Muriel Jensen - Man With A Message

He didn’t need a tiny brunette with troubled eyes who’d had “a hard time.”

He tossed the earring again as he headed for the bathroom, caught it, then stopped with a growl of complaint when it bit into his hand. He opened his palm to find that his overzealous grab had caused the sharp post to jab his ring finger.

A metaphor for his involvement with her? he wondered.

THE SECOND MORNING AFTER the deluge, Mariah encouraged her little troupe to finish breakfast so that they could get to school on time. They were rushed this morning. Mariah had overslept—something she never did—and it had taken Ashley’s violent shaking to wake her up.

“I’m sorry I have to hurry you,” she explained, shooing the girls upstairs to brush their teeth. “I know it’s all my fault, but we can still be on time if we put some effort into it.

“We were late yesterday,” Philip said, “and nobody cared.”

“That was because of the excitement the night before. But today it’s our responsibility to be punctual.”

“There’s still no carpet,” Amy complained as she and the other girls started up the stairs.

Mariah nodded. “We have to wait for the wood to dry. It’ll be replaced at the end of the week.”

“So, where do you think the gold is?” Peter asked Brian as the three boys, teeth already brushed, shouldered their backpacks.

Brian considered. “Cam says I have to do more research.”

“Well, where else could it be?” Philip asked.

“I’m thinking maybe in…”

Mariah missed whatever it was he thought as he lowered his voice to a whisper.

Brian had dropped Cam’s name at every opportunity since the flood. The boy had acquired status among the other children because the man who’d rescued Mariah had asked him to help. He was clearly enjoying his popularity.

Mariah tried not to think about that night—or yesterday morning. Her behavior in Cam’s apartment had to have been a result of her embarrassment at discovering that he hadn’t been in danger at all, simply playing with Fred. Added to that was the fact that she hadn’t seen a partially naked man in a long time, and the fact that the hormones she’d been sure had died with her marriage were still very lively. She had to have lost her mind just a bit.

Otherwise, why would she have practically asked him to kiss her?

Why would she have enjoyed it?

Why could she still feel his lips on hers twenty-five hours later?

It didn’t matter, she told herself briskly, pushing chairs up to the kitchen table. Unless there was another plumbing emergency, she wouldn’t have to see him again. And if there was, she could ask one of the Lightfoot sisters to attend to it. They were full of praise for his work—and his charm.

Even Parker had nice things to say about him, though she’d found them in each other’s arms.

“He seems to be a gentleman,” she’d insisted, when Mariah had grumbled in response to her question about what had been going on when she’d walked in on them.

Mariah hadn’t denied it, but wondered why, if he was such a gentleman, he made her feel such un-ladylike things.

The girls bustled down the stairs, dragging backpacks.

Mariah rounded up her little group and led them outside, locking the carriage house door behind her. They went down through a lane of swamp maple to the school playground, where all the day children were gathered, waiting for classes to begin. A lively basketball game was under way, several girls were jumping rope and a coed group competed for daredevil notoriety on the monkey bars.

Janie Florio, a third-grade teacher, waved at Mariah from the basketball hoop, fulfilling her role as playground monitor.

Mariah returned the wave and was about to wish the children a good day, when she realized they’d already dispersed into their playgroups without giving her a second thought.

Little ingrates, she thought good-naturedly as she climbed the stairs to attend a meeting with Letitia Lightfoot.

Letty hadn’t specified the reason for the meeting, but Mariah could only assume it had to do with the flood. A lot of damage had been done in the carriage house, though mercifully it was mostly superficial and covered by insurance. She would probably suggest Mariah be more vigilant, more of an authority figure with the children than the friend she strove to be.

Letitia’s office was clearly not dedicated to the needs of the children. Everywhere else in the building the rooms were cheerfully academic—black-boards, maps all over, alphabets and musical notes running above the picture rails. Here, there were big cozy chairs, frilly lamps, a mantel covered with family photos, lace curtains at the window.

The other Lightfoot sister sat behind a smallish rosewood desk and pointed Mariah to a chair patterned in cabbage roses.

Mariah sat, sinking into the old springs. Letty, she thought, looked severe. She couldn’t have heard about the kiss, could she? Of course not. The only other person who knew, aside from herself and Cam, was Parker, and she wouldn’t have told.

Such behavior had been irresponsible, very inappropriate in a woman hired to guard the safety of young…

“Mariah,” Letitia said without preamble, “we’ve finally decided to close the dormitory at the end of this school year.” She sighed after she spoke, as if making herself say the words had taken a lot of energy. “I’ll be contacting the parents and Ashley’s guardian today to let them know. I’d like you to tell the children.”

Mariah wasn’t shocked; the rumor had circulated for some time. But she was upset at the realization that she’d lose her charges, not just for the summer but forever.

And what about Ashley, whose guardian was ill, and Brian, whose mother was in and out of rehab? What would they do without the stabilizing influence of the Maple Hill Manor School? Public schools were wonderful, of course, but the Manor’s program was set up to take special care of children in their unique situations.

“I don’t want you to worry about your position here,” Letty continued. “We’ve all grown very fond of you. It’s clear you’re destined to work with children and we’ll find another spot for you by September. Lavinia thinks we need an office secretary, but I think your special talents would be wasted behind a desk. We’ll come up with something suitable, if you’d like to stay on as much as we’d like you to.”

Mariah smiled gratefully. “I so appreciate that, Letty. But, you know that I’ve been planning an extended European trip. Maybe this is the time for me to go.”

Letty frowned with maternal displeasure. “Well, I’d hoped you’d gotten over that notion. When you hired on, you told me it would be just for a year, that you had this trip planned to tour Europe and learn about art, but I’d put it down to the dreams of a woman who’d lost so much and wanted to escape. I thought you might feel loved and wanted here and decide that escape wasn’t the answer.”

“I don’t want to escape, Letty,” Mariah denied gently. “I just know now that marriage and family aren’t for me, so I may as well get out there and find out what it is I do want—and try to learn something in the process.”

Letitia leaned her elbows on the desk and smiled benevolently at Mariah. “Marriage with that man wasn’t for you, and neither is having babies in the traditional way. But there’s so much more to marriage and family than what you’ve known.”

Mariah shook her head firmly. “I don’t want that anymore, Letty. I have other plans. And while I appreciate your concern and affection for me, I have to do what I have to do.”

“So you are bent on escape.”

“It’s not escape. It’s exploration.”