chin in her hand to listen. Margaery seemed to know all about this man that was friends with her boyfriend, and Sansa was all too willing to listen to everything she had to say about him.

"He was drafted by the NFL right out of college and played for the New Orleans Saints for two years. Shit, he was so good."

"So what happened, how did he wind up here?"

Encouraged by Sansa's persistence, Margaery smiled and continued. "Well, he took a pretty brutal hit during a game. Snapped his leg clean, right at the knee. Never played again."

Sansa winced and sucked in a breath of air with her eyes squeezed shut.

"If you watch him real careful, he still walks with a bit of a limp some days. He spent a year in physical therapy in New Orleans, but then decided that he wanted to move back to Mississippi. But he needed a job since he couldn't play football anymore. Our old football coach who had been here for years had just retired, so Sandor applied for the job. Of course, he didn't have his teaching license, but since he was the most qualified man for the job, they gave it to him. Teachers aren't exactly in abundance out here, in case you haven't noticed. Since we had just lost our calculus teacher, Sandor was able to teach under an emergency certificate since he had a degree in mathematics. He spent two years taking online classes to get his teaching license. When he moved here about eight years ago, he met Ray Brothers and Bronn and the three of them run the cattle farm I told you about."

Taking it all in, Sansa pulled in a deep breath of air. Sandor was definitely a very interesting man, no doubt. "Wow."

"Sandor's a real sweet guy, Sansa. He's simple, hardworking and honest as they come. He's just a little awkward and shy when it comes to dating. I'm sure you can imagine why he doesn't have very much luck with the ladies. Although I don't see why, I think he's cute as a button! Scars and all."

Completely lost in a Sandor-induced daydream, all Sansa could do was hum an agreement. After a few more minutes of chatting, Margaery left to work on setting up her own classroom. Not wanting to unpack her classroom supplies in her stilettos, Sansa changed into the t-shirt, shorts and flip flops she had packed in her bag. The rest of Sansa's morning was spent unpacking boxes and visiting with Pod. She wanted to know everything about the way he ran his classroom and peppered him with questions. As it turned out, his teaching style was very similar to her own, and Sansa was really looking forward to working with him. In an attempt to take her mind off of Sandor, Sansa unpacked the books she kept for her classroom library and began sorting them by reading levels. The process was slow-going, because of course, all Sansa could do was think about Sandor. Never in her life had she been so infatuated with a man that she had just met. It was extremely frustrating, and a bit scary that she found herself desiring a man just when she had decided that being alone was exactly what she needed in her life at that point in time. It almost felt like she was going against her intuition and betraying her own wishes. Damn, why does he have to be so nice and handsome? This would all be so much easier if he turned out to be some sort of asshole. Maybe he will have some sort of weird fetish that would be a deal breaker for me. The thoughts that were flitting through her mind were ridiculous. So far, there had been no red flags or anything of the sort that told her to stay away from Sandor. It was just a relationship she felt like she needed to stay away from. But since they had just met, Sansa hoped that she would have some time to sort her feelings out before anything actually happened.

At about 12:00, Margaery and Pod strolled into Sansa's room. "We're going to go get some lunch. Wanna come?"

"Yea, sure!" Sansa grabbed her purse and followed them to the parking lot.

As they slid onto the bench seat of Margaery's borrowed truck, Pod explained the food choices around Paradise Holler. "Well, there's the Delta Steakhouse..."

Margaery scrunched her nose. "I don't want to eat something too heavy for lunch."

"Ok, The Dairy Bar has good burgers, wraps, chicken fingers, things like that. Or we could go to Bob's-"

Bewildered, Sansa cut him off. "The gas station?"

"Yeah, they've got the best burgers in town. Fried chicken, all kinds of sides. But if you sit inside, you'll come out smelling like cooking grease."

"What about Pig Pit?" Margaery suggested. "It's a barbecue joint, Sansa. It's really good."

The Pig Pit was a small building that resembled a shack on the outside. Inside there was a wooden floor and wood paneled walls covered with pictures of the local people and their accomplishments. One picture had a smiling man holding up the biggest catfish Sansa had ever seen. Proud athletic teams that were crowded around winning trophies adorned the walls as well. There were also several pictures of kids with livestock sporting ribbons they had won at local 4H and FFA shows. Being lunch time, the restaurant was crowded, and they pulled up a chair and crammed themselves into a two person table. After perusing the menu, Sansa looked up at the wall next to her. A huge picture of a large man in a black and gold football uniform monopolized the frame.

"Is that Sandor?"

Margaery and Pod raised their heads to follow Sansa's gaze. "Yep, that's him!" Margaery replied. "Our own little celebrity."

Little certainty wasn't the word Sansa would use to describe Sandor. She was tall, but Sandor had towered almost a foot above her. He had to be right at or just over six and a half feet.

"Oh, speak of the devil..." Pod commented as he glaced out the window. Sansa's eyes flew to the front door just in time to see Sandor saunter in. He had unbuttoned his shirt and let it hang open, showing a tight white tank top underneath. He maneuvered his way through the crowd, greeting several people who spoke to him as he went.

"Sandor!" Margaery called with a wave.

Sandor glanced their way and tipped his chin up at them before leaning on the counter. "Hey, Dorothy. Can I have my usual to go, please?"

As Sandor turned to make his way to their table, Sansa could feel her pulse quicken with anticipation. She could feel his eyes on her and it only added to her nervousness.

"Hellooo!" Margaery sang to him as he came to a stop right next to Sansa's chair.

"Hey Margaery. Pod. Sansa..." He finished with a smirk and a wink that sent what felt like a lightening bolt straight to Sansa's stomach.

Margaery poked her lower lip out into a pout. "Well we'd pull a chair up for you, but I don't think we have enough room."

Sandor waved his hand to dismiss her comment. "Nah, that's ok. I'm gettin' my lunch to go. I've got to meet with Seaworth to get a schedule put together for football practice for the next two weeks."

Sandor's body was angled slightly towards Sansa and she couldn't help but notice that his crotch was pretty much eye level with her face. Instead of studying the slight bulge she noticed behind his zipper, she examined the tarnished silver belt buckle on his belt. It was large and round and had a beautiful filigree background with golden embossed letters. A large finger tilted her chin up.

"Yoo-hoo...my eyes are up here, doll." Another wink from Sandor sent another lightening bolt straight to Sansa's gut. Blushing furiously, she struggled for a comeback.

"I...um...I was just trying to...see what your belt buckle said." She averted her eyes, but then let them flicker back up to his. He was smiling a most amused sideways smile down at her.

Sandor looked down and tilted the buckle up towards him. "It says... '2009 Muddy River Classic Calf Roping Champion.' The last buckle I won before my leg got destroyed."

"Sandor used to rodeo." Margaery explained to Sansa with a raise of her eyebrows.

Dorothy's voice rang out above the noise in the room. "Coach, your order's ready!"

Before Sandor could walk away, Margaery grabbed his wrist. "Oh hey, Sandor...I had thought maybe we could all get together tomorrow night and take Sansa out for drinks. Show her what little nightlife our town has to offer. I was thinking maybe...The Rivershack?"

Inside, Sansa found herself desperately screaming please say yes, please say yes, please say yes!

"Well sure. Why not?" With his eyes trained on Sansa, Sandor added, "how can I say no?"

Sansa's tongue refused to work, so all she did was beam a smile up at him as her heart thumped violently in her chest.

Sandor cleared his throat and awkwardly shifted his weight from one leg to another. "Well I better head back to the school. Guess I'll see y'all later."

After saying goodbye, Sansa shamelessly watched him walk away. She was overwhelmed with the urge to reach out and caress the brown Wrangler patch on the back pocket of his jeans. Her blatant staring did not go unnoticed by Margaery.

"You are sooo into him!"

Shaking herself from her staring, Sansa turned her gaze to Margaery. "I am not."

"Well he seems like he's into you..."

Sansa couldn't hide her surprise after Margaery's comment. The words she spoke betrayed her desperate attempts to seem indifferent. "Really? You think so?"

With a smug, satisfied look, Margaery sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. "Like I said. You are so into him."

Sansa glanced at Pod for help. All he did was wink at her. "Busted..."