Page 52 of Seven Days in June

Shifting a tad, he thrust a hand in his pocket. “For the coffee?”

This was so hard. “No, I mean…look, I’m not here to talk about the past. But after the way we ended? Back then? You know you owe me.”

“Oh,” he exhaled, getting it. “Hell yes, I owe you.”

“I need a favor.”

“Anything.”

“Really?”

Nodding slowly, he caught her gaze. “What do you need?”

Focus.

“Will you teach English at my daughter’s…”

“Yes,” he interrupted.

“…school? I don’t know how long you’re staying. But the head of school is desperate for an English-lit teacher for next school year. It’s sort of an emergency.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you want to know why?”

With twinkly eyes, he said, “Tell me later.”

“Bold of you to assume there’ll be a later.”

“Bold of you to assume there won’t be.”

Eva’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “Excuse me?”

“A platonic later.” Shane gestured at her, with his coffee. “You’re saying the past is truly behind us, right?”

“Right.”

“So let’s start over. Be friends. You got somewhere to be?”

Frowning, she glanced at her watch. “Yeah. My life is…Well, it’s falling apart.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

She shook her head. “No. I better go.”

“Okay.” Shane’s expression gave away nothing. “Bye.”

Surprised, Eva let out an involuntary huff. “Bye?”

Leaning into the doorframe, Shane said, “You want me to convince you to play hooky? If you want to do it, do it. You’re grown.”

“Fine.” She cocked her head, sizing him up. “Are you still dangerous?”

He chuckled. “Are you?”

“I’m a mom. I write letters to principals, demanding energy-efficient classrooms.”

“And I was researching a silent Zen retreat five minutes before you showed up. We’re so boring now. What trouble could we get into?”

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