“Ash,” he corrected her, his deep voice sending a flutter through her chest.
“Ash,” she echoed, enjoying the way his name felt in her mouth.
Stop that, Allie,a little voice in her head yelled at her.You can’t have a crush on a parent, it’s unprofessional.
“Daddy, Daddy,” Maya yelled as she ran back to them. “Eloise has to go now, but we’re going to play dinosaur tag tomorrow.”
“Maya, I’m so proud of you,” Ash said,crouching to look at his daughter eye-to-eye. “You made a mistake, but then you made it right.”
Maya looked at her father with shining eyes, like he hung the moon.
“And I’m glad you were looking out for your friend, Timmy,” Ash went on. “Maybe he’d like to play with you and Eloise tomorrow?”
“We can ask him,” Maya said excitedly, wiggling in place like she wanted to bound off down the sidewalk again. “We can ask him tomorrow.”
Allie watched as the big man patted little Maya gently on the shoulder before she plowed right into him and hugged him hard.
After a moment, Maya let go and her father straightened up.
“Thank you for coming in,” Allie said, clearing her throat.
“Thank you for staying late,” he said.
“Maya,” Allie said, turning to the girl. “Your dad is absolutely right. You should be proud of yourself for today. I can’t wait to see you in class tomorrow.”
“Me neither,” Maya said. “I’m going to walk like an elephant tomorrow.”
“That was a fun one,” Allie agreed, laughing and picturing the kids doing the elephant walk during one of their movement activities today.
“We should finish our conversation one of these days, Miss Lawrence,” Ash said.
“Allie,” she corrected him shyly. “And maybe I’ll see you at the parent-teacher conference tomorrow night.”
“Right,” he said. “It’s in my calendar. I’ll see you tomorrow night, Allie.”
Something about hearing her name in his deep voice sent a little tingle through her.
Stop that,the little voice scolded her again.
She hurried off to her car, hoping a little distance would help her find her bearings. It wasn’t right to feeltinglesandfluttersover her student’s father.
As the engine of the old wagon faithfully roared to life, she remembered that she had choir practice.
That will help get my mind off of Ash Tailor,she told herself cheerfully.
Driving through the little village, she couldn’t help smiling at the beautifully decorated shops and the lights and holly bedecking the pavilion in the park.
Life in Sugarville Grove was sweet and simple, and the holidays were always a really big deal. Of course most of the decorations were trimmed from the local trees, or reused every year, but that was part of what made it special.
Allie wondered how many people in the world could say that they had participated in the same happy traditions all their lives.
She passed the family’s ice cream shop, where the hard work from their little dairy farm really had a chance to shine, thanks to her best friend and sister-in-law, Charlotte, who had come to town five years ago to bring the shop back and mend her broken heart. Of course, Charlotte had almost immediately fallen in love with Allie’s big brother, Tag. But that was a whole other story.
Turning left onto Moose Avenue, shepassed her other brother West’s office. West was the family doctor for most folks in Sugarville Grove. Two years ago, he had fallen in love too, and now he liked to say he was the happiest man in town. He certainly seemed like it.
Cupid had been hard at work in her family over the last few years.
Her brother Cash had come home last year and found the woman he’d been dreaming about for years but thought he’d lost. And even Zane, her quietest and most introverted brother, had fallen passionately in love with Becca, a new second-grade teacher at the elementary school.
