Angelina read the question twice before answering. No. Why do you ask?
Mrs. Tellier: I told his bodyguard all about how you stood up for me and what Mr. Svete did.
Angelina: What?!? When?
Mrs. Tellier: While he was helping me load my groceries into my car. What a nice man Bradford is. So, sad, though. You can see it in his eyes.
Wait, Bradford shops where Mrs. Tellier does? No.
But if it wasn’t a coincidence . . . that means Bradford was there with the intention of what? Talking to Mrs. Tellier? Why?
What did Connor Sutton want?
She went back over their time together. Yes, there had been a spark of attraction, but then she’d offended him.
She remembered him asking if things really were that bad at the school.
And her answer.
Had she left him with the impression that the school was dangerous? She hoped not.
If that were the case, had Connor sent his bodyguard to watch over them?
She put her phone down on her lap for a second as she mulled over how she’d feel about it if he had. Aunt Rudi had always said that the only happy woman was an independent one. Most of the time Angelina agreed with that philosophy, but every once in a while she wished she had someone to tell her things would be okay.
Does that make me weak?
Aunt Rudi, didn’t you ever want someone who’d wrap his arms around you and just hold you?
I’m a strong, modern woman. I know I don’t need anyone.
But sometimes, I wish . . .
After taking a fortifying deep breath, Angelina picked up her phone and wrote: I’m applying to a slew of local schools. I know your work history. Would you like me to put in your name as well as mine? I hate the idea of you in the same office as that man.
Mrs. Tellier: I hate the idea of me there too. I’m going to give my two weeks and maybe use up my sick days. I should have done it a long time ago. You don’t have to worry about me, though. When one door closes another one opens. I believe that. It’ll be the same for you. You’ll see.
Angelina: Every adventure begins by taking a step forward.
Mrs. Tellier: Adventure. I need that. I’ve spent the last fifty years working hard and what did it get me? I’m quitting from the same desk I started at. Who knows? At my next job, I might just sleep my way to the top.
It was impossible not to smile at that. Just don’t write that on your résumé.
Her response was quick and hilarious. Or maybe that’s all my résumé will say—in bold letters.
Angelina was laughing out loud as she typed: I’ll check in on you tomorrow.
Mrs. Tellier: TTFN
Whitney walked into the living room. “What are you laughing about?”
Waving her phone at her son, Angelina said, “Mrs. Tellier.”
He sat on the arm of the couch. “Is she okay?”
“Yes, looks like she’ll be leaving the school as well.”
“I’m glad.”
“Me too.”
He slid down the arm onto the cushions. “I wrote two essays. They’re pretty good. Want to read them later?”
“Absolutely.”
“I finished the book I was reading, I’m not in the mood to start another. Want to watch a movie together?”
“Sure.” After her busy morning, Angelina could use a destressor. She flipped on the television and went to the movie section. Of course, Danger Doubled, came up as a suggestion.
Whitney leaned forward. “What was he like?”
Still pointing the remote at the television, Angelina stalled. “Connor Sutton?”
“Yes. All the girls at school talk about him. Their moms do too. Was he nice?”
She took a moment to answer then decided on something safe. “He was a good public speaker. We didn’t actually have that much time to get to know each other.”
What would he be like away from the school? On a date? In bed? Her body warmed as she imagined the possibilities.
Whitney gave her a long look. “Why is your face red?”
Time to choose a movie. She used voice control to ask for the sci-fi selections. The scarier, the better. Whitney liked them, and she needed to knock Connor out of her thoughts.
They settled on one about a space station being taken over by a carnivorous alien, but it wasn’t enough to stop Angelina from remembering Connor’s smile. Big-screen Connor, bare chested and romantic, melded with the more restrained reality of him. Which was the real him?
Did he look at every woman the way he’d looked at her?
Did they all want him to carry them off to his bed the way she had?
Fantasies were healthy, right?
She picked up her chai and hid her face in the cup, pretending to be interested in the movie while she imagined how Connor would kiss. He’d seemed too uptight at first, so distant . . . but she’d glimpsed another side, a deeper one. A side that had been there while he’d spoken to the soccer team, then again just before he’d left.
He might have sent Bradford to make sure they were okay.
If so, why hadn’t he called her?
And if he did call—didn’t she have too much going on right now to indulge in any of the things she’d just imagined doing with him?
She glanced over at her son who was too lost in the movie to notice she wasn’t. He was her priority—all that mattered.
Instead of trying to find meaning in something that was likely a coincidence, she’d be better off focusing on enrolling her son in a school and landing a new job. Although it was nice to imagine having someone beside her at night, she’d learned it wasn’t a requirement for happiness.
Thank you, Connor Sutton, for reminding me that I’m not dead from the waist down.
When the dust settles from this, I might actually have one of my friends set me up with the guys they keep telling me would be right for me.
While Mrs. Tellier sleeps her way to being CEO of some company.
She coughed on a laugh and some of her drink went down her windpipe.
Whitney looked over. “You okay?”
She nodded, but inwardly conceded that the jury was still out on that.
Chapter Six
That evening Connor bounded up the front stairs of Sophie and Dale Barrington’s home. It was large but not flashy, which he’d initially found surprising. However, after getting to know them he realized that, although they were wealthy, they preferred to live a simple life.
Well, their version of simple. They didn’t fly commercial and he doubted Sophie had ever cleaned her own bathroom, but he didn’t hold that against them. What mattered most was the warmth with which they’d welcomed his family into theirs when his sister had married their son.
When Sophie threw open the door, Connor practically wiggled with joy like a tail-wagging Labrador seeing its person at the end of the day. She was the closest to having a mother he had, and just a smile from her somehow made even the most challenging day easier to bear. He swung her up into his arms. Everything a person needed to know about her was right there in the way she laughed and hugged him back. She was one hundred percent love.
Her husband, Dale, joined them, less open with his affection but his handshake was warm and his smile welcoming. When Viviana had first said she was marrying into the Barrington family, Connor had been afraid they’d lose her. He’d never imagined she’d take him, as well as his father and Dylan, along for the ride. He now had a herd of rich relatives and couldn’t imagine his life without them.