Loving Liam (Cloverleaf #1) (13 page)

Chapter Ten

Rachel

The rest of the week scooted by without incident. Rachel noticed Liam was keeping his distance, which was fine by her. She was able to concentrate a whole lot better when he wasn’t around. Hearing him laugh at something that someone was telling him and seeing him smile at the students who raced around him was hard enough. Regardless of how much he seem to irritate her, he had an odd magnetism, and it kept drawing her in.

On Friday,
she filled her favorite mug with the last remaining coffee in the pot, only to turn and find Liam standing nearby, mug in hand, looking irritated.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I can get another pot started,” she said as she held the empty coffeepot out.

“No, it’s fine,” Liam replied, but Rachel could tell it was anything but fine.

She set the empty pot down and slipped past him as she inhaled his masculine cologne—spices mixed with notes of pine.

Megan brushed past Rachel, giving her a sickly sweet smile as she reached out to Liam.

“Oh no, we’re out of coffee. I know how much you love that, Liam.” Megan pouted, her full lips curved downward.

“Yeah, it would seem so. Oh well,” Liam replied before refilling his water bottle instead.

“You want me to start another pot?” Megan said in a sugary voice as she batted her lashes.

Rachel mentally rolled her eyes as she escaped the room. That woman annoyed the crap out of her. The whole sweet-and-sexy bit was getting pretty old. Maybe Rachel should have Karen draw up a memo about implementing a new dress code policy, she thought and smiled to herself.

***

The day had ended, and as the last of the students went home for the weekend, Rachel wandered the halls, looking for any stragglers and securing the exits. Along the way, she strolled down a hallway that housed the third, fourth, and fifth grade classes. As she passed Liam’s classroom, she glanced through the half-open door and spotted him erasing the large green chalkboard with his shirt rolled up to his forearms. She peered in, watching him swirl the eraser as the chalk dust floated lightly around him like a mist. He seemed to be deep in thought as he scrubbed the board, and she was mesmerized by the strokes of his well-toned arms, his fixed gaze, and the shadow of stubble covering his strong jawline. Pulling herself away, she picked up her pace in hopes he wouldn’t catch her staring at him. Not looking where she was headed, she collided into someone.

“Oh God, I’m sorry,” Rachel stammered, turning to the person she’d just run into.

“That’s okay.” The high pitch of Megan’s voice seared Rachel’s ears.

Of course she would run into Megan of all people, Rachel thought as she tried to excuse herself.

Megan moved in front of Rachel, holding her hostage in conversation. “So how are you getting on here? Sure is a great school, isn’t it? Filled with all sorts of wonderful students and
people
.”

“Yes, everyone has been great,” Rachel answered, running her fingers nervously through her cropped hair. She had cut it short after a terrible breakup a couple of years ago and now felt very aware of the missing tresses while looking at Megan’s brown hair that cascaded in waves past her squared shoulders.

Megan placed a hand on her curvy hip and pointed to Liam’s classroom. “I’m so lucky to be on the same fourth grade team as Liam. The kids love him. He’s going to help me with some of that state testing curriculum you outlined for us.” Her voice continued to grate on Rachel’s nerves.

“Oh, that’s awesome. I’m glad to hear he’s going to start following the curriculum, especially as I know he wasn’t a big fan of some of the ideas I had.” Rachel was a little jealous that Liam was going to be spending his time with Megan, who, she imagined, had plans for him that did not include going over the new testing pamphlet Karen and Rachel had handed out the previous day.

“Yeah, I look forward to really going over the material with him.” Megan’s eyes sparkled mischievously.

I bet you are
, Rachel almost said. Catching herself, she asked, “So will you be attending the retirement party this Saturday?”

“Of course. Mr. Anderson has been such a great principal here. We all just adore him, especially Liam,” Megan added, smoothing her taut skirt.

“Well, I look forward to seeing you there this weekend. I’ll be assisting Karen and Mary O’Brien at the party,” Rachel said, hoping Megan would pick up on the slight dig. She didn’t know why she felt the need to drag his mother into this little spat, if you could even call it that, but Rachel wasn’t stupid. She knew Megan’s intent was to get under her skin—to mark her territory, so to speak. Rachel mentally kicked herself for getting drawn into her scheme.

“I see. Well, that’s nice. When did you meet Mary? Isn’t she just the loveliest woman? So much like Liam, isn’t she?” Megan’s voice became pitchy.

“Yes, she’s great. She and I have some plans to get together soon.” Rachel didn’t elaborate. She just wanted to plant that little seed of worry in Megan’s mind.

Megan’s face contorted in confusion. “Oh, really? That’s thoughtful of her. She must have felt bad that you don’t really have any friends here,” she said sweetly as she stared directly into Rachel’s eyes.

Rachel’s jaw tightened. “Well, I better let you go. I need to lock up the exit down here.” She pointed to the end of the hallway. Megan’s last comment had stung a little, and she wanted to go lick her wounds.

***

Liam

Liam heard talking outside his door and realized he had forgotten to shut it after one of his students had returned to fetch their backpack. He finished wiping down the board, then rubbed his hands on the front of his jeans, leaving a trail of chalk dust on the denim. He grabbed his coat and backpack, turned off his light, and shut the door. As he locked up, Megan sprung out of what appeared to be nowhere.

“Hi, Liam, finally getting out of here?” she asked as she moved in uncomfortably close, making it hard for him to concentrate.

“Yeah, you too?” he replied. As he tried to put a little space between them, Megan inched closer, not allowing much air to pass between their two bodies.

“So what do you have planned tonight?” her voice turned breathy. They were almost touching now.

“Actually, I need to stop by my brothers’ shop before they close. Sorry.” Liam was thankful his brain had enough sense and blood flow to come up with an excuse.

“Well, if you want to maybe hang out later, give me a call.” Megan licked her already moist lips, adding to their sheen.

“Yeah, for sure. Thanks, though,” Liam said politely as he maneuvered away from her.

Liam practically jogged to his truck and was tempted to lock the door once he was inside the cab. Good grief, that woman came on strong. He turned the key in the ignition and drove over to the O’Brien Construction shop to see if his brothers were around.

As Liam pulled up to the large metal building, which was just off Main Street, he saw that the work truck was outside. He parked on the street and walked into the shop.

“Hey, guys?” he called.

The large shop was divided into several sections. The front had a counter and behind it a small desk their receptionist used during the day. There were two fairly small offices to the side of it, one for each of his brothers. The bigger of the two was Patrick’s office and used to be their father’s. A larger part of the shop housed some of their supplies and tools, and an additional but smaller garage outside stored more equipment.

Liam heard someone coming and smiled as Daniel entered from the shop, wiping his hands on a work towel. He had a smudge of dirt on his cheek.

“Liam, how’s it going, buddy?”

“Pretty good. You guys about to close up? Was thinking maybe we could grab something to eat or maybe a beer,” Liam offered as he leaned against the counter.

Patrick rounded the corner right as Daniel was about to answer. “Hey, haven’t seen you in a while,” he said. “How did the first week back at school go?” Patrick had a grin on his long face, as though he knew a secret he was dying to share.

“It was a ‘thank God it’s Friday’ kind of week, I guess you could say. Anyway, I was seeing if you guys wanted to grab a beer or something to eat,” Liam said, steering the conversation away from his job.

“I hear ya. I could go for a beer,” Daniel said as he continued wiping the grease off his hands.

“I’ll call Mom and let her know and see if she minds keeping the boys a little longer,” Patrick added, pulling his cell phone from his pocket.

Liam was glad he could spend some much-needed time with his brothers. And an ice-cold beer and maybe a good ol’ bacon cheeseburger with it would hit the spot.

After Patrick confirmed that Mary would love to keep the boys a little longer, the three men ventured out for dinner. They decided the best place for beer and a burger would be Antlers, a rustic bar and grill that got its name from the moose and elk antlers covering its walls. The hole-in-the-wall restaurant was located just off the main street, near both the community radio station and the O’Brien shop. The lighting was low, and the booths were shielded by darkened windows, and overall, it was a great place to go to seek refuge from your troubles.

Antlers was fairly busy, as it usually was on Friday night. All the pool tables were occupied and most of the seats at the bar were taken when the three brothers walked in. One of the bartenders waved at them, and Liam and Daniel returned the wave as they led Patrick to a booth at the rear of the bar, away from the pool tables and dart area. Daniel let Liam scoot in first, then slid in next to him while Patrick sat opposite them.

Daniel inhaled deeply and said, “Smells good in here tonight.”

“Yeah, I’m starving. What are you guys getting?” Liam asked as he scanned over the simple, laminated, double-sided menu.

Patrick looked thoughtful. “I think I’m going to go with the halibut, actually. Maybe some rattlesnake skins too.” Rattlesnake skins were onion rings with a spicy batter, and they came with an even hotter dipping sauce.

“That sounds good, but I think I’m more in the mood for their bacon cheeseburger,” Liam said as he sat his menu down.

“Dang, both sound really good, but I think… hmm…” Daniel was lost in deciding what to eat when a waitress approached.

Daniel ordered the bacon cheeseburger as well, after making Patrick promise to give him a bite of his halibut. Once the waitress wrote down everything the guys wanted, she left them with a pitcher of beer to start working on.

“So I hear you guys got a new principal,” Patrick said nonchalantly, fiddling with his paper napkin.

“Yeah, Mom tell you?” Liam replied before taking a swallow of the cold beer and enjoying the sensation of the foam trickling down his throat.

“She mentioned it. She also mentioned she’s quite pretty.” Patrick grinned.

Daniel seem to perk up. “That’s so weird that Mr. Anderson’s going to finally retire.” He turned toward Liam. “So what’s up with this new one?”

“There’s really not a whole lot to tell. She’s okay, I guess, but she’s only been here a week and she’s already trying to change everything.” Liam then explained how Rachel had visited each teacher on her first day to explain her plans, then gave the staff a thick pamphlet of material to go over a few days later.

“Wow, so she’s pretty hardcore? Wonder why she wants to change so much stuff there,” Daniel said.

“Money, numbers, you know, everything besides actually teaching the kids,” Liam said hastily. He suspected her emphasis on state testing and improving the school’s ranking was one of the reasons the district had hired her.

“You know, it’s hard being in charge, and she’s probably trying to get everyone to take her seriously,” Patrick said. “Especially with her being a woman, and a young, attractive one at that. But it’s hard coming into a new place and having to set the rules.”

“Oh good God, not you too,” Liam blurted.” Mom already said the same crap when I complained to her. You know, she’s the same one that cut me off when I came to meet you guys for breakfast.”

Both Patrick and Daniel stared at him, clearly surprised by his outburst.

“She
is
cute, then,” Daniel confirmed playfully as the waitress carried their food over.

“Yeah, also heard she took your parking spot at the school too,” Patrick said, adding insult to injury.

“No way,” Daniel exclaimed as he took apart his burger to add some salt and pepper to the patty.

“She didn’t know, I guess. Just like she probably doesn’t realize I was the one she cut off at Herrick’s. But something about her just irritates me.” Liam reassembled his cheeseburger after adding some ketchup and mustard to it.

Patrick dipped his beer-battered halibut into the restaurant’s famous homemade tartar sauce, letting out a sigh of approval. “This fish is awesome.”