Page 7 of Hearts and Hidden Secrets

Della

There was one empty table at The Maysen Jar.

The table situated right beside Jeff’s.

“I, um…nice to see you again.” My hands smoothed down the skirt of my dress, then tucked twin locks of hair behind each ear. My fingers flexed, hanging in midair for a moment, searching for their next target—the puff on one of my sleeves.

Fidgeting. That was a new trick. Oh God. I hadn’t felt this nervous around a man in years. Not since those early days in college when I’d met Luka. But I’d known him for so long, the jitters that came with my crush had faded.

Was that what this was? A crush?

If only I’d spotted him earlier, I could have snuck out the restaurant’s door before he’d seen me. But there was no way I could leave now, not without seeming rude. Besides, I was starving and I’d already ordered my food.

So here I was, fidgeting.

I cast a look toward the front counter and the row of empty stools. The loner’s section. I’d wanted a table tonight, not just because I’d brought along papers to grade and wanted space to sprawl, but because I hadn’t wanted to be the only person at the counter.

So I slid into a chair at that empty table, sitting beside Jeff with a two-foot gap between our shoulders, and set down my Diet Coke. Poppy wasn’t here tonight, but the waitress was making my dinner and had promised to bring it over once it was out of the oven.

“How was the rest of your day?” Jeff asked.

“Good. Uneventful. I don’t know if my students will ever learn how to use commas correctly, but it’s become my personal challenge to get at least one kid to know the rules. Katy might just be that kid.” Rambling. I didn’t ramble. Get it together, Della.

I risked a glance Jeff’s way, taking in his profile. There was a small bump on the bridge of his nose. He had a strong chin. A soft pout. And that jaw…

Chiseled. Granite.

Yep, definitely a crush. On my student’s father. This was so, so bad.

“I wish I could offer to help Katy with the comma situation,” he said. “But I’m rather helpless when it comes to them myself. I’d do more damage than good. Math on the other hand, math I can handle.”

Why was that attractive? What was up with me and guys who liked math?

Jeff’s gaze caught mine for a brief moment before we each faced forward again.

My cheeks flamed, a mix between infatuation and the awkwardness of sitting side by side. We were like two teenage kids at a theater trying not to look at each other but so painfully aware of the other that concentrating on anything else was impossible.

“Here you go, Della.” The waitress came to my rescue, placing a tray on my table. “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, thanks.” I gave her a kind smile, then busied myself with unrolling my silverware and draping the napkin across my lap.

“First-name basis here, huh?” Jeff asked.

I shrugged. “I come here a lot.”

“This is my first time. It’s good. Very good. After Katy’s outburst today, I figured why not try it out. Then I’ll bring her here next week.”

“I saw her this afternoon on the playground. She was laughing with a group of her little friends. Like this morning’s tears never happened.”

His eyes softened, something that happened a lot where his daughter was concerned. “Appreciate you helping her. And calling me.”

“Of course.” I dug my spoon into my chicken pot pie, letting the steam escape the top crust.

The restaurant’s front door opened, a couple stepping inside. They glanced around, both searching for an empty table.

“Mind if we share a table?” Jeff asked. “Free one up?”

“Not at all.” This would be better, right? At least we could face each other.

Jeff shifted his dinner, moving it to my table before he took the chair opposite mine.

Our gazes locked. That heat in my cheeks spread.

Nope, this was worse. Much, much worse. Now it felt like we were on a date.

Whatever. We’d survive a quick meal and then I’d go home. The papers I’d grade at the dining room table. If I was lucky, Luka would be gone when I got there. He’d mentioned possibly going to the gym.

I took a bite, still too hot but I let it scald my tongue anyway.

Jeff opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then must have decided against it because he took a bite of his mac ’n’ cheese.

“I eat alone a lot,” I blurted as he chewed. “I think I’m out of practice sharing a table with someone.”

He swallowed, nodding. “Same. My only dinner companion these days is Katy. And she usually carries the conversation.”

“Then we’re doomed.”

He chuckled. It was a rumbled laugh, one that came from deep in his chest, and sounded almost as nice as the way he spoke my name.

“My roommate is the chatty one at my house. Luka.” Apparently, even with a burned tongue, the rambling wasn’t going to stop. “He came into the classroom earlier as you were leaving. He teaches math. Katy will probably have him next year. He has an affinity for pop quizzes.”

“Noted.” Jeff took another bite.

“Luka and I actually went to college together. We’ve been friends for years and were both lucky to get a job in the Bozeman school district.”

Wait. Why the hell was I talking about Luka?

He was part of the reason I’d come here tonight. The last place I wanted to be right now was at home with a Luka who was acting not like Luka.

Right as Jeff had been leaving my classroom earlier, Luka had come in and given me a hug. Luka hadn’t hugged me in a year. The most affection he showed me was the occasional high five or fist bump.

I’d shrugged him off, not something I’d ever thought I’d do, but he’d been acting so…strange. Guilty. That hug attempt had felt a lot like a farce. A plea for forgiveness.

Luka’s blond had come over again last night. Like the time before, he hadn’t even bothered with an introduction before whisking her off to his bedroom.

I’d made the mistake of staying home, sequestered in my room, knowing exactly what was happening in his bedroom. Well, not tonight. I’d left before there was even a chance at an encounter.

I dug my spoon into my jar, about to take a bite, but noticed Jeff’s jars were empty. While I’d been blathering about Luka, he’d inhaled his food to get the hell away from this table.

Well, it wasn’t awkward anymore. We’d skipped to sheer mortification.

“Sorry,” I whispered at the same time he said, “I eat fast.”

“Pardon?”

Jeff gestured to his empty jars. “I eat fast. My boss told me once there wasn’t a limit on the number of times I could chew.”

Relief coursed through my veins, the air rushing from my lungs. So he wasn’t trying to make a fast escape. He just ate fast. “Oh.”

“How long have you been a teacher?” He relaxed deeper in his chair, showing no signs of leaving.

“About five years,” I told him, letting my shoulders fall away from where they’d crept toward my ears. “I graduated from MSU when I was twenty-two, but there weren’t any positions open at the time so I subbed for a year before I got hired on at the middle school full-time.”

Bozeman was one of the fastest growing communities in the country. People flocked to this area of Montana, wanting to escape big-city life but also wanting the comforts that came with a town large enough for a Costco, Target and UberEATS.

With the influx of residents, the city had built three new schools in the past five years. The teacher who’d had my classroom before me had opted to move into the bright, shiny new middle school.

Fine by me. I didn’t need bright and shiny.

“Are you from here?” Jeff asked.

“No, I grew up in Prescott. It’s a small town about an hour from here. Ever been?”

“I haven’t.”

“It’s worth a trip if you and Katy ever feel like getting out of town. My parents still live there, so I visit fairly often.”

“Didn’t want to get a job teaching there?” he asked.

“I thought about it, but it’s hard to get a job in Prescott. There just aren’t enough positions, and the English teacher there is in her thirties with no current plans to retire or move.”

Prescott would always be home, though every year I spent in Bozeman, it felt more and more like mine. “What do you do?”

“I’m a landscape designer at Alcott Landscaping.”

“Any projects around town that I’d recognize?”

“Maybe. Most of what we do is residential. But you know that park next to the new brewery off Oak?”

My jaw dropped. “You did that?”

“Turned out nice.”

Nice? That park was stunning.

Jeff had incorporated these antique elements into the flower beds, from wagon wheels to an old bicycle to a rusted pickup with blooms teeming from its windows and truck bed.

The walkways were cobblestone, charming and delightfully imperfect so people couldn’t race along the path but were forced to slow down.

To take deliberate steps. To appreciate the riot of colorful blooms and their sweet scents.

It was a park where lovers went to stroll. Where old friends met to reconnect.

“You’re very talented,” I said.

He lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. Mostly, I love my job. Don’t think everyone can say that, so I’m grateful.”

Hot. And humble.

Yeah, this crush was a bad idea, but who the hell could blame me?

“I have to tell you something,” I said. “You’re not at all who I expected to meet when you walked into my classroom last week.”

His eyebrows knitted together. “What do you mean?”

“Katy’s mom, um…I just had a different impression about you.”

“I see.” Understanding dawned and the confusion on his face was replaced with a frown.

Ugh. What was wrong with me? Jeff hadn’t raced for the door after he’d eaten but apparently I was trying to sabotage this meal and send him far, far away. Why had I even brought this up?

Earlier today, when Katy had called her mother a brat, Jeff hadn’t let it stand. Yet she’d dragged him through the mud to me, a stranger, without hesitation during our first meeting.

I sucked at dinner conversation. “I don’t know why I told you that. Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Appreciate the heads-up. Just wish I could say I was surprised.”

“You don’t get along?”

He shook his head. “Wish I could say we did.”