She took off before he could do something really dangerous, like put his arm around her. That would probably get her to babbling like a starstruck fan.
It was the strangest thing. Usually people made her nervous when she first met them. Over time, the feeling went away. With Raoul, it was the complete opposite. She was more tense every time she saw him. At this rate, in a month, just seeing him would send her into catatonic shock. And wouldn’t that give Fool’s Gold something to talk about?
RAOUL STOOD BY THE main building and watched the kids arrive for their first day of school at his camp. The parking lot was organized chaos as teachers sorted the children into classes.
In less time than he would have thought possible, the camp had been transformed. There were desks and chairs, playground equipment, books, papers and people prepping lunch.
Dakota joined him, a clipboard in hand.
“This is great,” she said. “Like the first day of school, only better.”
“The kids would have probably enjoyed more time off.”
She laughed. “You’re right, but education is important.” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Everyone thinks you’re amazing for giving the town this place. Such a nice guy.”
“There are worse things to be.”
She looked surprised. “Most guys don’t want to be nice. It keeps them from getting the girl.”
He’d never had much trouble getting the girl. “A nice guy changed my life. Being like him would make me a happy man.”
Hawk wasn’t a pushover. He was a tough guy who did the right thing. Raoul doubted his old friend would have been fooled by Caro. The irony was Raoul had done his best to make sure he was choosing the right person. But he’d still managed to screw up.
“I need to check with a couple of teachers,” Dakota said and excused herself.
Three more cars pulled up and parked. Pia climbed out of one and waved in his direction.
She wore a dark skirt and boots. Her sweater was the color of her eyes. Not only did he notice, he found himself wanting to walk toward her. Meet her halfway. That image morphed into his mouth on hers, hands everywhere and a whole lot less clothing.
Not a good idea, he reminded himself. Pia was headed in a whole different direction. Besides, he had rules about small towns and the female residents. Pia might tempt him, but making her an exception would be a disaster…for both of them.
“Isn’t this the best?” she asked as she approached. “There was actual traffic coming up the mountain. I love it when a plan comes together.”
A bus pulled up. When the door opened, kids spilled out. One boy, skinny with bright red hair, ran over to Pia.
Raoul recognized him as the kid who had flinched when he’d tried to help the boy out of the smoky classroom. As he watched, Pia and the kid greeted each other with a complicated handshake.
“You remembered!” the boy crowed. “I knew you would.”
“It’s our thing,” Pia told him with a laugh. “You’d better get to class. Have fun.”
“I will.”
He turned and ran off.
“You know him?” Raoul asked.
“Peter?” Pia shook her head. “We met Saturday at the park. He was there with his friends. Why?”
He thought about the smoke-filled classroom. Maybe Peter had been scared of the fire instead of him. Maybe he’d imagined the whole thing.
Even as his gut told him he hadn’t, he knew he wasn’t going to say anything. Not until he had more information.
“I think he was in the class where I was speaking,” he said. “When the fire started.”
“Oh. Maybe. He’s the right age.” She shifted her handbag onto her other shoulder. “What’s your calendar like over the next couple of days? Technically I still owe you a meeting.”
“How about today?”
“What time?”
“Noon. We’ll have lunch.”
She hesitated. “You don’t have to buy me lunch.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I was going to let you pay.”
She laughed. “Oh, well, in that case, sure. We’ll go to the Fox and Hound. They make a mean salad, and you look like a guy who enjoys lettuce.”
“I might surprise you.”
Something flickered in her eyes. As quickly as it appeared, it faded. She nodded.
“You might at that.”
Chapter Five
PIA LOOKED AT THE HANDSOME man sitting across from her in the restaurant and told herself to focus on business. She was here in a purely professional capacity—not to enjoy the view. Though Raoul was pretty enough to dazzle anyone.
They’d already placed their orders and their drinks had been delivered. Pia had chosen diet soda, with the passing thought that if she went ahead with the pregnancy, she could kiss her artificial-sweetener habit goodbye, at least for nine months.
“You grew up in Seattle, right?” she asked, thinking a little chitchat was in order. She was allowed to be friendly.
“Until college,” he told her.
“I’ve never been, but I’m guessing it’s nothing like Fool’s Gold.”
“It’s a lot bigger and there’s a lot more rain. Seattle has mountains, only they’re not as close.”
“Why didn’t you move back there?”
He flashed her a grin that made her pulse do a little cheer. “Too much rain for me. It’s gray a lot. I like to see the sun.” He picked up his iced tea.
“Is that why you abandoned them during college? You could have gone to the University of Washington.”
“The other offers were better and Coach thought I should get out of the state and see the rest of the country. Except for him and his wife, and my girlfriend, I didn’t have all that much I was leaving behind.”
“What about your family?”
He shook his head. “I never knew my dad. One of my brothers died when I was a kid. He was shot. My mom—” He shrugged. “I spent a lot of years in foster care.”
There was something about the way he said the words. Bad things had happened, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what. “I spent a year in the system,” she admitted. “Here.”
“You?”
“My senior year of high school. My dad died and my mom left to live with her sister in Florida. She said it would be better for me to stay here so I could graduate with my friends, but the truth was she didn’t want to be bothered.” Pia frowned. “I haven’t seen her since. She didn’t come back for my graduation and she made it clear I wasn’t welcome there. So I stayed. Went to community college for a couple of years before transferring to a four-year university. Got a job with the city when I came back.”
She forced a smile. “They tried to offer me a football scholarship, but those uniforms don’t really suit me.”
“This is your home,” he said, his dark eyes serious. “Where you belong.”
“You’re right. Every couple of years I think I should go somewhere else. L.A. or San Francisco.