Page 21 of Sweet Surrender

“How so?”

“There was a time, notsolong ago, when all the children in a school were taught in the same room,” Becca said. “And the older students wereexpectedto help the younger ones.”

“This may be an old-fashioned town, Miss Hawthorne,” the principal said with a smile. “But we’re certainly past the era of the one-room schoolhouse.”

“True,” Becca said. “But I think in some ways, modern education is heading back to that. We place children in groups,we try to include children with diverse needs in the regular classroom for as many subjects as possible.”

“Well, Calvin is a gifted student already,” the principal pointed out. “His brother is unlikely to help him to improve his scholastic performance. Nicholas struggles to do his own schoolwork.”

That was unexpected news, and Becca thought about it for a moment.

“Actually,” she realized out loud, “that might make sharing a classroom beneficial tobothboys. Nick could help Cal come out of his shell socially, and maybe Cal could help Nick with his schoolwork.”

There was absolute silence in the small office for a moment, as the principal clearly considered it.

“I see your point, Miss Hawthorne,” she allowed after a moment. “Nevertheless, this was just an exercise. As I told you before, the school does have a policy on twins.”

“Would you ever consider breaking the policy?” Becca asked. “In a special case?”

“The only time we consider breaking policy is when the parent requests it,” the principal said. “If Mr. Lawrence were to ask us to put the boys in the same class, I would consider it, especially in light of the passionate argument you’ve made today.”

“Thank you so much,” Becca said, hopping out of her chair. “I’ll talk to him right away. Thank you again.”

“Miss Hawthorne?” the principal said.

“Yes?” Becca asked from the doorway, breathless with excitement.

“Think carefully about how to speak with Mr. Lawrence if you decide to go ahead with it,” Principal Chittenden said. “He’s very protective over his boys.”

“Oh, I absolutely will,” Becca promised.

It was an easy promise. After all, what she was proposing would help both of the children. What could he possibly have against that? She would broach the matter carefully, but she was confident that any parent would want what was best for their children in the end.

And besides, she and Mr. Lawrence already had a nice rapport.

“Very good,” the principal said with a smile, her eyes filled with compassion. “Well, you’d better go get yourself some lunch. I hear there’s soup and fresh bread today. I’ve been smelling it all morning. Sometimes I swear they’re trying to break me.”

They shared a laugh and Becca gave a little wave as she headed out, already knowing she was just going to eat the granola bar she always kept in her purse while she made her phone call before the kids finished lunch. Something this important couldn’t wait.

Her cheeks heated as she jogged up the stairs to her classroom to text him, though she knew it was just her excitement over solving her first problem as a teacher, and not because she was about to reach out to Zane Lawrence for the second time this week.

8

BECCA

Becca sat at her desk after school, fingers tapping her plan book, wanting nothing more than to get up and pace the classroom.

She was filled with excitement and nervous energy. But Zane Lawrence could be coming in at any moment, and she wanted to appear as professional as possible, which meant sitting here calmly and pretending that she had these kinds of conversations every day.

What could be more professional than thinking outside the box to recommend a course of action that will help both of his children?

There was a knock on the open doorframe, and she looked up to see the man she was waiting for leaning against it, gazing down at her.

“H-hello,” she said, leaping to her feet without thinking. “Thank you so much for coming in, Mr. Lawrence.”

“I hope everything’s all right with Cal,” he said as he strode into the room. After a day of seeing only second graders in the room, he seemed to take up an impossible amount of space.

“Oh, he’s fine,” she said, indicating the only other adult-sized chair in the room, which she had pulled up to her desk so they could talk quietly. “I just thought it might be good for us to talk.”

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