Teresa Southwick - In Good Company

His face had matured, lines fanning out at the corners of his eyes. His square jaw gave him a rugged appearance that was just right on him. And just wrong for her.

The years melted away, turning her back into that insecure, geeky teenager who’d learned that someone like her didn’t snag sincere attention from men. Bruce the Bottom-feeder had happened in college. Her mistake had been believing he was the polar opposite of Des. It seemed that every time she went on to a higher level of education, painful personal lessons were involved. Which made her wary of a postgraduate degree.

But she was no longer in high school or college. She was a grown-up responsible for the welfare of the children in her class. It was time to behave that way.

“Look, Des—”

“So I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other during the construction,” he said at the same time.

“It would appear that way.”

“Arrangements will have to be made when your classroom is impacted by the construction. I’ll need to go over the work schedule with you.”

Molly tucked her hands into the pockets of her slacks. “Okay. But it can’t be right now.”

“Why not?”

“The children are involved in crafts. And that requires my undivided attention.”

She glanced over her shoulder and noticed one of the boys painting on the table instead of his paper. Thank goodness for butcher paper and her advance preparation for this very thing. “See what I mean? Now if you’ll excuse me—”

“I won’t take much of your time.”

“Children are schedule-sensitive. The slightest disruption can throw their world into chaos.”

“Then why did the office send me over?”

“We have a new receptionist. I’ll talk to her.”

“It wasn’t the receptionist who gave me the green light.” He folded his arms over his impressive chest. “I spoke to Mrs. Farris, the director. She said to tell you if you need backup while we discuss business to let her know.”

The little table-painter had wandered over beside her. When he slipped his hand into hers, Molly felt the sticky wetness and guessed she now had a green palm.

The boy looked up at the tall visitor. “Hi.”

“Hey, buddy,” Des replied.

Molly knew if this wasn’t nipped in the bud, the rest of her Picassos-in-training would be joining them, resulting in anarchy. Something any preschool teacher worth her salt would avoid at all cost.

“Trey,” she said to the child, “it’s craft time. Are you finished with your trees?”

“Yup.”

She glanced over to where he’d been sitting and saw his pristine paper with green paint all around it. “Are you sure?” she asked.

Des followed her gaze. “Looks like Trey thinks outside the box.”

The four remaining children at the table were getting restless. “Look, Des, this isn’t a good time. I have to clean up this group. The rest of my class is outside on the playground with an aide and they’re due in any minute for their turn at craft time. I try to stagger it for all my kids so it’s a relaxing and creative experience. So, Trey, I want you to go wash your hands.”

“But I wanna see what he’s gonna do,” the boy explained, pointing a green finger at Des. “Do you know Bob the Builder?”

Des squatted, bracing one denim-clad knee on the indoor/outdoor carpet as he rested his tanned forearm on the other. She noticed the way the material pulled snugly at his muscular thigh, then averted her gaze when her pulse jumped.

“Trey, I’m not going to do anything fun,” he said, his voice deep, calm and patient. “I’m just going to measure and write stuff down.”

The child looked disappointed. “You’re not gonna hammer?”

“Not today.”

“How come?”

“Because I don’t have anything to hammer. I have to order wood and nails and I don’t know how much I’ll need yet. I’m here to figure that out.”

“Oww.”

Molly turned at the cry of distress to see a curly-haired brunette rubbing her head.

“What’s wrong, Amy?”

“Kyle pulled my hair, Miss Molly,” she said, her bottom lip trembling.

“Kyle, remember what I told you about keeping your hands to yourself?”

The towheaded boy nodded. “She started it. She put paint on my new shoe, Miss Molly. My mom said I couldn’t even get these new shoes dirty or wet.”

“Don’t worry. The paint will come off. Did you tell Amy your shoes were new?”

He nodded. “But she painted ’em anyway. She’s stupid and I hate—”

Molly held up her finger. The guilty look on Kyle’s face told her he’d remembered too late her pet peeve—calling someone names. She’d been on the receiving end of enough hurtful taunts and wouldn’t permit name-calling in her classroom. Children weren’t too young to learn good manners and it was her goal to plant the seeds of kindness in as many of them as she could. But she tried to be fair when dispensing consequences.

She walked over to the pint-size squabblers. “Amy,” she said, squatting at the low table between the two children. She glanced at the black streak on the boy’s formerly snow-white sneaker. “Did you put paint on Kyle’s shoe?”

“Yes, but—”

Molly held up her hand. “No excuses. Please put down your paintbrush.” The little girl did as she was told. “Now, tell Kyle you’re sorry for what you did.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

Molly looked at the boy. “Kyle, you need to say you’re sorry for pulling Amy’s hair and calling her names.”

His stubborn expression clearly said he’d been wronged and shouldn’t have to apologize. But Molly sternly met his gaze without flinching. Every transgression required an apology even if hostilities hadn’t been initiated by the apologizer. Good thing she hadn’t held her breath waiting for Des to apologize for making a fool of her.

Finally Kyle rubbed a finger beneath his nose and said, “Sorry, Amy.”

“Good,” Molly said, nodding with satisfaction. “Now I want everyone to come with me to the sink and we’ll wash our hands.”

“But Trey is talkin’ to the man,” Kyle said, pointing. “Why can’t we?”

“Because after painting we have to make sure our hands are clean before we do anything else. And Trey is going to wash up, too.”

Molly walked her charges to the tot-size sinks and got them started. When they were finished, she lined them up by the door to the playground. “I’ll be right back.”

She walked to where man and boy were still talking.

“The boards are cut to the right length, then I’m going to put them together with nails,” Des was saying.

“Can I watch?” Trey asked.

“Sure.”

“He said I could watch,” Trey told her excitedly.

“I heard.” Molly reined in her irritation. She needed a word—or twenty—with this man. Preferably when no children were present and she could freely speak her mind.

“Can I help?” the boy eagerly asked.

“I don’t see why not.” Des smiled at the child.

“Trey, it’s time to wash your hands. Then line up with the others.” Molly touched his shoulder and turned him, gently nudging him in the direction of the sinks. He reluctantly went, glancing over his shoulder several times. When the boy was on task, she looked at Des. “May I speak to you in the time-out room?”

He straightened to his full six-foot-plus height. His eyebrows, a shade darker than his hair, rose along with the corners of his mouth. Something amused him. No doubt her. It seemed she was destined to be his comic relief.

“This sounds serious. Am I in trouble?”

Only if breaking hearts was a hanging offense. Hers had been a casualty. But she wouldn’t stand by and see him play fast and loose with a child’s emotions.