Chapter Fifteen
“Your beau is here!”Hope Wendler said with a little squeal as her twin sister, Faith, rounded up their younger siblings to leave the schoolhouse.
Marian’s face went hot, but she ignored it as she opened the door to let the other children outside to meet their parents or walk home.
“Hope!” Faith admonished as she buttoned up a coat on her little brother. “Don’t tease.”
“Sorry, Miss Scott,” Hope said. Her grin and the note of glee in her voice showed her excitement, and Marian smiled at her.
“It’s quite all right,” she said. “Now, won’t you help your sister? I need to help the Laingsburg children.”
Once the youngest Wendlers and the youngest Laingsburgs were suitably dressed in coats, they followed the others outside. Bonnie Denton was already chatting animatedly with her mother, while Zachary Hardison had run to Jillian Weatherspoon, who smiled at him as if he were her own.
One by one, the children left, until the only person remaining in front of the school was Cole. Marian’s heart tripped faster as he grinned at her.
“Where is your sister?” he asked as she let him inside.
“Jessilyn only comes by a couple of days a week to help, although she asks to help more often. I didn’t expect her to enjoy it as much as she does.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” He continued smiling at her, and Marian wondered if she’d imagined the way he’d tossed aside the idea of marriage as if it meant nothing at all to him. He pulled off his gloves and dug into his coat pocket, extracting something that he held out in his hand. “I found this and thought of you.”
Marian’s heart warmed as she stepped forward to examine what he held. From his palm a small, shining stone glittered up at her. She gasped as she reached for it. “I’ve never seen anything like it!” She held the pebble up, and the sunlight illuminated silver flecks. “Where did you get it?”
“By the river. I’m happy you like it.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and watched her with undisguised joy.
“I do. I’ll keep it on my desk,” she said as she placed it on the corner of the table. “The children will enjoy seeing it, and we can discuss the study of geology.”
Cole chuckled. “I ought to have known that you’d take any opportunity to turn something pretty into a lesson.”
Marian started to smile, but stopped. Had he meant that simply as an observation? Or was it something that bothered him?
Did he fear she’d choose teaching over him?
Her heart thumped at the very thought. If there were only a way to have both. Marian bit the inside of her cheek. She was getting ahead of herself. She knew she hadn’t imagined his skepticism toward marriage, yet worrying over such things would do her no good.
But it was impossible when he kept looking at her the way he did now.
