Page 46 of Sweet Surrender

After all, he had almost kissed the sweet little schoolteacher, and the instant the spell was broken, she’d scrambled back up that ladder like he had some kind of disease.

So much for Tripp always saying the ladies in town were after him, and Allie claiming there was even some kind of bet going.The only woman Zane ever been delusional enough to fall for seemed to be more interested in his kids than in him.

And he still didn’t think she could handle them—not really.

It was all well and good to spend time with them in the classroom where they were trying to behave, or to hear them talk about the nonsense they got up to while they were all ensconced in the safety of Maggie Lawrence’s kitchen.

But when push came to shove, he sometimes felt like he was raising a pair of feral children who were more comfortable outside than in. A dainty little thing like Becca Hawthorne didn’t belong in their rough lives. She wouldn’t last five minutes.

“Well, boys,” she said, placing her empty mug on the table and rousing Zane from his dark thoughts. “This has been so much fun. Thank you for letting me stay and do some decorating, and for all the hot cocoa and the funny stories.”

“Don’t go, Miss Hawthorne,” Cal said suddenly, having clearly figured out that she was about to leave. “You can come over to our house now, and see our room.”

“That’s such a nice invitation,” she told him with a fond smile. “But I’d better get home, so I have plenty of energy to visit a few local businesses tomorrow.”

“And—” Cal began before Nick elbowed him.

“And what?” she asked.

“And… you want to do a good job,” he said. “Because our project is really cool.”

“Our projectisreally cool,” she agreed, looking pleased.

“We’ll walk you to your car,” Nick said.

“You don’t need to do that,” she told him.

“We want to,” Cal said. He was already up, heading for the door to put on his boots.

Nick scampered after him as Becca stood.

“Thank you all,” she said, gazing around at his parents, and finally at Zane.

He held his breath, wondering if the smile she gave him would be the same as it was before he made a fool of himself, or if she would give him that awful wooden look women gave to men they didn’t want.

But there was no time to see. Her cheeks flushed the moment their eyes met, and she scurried off after the boys.

He watched after her, unable to keep himself from smiling as he heard the boys discussing who would help her with her coat.

“Well, well, well,” his dad said, leaning back in his chair, as the front door closed behind them.

“I’ll just check on the laundry,” Mom said quietly, heading for the mudroom, and leaving Zane alone with his dad.

“It’s not like that,” Zane said, not really sure what he meant, or what it was like at all, but ready to argue with whatever silly thing his father was about to suggest.

“She’s a gem,” his father said softly. “One in a million.”

That simple statement stopped Zane in his tracks, and he felt the shell of defensiveness he’d put up around himself shatter.

“I can’t,” he heard himself say, instead of protesting.

“Why not?” his father asked.

“She’s too young,” Zane offered.

“She’s a grown woman,” his father said, shrugging. “In her twenties at least, if she has a teaching certificate.”

Zane nodded, there was no arguing that. Thoughtwentieswas still young—a lot younger than he felt in his thirties with two active little boys.

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