“Gonna go take advantage of all those beautiful beaches?”
“Ugh,” I groaned, pushing the doors to the building open and walking out into the air that had cooled slightly since Devon and Jax left. “Spring break is the worst time to go to the beaches in Florida.” Then it occurred to me where I was headed tomorrow. “Oh, gosh.” I sighed, hitching my purse higher up on my shoulder while still holding the phone to my ear.
“What?” Shelby asked, concerned.
“I got invited to go to Disney World tomorrow. If there’s one place worse than the beaches during a school break, it’s Disney.”
“Who invited you to Disney? That’s kind of a weird place to invite a grown-ass woman.”
“A man with children.”
“A man? With children?” Her interest in my spring break activities was suddenly heightened. “Are you going on a date?”
“No, it’s not a date,” I insisted. “We’re meeting there. I’m buying my own ticket.”
“I’m confused. You’re going to Disney World with a man and his children, but it’s not a date?”
“Hold on a sec,” I said in a hushed voice. I was just steps from my car, and even though I was sure there was no one around, I still wanted to be careful. Opening the door, I gently tossed my purse on the passenger seat and then folded myself in the car. “The student I stayed late with, he invited me to go along with him and his dad and sister.”
“So?”
“So? What do you mean ‘so’?”
“I mean, a student invites you to Disney World and you politely decline. You pacify him by saying something nice like, ‘Oh, maybe next time,’ and then he forgets about it. You don’t agree to go. So, there has to be something else going on here. Is his dad hot?”
Yes.
“That’s a ridiculous question,” I said sharply, shoving the key in the ignition and cranking the engine.
“So, that’s a yes then.” I could hear her smiling.
“Okay,” I said, pressing the speakerphone button and tossing my phone in the console. “His dad isn’t bad looking. And he’s a nice guy. But it isn’t a date. It’s more of a friend thing. Some of his friends are going and I think he wanted to even the numbers a little.”
“Another couple? So you’re going on a double date to Disney World with a student’s parent? You’ve officially crossed the line from prudish grade school teacher to sexy schoolmarm.”
I wanted to explain to Shelby. Wanted to tell her all about how I’d found Devon broken three years ago, how we’d crossed paths in the strangest of coincidences. How, even though I knew he was trying to move on from something completely heartbreaking, there was a not-so-small part of me that felt I could help him through it. It wasn’t necessarily attraction I felt toward him, but it wasn’t just strictly friendly either. He was the only other person in the world I’d encountered who I felt might feel just as lost as I did. There was some strange sense of solidarity there. I’d felt broken for so long, and I’d begun to think I was alone in my state of fracture. So even though I knew he should have been off-limits, that I should cut ties and just do my job, I couldn’t bring myself to snip those tethers I felt holding us together. If nothing else, he could be a friend.
“There’s nothing sexy about it, Shelby. He’s just a guy with some really great kids and I’m just meeting them at Disney World.”
“We’ll see,” she sang into the phone.
The next morning, I stood in the sunshine outside the gates to Disney World. I was nervous. There was no denying it. Spending the day with people I didn’t know very well, if at all, was making me anxious. A little bit of apprehension melted away when I heard Jax’s voice.
“Miss Richards,” he yelled as he ran toward me and threw his arms around my waist. “You came,” he said, looking up at me with his eyes so blue and lashes any grown woman would maim for.
“I’m here. Couldn’t resist a day at Disney.”
“Glad you could make it,” came Devon’s voice, just as deep as it’d been the day before. “Ruby,” he said, turning to his daughter, standing just behind him. “You know Miss Richards.”
“Hey,” Ruby mumbled, obviously not too excited to see me.
“Hey, Ruby, it’s nice to see you.”
She didn’t respond, just turned back to her father. “When is Aunt Evie supposed to be here?”
“Any minute,” Devon responded. He then mouthed “Sorry,” and shrugged. All I could do was smile in return.
“Aunt Evie,” Jax yelled with the same enthusiasm he’d used to greet me. The same hug, in fact, as he ran to a blonde woman walking toward us.