The woman was turned away from him when he entered the classroom, but one look at the mass of flaming curls tumbling down her back, one glimpse of the lissome, curvy figure told him he’d already met Charity’s teacher.
In the line of duty.
Just as Gwen set the chalkboard eraser on the metal ledge, her skin tingled with the ingrained awareness that alerted her to someone’s presence behind her. She took a deep, steeling breath. The principal had set up this parent-teacher meeting for her. Not having spoken to Charity’s father herself, Gwen had no idea if the man would be rational and unruffled…or if she’d be facing a Brahma bull. As a teacher, she’d learned to expect the unexpected when it came to dealing with parents. All she’d been told was that he was coming.
Fixing a reassuring smile on her mouth, she turned. However, the sight of the police officer standing at the threshold of her classroom made her stomach turn queasy.
While growing up, she’d had quite a few experiences where the police showed up at her house. Each and every encounter had been frightening.
Her countenance fell and she had trouble drawing a breath.
His shoulders massive, the man seemed to fill the doorway. His face, with its classic Native American features, was handsome beyond belief and caused heat to curl inside her, but at the same time the implications of that olive-and-gray uniform, of that shiny metal badge on his chest, made her go cold all over. Like steam and ice—it was the oddest sensation she’d ever experienced.
The scariest thing about this moment, she realized, was that she recognized this man as the law officer who had lectured her brother soundly for shoplifting a candy bar just last week. It was strange that she’d been bombarded with the same hot-cold feeling then as she was now.
Thank heavens she’d been there in the store when the incident had occurred. She’d been in such a rush to pay for the candy her brother had slipped into his pocket that she’d spilled the entire contents of her purse on the wide wooden countertop. Keys, change, pictures, a tube of lipstick had all gone astray, bouncing and tumbling out of reach.
The fact that Brian had done such a thing had been bad enough. But when the policeman arrived, she’d gone all shaky inside. She’d never been so embarrassed in her life. She’d been truly grateful that the store owner hadn’t pressed charges. And she’d been just as thankful that the officer had taken Brian aside and given him a good talking-to about the trouble he could get into by taking things that didn’t belong to him.
If the officer was showing up at her place of work, Brian must have done something horrendous. Her knees went wobbly as warm rubber.
“What’s he done now?” Trepidation made her voice raspy, and she barely made it to her chair in one piece. It felt as if all her joints had turned to rusty hinges from which the pins had been pulled. She was so glad the chair was already pulled out as she sank into it. “It must be bad if you’re coming to find me at school.”
Last week she’d been startled by how handsome the Kolheek officer was. His eyes were a deep, rich brown, his hair as black and shiny as a crow’s wing glinting in the sunshine. Parted in the middle, his hair feathered back away from his face, long enough that only the lobes of his ears were visible. His high, sharp cheekbones gave him a noble air. The sharp angle of his jaw had become even sharper, had taken on an extreme seriousness, and his dark eyes had intensified with a stern and steady stare as he’d chastised her brother outside the store.
Now, she saw, his face was just as gorgeous, his hair just as silky, but his mahogany gaze was soft with compassion.
“Hold on a second.”
His tone had gone just as gentle as his expression and he lifted his hand, palm outward, to her.
“I’m not here on business.”
Then his brow puckered and he became obviously flustered.
“Well…I am here on business but…what I mean is…”
Mild frustration made his expression rather comical, and if Gwen hadn’t been so upset by the sight of him, intimidated by his presence and that uniform, she’d have smiled. But the present situation with her brother was too overwhelming for her to see any humor in having a police officer show up at her place of employment.
She was so scared for her brother that she found herself unable to speak.
“I’m not here on police business,” he rushed to add.
Gwen felt her lips form a silent “Oh,” and she nodded. She let out her breath, not realizing before this moment that she’d been holding it.
“So if you’re not here about Brian, Officer—” her voice was still raspy “—I’m afraid I’m confused. What can I do for you?” Glancing at her wristwatch, she said, “I don’t have much time to give you right now. You see, I’m expecting a parent—”
“I’m the expectant parent.”
He shook his head when he realized what he’d said. Tipping up his chin, he tried again, “I’m the expecting parent.” The sigh he heaved was filled to the brim with aggravation. “I’m the parent you’re expecting.”
The relief that flooded through her was dizzying. She wanted to let out a sigh, so happy was she to discover that he wasn’t there about Brian. However, in the same instant, she was acutely cognizant of how flustered he was. It seemed as though he was as thrown off by their sudden reacquaintance as she.
He chuckled, one shoulder lifting in a shrug. “I’m not a complete and utter idiot, I assure you. And I do have a full working knowledge of the English language. I’m just a little nervous about…” He let the rest of his sentence fade.
She realized then that it wasn’t seeing her again that had him in such a tizzy, it was the occasion. This was probably his first parent-teacher meeting.
“You’re Charity Thunder’s father.” It was more a statement than a question, but she wanted him to know she finally was clear about who he was and what he was doing here.
Now that the situation had become a little less tangled, she felt it was her obligation to gather her wits about her and put on a professional face. However, the blatant fact that he was the cop who had chewed out her brother for breaking the law was enough to instill a hefty amount of awkwardness in her.
“Yes.” He seemed relieved to have his identity straightened out. “And I want you to know right off I don’t condone hitting. I apologize for Charity’s behavior.” He looked around the classroom. “Where is she, by the way? I thought she’d be here. I’m more than happy to show her that you and I are a united front against this kind of behavior.”
Gwen felt herself relax. She was pleased to realize this was one parent she wasn’t going to have to argue with about a student’s conduct. So often parents were unwilling to recognize or admit when their children were in the wrong.
“Charity’s with Principal Halley,” she told him. “I thought, since we didn’t get a chance to meet before school started, that today would be a good time for us to sit and chat.”
He nodded. “Well, just so you know, my daughter’s going to get an earful from me on the subject of hitting her fellow students.”
“Oh, now,” she said softly, “I think Charity realizes that she made a mistake.”
Sunlight streamed through the window, glinting off his