Scotty nodded.
They both got out and then Scotty reached for Travis’s hand, which surprised Travis. He gave his sons hand a quick squeeze and then they walked into the building together.
Just inside, two women seated at the table with clipboards asked for Scotty’s name.
“Scotty Bannerman,” his son mumbled.
He was going to need to learn to speak up, Travis noted, seeing this side of his son. Something they would work on.
“You’ll be in Miss Young’s class,” the older woman with gray hair and glasses said. “Her classroom is the one with the red and yellow balloons over the door.” She pointed down the right side of the school hallway.
“Sign here,” she pointed to the spot where Travis would sign, “School visitors always sign in.” She smiled at Scotty. “Then you may go in.”
He signed his name, and then they headed for the classroom.
Miss Young’s room was decorated with red and yellow balloons and another kindergarten room across the hall was decorated with blue and green balloons. Around Miss Young’s door were cut outs of ABC letter animals such as Bear and Cat and Dog.
A cute idea for teaching kids.
He wondered what animal they’d figured out for X.
I’ll bet Y is a Yak and Z is Zebra.
There were two other kids and their parents in the room talking to a small woman with dark hair with her back to him who must be Scotty’s teacher.
Scotty, still holding his hand, moved closer to Travis and turned his back on the teacher, but turned his head so he could still see her.
Is he shy? I’ve never seen him act this way before.
Travis frowned.
She’s such a small woman. Not someone to be afraid of.
She stood inside the room with her back to them, wearing a pink and white polka dotted dress. She couldn’t be more than five foot three and probably weighed no more than ninety-five pounds dripping wet. Dark hair twisted up on the back of her head and thin tendrils of hair brushed her neck.
He’d always found a woman’s neck to be enticing. Hers made him want to step closer to tuck one of those tendrils back up.
Her voice was enchanting. There was something familiar about it.
Everything about her made him want to draw closer to her.
The exact opposite of Scotty’s reaction, who he really needed to be focusing on, despite how he felt drawn to the teacher.
Nope. Not going there. Damn it. She’s my son’s kindergarten teacher. Off limits. Stay on task. Focus.
Travis cleared his throat. “Miss Young.”
She turned then, her soft brown eyes looking up at him with a childlike air and a sparkle in her eye. Suddenly her eyes widened.
His eyes widened as well, as they both recognized each other, at the same time.
“Ellen?” he asked. He’d never asked her last name while they’d been shooting, nor had anyone told him. So, of course, hearing his son’s teacher’s name was Miss Young, he’d had no idea it was Ellen.
Already they were in a more familiar place than he would’ve been, meeting his son’s teacher for the first time, after the time they’d spent together on the gun range.
“Miss Young,” she emphasized, glancing down at Scotty. “Hello, Scotty. I’m your new teacher. Welcome to our kindergarten class.”
Scotty blushed as he looked at her and seemed tongue tied.
