Page 102 of Royal Fling
Whether I liked it or not, I’d opened a Pandora’s box. And it wasn’t even the good kind like a nice golden watch with diamonds or anything.
“What about your summer vacation? I want to hear all about it,” I said.
“Our summer vacation was boring compared to yours, Mr. Luke,” Cordelia said.
I looked at each and every one of them. Only TJ wasn’t looking back at me. He was doodling in his notebook. I couldn’t say I blamed him. He was another one of the shy kids, but he had a real talent for drawing. A talent I’d been trying to cultivate as much as I could.
Unfortunately, his parents didn’t care much about it. Not that they could be blamed. They were farmers. They needed a kid that could take care of their property. But no matter how many parent-teacher conferences we’d had, they couldn’t see that we had to do what was best for him.
“Fine,” I said.
I uncrossed my hands and put them on either side of me, gripping the edge of the desk. “Ask away.”
Laura raised her hand again, but this time she didn’t wait for me to give her the go-ahead.
“Do you love him, Mr. Luke?”
I took a deep breath and contemplated my answer. I was always honest with my kids. The kind of relationship I’d been building with them required honesty and truthfulness even when it was tough.
“Yes,” I said.
Laura’s cheeks turned red, and she smiled behind her bangs. They were getting quite long and were very uneven. I had to remember to check with her parents to see if they needed help with getting her a haircut and school supplies.
“Are you going to marry him, Mr. Luke?” Cordelia asked, fluttering her eyelashes as if this was a fairy tale.
Oh, dear Cordelia. If only life were a fairytale, I’d be fluttering my lashes like you all the time. But it wasn’t.
Although, no matter how honest I was with them, that was the one thing I couldn’t admit to them. They were too young to have their bubbles burst.
“I’m afraid not, Cordelia,” I said.
“But my mom said he proposed to you,” she insisted.
“He did, but that doesn’t mean we’re getting married,” I said.
“Oh my God, Cordy. You’re soooo stupid. Mr. Luke turned him down,” Arden said, rolling her eyes so hard they could have turned all the way around.
“Arden! Language, please,” I said.
Her cheeks flushed.
Cordelia huffed and crossed her hands, throwing frustrated glances at her best friend.
Laura raised her hand once again.
“Why did you turn him down if you love him, Mr. Luke?” she asked when I nodded at her.
“Because…” I started.
How did I explain it to them? How could I when half the time I regretted it myself? That was the time when I wasn’t thinking with my head, but with that damn pumping organ called a heart.
“Because?” someone said behind me, and all the kids turned to look at the person with the familiar voice who set my body alight without even trying, and they gasped.
Slowly, I craned my neck around to the doorway, taking deep breaths and blinking rapidly until I saw him.
Gray eyes, black slicked-back hair, and standing tall in a T-shirt and blue jeans—blue jeans? What the hell happened to him.
He was here.
