Bayview Heights Trilogy Read Online Free PDF Page A

on a dreamy quality.
“I wouldn’t mind trying. Take a good look next time, Smith. He’s
definitely hot.”
    After Zoe left, Cassie sat back, thinking
about Mitch Lansing. Hot?
    Well, maybe. He did have a great body. And
she’d bet those green eyes could melt a girl just as quickly as
they could freeze her out. For a minute, Cassie wondered what it
would be like to have him touch her. It had been a long time since
she’d fantasized about a man. Though she dated, she hadn’t had a
serious relationship since her marriage broke up six years ago.
    I can’t compete with them, Cass. You’re
too absorbed in your job. Those damn kids are more important than
me.
    Paul just hadn’t understood. No one outside
of education really did. No one felt the compelling need, the
driving force to make a difference in kids’ lives like Seth Taylor
had made in hers.
    You’ve got a savior complex
, Paul
had told her.
I want a real woman in my life
.
    She’d been hurt, and disappointed in herself
that she couldn’t give him more. Her self-confidence as a woman had
been shaken. But she’d let Paul leave, and experienced some measure
of relief that she didn’t have to defend her actions anymore.
    But she missed the closeness, and the
sex.
    A picture of Mitch Lansing came to her again,
and before she could think about him in a sexual way, she banished
the image. Luckily, the kids were coming back from lunch, so she
didn’t have to analyze her reaction.
    Two hours later, she swung open the battered
front door of Pepper’s. The owner of the pool hall-turned-diner was
at the counter, wiping up after the last of the regular lunch
crowd. “Ah, my favorite teacher.”
    “Hi, Pepper.” She looked at him
expectantly.
    “He’s in the back,” the old man told her.
“Been here since eleven.”
    “Thanks.”
    Cassie found Johnny slouched in the corner,
pool cue in his hand, feet stretched out, eyes closed. The picture
he created tugged at her heart. He looked so
alone
. She
crossed the room to him. “What are you doing sleeping in a pool
hall like some bum?” she asked lightly.
    He opened one eye. “I am a bum.”
    Serious now, she said, “No, Johnny, you’re
not.”
    “Better watch it, Teach, the school district
ain’t gonna like you in here with us riffraff.”
    She plunked down beside him. “I got
tenure.”
    He snorted.
    “You been winning?”
    “Some.”
    Silence. She watched the game in progress,
scrambling to find some way to reach the boy. Finally, she called
to the players, “I’ve got winners.”
    Johnny straightened abruptly. “Cassie...this
isn’t a good idea. You shouldn’t be rubbing elbows with these
guys.”
    “I want to play,” she said implacably.
    His brown eyes lit on her. “All right, spit
it out.”
    “Play me. If I win, you come back to school
and try to accept Lansing. If I lose, I’ll leave you alone.”
    Pure panic flitted across the boy’s face.
Cassie recognized the emotion. As a kid, she’d relentlessly pushed
everyone to give up on her, and when she thought they might, she
panicked.
    “You’re on,” Johnny finally said. “But don’t
blame me if Taylor hauls your...rear in for being down here
again.”
    Cassie stood and picked up a cue. Someday,
she’d tell Johnny a few things about Seth Taylor’s unorthodox
methods all those years ago. But right now, it was better to let
him worry about her. As she’d told Zoe, she’d do anything to help
these kids. Especially this one.
    o0o
    HAL STONEHOUSE WATCHED Mitch wolf down his
roast beef sandwich at Pepper’s that afternoon. “How come you eat
like a pig and never gain an ounce?”
    Mitch smiled, a genuine response, if a rare
one. “Just luck, I guess. And I work out every day.” His eyes
scanned his friend. “You should too, Hal. After what Kurt told
you.”
    “Your brother’s a good doctor, but I can’t
change overnight.”
    “You’re walking daily, aren’t you?”
    “You know I am. You watch me like a
hawk.”
    “Well,