Brenda Novak - Finding Our Forever

Aiyana

Bending slightly, Cora put her nose to one of the delicate yellow poppies that made up the bulk of the arrangement. “I hope you’ll be just as glad once you learn who I am,” she said as she exhaled.

Chapter Four

“So you’re the new art teacher.”

Cora smiled at the middle-aged man with thick glasses who sat on her right side. “Yes.”

“Ah. Makes sense at last.”

“What makes sense?” she asked, but he didn’t get the chance to answer—or even introduce himself. Aiyana stood near the circulation desk and called the staff to order. Cora felt she knew where the man had been going with that comment, anyway. Everyone thought she’d gotten the job based on her looks. Otherwise, Gary Something-or-Other would’ve gotten it.

“Thank you all for coming,” Aiyana said. “Although we had a few of you here during the summer, handling one program or another, classes were limited. So I hope, now that the rest of you are back, you feel refreshed, because I’m anticipating one of the best years in ranch history.”

As Aiyana spoke, Cora glanced around. There were thirtysomething people in the room, an assortment of teachers and support staff, but she couldn’t see anyone even close to her own age. Half the people seemed to be in their forties, the other half in their fifties. A few looked even older.

She was beginning to believe Jill and her mother were right: the next year was going to be terribly lonely...

“Before we get started, let’s go over a few of the changes that have occurred in the past two and a half months. First, we will have 256 students when we start classes on the twenty-eighth, up from 223 last year. That’s a significant increase, so we’ll have to watch out for the newcomers and help them feel at home. We also have a new football coach—Larry Sanders, who played in the pros thirteen years ago. Larry couldn’t be here tonight due to a family commitment, but he’s been practicing with the boys for over a month. I believe he’ll be a real asset to our sports program—at least that’s what Elijah tells me. As most of you know, Elijah is our athletic director in addition to many other things—basically whatever he needs to be in order for the ranch to operate smoothly.”

Cora’s neighbor leaned over. “Someone with real experience, huh? Maybe we’ll finally win a game,” he muttered.

Cora didn’t respond; she was too interested in witnessing the pride on Aiyana’s face when she looked at her adopted son. They were close. That was obvious without either one of them having to say a word—but as nice as that was for Elijah, Cora found it a bit disheartening. Was there any room in Aiyana’s heart for her?

Cora didn’t get the impression there was, but she didn’t have the chance to think about it for too long. Aiyana was moving on.

“Not only do we have a new football coach, we have a new art instructor.” She stretched out her hand in invitation. “Cora, will you please stand?”

Elijah’s eyes seemed to cut right through Cora as she got to her feet. Why she could feel the weight of his gaze and not anyone else’s, she couldn’t say, but she’d been struggling to ignore him since she walked into this meeting.

After a nod to acknowledge all the smiling faces that were turned to see the new art instructor, she sank back into her seat.

Aiyana was talking about how they were going to allow student government to run the assemblies from now on when the man next to her leaned over again. “Where have you taught before?” he asked.

After his earlier comment, Cora almost provided the name of the high school that had offered her a permanent position a few weeks ago, but a quick word with Aiyana or Elijah would too easily reveal the truth, since she’d been honest with them. “I’ve never had a permanent position.”

“You’re a brand-new teacher?”

“Relatively new,” she admitted. “I’ve been subbing for six years.”

“Do you have any idea how difficult some of the boys who come here can be?”

Aiyana hadn’t given the bad behavior Cora was likely to encounter much emphasis. But Cora had known from the beginning that this school wasn’t for the well-adjusted. “I understand that most of the boys come from a very difficult background,” she replied. “But it shouldn’t be too much of a change. You should see how some regular students treat substitutes,” she joked.

The man laughed but quickly sobered. “Subbing isn’t easy. Kids will get away with whatever they can. Still, for an attractive young woman of your age—”

“I’m nearly thirty,” she broke in, but she had to wonder—in her hurry to get close to Aiyana, had she given what she might face here enough weight?

“Still,” the man said. “It won’t be easy. I hope you haven’t gotten in over your head.”

When Cora glanced up, she happened to catch Elijah watching her. He didn’t look away, as she expected him to; he continued to measure her with those enigmatic eyes. Was he experiencing any doubts about having hired her?

Possibly. Probably. She hated to even consider that. But if she had to fight to find her place in the world, she’d do it. She supposed, in that respect, she wasn’t much different from Elijah or the other boys who’d come through here, or were still attending.

“I’ll be fine,” she said—and hoped it was true.

* * *

“I see you met Sean Travers.”

Cora recognized Elijah’s voice even before she turned to see him standing at her elbow. Why he’d put her through the discomfort approaching her was bound to cause, however, she couldn’t say.

“The guy who was sitting next to me?” she asked.

“Yes. Our science teacher—or ranch pessimist, depending on how well you know him.”

She nibbled at the cookie she’d just snagged from the refreshment table. “He doesn’t think I’m capable of teaching here. I guess I look too young and delicate to handle the boys who act out.”

“Does that shake your confidence?”

“I admit I’m a little worried. Everyone seems to believe the job should’ve gone to a man named Gary...”

“Seton,” he filled in as he handed her a cup of punch. “Because he’s local—they know him.”

“But...”

“It wasn’t their decision,” he said simply.

She couldn’t help envying him his long, dark eyelashes. She knew she had pretty eyes—guys told her that all the time—but she felt his were prettier. “No. It was yours. So...can you tell me why?”

“Why I chose you?”

“I know it isn’t what they all seem to think. You made that clear earlier.”

He took a sip of his own punch. “As far as I’m concerned, your competition has no...vision.”

“Am I supposed to understand what that means?”

His massive shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I wasn’t impressed with his work.”

“You were impressed with mine?”

“You’re talented,” he said evenly. “Perhaps more than you know.”

“I’m teaching art, not selling it. I’m guessing he was at least proficient.”

Elijah finally shifted that unnerving gaze away from her. “You have to understand certain concepts to be able to teach them.”

“What concepts are you specifically referring to?” she asked, but someone else approached him at that moment, interrupting, and he turned away without answering.

Since Eli fell deep into conversation with a woman who looked sixty or so and was concerned about a particular student Cora had no way of knowing, she felt awkward standing there waiting for the chance to speak to him again. So she gave them some privacy by carrying her punch over to the corner. She was looking for an unobtrusive vantage point from which to observe her birth mother. Aiyana was mingling with the staff. But then Cora saw the science teacher who’d sat next to her approach Aiyana and knew, when they both glanced in her direction, that they were talking about her. Sean Travers was expressing his reservations.