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“Hey, Luke!” she called.
Dakota narrowed his eyes at her then stepped in front of Luke who had dutifully come running at her yell. “Listen, kid, if you want to work at Birch Peak Adventures someday—if you love your dear old Dakota—you will not tell Miss Greenstead what this is.” He tapped his arm.
Luke, bless him, looked around Dakota at her. The boy chewed on his bottom lip and shuffled the temporary tattoos he had in his hands as Leah raised her eyebrows in encouragement at the kid.
“Sorry, Miss Greenstead. Ireallywant to work at Birch Peak Adventures.”
“And you love your dear old Dakota.” Dakota put his hands on his hips and scowled at the boy, but the light in his eyes was nothing but playful.
“Yeah, that too.”
Leah rested her hand on Luke’s shoulder. “I understand, Luke. No worries.”
The boy raced off to compare tattoos with his buddies, and Leah had to admire his loyalty to Dakota.
“He worships you,” she said.
“And, most of the time, I have no idea why.” Shaking his head, Dakota rounded up the students and told them to circle up.
Leah wondered about that last statement. Why would Dakota think he wasn’t worthy of the boy’s admiration? Everything she’d seen here today, plus everything she’d read in Luke’s hero essay, all pointed to Dakota being a first-rate human being.
But she had her secrets. Maybe he had his own.
Starting with a tattoo he wouldn’t show her.
“Okay, everyone got two tattoos, yes?” Dakota asked as he got all the students to kneel on the ground with him.
A bunch ofyesesand head nods circulated as Leah joined the circle.
“Good, good.” Dakota grabbed the broken-off head of the unicorn and plunged his hand in there. “Sometimes… sometimes you gotta…” He made struggling sounds as he rooted around in the head. “Sometimes you have to pick the brains clean to get at the good stuff.”
“Eww…” Avery scrunched up her nose. “That’s gross.”
“Nah. Unicorn brains are full of glitter.” He pulled out two envelopes and an excited buzz flitted among the students. Waving one envelope, he said, “This goes to Avery who was the troll who found the unicorn in its hiding spot.”
The girl took the envelope and opened it. “Wow! One free family adventure! Thanks, Dakota!” She threw her arms around Dakota’s neck.
He hugged her back. “You got it, unicorn hunter.”
The students giggled and Leah wondered if Dakota had ever considered being a teacher. He was a damn natural when it came to capturing children’s attention.
Maybe it wasn’t just the children’s attention.
“And this envelope…” Dakota opened this one himself and fanned out a stack of cards. “These are coupons for a discounted adventure.” He stood and handed one to each student.
Every student gave him a thank you, a high five, or in some cases, a hug, and when he was done, he had one left in his hand. He wiggled it in front of Leah who had gotten to her feet when he was passing out the coupons.
“And this one,” he tapped her nose with it, “is for Miss Greenstead because don’t we all agree she should go on another adventure with me?”
“Yeah!” the students shouted all together.
Plucking the card from his hand, Leah tucked it in her pocket. “I’ll think about it.”
“You’ll think about it?” Dakota’s eyebrows shot up, a boyish look of hope on his face. “Really?”
She gave him a quick nod then turned to her students. “Okay, trolls, fall into line. It’s time to head back.”
Grumbles sounded, but everyone lined up and Dakota led them back toward the school. When they arrived, buses were pulling up in front as were pick-up parent cars. With a far too quick goodbye and thank you to Dakota, Leah ushered the students into the building and told them all to write about something they did today in their writer’s notebooks for homework.
