extended one—was awkward to say the least. Not to mention she was already more curious about him than she should be. Now she’d be exposed to him around the clock. The whole thing was too unsettling for her liking.
“Hey, Jake.”
A very attractive African American woman hurried toward them as they neared the library, throwing her arms around Jake’s neck and giving him a big hug.
“Hey, Sharee. Good to see you. Annie, this is Sharee DeMarco, our school counselor. Sharee, this is our new fifth-grade teacher, Annelle Shepherd.”
The woman quickly transferred the hug to her, wrapping her in warmth and a scent of spearmint. “Welcome to Jefferson. I’m so glad to meet you. It’s always so nice to have new faces around.” She turned back to Jake. “How was Belize?”
“Hot but rewarding.”
“Amen to that. You two had better scoot. The meeting starts in a few minutes.” She winked, waved and sauntered down the hall, toward the office.
Annie frowned as she looked at Jake. “Belize?”
“A mission trip. I just got back a few days ago.”
She followed Jake into the library, struggling to process the discovery that he’d gone on a mission trip. The more she learned about him, the less it added up. He introduced her to the fourth-grade teacher, Linda Bain, and then walked off to join the other male teachers. Despite his words that working together wasn’t a problem, she suspected he didn’t like it any more than she did.
She turned her attention to Linda, who welcomed her warmly, introducing her to a couple of other faculty members before they took their seats.
“So, you know Jake already?”
Annie searched for an appropriate response. “We’ve met.”
“He’s a great guy. And a great sixth-grade teacher. He coaches junior high football and baseball too.”
Her heart sank into her stomach. Jake was the sixth-grade teacher? The twins were in the sixth grade. That meant they’d have Jake as their teacher. This whole situation was getting more and more complicated. She didn’t think she wanted her sons being taught by a man with his background. The people here didn’t appear to have any issues, but then they probably didn’t know about the accident. Maybe she should switch the twins back to their normal school. Annie muttered a polite response. “He sounds very dedicated.”
“Totally. There are a few female teachers here who’d like him to dedicate some personal time to them.” She grinned and chuckled. “He is a good-looking rascal, but he’s quiet and mysterious. It’s like he has some deep dark secret. I can’t help but wonder what it is.”
Annie didn’t have to speculate. She knew his secret.
Thankfully the meeting started and she put her full attention on the principal and the information she would need to do her job. With so much to go over, she was able to keep thoughts of Jake in the recesses of her mind. She caught sight of him briefly during the lunch break, and he appeared to be avoiding her the way she was avoiding him. If that were the case, then working at the same school might actually be tolerable.
It was mid-afternoon when Principal Winters concluded the business portion of the meeting. “The last thing on the agenda is our fall carnival. Y’all know what a significant event this is for the school and the community, so I know you’ll make it a success. Sharee has agreed to serve as the carnival chairman and she’s assigned everyone to a team.”
He stepped aside and Sharee took over. She spoke of the importance of the event in providing necessary equipment to the school, and reminded them that there was a lot to do before the end of October, when the event would be held. “Be sure and pick up your committee packets in my office.” She began calling out names and their committee assignments. “Jake and Annie, you’re the publicity and advertising team.”
Laughter rippled through the room. Someone spoke up. “Oh, no. Jake, buddy, what did you do to deserve that?”
Annie didn’t hear anything after that. Principal Winters dismissed them and Annie found herself unable to move from her chair. Why was this happening? She had expected to face Jake once a year, and now he was living across the street, working at the same school and teaching her sons every day. She could avoid him during the school day, but how in the world was she supposed to work with the man on a committee? Simple. She couldn’t. She would remove herself from this situation. Let someone else work with him.
Her ingrained sense of responsibility swelled. She’d never shirked her duties, but sometimes things just couldn’t be helped. She’d be happy to serve on any committee, just not the one with Jake.
She gathered up her belongings, her decision wavering. What would she give as her excuse? That she didn’t want to work with him because he killed her cousin, or because he makes her feel uneasy. Not in a threatening way, but in a way that reminded her she was a woman.
Where had that thought come from? She slammed a lid on that and stood. Why had her sweet, perfect new life turned into a minefield of roadblocks? Great, now she was mixing her metaphors. She’d put an end to this assignment, and then she could reclaim her nice peaceful life with a little less Jake Langford.
She looked up to see Jake standing across from her. Her heart sank.
Or not.
Jake stole a glance at Annie and she lingered at her table. Apparently there was no way to avoid Annie Shepherd. Truth was he didn’t want to avoid her. Despite his best efforts to put her out of his mind, she kept slipping back in. He wanted to know more about her. His biggest question was why was she continuing his sentence?
Jake had kept an eye on Annie throughout the meeting, but particularly when Sharee announced the committee teams. The look on Annie’s face had said it all. She was not happy about the assignment. It bothered him more than he wanted to admit that she was uncomfortable around him. He wasn’t the monster she probably had imagined him to be. He hated to think what her aunt had said about him. Unfortunately, they were now neighbors and colleagues. For whatever reason, they’d been thrown together, and the only way to deal with that was to get along.
He approached her as she was gathering up her things. “Looks like we’re partners.”
She shook her head. “This isn’t going to work. We can’t be on a committee together when we have this... I mean, since you’re...because of...”
Jake knew what she was trying to say. She couldn’t see past the accident. “If this is too uncomfortable for you, I’ll speak to Sharee and have her put you on another committee.”
Annie touched her temple as if trying to sooth a headache. “No. That would only create questions neither one of us want to answer.” Her eyes held confusion and doubt. “How much work will this committee require? I have two boys to take care of and a house full of clutter that’ll take a year to clear out.”
Jake sympathized, but working on the carnival was something expected of all the teachers and staff. “This carnival is a big deal around here. Everyone pulls their weight. Unfortunately, the publicity committee is one of the most important and takes the most time. There are permits to acquire, flyers and banners to design, and then we’ll have to canvas local businesses for donations and sell ads.”
Annie sighed, her shoulders sagging. “I had no idea.”
“That’s why everyone laughed when we were put on the committee. We drew the short straw.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “When do we have to start?”
“Right away. We have to have the permits in place sixty days before the event. That means we’re already pushing the clock.”
She pressed her lips together in a tight