Mrs. Ellery grinned from the table. “You know exactly what.”
Grace turned, eyebrow lifting. “I do?”
Mrs. Talbot leaned back against the counter, arms crossed, looking pleased. “Officer Bennett. In uniform. Standing outside your classroom. Like a young man a’courting.”
A couple of teachers chuckled. Grace blinked. That wasn’t the direction she’d expected this conversation to go.
Grace exhaled through her nose. “He stopped by briefly.”
“Briefly,” Mrs. Ellery echoed, smiling. “Sure. But very noticeable.”
“And very handsome,” Mrs. Talbot added. “Very noticeably handsome.”
Grace snorted before she could stop herself.
“Am I wrong?” Mrs. Talbot said. “Because from where I was standing, it looked an awful lot like Luke Bennett was checking on you.”
Grace set her mug down carefully. “My house was vandalized,” she said. “Someone threw a rock through my back door window.”
Mrs. Ellery’s smile faded into concern. “Oh, Grace. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” Grace said. “It was handled. He came by to make sure I was safe. That’s it.”
“That makes sense,” Mrs. Talbot said easily. Her tone suggested she wasn’t convinced.
Grace wrapped both hands around her mug. “You’re all reading too much into it.”
Mrs. Ellery tilted her head. “You don’t have to tell us anything, Grace. But if Luke Bennett is soft on you, I just want you to know—good taste on his part.”
A few murmurs of agreement followed.
Grace felt heat creep up her neck. “He doesn’t feel any way about me.”
“Mm-hmm,” Mrs. Talbot said.
Grace shook her head, but she was smiling now despite herself. “You’re all impossible.”
She picked up her mug and headed for the door.
“Grace,” Mrs. Talbot called after her. “If Officer Bennett comes back today, feel free to warn us. Some of us might need a moment to compose ourselves.”
Grace laughed as she left the lounge.
The hallway felt lighter. Warmer.
When she reached her classroom, she paused just long enough to straighten her cardigan and take a steadying breath.
Then she opened the door and stepped inside.
“Okay, friends,” she said, smiling as the room erupted. “Who remembers what comes after the beginning of a story?”
Hands shot into the air.
Grace smiled wider.
Whatever Luke Bennett did or didn’t feel?—
In this town, in this school, in this room she was seen. She was valued. And she wasn’t standing alone.
