“Right, Abby?”
She jumped at the sound of her name. “Yes! What? No.” She took a calming breath. “What?”
Walter, Matt, and Thea weren’t even trying to hide their amusement while the students were snickering behind their hands. Lindsey had a shit-eating grin on her face.
Not that she could blame them. She’d been embarrassingly close to kissing Tinker. When his tongue had peeked out of his mouth and touched the center of his upper lip… Whoo, she needed to get control of herself.
“The showcase is in two weeks, Friday beginning at five p.m. Right?” Lindsey asked
Abby narrowed her eyes at her soon to be ex-friend before turning to James and Nick. “Yes. The doors open to the parents and public at five. The fashion show is at six and will run about forty-five minutes. The theater performances start at seven and should be over shortly after eight.”
“When can we start working on production?” James asked.
She appreciated that he, at least, wasn’t cracking a smile. “We have a student production crew for the theater performances. The next meeting is tomorrow at three.”
“The deadline for completion is the day before the showcase?” Nick asked.
“Ideally everything will be done on Wednesday,” Naomi said. “Although there are always last-minute issues that pop up, we have a final dress rehearsal Thursday.”
“All right,” James said, closing the cover of his small notebook. “I’ll be here at three tomorrow. I’ll assess what the students are capable of and figure out if I need to bring in any outside help.”
“You’re really going to help us?” Lucas, one of the students, asked.
“Sure. Why not?” Nick asked.
“Don’t you have like, work or something?” Chloe, another student, asked.
“That’s one of the great things about being retired, young lady. I get to decide when I work and when I don’t.” James pushed his chair back and stood. “Miss Lindsey, if you have time to escort me to the theater, I’ll take some measurements and figure out how much material you’re going to need.”
“I would be honored, Mr. James.” She rolled up her drawings and tucked them under her arm. She rounded the table and hooked her arm through his elbow as they left.
Tinker chuckled.
“What?” Abby asked.
“The old man still has some game.”
“Ew,” Taylor, the other student council member, said, not quite under her breath.
Naomi laughed. “You’ll get it one day.”
The girl didn’t say anything but judging by her wrinkled nose, she didn’t agree.
Tinker leaned close. “Walk us out?”
Abby nodded. Why was she suddenly nervous? She had to walk them out anyway since they couldn’t be in the school unescorted. Maybe it was the low rumble of his voice, or the intimate way he’d asked, or the gleam in his eyes. Such a simple question and yet she couldn’t help but wonder if there was an underlying meaning.
The presence next to her was almost physical as they walked to the office to retrieve their IDs and then to the front door. Once outside, Nick said goodbye and headed to a beat-up pickup truck parked in the visitor lot. The kind of truck she’d expected Tinker to drive on their first date.
She turned and faced Tinker. “Thank you for coming today.”
“Sorry to spring it on you with no notice,” he said. “I hope it doesn’t cause too many issues.”
“It shouldn’t. Will you be coming to help?”
There was something about his grin that bordered on mischievous. “Eager to see me?”
“Just…curious about whether you’ll be helping or not.” She was not going to admit her heart skipped a beat at the thought of seeing him every day.
