The Back-Up Plan (2 page)

Her attention returned to the discipline slip in her hand. She didn’t have time for fantasies anyway. Reality awaited her this morning. Unbuckling her seat belt, she considered the little angel sitting in the passenger seat next to her. The idea of Melissa being disruptive in class, much less pushing one of her classmates, was downright impossible to believe. Not that she thought her child was perfect, it was just that Melissa had always been so quiet, almost introverted. Disruptive and aggressive behavior just wasn’t a part of her personality. There had to be some mistake, which was the reason Donna hadn’t bothered to question her. Why upset the child if it turned out to be unnecessary?

“Mommy, when do I get a daddy?”

“What?” Shock rattled Donna but somehow she managed to keep it in check. Where the heck had that question come from?

“Ashley and Brook have Uncle Sam for a daddy.” Melissa peered up at Donna with worried eyes. “My new best friend Carlee has a daddy, too.” Her lips puckered in a heart wrenching pout. “Everybody has a daddy ‘cept me.”

Oh…my…God
. Donna wasn’t prepared for this. Even her plan Z didn’t include a daddy! Brick Wallace, aka the Brick Wall with the Pittsburgh Steelers, hadn’t seen Melissa since the day she was born. And that one visit had been brief and strained. Melissa had no memories of her father, and she had never asked about him.

Why the sudden questions now? Entirely too much had gone wrong for Donna lately. She just didn’t have it in her this morning to deal with the daddy question. Her gaze dropped to the pink slip in her hand, or to fight another of life’s little disasters.

“You could help Mommy at the clinic today, if you’d like and we could talk about your question.” What a cop out. Mothers weren’t supposed to encourage their children to skip school. Donna was the one who wanted to skip out on meeting Melissa’s teacher for the first time. She glanced back at the pink slip, especially under the circumstances. Nor did she want to have to answer Melissa’s question, now or ever.

But she couldn’t put off the “daddy” talk forever.

“Mommy.” Melissa rolled her pretty blue eyes and sighed impatiently. “I have to go to school. Today’s Tuesday, we have music on Tuesdays.”

“Oh, I had no idea Tuesdays were so important.” Donna forced a smile. “Maybe we could talk about your question after school.”

“Okay,” Melissa chirped and turned her attention to tugging on her backpack.

Relieved to be out of the hot seat for the moment, Donna emerged from the car, skirted the hood and took Melissa’s hand. She guided her onto the sidewalk, away from the long line of traffic entering the semi-circular drive that curved through the front landscape of school property. One by one the cars stopped at the building’s main entrance just long enough for one or more children of varying sizes to unload. The school served kindergarten through twelfth grade and reminded her of the one she had attended as a child. At least that part was reassuring. In her opinion, smaller schools nurtured that feeling of family more so than larger ones.

Her dread escalated as she followed her daughter into the kindergarten through second grade wing of the large stone structure. Tan-colored tile shined like glass under their feet as they moved down the long, wide corridor. Nursery rhymes played in her memory as her eyes moved over the colorful fairytale murals that embellished the beige walls. Dozens of children scurried past, backpacks and lunch boxes in tow.

The atmosphere seemed pleasant enough. She hoped the teacher wasn’t going to be an old biddy who had already labeled her child as a troublemaker.

Donna hadn’t been this nervous since she sutured her first patient. Melissa had told her at the breakfast table this very morning that she loved her teacher. And Patty had recounted numerous times in their phone calls during the last two weeks what a great teacher Melissa had. Surely her own sister couldn’t be that wrong about the woman. There was simply no need to get this worked up. The teacher was probably some little blue-haired lady who had too many children in her classroom and had gotten Melissa mixed up with another child. That had to be it.

“C’mon, Mommy!” Melissa tugged at her hand. “We’re gonna be late.”

“Sorry, sweetie.” Donna allowed herself to be pulled down the long corridor a little faster.

Pencils and chalk.
The familiar smell lingered in the air of the large classroom Melissa ushered Donna into. Sunny yellow walls decorated with bright characters and shapes eased her anxiety. She smiled at the trail of ABC’s that meandered around the walls. Melissa joined the group of children at the back of the room who were hanging up backpacks and putting away lunch boxes.

The teacher was nowhere around. Knowing she would return soon, Donna took the opportunity to have a look around. Shelf after shelf of books lined one corner where a large, well-used rocking chair sat. She ran her fingers over the volumes of children’s stories. Donna selected and opened a Mother Goose book. The scent of the old pages caused her lips to curl into a smile. She loved old books. She could just imagine the children spread out on the floor before the rocker as a matronly teacher read one of the old-as-time stories.

She tucked the book back into its spot and moved to a work table on the other side of the room. She scanned the artwork only a mother could love for Melissa’s name. Though the work was dry, the essence of finger paint still hung in the air. Textures ranged from thick globs of paint to thin smears. Houses, stick people, and other subjects which she could not readily identify graced the little artists’ pages.

“May I help you?”

Donna started at the deep, male voice. The sound reverberated through her, hinting at secret fantasies and making her pulse react. She turned around slowly to face the stranger who had rescued her on that dark country road less than a dozen hours ago.

A wide smile spread across his face as he recognized her. Heat rushed to her cheeks as she pushed away the vivid images from last night’s dreams. The man was even better looking in the full light of day. His presence seriously diminished the size of the room. He reminded her of one of those big muscular guys who played professional sports.

And she hated that type, she reminded herself sternly.

“So, we meet again.” Amusement twinkled in his blue eyes, the bluest she had ever seen. “Since you didn’t leave a glass slipper behind, I figured I’d never see you again.” He closed the distance between them with slow, deliberate steps; using the time to take in every aspect of her. From the top of her pony-tailed head to her loafers and back.

Did she always have to look her worst at the most inopportune times? “I’m waiting to see my daughter’s teacher, Ms. Bradley.” Donna forced a smile into place.
Who is this guy?
He could be the principal or a physical education teacher. That had to be it. Jeans, Nike sweatshirt and shoes. Now that she thought about it, he did look like a phys ed teacher. A jock through and through.

He stuck out his hand. “I’m Hank Bradley.”

Donna’s mouth dropped open, but no sound came out.
No
. This man couldn’t possibly be Melissa’s kindergarten teacher.

“I guess I’m not what you expected.”

“Excuse me?” Her mind reeling, those two words were all that sputtered out of her mouth.

“You were expecting someone about this tall.” He indicated the middle of his impossibly wide chest. “Gray hair, maybe?”

Certain his amused state resulted from her gaping mouth, Donna snapped it shut. She had to say something. But what? “I’m sorry,” she replied wanly. “I thought that...that you were a woman.”

“Well...” He grinned rather wickedly now. “Last time I checked I was definitely a man.”

Her cheeks were on fire with embarrassment and no small amount of frustration. “I just assumed a kindergarten teacher would be a woman,” she defended.

“No one told you otherwise?” The urge to laugh out loud was written all over his handsome face.

“She didn’t—I mean...I had no idea.” Flustered, she felt like giving herself a bop upside the head for behaving like a school girl herself. No, no, on second thought, if anybody deserved to be bopped, it was Patty. They would be talking…soon.

Dear sister Patty had some serious explaining to do. Not only had she not mentioned his being a man, Melissa hadn’t mentioned it, either. How—better yet, why—had it been kept a secret? Donna had a sneaking suspicion she would not like the answer.

Hank Bradley’s big hand reached for the one she’d failed to extend. Before she could sidestep the gesture, long fingers curled around hers. Like last night, his touch prompted a startling tingle that licked a path up her arm and tipped her completely off balance.

The clamoring voices of the children snapped her back to attention. She summoned her best attempt at a professional bearing and opted to start over. “I’m Donna Jacobs. Melissa’s mother.”

“Ah, so that’s your name. And all this time I thought it’d be Cinderella.”

He flashed another of those devastating smiles and she felt her knees go weak. He gave her hand a final squeeze before letting go. Did this man have any idea how sexy he was? Whoa! Get a grip. This guy was so not her type. Besides, he was Melissa’s teacher.

Oh, God, this man is your daughter’s teacher
.

“Was there something I could do for you this morning, Ms. Jacobs?”

She forced her eyes to focus on his, despite the havoc those baby blues played with her equilibrium. “I’m here about the discipline slip.”

“I see.” He glanced in the direction of the restless children and then back to her. “Just give me a minute to get the kids started on something.”

“Of course.” She managed a tight smile.

“Just don’t take off on me,” he called over one broad shoulder as he strode across the room.

A new flush of embarrassment rushed up her throat and across her cheeks. What in the world? She hadn’t reacted like this to a good-looking man since...she couldn’t even remember when. But then extreme stress often caused uncharacteristic behavior. Pressure and stress had been her constant companions for the last six months.

No matter the reason, she had to be getting pretty desperate to be attracted to a man who personified the term jock. You couldn’t trust them as far as you could throw them. This one would be no different. And this one, unfortunately, was in a position to have a great deal of influence on the most important person in her life—her child. This was not good.

Maybe that was prejudiced of her but she had her reasons.

She watched, still half in denial, as the man handed out colorful, wooden puzzles to his little students. He patiently answered the barrage of questions fired at him.
When can we go outside? Is it time for lunch yet? Do we have to do our ABC’s today?

Donna tried again to shake the disbelief as she drifted in the direction of his desk. This was too weird. Whoever heard of a kindergarten teacher like this? The man looked like the jolly green giant next to the five-year-olds. Only he wasn’t green, he was...gorgeous.

He swaggered back to where she waited and she was helpless to look away. How could simply walking across the room be that sexy?

She really had lost it…her sister had been warning her that this was coming.
You can’t ignore your needs forever, little sis.

“Have a seat, Ms. Jacobs.” He indicated a chair near the desk he now leaned against.

“I’m kind of in a hurry this morning.” She squared her shoulders. “Since I arrived so late last night, I haven’t had the opportunity to speak with Melissa about the discipline slip.” A stiff smile pushed the corners of her lips upward. “Thanks again for coming to my rescue.”

He nodded an acknowledgement. No ring, she noted as her eyes darted down to his hands resting on the desk on either side of him. He didn’t wear any jewelry at all. But that didn’t mean anything; lots of married men for one reason or another chose not to wear their wedding rings.

She cleared her mind of the ridiculous distraction and took a deep breath before continuing. “I realize I should have made an appointment, but I thought it best to take care of this right away.”

He said nothing. He merely waited for her to continue. A long ago learned, but never forgotten, psych class reminded Donna to precede the bad with something good. “Patty and Melissa have sung your praises since day one, by the way.” She arched a speculative brow. “Although, they did fail to mention that you were a mister.”

He gave her another of those nods that told her nothing at all.

“Anyway,” she muddled on. “I only came by to clear up the misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding? I’m not sure I follow you.” He cocked his handsome head and studied her more closely.

Donna wet her lips and forged on. “Melissa is a quiet, reserved child. Disrupting the class and displaying violence are completely out of character. I thought that perhaps you might have her confused with another student.”

He straightened and crossed his arms over his broad chest. A full foot or two stood between them, yet her skin tingled as if he were touching her. This was ridiculous!

“Ms. Jacobs, I’d never send home a discipline slip unless I was certain of who needed the discipline.” His voice had taken on a more formal tone, but remained warm and amiable.

“I didn’t mean to imply that you’re incompetent,” she said quickly. She needed him cooperative, not defensive. “With so many new faces to learn, surely there’s room for error.”

“I understand your concern about your daughter’s behavior.”

“Melissa has never behaved in a violent manner. It’s hard for me to believe that she would.”

“I wouldn’t call Melissa’s behavior violent, but shoving her classmates for no apparent reason is just not acceptable behavior. I let it go the first couple of times, but a pattern’s been developing and I think it’s important that we take care of it before it becomes a real problem.”

Indignation pushed aside her apprehension. This man could not possibly be talking about her child. The idea was ludicrous. Melissa was not now, nor had she ever been, a discipline problem. Donna had to make him understand how wrong he was. “But she’s never behaved this way before. There’s no reason, just out of the blue, for her to behave that way now.”