My nose scrunches at the thought of Dev in bed.
Why is my nose scrunching at the thought of Dev in bed?
It’s because I’m at school, I tell myself. Salacious thoughts are inappropriate, and my body knows that.
At that logical reasoning, my enthusiasm for our date returns, and I walk my kids back to the classroom as I draft a reply in my head.
CHAPTER 11
BRIE
My lunch beeps,and I pull the sleeves of my sweater over my hands to take the hot container out and walk to the empty table a few feet away, rather than taking it back to my empty classroom like normal.
There’s a trio of older teachers at the table near the door. I don’t ask to sit with them and they don’t offer.
“Hey!” Tess says as I fan my mouth from the molten cheese I just shoved in it. “Want me to blow in your mouth?” she asks.
I nearly choke as I shake my head hard enough to dislodge my brain.
“Kidding.” She grins as she takes a seat opposite me and unpacks a sandwich. “This is nice! I usually eat lunch by myself, which you’d think would be great after all the ‘Ms. Brooks’ this and ‘Ms. Brooks’ that, but I need some adult interaction, you know?”
Not really. I like my solitude, but I say, “It must be hard teaching a bunch of four and five year olds. Second is the youngest grade I’ve taught.” Something tugs at my memoryas I blow on another bite of Gia’s delicious chicken parm from last night. “Wait, did you say Brooks?”
She nods.
“I think your brother was a year ahead of me in high school. Super competitive? Famously cross-examined the principal when he tightened up the dress code? Nash Brooks?”
Tess looks too young to have overlapped with us, but they have the same eyes.
Her smile is incandescent. “That’s my brother! It’ll come as no surprise he’s a fancy lawyer now.” She takes a bite of her sandwich. Her blue eyes—not deep blue like Sawyer’s, but bright like the sky—study me for a moment. “So you’re from Blue Ridge. Are yousoglad to be back?”
“It’s changed a lot,” I hedge.
“Isn’t it great?” Tess asks dreamily. “I fell in love with Blue Ridge when we moved here in elementary school, but it just keeps getting better and better.”
My face stays neutral as I nod, but she sounds bananas.
“I can’t imagine living anywhere else,” she goes on. “I went to school in Knoxville, but it was too Big City for me. Blue Ridge is more my speed. Everyone knows one another, Maddy’s Bakery has her apple cider cake donuts, the Book Nook always has the newest Jackie Pine romance. Blue Ridge has everything you need.”
She looks at me expectantly, so I say, “What about Jolly Jalapeño? That place seems popular. You ever go there with friends?” Remembering what Gia said, I add, “I hear it’s the place to go if you’re young and childless.”
Tess’s reaction stops me mid-chuckle. She’s suddenly very interested in her sandwich bag as her smile grows rigid. “I don’t go out much. Teachers are early risers, right?” Thenshe shrugs so nonchalantly it comes back around to being veryun-nonchalant. Chalant.
It’s clear Tess wants to move on, and I feel bad for mentioning it, so I change the subject. “Do you hang out with Nash a lot?”
Her face lights up, but it doesn’t meet her eyes. “Not as often as I’d like. He lives in Chattanooga.”
My brows drop. “That’s, what, an hour and a half away?”
“An hour fifteen,” she corrects. “But he’s so busy. Especially right now with the Kelly case.”
“Who’s Kelly?” I ask.
She shrugs, “No idea, but every time I call, he has to go a few minutes later because he’s ‘swamped with the Kelly case.’” A thought seems to occur to Tess. “If you were in school with my brother, you must have already known Sawyer.”
Shit. Didn’t think it through when I brought Nash up. I focus on my lunch.
She tilts her head. “So . . . were you friends with Sawyer in high school?”
