Page 74 of Wanting You

Quietly, he walked back to his classroom and decided to call Summit Ridge and inquire about a field trip and what it would involve. Once he had some information, he could go to Principal Kincaid and see if it was something they could make happen. It wasn’t like he wanted to take the entire elementary school there, just his class. That was allowed, wasn’t it?

Back at his desk, Tanner took out his own lunch and set it out before grabbing his phone. Between bites of his sandwich, he spoke to several people who explained that the indoor ski and snowboard facility was indeed open to field trips, and they were emailing him all the forms he would need. And he had shamelessly used his name and connection to the pro shop to negotiate a lower price per student and was already planning to reach out to his publicist to see if she could put a spin on it for PR for both the lodge and the school district. And the best part? They could realistically have a date as early as next week if he wanted.

Which he did.

“No time like the present,” he said, popping the last bite of his lunch in his mouth. He still had fifteen minutes before he had to get his students, so he headed down to the office to see what he had to do next.

On the walk down the hall, he spotted Chloe walking his way, but there was no way he could just dive into a closet without looking like an idiot, so he simply nodded and kept on walking. Actually, all she did was nod too, so…clearly this was how they were going to be now.

“This sucks,” he murmured before opening the door to the front office.

“Hey, Tanner,” Susan said with a smile. “What can I do for you?”

“How do I go about scheduling a field trip?” he asked.

“Well, you can tell me where you want to go and when you want to go, and I’ll help you with the permission slips and scheduling transportation.”

His eyes went wide. “Really? You do all that?”

She laughed softly. “We’re a small school and there’s not a lot going on. I like to help where I can.” She laughed again. “So, what are you thinking?”

“There’s an indoor ski school up Summit Ridge,” he told her. “They actually do ski and snowboard lessons, but they also do special events like field trips and they have equipment and instructions geared for the kindergarten age group. We’d obviously need a bus and several parent volunteers, but I’m just looking to take my class—not the entire school.”

“Hmm…what about Chloe’s class? It would be great if it were a kindergarten field trip.”

Crap. He hadn’t thought about that.

“Um…I’m not sure it fits in with her lesson plans,” he said carefully. “You know how my room is all about skiing and I just thought…”

She held up a hand to stop him. “I totally get it. Let me make some calls and see what I can find out and I’ll talk to you at the end of the day. I’ll have to see about the cost per student…”

“Already done,” he told her before breaking down the financing he’d secured.

“Oh…well, that’s amazing! I’m sure they have some forms we’ll need…”

“Already have them,” he said confidently. “They just emailed them over. I can forward them to you. And I’m sure they’ll include the cost per student we discussed.”

“Perfect! Okay, I’ll get things together and talk to Principal Kincaid, and you should be all set.” Another pause. “Wait, when did you want to do this?”

“Um…next week?” he hesitantly replied.

“Ooh…that’s ambitious. I’ll call the transportation department and see if I can work some magic. See me before you leave for the day.”

“I can make some calls too…”

“Tanner?”

“Hmm?”

“We’re a team here at Sweetbriar,” she told him with a serene smile. “You’ve come a long way from the guy who steamrolled his way into a faculty meeting with a frittata and cookies, but there are things that literally take a village to pull together. Go and teach your class and let me handle what I handle, okay?”

And for the first time, he didn’t argue. He simply nodded and thanked her. “I really appreciate the help, Susan. Thank you.”

Her smile was radiant. “I think this sounds like a very cool field trip and I can’t wait to help make it happen!”

The alarm sounded on his phone to remind him it was time to head back to the cafeteria. He thanked Susan one more time before heading out of the office with a bit of a spring in his step.

How cool would it be if he actually pulled this off? It would be the perfect way to tie in all the work he put into his classroom while doing something he knew his students would enjoy. As he approached the cafeteria, he spotted Chloe again out of the corner of his eye and felt a twinge of guilt. It would have made for a great kindergarten field trip, but he was fairly certain she wouldn’t want anything to do with it. So, he’d keep it to himself. And when she found out—because he knew she would—he’d just chalk it up as another reason for her to be mad at him. He hated it, but that was how things were going to be, and he had to accept that.

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