Chapter one
Love Bites
Nora
“Ouch!”
Blood wells on my fingertip, bright red and glistening. I shove it into my mouth before I drip onto the classroom floor.
“Bad bunny,” I scold, wagging my uninjured finger at the little white rabbit in the cage. “Very bad. I was just trying to pet you.”
The animal stares back with its beady pink eyes.
Its nose twitches.
Once.
Twice.
For a second, I swear the thing looks at me like it understands exactly what I said.
I huff, muttering under my breath, “Should’ve never got you. Now what am I supposed to do? You can’t bite the kids.”
I turn away, marching to my desk where I keep Band-Aids in the top drawer. With my back to the bunny, I thumb through the box, searching for the most adult option available.
Not Bluey.
Not Mickey Mouse.
Ah. Planets. That’ll work.
A dab of Neosporin and I slap the bandage on one-handed. As a kindergarten teacher, I’m a professional at this. Every day someone’s falling off the monkey bars or tripping over their own feet.
I press the bandage down firmly and wait for the bleeding to stop.
Why did I even get this dumb bunny?
It’d been strange from the start. A roadside stand with a handwritten sign that read: FREE BUNNIES FOR EESTER. I remember staring at the misspelling. Easter with two E’s. Behind a wobbly fold-out table stood an old man and a single wire cage.
“Good timing, young lady,” he called, which, considering I’m thirty-two, felt generous. But I’ll take it. “This is the last one.”
He shoved the cage toward me.
“You take him and I can go home to the missus.”
“Oh, no.” I hesitated. “I’m just looking.”
He tilted his head. Studied me. “What do ya do fer a living, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Teacher.” I tucked my long brown hair behind my ear and bent down, peering into the cage. “Little kids.”
Even I had to admit, the bunny was fluffy and cute. It stared right back at me.
“Ah.” The man smiled like that explained everything. “This one—” He patted the cage almost reverently. “He’s great with children. Loyal. Kind. Brave.”
Brave?
I blinked at that. What qualified a rabbit for bravery? Staring down a carrot before eating it?
