school.
Caroline felt the presence beside her desk and looked up fully prepared to look into the golden-brown eyes that reminded her of a man she’d love to forget. She let out a small sigh of relief when she saw her after class visitor was Jay Davidson. “How was your first official day of high school,” she asked with genuine curiosity. Jay after all was like a nephew to her and he and his sister Emily were probably the closest to children of her own she’d ever get.
“Great first day,” Jay promised. “And I know this is going to be my favorite class and not just because you’re the teacher. I can’t wait to get to the dissections!”
Caroline had to suppress a laugh. “Maybe it’s the dissections or maybe you’re more like your Aunt Aubrey and Aunt Annabel than you thought. Weren’t both of them biology majors,” Caroline reminded him.
The teen offered a shrug in response. “Maybe,” he finally agreed, “but I’m still looking forward to the dissections.”
A noise behind Jay caused them both to look toward the back of the classroom. Caroline saw that Sarah was methodically gathering together her materials, but seemed to be in no great hurry. She was glad that Jay was there to act as a buffer. Until she had a few hours to process and get used to the fact that Kyle’s daughter was now her student, things might be a little awkward. She turned her attention back to Jay who was still talking.
“Mom needs you to give her a call tonight. I think it has something to do with the upcoming family barbeque.”
“I’ll be sure to call her this afternoon as soon as I get home as a matter of fact. I’ve got something I want to talk to her about too. Enjoy the rest of the day and tell the rest of the family hello for me.”
“Okay, Aunt Caroline.” He quickly slapped his hand over his mouth and glanced at Sarah, who’d finally made her way to the front of the room. “I mean Ms. Johnson.”
Caroline smiled at him. “It’s all right, Jay. I’m practically a member of the family and you’ve been calling me Caroline for a year now. Just try to remember to use Ms. Johnson during class time.”
“I will,” he solemnly promised. He walked to the door, but turned and waited.
Caroline tried to act normal. Nothing that happened in the past had been Sarah’s fault. She’d been a sweet little girl as far as Caroline could tell. Kyle had gone out of his way to limit her time with his daughter. Actually looking back at the way things had turned out, Caroline was surprised he’d introduced them to each other at all.
“In case you’re wondering, I do remember you,” Sarah stated without preamble. “You used to live in Athens, Georgia. And you also dated my dad, Kyle Wakefield.” When Caroline didn’t say anything right away the teen continued. “I remember you because you were the only one of my dad’s girlfriends I ever got to meet. Back then I had high hopes that you’d be my new mom, but then you disappeared out of our lives,” she added in an excusatory tone.
Damn Kyle, Caroline thought for probably the hundredth time over the past four years. Now Caroline had to smooth things over for the sake of the upcoming school year. She couldn’t even consider taking the easy way out and transferring Sarah to another teacher, because she was the only one teaching honors biology this year. “Things just didn’t work out between your dad and me and that was no reflection what so ever on you, Sarah. It’s been over four years. That’s a long time. Your father and I have both moved on a long time ago. I’m sure that you and I won’t let the past ruin our student/teacher relationship now, right?” Caroline tried to coax a smile out of the teen. She looked like she hadn’t smiled a real smile in days.
After a few seconds Sarah finally let loose with a wide grin and not the tentative smile she’d