Loving Liam (Cloverleaf #1) (10 page)

Karen looked at Rachel sympathetically and suggested, “How about I show you to the teachers’ lounge where we keep the coffee?”

Only a couple hours had passed since Mr. Anderson had unveiled his plan to Karen, but despite the shock of the initial announcement, she had clearly taken a liking to Rachel. Rachel felt the protective and motherly concern from this woman and knew was going to love working with Karen.

Chapter Eight

Liam

Liam rubbed his temples as he sat in the empty classroom, thankful school had finally ended. He had somehow survived the day, which had started out quite promising, especially for a Monday. He was still trying to absorb the fact his beloved boss and childhood principal was now leaving the school. The fact he was being replaced by a smooth Californian, someone who didn’t even know how Birch Valley operated, bothered Liam.

He shuddered as he remembered the visit Rachel had paid his classroom right after lunch. The students had been pretty receptive to her, and the respect they’d shown her made Liam proud. She was also kind to the students as she announced that she was happy to be their new principal and answered their questions, but her demeanor changed when she spoke with Liam. Tension built between them as he tried to absorb the suggestions and plans she had for the staff and the overall changes she planned to implement. He wasn’t so mesmerized by her now. The headache that had started shortly after Rachel left his classroom had pestered him for the remainder of the day.

Liam was glad work was over and decided he would try to let a lot of what Rachel said roll off his back. He knew how to teach his students and was confident that he was good at his job. He swallowed some aspirin and gathered his backpack to head home.

***

Rachel

Rachel’s feet ached as she stepped toward her car, but she overlooked the pain as the rest of her day had been pretty great and she was still riding on the leftover adrenaline. She’d met all the teachers and students, and popping into each classroom throughout the day had been fun and reminded her exactly why she had wanted this position.

Some of the staff seemed to welcome her and her ideas, but she faced opposition from a few others, and one of the fourth grade teachers in particular. His name was Liam O’Brien, and Rachel couldn’t explain the feelings that erupted inside her when she entered his domain. His students were by the far the politest group of children she had ever encountered, and the classroom was bright and colorful, yet unmistakably masculine. Large posters of important historical figures graced the walls, neatly arranged bulletin boards filled with memos and assignments stood proudly near the entrance, and the students’ desks as well as the cubbies that lined one wall were tidy and well organized. She could tell the children adored him and followed his every move and word, and Liam seemed just as wrapped up in them.

Perhaps it was Liam’s tall, lean, but muscular body as it leaned against his desk that had driven Rachel into an unexplained frenzy. He looked good dressed in comfortable jeans and a dark brown sweater, and his sandy-brown hair was in desperate need of a cut. Her stomach clenched as she recalled the relaxed way his mouth moved into a sexy smirk when she’d discussed some of her ideas with him. But she was most concerned by the jolts of electricity she felt when she looked into his green eyes. Reprimanding herself for having such thoughts about one of her staff members, Rachel decided she needed to keep her distance from Liam O’Brien.

***

Liam

Liam was sitting on his couch working on a cold bottle of beer when his phone rang.

“Hello?” he said after swallowing a mouthful of beer.

“Hi, dear. I wanted to see how work went today,” his mother said.

Liam decided he needed to answer this question carefully. “The kids were pretty happy to share everything they did over the holidays. Guess what? Mr. Anderson held a staff meeting today with some pretty exciting news.”

“Oh? What was the big announcement?”

“He’s retiring, if you can believe it.”

“Wow. I have to say, though, I’m not really that surprised, to be honest. When will he be leaving the school?”

“That’s the strangest thing. He had this planned out for a while. He will gone by the end of the week,” Liam answered as he thought of Rachel Montgomery, his new boss.

“No way. So they already found a replacement, then?” His mother’s voice raised with surprise.

Liam wasn’t certain he should tell her who the replacement was after how much she had pestered him about the newcomer during the holidays. He decided to be as vague as possible. His mother would find out soon enough, anyway, and he simply didn’t feel like hearing any more about Rachel right now.

“Yeah, the district apparently did some interviews, so the new principal will be taking over by next week.” Liam tried to sound as casual as possible.

“Well, I’m stunned Karen didn’t mention anything to me.” His mother sounded puzzled. “Funny too, because I just ran into her when she was at the grocery store the other day.”

“Apparently she didn’t know anything about it. I guess Mr. Anderson decided to keep it all pretty quiet,” Liam replied.

“That explains that, I suppose. That darn man has been at that school forever. Still, I’m quite shocked he didn’t say anything, at least to Karen.”

Liam knew full well why Mr. Anderson had kept his plan to himself. If he had told Karen, then she would have shared that information with Mary O’Brien, and in no time the entire town would know everything down to the very last detail.

“I guess he didn’t want everyone to make a big fuss. But it’s too late for that. Karen is now fully planning a retirement party for him. I bet she will be calling you today, Mom,” Liam added before he took another swig of his beer.

“Oh, well, that will be fun. Maybe I should give her a call and volunteer. Okay, dear, I better let you go. Love you.” His mother hung up before he could respond.

Liam spent the rest of the evening going over his lesson plans and flipping the channels on his TV. He found concentrating difficult as his brain kept sending him glimpses of Rachel. The blueness of her eyes as she had stared at him as if trying to read his thoughts, the soft flesh of her lips as she bit down on them in nervousness, and the way her slacks fit against her petite body. He didn’t understand why he felt an attraction to her. She wasn’t his type at all. Not that he had a type lately, but he knew a snotty Californian definitely was not what he had in mind. He was just glad his mother didn’t know about the new so-called principal. He was having a hard enough time trying to wrap his own mind around her.

***

Rachel

Dressed in her warmest pair of sweatpants and a fuzzy pair of socks, Rachel stretched out on her couch and wrapped her throw around her as she turned the page of her book. She stared at the words, not comprehending any of them, as her mind kept drifting back to the events of the day. Her house was so still and quiet, and she wasn’t used to complete silence. Back home, she would hear cars passing by on the busy boulevard or the random thumping of neighbors living their lives next door. She skimmed over the page a second time before she laid the book down in her lap. Her phone buzzed loudly, the vibration startling her, and she felt underneath her legs for it. Her couch was always swallowing her phone.

As Chelsea’s image popped up on the screen, she felt an overwhelming desire to tell her best friend all about her first day.

“Hi, Chelsea,” Rachel chirped.

“Hey, lady, I wanted to see how today went,” Chelsea said.

“It went pretty well, actually,” Rachel said as she sat up on the couch. “The school’s a little older but has this beautiful mural when you walk in. There is also this awesome secretary named Karen, and she’s really sweet and nice.”

Chelsea listened intently as Rachel told her about
meeting the soon-to-be former principal and the rest of the staff.

“So you liked it, huh?” She sounded a little disappointed.

Rachel frowned, knowing her friend had hoped her first day at work was a major disaster so that Rachel would move back home.

“I did. There is so much I think I can do at this school. But one of the fourth grade teachers didn’t seem to be too interested in some of my ideas,” Rachel said cautiously, hoping Chelsea wouldn’t pick up on anything odd in her tone.

“Really? What is he, some kind of old jerk or something?” Chelsea sounded annoyed.

“Well, I wouldn’t go as far as saying that. Maybe he just needs to warm up to the idea that I will be taking over. Apparently, the guy who is the principal now has been there forever. So everyone is pretty used to him, and I think they were a little shocked that he’s going to finally retire. He didn’t even tell anyone he was leaving, let alone that he hired me.”

“Wow, no way! Yeah, maybe they all just have to adjust to the new sheriff in town.” Chelsea laughed, causing Rachel to giggle “So what’s this teacher like, the one giving you a hard time?”

“He’s not giving me a hard time—well, not yet anyway. His students seem to love him, and he’s great with them. All the teachers are real fond of him too. I guess he grew up here, and so his family lives here and whatnot. Karen, the nice secretary, speaks highly of him, so I’m sure we’ll learn to get along fine,” Rachel assured her friend, even as thoughts of Liam curled into the deepest parts of her mind, sending an odd tingle down her spine.

“Your voice sounds weird, Rachel. Oh God, is he, like, super-hot?” Chelsea asked suspiciously.

Rachel gulped. “Um, he’s fairly good-looking. He could really use a haircut, though. He’s one of those super-laid-back types, a ‘wears jeans instead of dress slacks’ kind of teacher.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s why your voice got all weird,” Chelsea teased.

“Good grief, my voice didn’t get all weird, Chelsea. You’d probably think he’s cute, but he’s part of my staff, and honestly the guy was a little annoying.”

“Whatever. I bet he’s hot, and I hope you’ll introduce me when I come up for a visit,” Chelsea said, and Rachel felt a sliver of jealousy she couldn’t understand.

“Sure, of course I’ll have you meet him. I don’t even know if he’s single or anything about him. So how’s the weather there?” she asked, quickly changing the subject. “It’s pretty cold here, but it didn’t snow yesterday or today.”

“It was gorgeous today. I got in a good run down by the beach. Are you able to run or anything there? Do they have a gym?”

Rachel was relieved when Chelsea didn’t press her any further about Liam. “My house is right across the street from this little park, and so when the weather is better, I think I’ll run there. But yeah, they do have this small gym, not too far away from my house, so I’ll probably join eventually. I haven’t even been here a whole week and have been so busy unpacking.”

Chelsea let out a loud sigh. “Well, you should have hired someone to help decorate and unpack. I don’t understand why you feel the need to do everything yourself. As for working out, girl, please don’t let yourself go.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. Chelsea was extremely self-conscious and spent most of her free time grooming or working out to perfect her already amazing body. Chelsea, however, sculpted her body with liposuction, implants, fillers, and injections, all of which were commonplace for where they lived. She was also constantly encouraging Rachel to try one of the latest diet fads she’d read about. Rachel couldn’t understand why Chelsea was in constant pursuit of changing herself. She looked great, and judging by the obvious stares and gawking she got from the opposite sex, they would agree. As for herself, Rachel tried to eat right, and she enjoyed jogging and hiking, but she didn’t feel the need to constantly buy in to the whole “workout routine and gym membership” nonsense. Luckily, Rachel was naturally thin with an athletic, petite build, but she lacked curves.

Right now, she couldn’t help but wonder what Liam would think of her best friend. Shooing away those thoughts, she returned her attention to their conversation.

Her friend chattered on, going into detail about a lunch she had shared with a mutual friend, and Rachel strained to remain focused. Feigning exhaustion, she told Chelsea she would give her a call the following day, and they hung up shortly thereafter.

Nightfall draped across the little town of Birch Valley, and the air was cold beneath the star-studded, clear sky. A bright moon spotlighted the snow-capped mountains that surrounded the area.

***

Snow had formed into hardened, sparkling white mounds overnight, which the early-morning plows had shoved to the sides of the roads in dirty, black piles. Rachel was not impressed with the ugly sight as she drove to the school, but it wasn’t going to dampen her mood. Today, she was feeling more confident and self-assured. She’d opted for pants again, this time deep mocha slacks paired with a soft, cream-colored, cashmere sweater. Finding she had extra time this morning, because her alarm had actually gone off at the correct time, she put a little more effort into her makeup and hair. Still, she wasn’t sure why she fussed with her appearance today. She had no plans to engage in any type of personal relationship, let alone with one of the teachers. Maybe the talk with Chelsea the night before had left her feeling a little insecure. Either way, she felt great now, and after locating a parking spot near the front of the school, she got out of her car and walked inside with a sense of purpose and high hopes for the day.