Chapter 2

KATHERINE

Katherine couldn't believe her luck. She was smiling like an idiot after meeting Tara and the possibility of being a nanny again. When she was in college she was convinced that she wanted to be a teacher. She had paid in full at the community college in Arizona and got her teaching degree.

When she saw the positing for a long term sub needed mid way through the year she figured why not give it a try. She had never done anything exciting and moving to California was definitely exciting. She had been offered the job on a Friday and moved to Charming on Sunday.

The school was fine and the students were great. She truly loved spending time with them. The only thing she didn't like at the school was her coworkers and their gossip highschool cliques. She was the youngest teacher there at 23 but was so over the drama. She didn't care of the gym teacher was sleeping with the art teacher or that the second grade teacher was hooking up with a students mother.

Kristen liked to consider herself a free spirit. She didn't really have a type and chose to love a person for who they were. She didn't label her sexuality and simply wanted love to be love.

To say she was all set with the school atmosphere was an understatement. She held her head high and finished out the year, but decided that the immature drama all of the staff seemed to feed off just wasn't worth her stress. She hadn't seen anyone from the school since their last day last week and was happy about it.

Kristen headed back to her small studio apartment on Main Street and decided to relax for the day. She had no house work to do, she had no laundry, she even finished an entire clean out yesterday of anything she felt she didn't need. She had started living a more minimalist lifestyle while in college and liked it that way.

After a day of binge watching some shows on Netflix and ordering Chinese food she made her way into her bedroom. While she was getting ready for bed she heard her phone buzz. She picked it up and saw a message from Tara.

"Hope your day was better than mine. Meet at my place tomorrow for an early dinner? 5:30? The address is 13 Trembleton Drive. Talk soon!"

She smiled and responded quickly "I'll bring some dessert?"

The response was almost immediate.

"Sounds great!"

Kristen finished up and made her way into her small bedroom area. She snuggled underneath her covers and fell into a peaceful slumber.

When she woke up the next day she just had a feeling it was going to be good. She smiled and stretched her body out. For only being twenty three she tried her best to remain in shape. She quickly got up and went for a run. It was early in Charming and the sun had barely started to make itself known. This was her favorite part of the day.

Her feet hit the pavement and her music played in her ears. She ran for miles and loved the adrenaline it gave her. She had made her way into the neighborhoods and looked toward a street sign. She smiled when she noticed it was Taras street. It was about three or so miles from her apartment. She decided to head back and made it to her apartment before the small shops started to open. Looking at her Fitbit she had ran over ten miles already.

It was just after six when she got inside and decided to head straight for the shower. Her day was dragging by and she decided around noon to head to the grocery store. She wasn't sure what she'd make to bring to Taras but was craving chocolate. She made her way into the small food store and started picking items she needed.

As she rounded the corner she ran right into David Hale. He was off duty as he wasn't in his deputy uniform. He turned to her with a small smile. She returned the gesture and hoped that would be the end of their exchange. She had gone out on a few dates with him when she arrived in Charming but the chemistry just wasn't there for her. She had told him as such and he looked hurt at her confession but had quickly recovered.

He was very nice but Katherine has only been in town for a week and he started rattling off about the local MC non stop. Katherine got the impression that he had a personal dislike for them. That and all he could talk about was how he'd be chief soon.

"Hey Katherine how are you?" He asked politely.

She couldn't help but smile at him he was just so nice. "I'm good David how are you?"

"Been alright, busy and such." He shrugged

"Yeah I understand that." She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"What's going on for next year?" He asked lightly.

"I'm not really sure yet. I have a few avenues I'm exploring but we'll see." Once again she smiled.

"Well let me know if you need anything. Maybe we can get lunch some time... as friends." He questioned.

She nodded her head. "Yeah let's do it soon."

She saw the look of hope cross his features and couldn't help but feel bad. He really was a nice guy and she knew he'd find someone great.

With that they parted ways and she continued on with her shopping. She decided on vegan brownies and banana oat bars and grabbed all of her ingredients. She picked up a few more items and headed home.