Kindergarten Baby: A Novel Page 10

  Breakfast was the first order of the day, so they headed down to the Bright Angel dining room to feast upon golden pancakes and fluffy scrambled eggs. They decided to spend a leisurely day sightseeing the easy way, so Lindsey got her bus tour after all. They took the forty-six mile roundtrip tour to Desert View, and with not a cloud in the sky, they were able to see San Francisco Peaks, Painted Desert, and the Colorado River, complete with a covering of sparkling snow, enhanced by the bright sunlight.

  “It all seems too fantastic to be real,” Lindsey said softly, staring at the vastness. “I feel like I’m at Disneyland, looking at some manmade creation designed to trick my eyes. To think that this is all real is too, too awesome.”

  It was a pleasant, laid back day, with no rushing, no snowstorms, no men, and no rescues. Just a relaxing day of sightseeing and book buying at every gift shop they came upon. It was difficult to pass up a good book of just about any kind.

  “You know,” Laura said as they came out of one store, laden with books, “we could probably buy these books right in Tucson.”

  “Yes, I know. But it wouldn’t be the same. Besides, these are for my class. After we’re done with the fairy tale unit, I think we’ll study geology.” She shrugged. “Okay. Rocks and dirt. But what study of rocks and dirt would be complete without some information about our breathtaking Grand Canyon?”

  When they got back to the room, there was a note from Brad taped to the door. He requested the pleasure of their company for dinner in the Arizona Steakhouse.

  “It says to leave a message at the desk if we can’t make it. Otherwise he’ll see us at eight,” read Lindsey. “It also says that he took the liberty of inviting our new friend, Emmett. He hopes we don’t mind. Do we mind?”

  “I don’t if you don’t,” Laura replied.

  “No. As a matter of fact, I’d like him to see me with my head out of the toilet. Our initial meeting was…‌well, let’s just say it left a lot to be desired.”

  The women arrived right on time, and the men were waiting to pull out the ladies’ chairs for them. Once they were all settled, Brad poured them each a glass of wine, then raised his own.

  “A toast,” he announced. “To new friends…‌and safe hikes.”

  “Hear, hear!” his dinner companions answered.

  Dinner went without a hitch. Brad orchestrated the evening beautifully, with just the right amount of conversation and wine. Justin, the waiter, was more like entertainment than food service, and he kept them all laughing. Emmett, the hero of the day, spoke very little, but he was polite and obviously still concerned about Lindsey’s well-being.

  Lindsey liked what she saw. Emmett was a good-looking, mature man who flirted subtly with her. If he’d come on strong, she’d have run, but he didn’t, so she didn’t. She was curious about him, and all she could come up with was that he was different. Almost old-fashioned. A rare kind of man‌—‌the type that would have asked her father for permission to marry her.

  Her father had been dead for sixteen years. Her mother, too, for that matter. She tried never to think about her parentless childhood, because it opened up a floodgate of sadness. No! Not tonight! She was finally having a good time, and she was determined to fight those sad memories so she could live in this delightful moment.

  “Can I get you anything else?” asked Justin. “We’ve got dessert specials that no human has ever been able to turn down.”

  “Well, I’m afraid I’m going to be the first to ruin your persuasive dessert record, because I’m on the wagon. The dessert wagon, that is. No dessert for me,” Laura said matter-of-factly.

  “Don’t look now, my dear friend, but that infamous dessert wagon is fast approaching,” Lindsey said, laughing.

  The waiter definitely had a gift when it came to “gab.” He made chocolate pudding sound fit for a king, and the vanilla ice cream worthy of presidential gatherings. He was so entertaining; they didn’t want him to stop. “I know you lovely ladies are probably watching your…‌health, and you guys, well, you aren’t into fancy desserts.”

  “You got that right,” said Brad and Emmett together.

  Four slices of Grand Canyon Cheesecake later, Justin returned with the bill.

  “Here, let me get that,” Emmett said softly.

  “Sorry, pal.” Brad intervened, grabbing the check. “This dinner was my invention; therefore, I demand the honor of impressing the women.”

  Emmett’s laughter twinkled in his eyes. “Well, I wouldn’t want to deprive you of that opportunity. The next one’s on me.”

  “Hey, you guys like to dance?” Justin asked when he returned with the credit card receipt. “There’s gonna to be a kick-ass band over in the vehicle maintenance building, and it should be starting up any minute. It’s sort of an underground event. Just ‘Park’ people‌—‌the cool ones‌—‌and invited guests. Just say ‘The Frog sent us’ to the guy at the door, and he’ll let you right in.”

  Brad grabbed Laura’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “We’re in. Let’s go cut a rug with the ‘cool’ people.” They dashed out into the cold, snowy night, leaving Lindsey and Emmett alone together.

  Lindsey felt a twinge of anxiety. She was alone, in unfamiliar surroundings, with a man she barely knew. No longer could she tell herself this was just a group of people having dinner. Was this a date? She didn’t know. Brad had set up the whole thing, which meant Emmett might have simply come along for the ride because he had nothing better to do, or even worse, because he was merely hungry. Or had Emmett asked Brad to help him set up the evening so he could get to know Lindsey better? Perhaps he was pursuing her. She had no idea. He seemed nice, but he was at least ten years older than she was. She’d never dated an older man before.

  Emmett broke the silence. “Well, I have some writing to do, an article I need to finish so I can email—”

  “And I have some reading to do,” interrupted Lindsey. All at once she was relieved, and yet she was disappointed at the same time. “There’s so much reading and planning involved in creating a thematic unit that it’s not possible to do it all during official work hours. And I’ve learned never to read something to the kids unless I have read it first, since something inappropriate could come up,” Lindsey rambled, feeling like an awkward, inexperienced teenager.

  “May I walk you to your room?”

  Lindsey nodded, and they headed back.

  As Lindsey unlocked the huge, hand carved wooden door, she thanked him for seeing her home. “It was a nice dinner, don’t you think?”

  He hesitated, then reached for her hand. “You know, Lindsey, it was a very nice dinner. And I’ve been thinking, well, that a sweet lady like you deserves more attention. Sorry I’ve been so out of it tonight. I was just preoccupied with my article. But I want to make it up to you. Join me for a nightcap at the El Tovar Bar? I promise I’ll escort you right back here whenever you wish. What do you say?”

  She couldn’t hold back her smile, and she gladly let him lead her to the bar. She enjoyed every minute of her time with Emmett, and it wasn’t just the two glasses of wine at dinner and the snifter of warm Grand Marnier that followed. When it was time for the bar to close up, Emmett and Lindsey were the last two people to leave. Emmett escorted her home as promised, but the desk clerk stopped her on the way through the lodge.

  “I’ve got a message from your friend,” he told her, holding out a piece of paper. “She said it was important.”

  The note was from Laura, though the handwriting was barely recognizable, let alone readable. Apparently, she’d had a few cocktails.

  “Is everything all right?” Emmett asked. “What did she say?”

  “Well, I think the note says, ‘Don’t wait up. I hope you are having as much fun as I am. See you in the morning. Laura.’”

  “I’d say she and Brad hit it off very nicely. Looks like you don’t have a cabin mate this evening,” Emmett said, chuckling.

  She knew exactly what Laura’s note meant. She’d gotten lu
cky. She liked Brad and he liked her, and they were going to engage in mad, passionate sex all night long. It got her thinking. I wonder how much Emmett likes me. She liked him‌—‌of course she didn’t love him, since they’d just met. But it had been over three months since the last time she’d…I bet Anthony has had more sex in the last three months than I’ve had in my whole damn life.

  “Would you like to come in?” Lindsey asked. “There’s a complete kitchen, so I’m sure I can find something for us to eat or drink.”

  Emmett looked momentarily surprised, but his expression warmed almost immediately. “I’d like that a lot,” he said, closing the door behind him.

  He built a crackling fire while Lindsey poured wine and sliced some cheese. The setting was perfect, except now she’d really had too much to drink. The room began to spin ever so slightly, and she had difficulty stringing words together. Emmett was a perfect gentleman, though. He sensed her tipsiness, coaxed her into bed‌—‌by herself‌—‌then gave her a warm, gentle kiss on her forehead.

  “I’ll stay with you tonight, but I’ll sleep in Laura’s bed. I think you and I need to take our time and do things right. Good night, Lindsey. Sleep well.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “Miss Lindsey! I got a computer for Christmas,” shouted Emma, her smile bright as the desert sun.

  “I got a Katy Perry poster and CD,” Willy reported proudly.

  “That’s nothin’,” bragged Joseph. “I got to go to Hawaii, and my parents bought me everything I wanted. I just said, ‘I want that’ and they bought it. I got way more than eight days of Hanukah presents.”

  Harley was listening closely. “We don’t get to do Christmas or hakan…‌kanhac…‌what is it that you do, Joseph? We don’t even do birthdays. My mom says those things are bad for people, or that bad people do them. I forget which. It’s something bad, I know that.”

  “Oh, Harley, I don’t think that’s what your mom really meant,” Lindsey said gently. His mother probably had said that celebrations like Christmas were bad for people, she thought, since she had raised her five kids according to Jehovah’s Witnesses beliefs.

  “Since we are all so excited about what we did during the two week winter break, let’s write or draw about our experiences,” she suggested, moving away from Harley’s confusion. “Emma, do you want to write about your new computer?”

  “Oh, yes! It’s so cool, and I can write and draw on it, too.”

  Lindsey began a brainstorming list to assist other students in formulating their own ideas. At the top of the white board she wrote, ‘I might write about…’ and under this heading she began to write Emma’s idea.

  “I might write about…“ she reiterated, pointing at each word as she read it, “…‌my computer. I hear mmmmm at the beginning of ‘my’. What letter makes that sound?”

  “M,” many of the students said together.

  “Good,” said Lindsey. She wrote the letter ‘m’ and added the ‘y’ without any discussion. “Okay. We’ve written the word ‘my.’ Now we need to write the word ‘computer.’ Computer—what sound do you hear at the beginning of the word? Let’s all say it together.”

  “Computer.”

  “I hear ca-ca-ca,” Armando said. He was still learning to speak English and was often hesitant to answer, so Lindsey beamed with joy at his participation and risk-taking.

  “You hear ca-ca?” Bobby said with a sneer. “Then I hear doo-doo.”

  Some of the students laughed out loud while others turned and stared at Bobby, shaking their heads with disapproval. Lindsey ignored him.

  “Thank you, Armando. You are absolutely correct. What letter might make the ‘ca’ sound?”

  “The letter ‘k’,” said Connie. Others nodded in agreement, but a few looked puzzled.

  “You’re so close, Connie,” said Lindsey, exaggerating the beginning sound of Connie’s name. “The letter ‘k’ does make that sound, but it’s not a ‘k’ this time. What other letter makes that sound?”

  There was silence. She waited.

  “I’ll give you a clue. The word cat has the same beginning sound, and begins with the same letter as our word computer.”

  Now they all knew the answer and cheerfully offered, ‘c.’ Lindsey wrote the letter.

  “What other sounds do you hear in the word, computer?”

  “I hear a…‌a…‌P,” said Willy, hoping to make the other kids laugh.

  Lindsey quickly gave Willy and Bobby her rarely used ‘teacher look,’ just in case they had any intention of using this second opportunity to be a bit disgusting. The boys saw it and wisely chose to let it go.

  That first week back at school was difficult for Lindsey. Her mind wandered from the classroom back to the canyon more than she wanted to admit, and she was glad when Friday finally arrived. She wanted to talk with Laura about some of her current concerns during their almost weekly, non-alcoholic, happy hour at the Chocolate Lizard coffee house.

  Laura was only a few minutes late, and just as perky and vibrant as usual. Her endless energy amazed Lindsey. She never seemed the least bit tired at the end of the day.

  “So what’s this big secret you made me wait a whole week to hear about?” asked Laura.

  “Well, it’s not really a secret, nor is it all that big. I just needed some time to make sure about my answer to Emmett.”

  “Your answer? What was the question?”

  “Well, you remember that he is a travel writer?”

  “Yes. Yes. Get to the point.”

  “Well, he told me he had a choice of taking an assignment in the Seattle area or one in Tucson. If I want to advance our budding relationship, he said he’d take the Tucson assignment. If not, he’d proceed to Seattle with no hard feelings. He’s going to call tonight at ten o’clock for my decision.”

  “And your decision is?”

  “Well, I’m not officially divorced yet, and I still think about Anthony a lot, and I know it’s really too soon to get involved with anyone, and—”

  “And? And? Your decision? What will you say to him tonight?”

  Lindsey gripped her coffee mug, needing something to keep her hands from shaking. “I’ll tell him the truth. I’ll be honest about my situation, and if that doesn’t send him running to the Pacific Northwest, I’ll tell him that I’d love to get to know him better.”

  “Wow!” Laura’s mouth gave a mischievous grin. “You must have had a really great time with him that night I danced until dawn.”

  She smiled, remembering. “Actually, it’s not what you think. He was a perfect gentleman; just like the night he rescued us off the trail. Men like that are rare these days.” She took a sip, then looked into the mug, considering. “Who knows? Maybe he is the one for me. I don’t know that yet, but I’m willing to explore the possibilities if he comes to Tucson for a while.” She looked at Laura from the corner of her eye. “What about you? Did you and Brad make any plans? You guys were quite the pair back at the canyon.”

  Laura looked uncharacteristically serious. “No. I don’t think so,” she replied. She sipped her latte and stared blankly ahead.

  The sudden silence was more than Lindsey could bear. “So, that’s it? Goodbye and good luck? Nothing more?”

  Laura shrugged. “He’s a terrific guy. A terrific and very wealthy, great guy who’s into his own work, his family, and his independent lifestyle. He’s not interested in changing any of that. It was what it was: a great week. Nothing more, nothing less. As we said goodbye, he said, ‘Same time next year?’ and I, of course, said ‘Sure,’ knowing he was just making light conversation. A man like that could have anyone in the world. Why would he want a pixie-haired special education teacher from Tucson?”

  This was a whole new Laura she was seeing, deep in thought about herself, her love life‌—‌or the lack thereof. Her usual c’est la vie attitude seemed suppressed below layers of melancholy. Within a couple of minutes, she snapped out of it, regrouped and was back to her old self.

>   “Besides, I still want to get to know that cute, young bartender from the Coyote Café.”

  “Oh, that’s right. Ol’ what’s-his-name. Do you even know his name yet?”

  “Well, no, but I will. And soon. In fact, I’ll wager that not only will I know his name by next Friday, but he’ll ask me out by then, too. If I’m wrong, I’ll pay our next coffee tab; if I’m right—”

  “I’ll pay the next Coyote Café tab,” Lindsey said with a laugh, “though I’d expect a special friend or VIP discount.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Lindsey sat on her sofa, pretending to read as she waited for Emmett’s call. Her eyes kept straying to the clock. Ten o’clock, ten-fifteen, ten-thirty. She tried to stay positive, but memories of her naivety in the realm of romance bombarded her thoughts. Ten forty-five. He won’t call. He was never going to call because he’d been toying with her all along. He’d set her up to be hurt, but why? He barely knew her. First Anthony deceived her in the worst way possible and now this. When would she learn?

  Then the phone rang, and Lindsey jumped. She stared at the receiver, trying not to grab it on the first ring, then couldn’t manage to do it until the eighth ring. Her heart raced.

  “Hello?”

  “Lindsey?” Emmett asked. “Is that you? You sound different.”

  “Hi, Emmett. Sorry. It’s me. I was…‌baking cookies and had to run to the phone. I didn’t realize it was so late,” she lied. She didn’t want him to know that she’d been sitting there, counting each overdue minute, and feeling desperately sorry for herself.

  “Yes, it is late. I’m late. I’m so sorry. I’ll be able to explain my lateness better tomorrow. So…‌have you thought about my proposal? Should I be packing my rain gear or my sunscreen?”

  Lindsey cleared her throat, then performed the speech she’d rehearsed over and over in her head, saying she didn’t know if she was ready for a real relationship, that her divorce wasn’t final, and that she might still have some feelings for Anthony. None of this seemed to bother Emmett. He said he felt all her concerns were legitimate and normal, and nothing he couldn’t live with‌—‌at least for the time being.