Page 10 of Wanting You

After awkwardly making her way through the front door, she pulled her wagon up to the front office and left it there so she could step inside and hopefully speak to Principal Kincaid.

“Hey, Susan!” she said cheerily when she spotted the front office administrator. “How was your summer?”

“Very peaceful,” Susan replied. “Unlike how today is going.” Then she chuckled. “How about you? Did you have a good summer?”

“I did. A little boring, but it was good.” She glanced around. “Is Principal Kincaid in?”

“He is, but he’s in the office with one of the new teachers. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Her shoulders sagged. “Maybe? I had been talking to the new kindergarten teacher, Kimberly Fairmont, but she hasn’t responded to me in more than a week. I’m curious if maybe I did something that offended her, or…?”

But Susan smiled as she shook her head. “I’m sorry, I should have reached out to you. Ms. Fairmont had a family emergency and opted to take a teaching position close to her parents.”

“Oh, so…is there someone replacing her?”

“That’s who Principal Kincaid is in with right now. We couldn’t find anyone who specifically wanted to teach kindergarten, so technically he’s a substitute…” Then she paused to think about it for a moment. “Like a long-term substitute? Maybe? Either way, Tanner Westyn will be teaching the other kindergarten class for the time being.”

That didn’t sound good. It was going to be a bit difficult to make it feel like a team if this Tanner person wasn’t truly committed to the position, which is what she said to Susan.

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Chloe. He’s a certified early education teacher and he seems genuinely excited to be here. He relocated from upstate New York so clearly he’s taking the job seriously.”

“Maybe…”

“Why don’t you head down to your classroom and I’ll make sure Principal Kincaid brings Mr. Westyn down to meet you first?”

“Thanks, Susan. That sounds good!” And even though she was smiling, all sorts of crazy scenarios began to play in her head. What if she didn’t like this guy? What if he didn’t like her? What if he just took this job to get his foot in the door and expected her to do all the work? Or worse, what if he was a terrible teacher who ended up quitting, leaving her with twice as many students?

As she pulled her wagon full of supplies to her classroom, one other crazy thought came to mind.

What if he’s awesome and completely outshines me?

By that time, she was at her classroom and forced herself to push all those negative thoughts aside and focus on her task at hand.

Making her classroom fun, inspiring, and welcoming.

First, she set up her decorative border on her main corkboard, and then moved on to the border that would go around the entire room. She’d made it herself and it was a labor of love; the further she went around the room with it, the bigger her smile grew.

“Knock, knock!” Principal Kincaid happily called out, and Chloe turned to face him and instantly froze.

The handsome guy from the coffee shop was standing right beside him.

So far, Tanner was mildly impressed with everything he was discovering in Sweetbriar Ridge. He’d moved two days after accepting the position and was renting a craftsman bungalow that was newly renovated. What the town lacked in things like restaurants and some basic conveniences, it more than made up for in charm.

And Summit Ridge was seriously impressive.

Not only was the resort building beautiful and the property amazing, their pro shop carried the line of skis and snow gear he endorsed. The manager had gushed over him and begged him to sign a bunch of items that they could display and then asked if he’d come back at the opening of ski season and do a promotional event with them. Of course he’d said yes and put the date on his calendar. Now all he had to do was wait for it to snow.

Today he was getting the tour of the elementary school and Principal Kincaid was probably the most personable and sincerely nicest guy he’d ever met. After filling out paperwork and simply talking to get to know each other, they were heading to the classroom he’d be using.

“Before we get to your room, I’d like to introduce you to the other kindergarten teacher.”

“Donaldson, right?” Tanner asked, trying to remember the name. “She was Teacher of the Year…twice?”

“It’s Donovan,” the principal gently corrected. “Chloe Donovan, and yes, she is a two-time winner of Teacher of the Year here in Sweetbriar. Parents and students adore her. She actually went to school here, so obviously you can tell she’s a native to the area. If there’s anything you need to know about the town or the school, Chloe is the perfect person to ask.”

Tanner nodded as they walked, but he was already envisioning some sort of snooty know-it-all with a bit of an overinflated ego because she grew up here—not that it was anything to brag about. It was the smallest town he’d ever seen and there might be something wrong with her if she never left. So…maybe not snooty, perhaps she was mousy and quiet and never left because she was too afraid to try. Pfft…he was someone who enjoyed taking risks and beating odds. In his mind, he was already determined to be the next Teacher of the Year and prove you didn’t have to be born here to be the best.

Actually, he was more determined than ever to make it through the entire year of teaching kindergarten just to achieve that goal.

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