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e’s been MIA in Miami for a while now.”
“Speaking of missing...” Will said. “Donovan, what’s going on with your search for the next spokesmodel?”
Now was not the time to discuss work. Donovan heaved a heavy sigh and tugged British closer to him. “I had a great idea. Didn’t I?”
“Not on your life, buddy,” said British.
Zoe squealed and clapped her hands. “That would be so perfect. British, with your pageant background, you’d be perfect.”
“I am a professional STEM teacher,” British declared.
“I majored in chemistry—” Zoe shrugged “—and it’s time to show the world that girls can dominate the science lab and the runway at the same time.”
For a breath of a second, British bit her bottom lip, giving Donovan a sliver of hope that Zoe’s motivational point of view might work. “As I told Donovan before, I can’t very well sell makeup to impressionable girls.”
Will snorted as if offended.
A protective surge electrocuted Donovan’s veins. “She is an awesome teacher,” he said. “She could teach you a thing or two.”
“Can she teach me how to find the perfect cover girl?” Will asked and shrugged. “You know what? I’ll just go with the original plan and hire—”
Thankfully a group of teenagers playing tag ran past them, shutting Will up before Donovan did so with his fist. He didn’t want Tracy’s name mentioned and ruining this great day. Parents moved from store to store with packages in their hands. Children ran around unsupervised. What a difference between raising kids in a metropolis city and a small town like this one. Or living in a warm environment like the Woodburys’ home.
An elementary-aged child skipped by, licking the chocolate frosting right off the top of a cupcake. The dollop fell to the ground and his tears began to flow. While Donovan looked around for the boy’s mother, British knelt to soothe him. “Let’s get you another one,” British said and looked up at Zoe. “Want to come with me? We can go say hi to Maggie.”
“And get this kiddo another scoop of frosting for his cupcake, huh?” Zoe bent over and tweaked the little boy’s nose.
British reached for Zoe’s hand, stopping to flutter her lashes at Donovan. His heart swelled and slammed against his chest at the thought of him having to leave eventually; the last thing he wanted was to be separated from her.
“So they’re just going to walk off with someone’s kid?” Will asked and shook his head. “We should call the police and let them handle it.”
“British is a well-known teacher here in Southwood,” Donovan explained. “She grew up here and I am willing to bet anything she knows the kid’s parents.” Just then, Mrs. Fitzhugh walked by and waved, calling Donovan out by name. “Everyone knows everyone around here.”
With a side eye glance, Will hummed. “Mmm-hmm. Well, I’ll never get used to that in Miami. Maybe in our grandparents’ neighborhood.”
“Speaking of,” Donovan said. “How was Thursday with Grandma Naomi?”
“Traditional as usual,” Will replied. “Catered dinner served at exactly one and a football game between us and the anti-cousins.”
The anti-cousins were the group of relatives who’d tried to break the company up and start their retirements forty years early. Donovan was pretty sure it must have been an awkward holiday meal.
“We worked out our aggression during the game,” Will said with a gloating laugh.
While the Woodburys played football, too, with just one casualty, Tom, Donovan could only imagine the carnage on the Ravens property. What he liked about the Woodburys was being able to play a good game and having fun.
A cool breeze blew but the new fond memories of British and her family kept him warm.
“Wow,” Will gasped, breaking Donovan out of his trance as he watched British walk away. “You got it bad.”
Without turning his head, Donovan cut his eyes at his brother. He reached out and grabbed Will by the shoulder, squeezing his clavicle. “Yes.”
Chapter 10
The end of the Thanksgiving season kicked off the winter celebrations, as well as brought back Ramon and Kenzie Torres from their vacation at his family home. British thanked her friends for opening up Magnolia Palace to everyone with a basket of muffins and gossip. Kenzie was ecstatic to learn about a potential relationship between British and Donovan, knowing her matchmaking scheme had worked out for the better. The end of the fall season also brought British back to some rushed normalcy in her life. The GRITS girls were able to move back into their homes. The school doors opened up again and British went back to her life. The only difference this time was that Donovan still lingered...and she didn’t mind. Even though she felt empty without him around as much, she had to get back to her regularly scheduled life.
Southwood also kicked off the start of the Christmas holiday by decorating the town tree. There were a few more weeks until school let out for the three-week winter break and a lot more lessons to get through in the classroom. To top it all off, tonight was the big STEM competition for the Christmas Advisory Council. All the girls’ hard work over the last two weeks was about to pay off.
For Donovan, the last two days had been busy working with Will to find the next face for Ravens Cosmetics. British knew she’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel a twinge of jealousy at sending Donovan over to Grits and Glam Gowns.
