AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks,” he said. “I’m a teacher and my students wouldn’t appreciate it if their work got lost or damaged.”
“I imagine not. What grade?”
“Fifth. They still have a hint of innocence at that age. I get fewer wisecracks than when I taught older students.”
“That sounds nice.”
“It is. By the way, I’m Barton Smith.”
“Chelsea Masters. I’m staying in Nicole’s guesthouse for a while.”
Barton was attractive, with broad shoulders, brown hair and blue eyes. He looked as if he was in his midthirties.
“Then we’re neighbors. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Same here.”
He started toward his house, before stopping and looking back at her. “Say, would you like to go out to dinner or a movie this weekend?”
“Sure. Oh, that is… I just got here and I don’t know if my brother will want to do something. He lives here, too. I probably shouldn’t make any plans. You know…while I’m getting settled. Some other time, maybe?”
She liked his smile and felt awful about her wishy-washy answer.
“Family first. I’ll check back with you.”
Barton went inside his house while Chelsea scurried up the stairs to the front door of the guesthouse apartment. Perhaps she should have explained she’d just broken up with her boyfriend and didn’t want to start dating right away. But would that imply that she thought he was especially interested in her? All he’d done was ask her on a casual outing.
Chelsea groaned and dropped onto the couch. Somehow she had to stop being such a limp noodle.
* * *
BARTON PUT HIS students’ papers in his home office and went to the kitchen to make a sandwich. His new neighbor seemed nice, just like Nicole George. He’d hardly believed his eyes when he realized she was the one who’d bought the house next door. They’d talked several times and she was always friendly and normal, quite different from how he’d imagined a supermodel would act.
He hadn’t considered asking her for a date though—it hadn’t even occurred to him to think of her that way.
Since Ellyn had walked out on their marriage two years ago, he’d pretty much kept his head down and concentrated on getting through each day. But his brother, Peter, kept saying it was time to dive into the dating scene again. Barton hadn’t been interested until seeing Chelsea Masters and the thoughtful way she’d helped save his students’ tests and other papers.
Up close he’d seen bruises on her face, visible despite her makeup, and wondered if that also had something to do with her not wanting to go out for a while.
With a mrrooow, his cat, Spike, jumped onto the kitchen island. Spike had dry food in a bowl, but preferred human chow when he could get it.
“You aren’t supposed to be there, pal,” Barton scolded absentmindedly.
Spike purred. He’d lived a hard life before showing up at the school where Barton taught. There were several notches missing from his right ear, his tail was kinked in the middle, and a dip on one side of his jaw suggested it had been broken at some point. The students had named him Spike and fed him scraps, which had led to Barton taking the little con artist home, right before the Christmas break.
Grabbing Spike and his plate, Barton headed for the office, only to discover the cat had reached out a paw and filched a slice of roast beef from the sandwich.
“Fine.”
Barton dumped the sandwich in the cat bowl and went to make another one. There was no point in getting annoyed with Spike—the cat had learned to survive any way he could. And at least he’d embraced a litter box and cushy indoor life with enthusiasm. His favorite spot to nap was a south-facing window where he could catch rays on sunny days and watch birds on the other side of the glass.
Adopting him had felt like closing the final chapter on Ellyn. She never would have tolerated an animal in the house, particularly a beat-up tomcat with the table manners of Attila the Hun.
For some reason Barton wondered how Chelsea Masters would react to Spike. She’d acted a little funny when he’d asked her out—was she trying to put him off with her excuse, or was he just being too sensitive? He didn’t want to get seriously involved with anyone right away, but an occasional dinner or other outing would be nice—eating a meal with Spike just wasn’t the same as eating with a human being.
