Emma's cell phone was ringing, continuously, she kept checking to see
who the caller was, just in case it was one of the kids or possibly Mr.
Jobson, but it was Rachel. Wanting to know the scoop. She was not
prepared to talk to her about this. So she ignorned the calls and drove
home. The traffic was bad on interstate 8, and she felt impatient and
frustrated. She wished she could afford somewhere near the beach,
somewhere near school instead of driving the 25 miles to and from La Mesa
everyday. But on a teacher's salary that was not to be. Right now, she
Just wanted to be home and give her kids a hug. She felt like crying for
Holly. What a horrible thing to go through. And she couldn't get her
father's face out of her mind...the way he looked when he told her Holly's
mother had been murdered. She had told him they could help Holly, but she
had no experience in anything like this...what was she thinking? And why
wouldn't he get professional help? He seemed so strange about it. Her
mind was racing and then she realized she had swirved into the next lane
and a loud honk brought her back to reality and she swirved back into her
own lane. She needed a drink, she needed to be home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stanley got back to the shop and Brett was helping a customer, he nodded to them both and headed into the backroom and plopped down in the chair in front of the computer he had started on earlier that afternoon. Holly had taken the bus home today, and Mary, their neighbor was looking after her. He tried to concentrate on his work, but couldn't focus and got up heading back out onto the floor, "Do you mind closing up, Brett? I kind of want to get home early tonight."
"No problem, Stan...I'll see you in the morning."
Stan waved to him as he left the shop and proceeded to get into his Chevy Suburban parked out front, he just wanted to go home and be with Holly. He had never meant to tell her teacher about Melissa's murder. But it had just blurted out. Now the can of worms was open and there would be questions. Ones he wasn't ready to answer. He did trust Ms. Heyward, he knew she wouldn't say anything to the other members of staff about what had been said, but he didn't want her to start treating Holly different. That wasn't going to help matters at all. Causing more attention to her, making her look even more different to her fellow classmates. The whole idea was to get them to accept her...she said they could help her. He wanted so much to believe that they could. Both of them together. He knew next week when he talked with her he had to focus on what they could do...not about the past events that had caused this problem. He had already said too much. He nearly ran a red light and slammed on the breaks. This snapped him back into reality. He needed a beer, he needed to see Holly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel continued to try and ring all night and Kyle had to lie to her, telling her she had taken Melody out shopping..and when she called past 9 she said, "Don't tell me they are still out shopping, Kyle. I don't buy it. You are lying."
"No, they are home, but mom's in bed."
Rachel was curious, "Did she seem weird to you this afternoon."
Kyle didn't want to say she had shut herself off in her bedroom with a glass of wine and her papers she was grading. Had come out to make them all quesedillas and then went back up to her room. And this was after she had given each of the kids a huge hug and told them both how much she loved them...yes, she seemed weird.
"No, not weird. Just mom. You will see her tomorrow at school."
"That will have to do I guess." Rachel thought it was extremely weird. Why would Emma be avoiding her phone calls? She usually looked forward to their evening chat. What had happened with Stanley Jobson? Could it be..she wondered. Was there an interest on his part as well. But if so, why hadn't she told her. How the hell was she going to sleep tonight wondering what the hell was going on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stanley spent the evening with Holly. They laughed as they made pasta and salad together and after dinner took Scrap for a walk. Holly knew he had seen her teacher but he hadn't said anything about it. As they were approaching their house she finally said something.
"Dad, is everything alright? I know you talked to Ms. Heyward."
He put his arm around her and reassured her, "Things are fine. I think I am going to be working in your classroom after the holidays." He smiled at her, he thought best not to concern her with the fact her teacher now knew about her mom's death. "Would you like that?"
She was surprised, "You want to do that, really? It can get crazy."
"If you don't want me to..."
"Oh, no, I think it would be great." She looked so excited. "You know I would love you there, as long as you don't make a fuss over me."
"I think I should worry about you making a fuss over me. That is your teacher's concern."
:"What did you say to her?"
"That you worry about me."
They reached the house and he unlocked the door, letting Scrap off his leash. She looked at him a bit embarrassed, "I don't mean to."
"I know." He squeezed her tightly, "And I am flattered, that you are. Hey, somebody has got to worry about me, right?"
She smiled up at him, "Right.You know, Dad, you should think about dating."
He held up his hand, "No, no, no...we are not going that route. Don't you think I have enough on my plate with the shop, the house and now volunteering at your school?"
"But, Dad..."
They entered the house and he went to the fridge pulling out a beer, "And I don't want you now trying to find me available women...I know that is what you were up to in Florida."
She had made an attempt at finding him women that was true, "I did it all wrong there. It's different here anyhow."
"Different, how so?"
"There are more single women in California then anywhere else, did you know that?"
"Holly, I am not interested." He rolled his eyes and sat at the kitchen table.
She wrapped her arms around him, "Nice women..." She smiled at him and he couldn't help but smile back.
"You are too much."
"I just want you to be happy."
"I am. I am happy here with you." He decided he needed to change the subject, "Now let me tell you about the idea your teacher and I have about my duties in your classroom."
"All the mother helpers come in and help cut paper and listen to reading. It is pathetic, Dad. You don't want to do that."
He smiled, "Ah, my duties will extend far beyond cuttting paper, believe me..."
"like what?" she seemed curious.
"Designing a web page for your classroom...of course you and your classmates would have all the ideas and designs, I would just help implement them."
"Really, Dad?" He nodded his head, "That is cool. It would be the best. I know one of the 6th grade teachers tried doing it, and it's okay, but with you helping us...it would be really good, professional looking. The kids would love that. Ms. Heyward isn't very good at computers."
"That is what she said."
"You could help her. You know, Dad, Ms. Heyward is single and she is nice." Stanley was thinking the same thing and smiled.
"And she's your teacher, Holly. I don't want any matchmaking, do you understand?"
"No matchmaking I promise, but I just want you to know it would be okay if you dated her." She had gone into the living room and turned the TV on and she looked back at him. She could tell it was crossing his mind, and she smiled triumphantly as she sunk down onto the couch and indulged herself in her favorite TV show, "Friends".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emma was not at school early, which was not like her. Rachel hung around waiting, but basically she showed up as the bell was ringing and went directly into the classroom with the students. At recess time she locked herself into her room to get a bit of work done and had her lunch in there as well. Rachel had tried knocking on the door and she wasn't answering...she sat in the faculty lounge alone, until Meg...who was extremely curious about everything that was going on joined her.
"So what is with Emma? No show at lunch, that is weird for her."
"You tell me, Meg. You seem to know everything that is going on around here."
Meg sat down next to her, "Well, she left here last night upset, from what I was told."
Rachel looked at her, not truly believing it, "Who told you this?"
"The janitor. He said she looked very flustered. So what do you make of that, maybe Mr. Jobson didn't like what she told him about his daughter."
"Mr. Jobson, for your information, made the arrangement for the conference. He is just as concerned as Emma."
"I find it weird, she hasn't spoken to you about the conference. The two of you are so close."
"Did you ever think maybe whatever was said was private, between Emma and Holly's dad and it's neither one of our business?"
Meg looked at her shocked, "You are not insinuating that he is interested in her, you couldn't possibly believe that?"
"Meg, I mean private between parent and teacher...confidential. And what if he was interested in Emma? Why do you think that is not plausible?"
"She is a prude for one thing. She wouldn't know what to do with a man like Mr. Jobson if her life depended on it."
Rachel was getting a bit upset, "I don't know how you can say that, she was married."
"And let's not forget he left her. I wonder why?"
Rachel stood up, "I don't know why I listen to you. You have no man in your life and never have, I doubt you would know what to do with one if they came your way."
"You will eat your words, Rachel."
" I am actually quite full at the moment, Meg. Catch you later." She smiled and left for her classroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emma couldn't avoid Rachel when school was out. Rachel was waiting by the car. "Okay, what is going on? You are avoiding me."
"It's not like that, Rachel. I just am not prepared for your interegation right now."
"Is that you think I would do? Em, if you don't want to talk I'll leave it alone. I thought we were better friends than that."
Rachel started to walk away, and Emma stopped her, "I knew you would do this. Look, I can't talk about my conference with Stanley Jobson...it's confidential."
Rachel looked straight at her, "Is it that bad?"
"Don't ask me. I can't talk about it."
Rachel put her hand to her mouth, "It must be bad."
"Enough, Rachel. This is exactly why I have been avoiding you."
Emma's cell phone rang, and she picked it up. She was surprised to hear Stanley's voice on the other end, "Hey, you said I could call anytime."
"I meant that."
"Good, can you meet me for a coffee?"
Rachel was looking at her. "Now?" She asked.
"If your free."
"I am free."
"Great, there is great place across the street, from here. Grindz. "
"I know it. I'll see you in about 15 minutes."
"Great." they hung up and Rachel looked at her.
"That was him, wasn't it? He asked you for coffee."
"He wants to talk. He got a bit upset yesterday. I told him to call me anytime. It's no big deal." She opened the drivers side of her car.
"Is this about Holly, or is it more than that?" Rachel asked.
"Of course it's about Holly. Believe me, Rachel, you can't even imagine what they have been though and I don't even know the whole story. If he trusts me and wants to talk to me, then I am going to listen. My heart goes out to both of them."
"I am dying here. And you aren't going to even give me a clue."
"I can't. Please understand."
"hey, I do. Go to Stan...maybe we can get together this weekend if you aren't too busy with the guy."
She started up the car, "It's coffee. That is all."
"that is where it all starts...with a cup of coffee."
Emma drove off.
When she arrived at the Grindz, Stanley saw her coming and went to the door, opening it for her...he was even a gentleman. She wasn't really suprised. He smiled at her, "What can I get you?"
"I can get my own drink." She started to take out her wallet and he took hold of her hand and gently forced her to put it back in her purse.
"It's the least I can do,"
"a latte. thank you"
She sat down at a table feeling a bit nervous. He looked a lot more chipper today than he had yesterday when he left the school. He strolled over to the table setting down the cups and then sat down. He felt a bit awkward to, he held the cup in his hands and caressed it, nervously. She did the same. He then looked into her eyes, she looked away and he went back to his coffee. He finally broke the silence..
"Holly says this is your first year teaching..."
"Yes, it is...pretty overwhelming actually."
"You are great at what you do. I see it with Holly, the way she talks about you and then yesterday...the way you handled my outburst. I am sure you weren't prepared for that."
"No...and I am not sure I handled it well, you walked out."
"I came back." He smiled, and took a sip of his coffee. "And after I left you , I tried going back to work, but I just wanted to be with Holly."
She thought it was odd, she had been just the same..."I went home and hugged my kids. They didn't know what had come over me."
He laughed, "How many kids do you have?"
"2...Melody is 13 and Kyle 15. Great kids."
"I bet you are a great mom." he looked at her tenderly.
"I wouldn't say that. It's been tough." She didn't want to talk about herself and he noticed this. "But somehow we get through."
"I know, I say that everyday." He looked down at his cup and then back up at her, he held the gaze for awhile and Emma felt uncomfortable, nervous babble escaped from her mouth.
"Holly was extremely happy today. She told me you had mentioned the web page. She thinks it's a brilliant idea. And some of the kids were asking her about it. It was the first time I actually saw her take some interest in something besides her work. I guess because she was talking about you. She is so proud."
"That's great. I just want to see her enjoying herself, being a kid. I think me being involved like this is going to be a good thing."
"I think so too." This time she looked straight into his eyes, it was if he was looking right though her. Could he possibly tell what she was feeling.
He leaned into the table and placed his hand over hers squeezing it gently, which took Emma by surprise, she let out a small gasp and he smiled sweetly at her, "I want you to know, that...I appreciate all you have been doing for Holly...and me.." It wasn't exactly what he wanted to say, but it was good enough. He left his hand over hers longer than he had anticipated and was pleasantly surprised by the smooth touch of her skin.
"I haven't done anything." she somehow managed to say.
"Believe me you have." Emma could hardly bare it anymore, she felt her heart beating faster and his touch so powerful, she started to feel light headed. She quickly pulled it away and looked at her watch, this took Stanley by surprise.
"I forgot I have to get home, Melody has a piano lesson." which was alie. Stan was at a loss for words, what had just transpired between them, had come and gone so quickly. "I am sure you understand."
"Of course. Hey, I appreciate you taking this time, I know how busy you must be." He looked down at his coffee and then back up, "I really just wanted to show you my appreciation for what you are doing for us."
"It's my job." As she said this, she realized it sounded a little cold. She hadn't rushed over here just because of her job. She truly cared about this man and his daughter She stood up and there was an awkward silence between them. Stanley stood up as well, and walked her out to her car. He held the door open for her as she slipped into the drivers seat and then shut it, leaning into the open window, smiling.
"I'll see you at school next week. I'll work out some of the details of the web page, run them by you."
"That would be fine."
He didn't really want her to leave and he knew he was stalling by leaning into her car, "I bet it will be a bit crazy with the holidays around the corner. If it's not a good time I can wait til school resumes in January."
"No, this is a good time for me. I thought the whole web page thing would be a great way to reel the kids back in after the holidays. I was hoping you could start coming in right away." Did she sound to anxious. She was rushing off, but she really wanted to see him again. "And Holly is so excited about it, I think we should get it up and running as soon as possible. I am anxious to see some of your ideas. I am sure they are amazing."
He felt a bit embarrassed, "I wouldn't go as far as to say that."
She started the car up and he stood up, "I am keeping you from your kids. Sorry."
"No, it's okay, I enjoyed the coffee." "You didn't even drink any of it." Emma felt embarrssed, he had noticed.
"Well, anyhow, I enjoyed the..." she stalled for a minute..."the company."
He seemed pleased with this answer. "Likewise, I look forward to our meeting next week, Ms. Heyward."
She backed the car out and as she looked up, he was smiling at her. She really had no clue what was going on. This was supposed to be about Holly and it was becoming something else. But she wasn't sure what.
As her car drove off, he slipped his hands in his pockets and walked across the street to the shop, smiling confidently. He liked her...yes, that was definitely the case. He liked her a lot.
"
"
"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stanley got back to the shop and Brett was helping a customer, he nodded to them both and headed into the backroom and plopped down in the chair in front of the computer he had started on earlier that afternoon. Holly had taken the bus home today, and Mary, their neighbor was looking after her. He tried to concentrate on his work, but couldn't focus and got up heading back out onto the floor, "Do you mind closing up, Brett? I kind of want to get home early tonight."
"No problem, Stan...I'll see you in the morning."
Stan waved to him as he left the shop and proceeded to get into his Chevy Suburban parked out front, he just wanted to go home and be with Holly. He had never meant to tell her teacher about Melissa's murder. But it had just blurted out. Now the can of worms was open and there would be questions. Ones he wasn't ready to answer. He did trust Ms. Heyward, he knew she wouldn't say anything to the other members of staff about what had been said, but he didn't want her to start treating Holly different. That wasn't going to help matters at all. Causing more attention to her, making her look even more different to her fellow classmates. The whole idea was to get them to accept her...she said they could help her. He wanted so much to believe that they could. Both of them together. He knew next week when he talked with her he had to focus on what they could do...not about the past events that had caused this problem. He had already said too much. He nearly ran a red light and slammed on the breaks. This snapped him back into reality. He needed a beer, he needed to see Holly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel continued to try and ring all night and Kyle had to lie to her, telling her she had taken Melody out shopping..and when she called past 9 she said, "Don't tell me they are still out shopping, Kyle. I don't buy it. You are lying."
"No, they are home, but mom's in bed."
Rachel was curious, "Did she seem weird to you this afternoon."
Kyle didn't want to say she had shut herself off in her bedroom with a glass of wine and her papers she was grading. Had come out to make them all quesedillas and then went back up to her room. And this was after she had given each of the kids a huge hug and told them both how much she loved them...yes, she seemed weird.
"No, not weird. Just mom. You will see her tomorrow at school."
"That will have to do I guess." Rachel thought it was extremely weird. Why would Emma be avoiding her phone calls? She usually looked forward to their evening chat. What had happened with Stanley Jobson? Could it be..she wondered. Was there an interest on his part as well. But if so, why hadn't she told her. How the hell was she going to sleep tonight wondering what the hell was going on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stanley spent the evening with Holly. They laughed as they made pasta and salad together and after dinner took Scrap for a walk. Holly knew he had seen her teacher but he hadn't said anything about it. As they were approaching their house she finally said something.
"Dad, is everything alright? I know you talked to Ms. Heyward."
He put his arm around her and reassured her, "Things are fine. I think I am going to be working in your classroom after the holidays." He smiled at her, he thought best not to concern her with the fact her teacher now knew about her mom's death. "Would you like that?"
She was surprised, "You want to do that, really? It can get crazy."
"If you don't want me to..."
"Oh, no, I think it would be great." She looked so excited. "You know I would love you there, as long as you don't make a fuss over me."
"I think I should worry about you making a fuss over me. That is your teacher's concern."
:"What did you say to her?"
"That you worry about me."
They reached the house and he unlocked the door, letting Scrap off his leash. She looked at him a bit embarrassed, "I don't mean to."
"I know." He squeezed her tightly, "And I am flattered, that you are. Hey, somebody has got to worry about me, right?"
She smiled up at him, "Right.You know, Dad, you should think about dating."
He held up his hand, "No, no, no...we are not going that route. Don't you think I have enough on my plate with the shop, the house and now volunteering at your school?"
"But, Dad..."
They entered the house and he went to the fridge pulling out a beer, "And I don't want you now trying to find me available women...I know that is what you were up to in Florida."
She had made an attempt at finding him women that was true, "I did it all wrong there. It's different here anyhow."
"Different, how so?"
"There are more single women in California then anywhere else, did you know that?"
"Holly, I am not interested." He rolled his eyes and sat at the kitchen table.
She wrapped her arms around him, "Nice women..." She smiled at him and he couldn't help but smile back.
"You are too much."
"I just want you to be happy."
"I am. I am happy here with you." He decided he needed to change the subject, "Now let me tell you about the idea your teacher and I have about my duties in your classroom."
"All the mother helpers come in and help cut paper and listen to reading. It is pathetic, Dad. You don't want to do that."
He smiled, "Ah, my duties will extend far beyond cuttting paper, believe me..."
"like what?" she seemed curious.
"Designing a web page for your classroom...of course you and your classmates would have all the ideas and designs, I would just help implement them."
"Really, Dad?" He nodded his head, "That is cool. It would be the best. I know one of the 6th grade teachers tried doing it, and it's okay, but with you helping us...it would be really good, professional looking. The kids would love that. Ms. Heyward isn't very good at computers."
"That is what she said."
"You could help her. You know, Dad, Ms. Heyward is single and she is nice." Stanley was thinking the same thing and smiled.
"And she's your teacher, Holly. I don't want any matchmaking, do you understand?"
"No matchmaking I promise, but I just want you to know it would be okay if you dated her." She had gone into the living room and turned the TV on and she looked back at him. She could tell it was crossing his mind, and she smiled triumphantly as she sunk down onto the couch and indulged herself in her favorite TV show, "Friends".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emma was not at school early, which was not like her. Rachel hung around waiting, but basically she showed up as the bell was ringing and went directly into the classroom with the students. At recess time she locked herself into her room to get a bit of work done and had her lunch in there as well. Rachel had tried knocking on the door and she wasn't answering...she sat in the faculty lounge alone, until Meg...who was extremely curious about everything that was going on joined her.
"So what is with Emma? No show at lunch, that is weird for her."
"You tell me, Meg. You seem to know everything that is going on around here."
Meg sat down next to her, "Well, she left here last night upset, from what I was told."
Rachel looked at her, not truly believing it, "Who told you this?"
"The janitor. He said she looked very flustered. So what do you make of that, maybe Mr. Jobson didn't like what she told him about his daughter."
"Mr. Jobson, for your information, made the arrangement for the conference. He is just as concerned as Emma."
"I find it weird, she hasn't spoken to you about the conference. The two of you are so close."
"Did you ever think maybe whatever was said was private, between Emma and Holly's dad and it's neither one of our business?"
Meg looked at her shocked, "You are not insinuating that he is interested in her, you couldn't possibly believe that?"
"Meg, I mean private between parent and teacher...confidential. And what if he was interested in Emma? Why do you think that is not plausible?"
"She is a prude for one thing. She wouldn't know what to do with a man like Mr. Jobson if her life depended on it."
Rachel was getting a bit upset, "I don't know how you can say that, she was married."
"And let's not forget he left her. I wonder why?"
Rachel stood up, "I don't know why I listen to you. You have no man in your life and never have, I doubt you would know what to do with one if they came your way."
"You will eat your words, Rachel."
" I am actually quite full at the moment, Meg. Catch you later." She smiled and left for her classroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emma couldn't avoid Rachel when school was out. Rachel was waiting by the car. "Okay, what is going on? You are avoiding me."
"It's not like that, Rachel. I just am not prepared for your interegation right now."
"Is that you think I would do? Em, if you don't want to talk I'll leave it alone. I thought we were better friends than that."
Rachel started to walk away, and Emma stopped her, "I knew you would do this. Look, I can't talk about my conference with Stanley Jobson...it's confidential."
Rachel looked straight at her, "Is it that bad?"
"Don't ask me. I can't talk about it."
Rachel put her hand to her mouth, "It must be bad."
"Enough, Rachel. This is exactly why I have been avoiding you."
Emma's cell phone rang, and she picked it up. She was surprised to hear Stanley's voice on the other end, "Hey, you said I could call anytime."
"I meant that."
"Good, can you meet me for a coffee?"
Rachel was looking at her. "Now?" She asked.
"If your free."
"I am free."
"Great, there is great place across the street, from here. Grindz. "
"I know it. I'll see you in about 15 minutes."
"Great." they hung up and Rachel looked at her.
"That was him, wasn't it? He asked you for coffee."
"He wants to talk. He got a bit upset yesterday. I told him to call me anytime. It's no big deal." She opened the drivers side of her car.
"Is this about Holly, or is it more than that?" Rachel asked.
"Of course it's about Holly. Believe me, Rachel, you can't even imagine what they have been though and I don't even know the whole story. If he trusts me and wants to talk to me, then I am going to listen. My heart goes out to both of them."
"I am dying here. And you aren't going to even give me a clue."
"I can't. Please understand."
"hey, I do. Go to Stan...maybe we can get together this weekend if you aren't too busy with the guy."
She started up the car, "It's coffee. That is all."
"that is where it all starts...with a cup of coffee."
Emma drove off.
When she arrived at the Grindz, Stanley saw her coming and went to the door, opening it for her...he was even a gentleman. She wasn't really suprised. He smiled at her, "What can I get you?"
"I can get my own drink." She started to take out her wallet and he took hold of her hand and gently forced her to put it back in her purse.
"It's the least I can do,"
"a latte. thank you"
She sat down at a table feeling a bit nervous. He looked a lot more chipper today than he had yesterday when he left the school. He strolled over to the table setting down the cups and then sat down. He felt a bit awkward to, he held the cup in his hands and caressed it, nervously. She did the same. He then looked into her eyes, she looked away and he went back to his coffee. He finally broke the silence..
"Holly says this is your first year teaching..."
"Yes, it is...pretty overwhelming actually."
"You are great at what you do. I see it with Holly, the way she talks about you and then yesterday...the way you handled my outburst. I am sure you weren't prepared for that."
"No...and I am not sure I handled it well, you walked out."
"I came back." He smiled, and took a sip of his coffee. "And after I left you , I tried going back to work, but I just wanted to be with Holly."
She thought it was odd, she had been just the same..."I went home and hugged my kids. They didn't know what had come over me."
He laughed, "How many kids do you have?"
"2...Melody is 13 and Kyle 15. Great kids."
"I bet you are a great mom." he looked at her tenderly.
"I wouldn't say that. It's been tough." She didn't want to talk about herself and he noticed this. "But somehow we get through."
"I know, I say that everyday." He looked down at his cup and then back up at her, he held the gaze for awhile and Emma felt uncomfortable, nervous babble escaped from her mouth.
"Holly was extremely happy today. She told me you had mentioned the web page. She thinks it's a brilliant idea. And some of the kids were asking her about it. It was the first time I actually saw her take some interest in something besides her work. I guess because she was talking about you. She is so proud."
"That's great. I just want to see her enjoying herself, being a kid. I think me being involved like this is going to be a good thing."
"I think so too." This time she looked straight into his eyes, it was if he was looking right though her. Could he possibly tell what she was feeling.
He leaned into the table and placed his hand over hers squeezing it gently, which took Emma by surprise, she let out a small gasp and he smiled sweetly at her, "I want you to know, that...I appreciate all you have been doing for Holly...and me.." It wasn't exactly what he wanted to say, but it was good enough. He left his hand over hers longer than he had anticipated and was pleasantly surprised by the smooth touch of her skin.
"I haven't done anything." she somehow managed to say.
"Believe me you have." Emma could hardly bare it anymore, she felt her heart beating faster and his touch so powerful, she started to feel light headed. She quickly pulled it away and looked at her watch, this took Stanley by surprise.
"I forgot I have to get home, Melody has a piano lesson." which was alie. Stan was at a loss for words, what had just transpired between them, had come and gone so quickly. "I am sure you understand."
"Of course. Hey, I appreciate you taking this time, I know how busy you must be." He looked down at his coffee and then back up, "I really just wanted to show you my appreciation for what you are doing for us."
"It's my job." As she said this, she realized it sounded a little cold. She hadn't rushed over here just because of her job. She truly cared about this man and his daughter She stood up and there was an awkward silence between them. Stanley stood up as well, and walked her out to her car. He held the door open for her as she slipped into the drivers seat and then shut it, leaning into the open window, smiling.
"I'll see you at school next week. I'll work out some of the details of the web page, run them by you."
"That would be fine."
He didn't really want her to leave and he knew he was stalling by leaning into her car, "I bet it will be a bit crazy with the holidays around the corner. If it's not a good time I can wait til school resumes in January."
"No, this is a good time for me. I thought the whole web page thing would be a great way to reel the kids back in after the holidays. I was hoping you could start coming in right away." Did she sound to anxious. She was rushing off, but she really wanted to see him again. "And Holly is so excited about it, I think we should get it up and running as soon as possible. I am anxious to see some of your ideas. I am sure they are amazing."
He felt a bit embarrassed, "I wouldn't go as far as to say that."
She started the car up and he stood up, "I am keeping you from your kids. Sorry."
"No, it's okay, I enjoyed the coffee." "You didn't even drink any of it." Emma felt embarrssed, he had noticed.
"Well, anyhow, I enjoyed the..." she stalled for a minute..."the company."
He seemed pleased with this answer. "Likewise, I look forward to our meeting next week, Ms. Heyward."
She backed the car out and as she looked up, he was smiling at her. She really had no clue what was going on. This was supposed to be about Holly and it was becoming something else. But she wasn't sure what.
As her car drove off, he slipped his hands in his pockets and walked across the street to the shop, smiling confidently. He liked her...yes, that was definitely the case. He liked her a lot.
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