Page 15 of Five Alarm Kiss

Being called that made her think of Jake. Devastatingly gorgeous, mind-numbing kisser, pray-to-God-I-never-see-him-again-because-I’d-have-to-move-to-a-different-state Jake. He’d called her “Princess”… and thought she looked like a pie.

Laurel frowned. Now she looked like a blueberry pie. Leave it to Skye to take it upon herself to add a one and a half inch wide, bright blue streak down the front left side of Laurel’s hair. She’d been an unsuspecting, defenseless victim without her hand mirror, blindly trusting her best friend. What a mistake that’d been! Who cared if her hair didn’t stay blonde for more than a day? There was no time duration stipulation on the list, and there definitely wasn’t a substitution clause—a fact Laurel had adamantly pointed out. Skye had rationalized that only one day didn’t count as being blonde, especially since it never actually was blonde. Just…lemon meringue.

Laurel squeezed her eyes shut, hoping with everything in her she could forget that disaster of a night

And, one thing was certain.... She was never eating pie again.

When the bell sounded, she mentally checked herself. Tucking her cream-colored, long-sleeved, silk shirt into the waistband of her flowy, fawn brown skirt, she walked into her classroom.

Every one of the children was watching her, and whispering to their neighbors. Highly suspicious.

“Good morning,” she said brightly. She was about to put her messenger bag on her desk when she noticed some paperwork haphazardly strewn across it. She sighed. Why did she have an in-basket if no one used it? Gathering up the papers, she neatlystacked and placed them in a precise pile in the basket before setting down her bag.

A chorus of tiny voices greeted her. “Good morning, Miss Shepherd.”

Laurel was lucky enough to only have eighteen children in her class this semester, as opposed to her average of twenty-three. Having fewer students afforded her more time than a larger class did to work with each child individually. Her parents were of the opinion she should work in a private school, instead of a public one. They’d argued that smaller classes in private schools were an advantage, which they were, but deep down Laurel knew it had more to do with the prestige for them.

“See?” Sally smiled at her classmates. “A fairy princess.”

A sea of nodding heads was accompanied by some giggling, and a few “wows” and “cools.”

“Okay.” Laurel donned her best teacher voice. “Settle down.”

Most of the children did as she asked, but she still felt their eyes on her as she took roll call.

Eventually, the novelty of her hair was forgotten. By the time everyone had returned from lunch, the only thing on the kids’ minds was the visitors sitting in the back of the classroom.

Today was First Responders’ Day. Before Christmas break, Laurel’s class had hosted a Bring a Buddy to School Day, where the children had someone who’d made an impression on them join the class for the day and talk about themselves. She specifically didn’t call it Bring Your Parent to School Day because she knew that not every child had a parent present in their life. So, even though some of the children had brought a parent, others had brought a relative, a coach, a Big Brother or Big Sister, a babysitter… whoever was important to them. It was such a hit with the kids, she’d decided to do something similar now that there were only three weeks left before summer break. She’d reached out and arranged for representatives fromthe police department, fire department, and a local hospital emergency room to visit and talk to the kids about their respective jobs.

Laurel had to fight to keep her irritation at the fact the fire department’s representative hadn’t arrived yet under wraps. She knew the children would be disappointed if they didn’t get to meet a firefighter. She prayed whoever was slated to come didn’t flake and let the kids down.

Realizing there was nothing she could do about it, she introduced the class to their first guest—a deputy from the police department. Officer Bennett was tall, dark, and you’d-be-thanking-your-lucky-stars-to-be-pulled-over handsome in a way that probably had a lot of women purposely breaking the law, hoping to get cuffed by him.

As large and commanding as he was, Laurel wasn’t sure if the children would be in awe or afraid of him. Luckily, it turned out to be the former. He was personable and engaging, and the children were so far from scared, it was laughable.

Travis, one of her students, had previously met Officer Bennett at a twenty-four-hour charity fundraiser the officer had taken part in with a local radio station. Laurel remembered hearing about it. How could she forget a title like “Cop on Top of a Donut Shop”?

Apparently, Officer Bennett had held a few “swearing in” sessions during the fundraiser where he’d “deputized” children who wanted to participate. He’d even presented them with silver “junior deputy” badge stickers.

Travis mentioning it had the other children buzzing, so Officer Bennett offered to come back to the class and do the same for the other kids. It was really sweet of him, and the kids were beyond excited, so she promised to get back to him within a week to finalize. It would be a fun activity to mark the end of theschool year. She just needed to clear it with her principal, which she knew wouldn’t be a problem.

When Officer Bennett returned to his seat in the back of the class after his presentation, Laurel bristled at the sight of the empty chair next to him. The representative from the fire department still hadn’t shown up.

Smothering her irritation, she introduced Dr. Kent, an emergency room physician. As the doctor addressed the kids, Laurel forced herself not to look at the clock on the wall. She didn’t want Dr. Kent to feel like she needed to hurry things along. In fact, that was the last thing Laurel wanted. The longer the doctor talked, the better, since the firefighter still hadn’t arrived.

So unprofessional!

When the children’s questions for Dr. Kent trickled out, Laurel knew it was time to break the news to her kids that they weren’t going to meet a firefighter. She’d just finished thanking the doctor for taking time out of her busy schedule to talk to the class, when movement registered in her peripheral. Laurel turned to find a fireman in full gear entering the room.

The kids spotted him instantly, filling the classroom with excited chatter. He paused to dip his head at Laurel, before heading to the back of the classroom. She noticed him wave to Officer Bennett, who shook his head and pointed to his wrist. The officer wasn’t wearing a watch, but the message was clear. She found herself liking Officer Bennett even more than she already did, since he was calling out the rude behavior.

“Officer?” Laurel called.

Did you refer to a firefighter as “officer?” She had no idea.

Both Officer Bennett and the firefighter looked at her, so… maybe?

“No need to sit down,” she informed him. “We’remorethan ready for you.”

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