Sealed With a Kiss (7 page)

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He
pulled it out and answered the call.

“You got home okay?” Grant’s voice echoed
down the phone.

“It was slow. We got through just before they
closed the road. Thanks for today. Bella loved it.”

“Bella loves everything about the ranch.”
John could hear the smile in his brother’s voice. “You should move
out here over the Christmas break. We might get snowed in, but
there are lots of things to do in this big old house.”

“Thanks for the offer, but we’ll be all
right.”

“If you change your mind, you know where I
am. Did Auntie Betty get in contact with you?”

Betty Fletcher was their dad’s sister. Since
their parents death ten years ago, she’d become their main contact
for what was happening with the rest of the family. She was the
only person in three living generations who was interested in
preserving the stories passed down from one family member to
another.

John checked his phone. “Nope. What did she
want?”

“She’s ready to publish the book about our
family history. Send her an email telling her how many copies you
want.”

“Do you think she included the story about
Great Aunt Nellie’s ghost?”

Grant laughed. “Probably. I haven’t seen much
of Nellie in the last few months. It must be too cold for her.”

A gust of wind tore across the roof of John’s
home. The shingles rattled and banged making him wonder if Great
Aunt Nellie had heard them laughing.

“You still there?” Grant asked.

“Yeah. The weather’s getting worse.”

“It’ll get a lot worse before the storm’s
over. Have you made that phone call you said you’d make?”

“Not yet.” John had told Grant about Rachel,
about the conversation he wanted to have with her.

“She’ll be back at school tomorrow. You
should call her now.”

“It can wait another day.”

“Bella needs a tutor. This weather is going
to make her go stir crazy if you leave Mrs. Daniels in charge. Call
the teacher tonight.”

John rubbed the frown away from his forehead.
“I know you’re my big brother, but you should have grown out of
bossing me around.”

“I don’t know who told you that,” Grant
scoffed. “Make the call. You looked as though you could do with one
less thing to worry about.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Let me know how you get on.
If she says no, just add another zero or two to her pay.” With that
last cheerful comment, Grant ended the call and left John staring
into space.

He’d negotiated multi-million dollar deals
with the government, dodged bullets, and bombs. Calling Rachel
shouldn’t have been the big deal it had become. But for some
strange, totally over-the-top reason, he was worried that she’d say
no. And to be honest, he couldn’t blame her.

He knew he could find someone else to be
Bella’s tutor. He had enough money to recruit the best teacher in
the world. But no one’s qualifications or work experience could
replace the connection that Bella had with Rachel. Since the
wedding yesterday, Bella hadn’t stopped talking about Rachel and
the next visit to her classroom.

If he wasn’t careful, Bella was going to
start the Rachel McReedy fan club. Knowing how determined his
daughter could be, John had a feeling that it wouldn’t take her
long to get half of the town registered.

He glanced at his phone, then hunted through
the drawers under his coffee table for a pen and some paper. He
needed to unjumble what was going through his head. Writing down
why Rachel tutoring Bella would work, would help focus his brain
and give him extra ammunition if she said no.

He tapped the pen against the table, looked
at the paper, then started writing. By the time he was halfway down
the page, he felt a lot better. Rachel couldn’t say no to the
reasons he’d come up with.

Mrs. Daniels hit the list at number one. No
matter how happy she’d been to step into the previous tutor’s
shoes, she had her own busy life. Mrs. Daniels needed to get ready
for her family’s Christmas celebrations. Bella needed to be taught
by someone who knew what they were doing. He needed someone who
could work from his home. He wanted Bella to be ready to start
school with children her own age. He didn’t want Bella to stand out
as the girl who’d been homeschooled for too long by a father who
should have known better.

There were other, less obvious reasons why
Rachel needed to work for him. Money came in at number ten. Bribing
someone wasn’t exactly the best way to start a professional
relationship, but if Rachel wanted to play hardball, he had deep
pockets.

He read through the list twice more. He’d
come up with good reasons why she should teach Bella. But even with
his list, she could still say no. She might even have a better list
of logical reasons why teaching Bella wouldn’t work.

He reached for his phone when it pinged.
Someone had sent him a text. He glanced down at the number and
wondered what his brother had forgotten to tell him. If he’d been
less nervous, he would have laughed at what he read.
Call
her
.

John texted a quick message back and waited
for his brother to reply. Instead of a text, his phone rang.

“You’re stalling for time,” Grant said. “Find
her number and call her.”

“Mind your own business.” John ended the
call. His brother could be a pain in the butt sometimes.
Occasionally he was right. Like now, at nine o’clock on a Sunday
night when most people weren’t expecting to get a phone call asking
if they wanted a job.

John frowned. He could at least find her
number, organize himself so that he didn’t look as desperate as he
felt.

He tapped the screen on his phone, typed her
name and waited. She was the only McReedy in Bozeman. He saved her
number in his contact list and left his phone on the coffee table.
He’d call her tomorrow, make her an offer she couldn’t refuse. Then
wait for hell to freeze over while she decided what to do.

CHAPTER FOUR

John parked his car outside Bozeman Public Library.
The brick and glass building looked tall and imposing against the
winter sky. Someone had cleared a path to the front entrance. Snow
rose on either side of the concrete, creating an icy channel that
only the foolhardy or desperate were willing to navigate. He didn’t
have to think too hard about what one he would be.

It had been a long time since he’d been in
the library. He didn’t know where he was going, or even if Rachel
was inside. All he knew was that the drama club met here on Monday
afternoons. He’d put two and two together and driven across town to
offer her a job.

He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and
walked toward the library. The front doors opened and he stepped
into the wide entranceway. A display of children’s art on the wall
in front of him drew him forward. He glanced to his right and saw a
row of bookshelves and two large, comfy chairs.

He walked through the open doorway and stood
at the side of the room. Tall steel columns supported the exposed
wooden beams of the ceiling. The architect had softened the use of
metal with wood, mixing the two components cleverly. It was a space
that people could spend time in and enjoy.

There were more chairs, a help desk, and more
than one computer available for people to use. But he wasn’t here
to look at the interior design. He was here to find Rachel.

“Can I help you?”

A woman in her late twenties stood beside
him. She had the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. “I’m looking for the
community room. Do you know where it is?”

She smiled and John realized he was frowning.
“I haven’t been here for a few years,” he mumbled. It wasn’t much
of an excuse, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“Don’t worry. We’re almost harmless.”

John didn’t know whether she was serious or
joking. He looked at her name badge.

She held her hand out and smiled. “Erin
Williams, Library Manager, at your service.”

He shook her hand. “John Fletcher.”

“Welcome to the library, John Fletcher. Come
with me. I’ll take you to the community room.”

Erin walked into the corridor he’d just come
from. But instead of turning left, she kept going straight ahead.
“Are you here to collect your child from drama club?”

John shook his head. “I’ve come to see Rachel
McReedy. She recommended the club for my daughter.”

“I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. It’s a
great way for the children to be creative and learn to work
together.” She held a door open for him. “They’re rehearsing for
their Christmas play.”

John walked into the large room. Chaos
surrounded him. In front of the windows overlooking the parking
lot, a woman was listening to a group of children sing a Christmas
carol. Their voices filled the room, bounced off the walls, and
were being ignored by the other children.

“Rachel’s over there.” Erin pointed to the
stage. “If you want to take a library book home when you’re
finished, we can renew your membership. It doesn’t cost anything
and it only takes a few minutes.”

John nodded. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Enjoy drama club.”

Erin left the room and John’s gaze went back
to Rachel. She had her back to him. Her arms were waving in the air
and the children in front of her were following what she was doing.
She stepped to the left. Half of the kids stepped to the left, the
other half stepped to the right. They bumped bodies, laughed, then
untangled themselves from each other.

Rachel turned around and showed them which
way they needed to move. She smiled as she waved her arms in the
air. She looked over her shoulder to make sure they were following
her. When she was happy with what they were doing, she turned to
look at the rest of the room and froze. Her gaze connected with his
and her smile disappeared.

Not a good start.

She said something to a teenage boy standing
with the group of kids. He stepped forward and took over from her.
The kids went back to waving their arms in the air and stepping
sideways as Rachel walked toward him.

He didn’t know if she realized just how
pretty she was. She wasn’t reed thin or ultra curvy, she was
somewhere in-between. Somewhere that looked great in jeans and a
bright red sweater with snowflakes knitted into the design.

It had been so long since he’d been attracted
to another woman, that he didn’t know where to look. She was still
staring at him with a worried frown on her face. He took his jacket
off and tried to look as though seeing her wasn’t a big deal. But
it was. Maybe even bigger than he thought it would have been.

Rachel dodged a couple of children who were
crawling across the floor. She said something to a group of girls
with towels on their heads, then stopped in front of him. “Is Bella
okay?”

Her blue eyes were worried. Something inside
of him tightened, twisted, and left him spinning in mid-air.

“John?”

He cleared his throat, engaged his brain, and
ignored his pounding heart. “Bella’s fine. Tank has taken her to
the mall.”

“Who’s Tank?”

“He works with me.”

“Is that his real name?”

John moved his jacket into his other hand.
“We were in the military together. It’s a name that stuck.” Tank
wouldn’t appreciate him telling anyone the name he’d been born
with. His new name was as much a part of his identity as the scars
he wore. In some convoluted way, they’d both started over. They’d
built lives that mixed the best of what they’d known with what they
needed to do to survive.

Rachel winced when the Christmas choir
screeched out a note that only angels should sing. “If Bella is all
right, how can I help you?”

John thought about the list in his pocket,
the reasons why asking Rachel to teach Bella was a good idea. She
was waiting for him to say something, anything that would tell her
why he was here.

He glanced across at the choir, then back at
the stage. “I thought I’d check out the drama club. You said Bella
might enjoy it.”

Rachel’s face relaxed into an easy smile. His
heart sank.

“You’ve come at the right time. We’re getting
ready for our Christmas play.” She pointed to the kids who were
still crawling on the floor. “Over there are our nativity animals.
Ruby, Clarissa, and Jason are going to be cows. Alexander and Oscar
are the front and back end of a donkey, and Fleur is an owl.”

John watched Fleur extend her pretend wings.
“I didn’t know they had owls in the barn where Jesus was born.”

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know
either. But I don’t think anyone would have minded if one snuck
inside. Fleur has a thing for owls. She has the concentration span
of a squirrel, so I needed something to keep her focused on what
we’re doing.”

Fleur swooped low on the rear end of the
donkey and John smiled. “How’s that working out?”

“Pretty good. She’s happy to stay in
character for as long as we’re practicing.” Rachel glanced across
at the choir. “We’ve divided everyone into groups for this
rehearsal. It’s easier to practice when we’re only teaching a dozen
children at a time. The songs are a work in progress.”

A boy with bright red hair and neon freckles
started to sing. The noise level in the room dropped to a whisper.
John tried not to stare, but it wasn’t easy when the notes coming
from his mouth were so clear and pure. “He’s really good. Who is
he?”

Rachel sighed. “That’s Frankie. He has the
most amazing voice I’ve ever heard.”

“How old is he?”

“Ten. He comes to the library each day after
school. His dad works long hours so this has become his home away
from home. It’s the same with quite a few of the children that come
to drama club.”

John listened to the rest of Frankie’s song.
After the last note dissolved into the room, the noise level
increased. Everyone went back to what they were doing, quickly
forgetting what they’d heard.