Page 36 of Sweet Poison

“One day you’ll understand that being choosy isn’t a bad thing.” Dad switched on the radio and country music filled the air.

“Any news for the week?” I asked.

“We have a new student, a girl, coming in on Monday,” he replied.

“What? Why is she coming in halfway through the term?”

“Well, her dad paid for her to be in school from about three months ago, but talk is they only arrived in town two days ago. Single dad and very easy on the eye, I hear. Word has it, yesterday’s baking club meeting had to be terminated early because of spinsters and their mothers being catty to each other.”

I smiled. “To be expected, I suppose, when fresh meat is thrown into a pool full of piranhas.”

He glanced at me. “He’s not much older than you, I believe.”

I actually felt sick to my stomach at the thought of being with a man again. I just couldn’t. Not after that night with Cole. I stuck my palm out towards my father. “Oh no … don’t go there. Please Dad.”

Dad sighed elaborately, and on the radio, Dolly Parton started singing Islands in the Stream.

Chapter 21

Cole

“Why is everything made of wood?” Anya asked as we pulled up to her new survival school.

I smiled. “The kids probably made it!”

“Look, Daddy, there’s a horse eating hay,” she cried excitedly.

“And a cow by the barn,” I added.

“Oh, wow. I see it. Dad! There’s a baby donkey wandering around in the field. Can we pet it?”

“No, let’s get you registered first,” I said, parking the car underneath a tree.

My daughter sprinted out of the car enthusiastically. It seemed weird to be sending her to school wearing jeans and tough boots, but the catalogue I received was clear. There was no formal uniform, All children were to be dressed as if they were going on a day picnic in the woods.

As we walked to the main building, we could see a group of students gathered around a woman who was kneeling on the ground and showing them something. My eyes were drawn to the teacher as she rose to her feet. She had dark hair that half-covered her face, but there was something vaguely familiar about her. It wasn’t a good start if there was someone in this town I knew from the past and I wanted to wait and catch sight of her face properly, but our appointment was ten, and we were already a little late, so I had to let it go and hurry to the Principal’s office.

Noah Moore was exactly as I had pictured him.

A tough old boot of a man. He had bright blue eyes that shone with intelligence and a nonsense approach to life. His handshake was dry and firm and his smile was warm and welcoming. I felt as if he was someone I could go out and have a few drinks with. He seated Anya and me in front of him in his office and answered my questions in a way that made me sure I had chosen the right school for Anya.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and he smiled at Anya.

“Your new teacher is here,” he said. “She was out in the fields teaching the kids to plant. If you wish she’ll be able to give you both a little tour of the projects you and your classmates will be working on this year.”

“That would be good,” I replied and waited for the teacher’s entrance.

“Good morning,” a woman said from behind.

And I fucking froze.

I didn’t need to turn around for my ears to instantly recognize that voice. Suddenly, I knew who the dark-haired woman kneeling on the ground was. That was her friend, Natalie. Fuck! It must have seemed so rude, but I was too stunned to move. She came around, a hat on her head, perhaps to shield her face from the sun, and a pair of gloves that she had taken off and was trying to fit into her pocket. She looked completely different from the painted Jezebel from that night, but to my eyes, she was even more beautiful and alluring.

“Montana, meet Mr. Cole Swift,” the Principal introduced. “Mr. Swift, this will be Anya’s new teacher, Montana Moore. She is also my only daughter.”

My gaze connected with a pair of very, very familiar eyes. Her ghastly white face was staring at me with disbelief which flushed bright red a few seconds later.

Her hand was frozen in the air, and I could see the surprise on her father’s face.

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