And, if for nothing else, Rafe knew that his decision to come to the Coleman School had been the right one. He had no regrets.
CHAPTER TEN
What the heck was the matter with Rafe Kent? Why was he ignoring her? Anya shook her head, totally annoyed. But it wasn’t Rafe she was annoyed with. It was with herself.
Because he was doing exactly what she wanted, wasn’t he? He was staying away from her and that was exactly what any sane woman in her situation would want. Except that, apparently, she wasn’t sane. Not anymore, anyway. She couldn’t be, if the more aloof he became the more she wanted him. But why should she want a man like Rafe when she knew exactly what his type was like?
“How dumb can you get?” she muttered to herself and then, ignoring her own reprimand, she walked across the room to where Claire Rosner sat at her desk in the staff room.
“So Claire,” she said as she stood there clasping her hands in front of her, wondering how best to broach the subject, “uhm, how are things working out in your classroom? I haven’t seen your assistant today. How’s he managing with the babies?”
Claire looked up from her papers and her face broke into a warm smile. “Everything’s going splendidly,” she gushed. “I couldn’t have asked for a better assistant.”
Curious, Anya raised her brows. “What do you mean?”
“I tell you, Anya, Rafe is a dream with the children and especially with a special one who’s going through some personal challenges.” Her face turned serious. “It’s so sad but he recently lost his father. It’s been tough on the little one but Rafe has taken him under his wing. You should see the positive impact he’s made on Albert in the short space of only two weeks.”
“Really? What did he do?” For some reason Anya couldn’t picture Rafe as the type to relate to a grief-stricken child.
“He's been exceptional with the children,” Claire said, “and especially with Albert. So tender and caring. The way he works with him, paying attention to him every step of the way, you would think the child was his own. One day he’s going to make a wonderful father. I have no doubt about that.”
“Oh, really.” Anya said the words slowly, in a soft, distracted whisper as her mind absorbed what Claire had just said. Rafe? The type to make a good father? Had Claire really seen that in him? She was finding that hard to believe. “And the little one who lost his father, is he all right now?”
Claire shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t say that, but he’s doing a lot better than he was when he just got here. Rafe is slowly drawing him out of his shell, getting him involved in class activities. He even came up with the idea of giving him responsibilities in the classroom and we’ve seen some good results from that. Now he tells the other children he’s Rafe’s helper.” She chuckled. “That’s what Rafe calls him. His little helper elf.”
Anya was nodding slowly again, the words sinking in. Claire was usually good at reading people and she’d spent the past two weeks working with Rafe so it made sense to pay attention to what she was saying about him. The only problem was, this picture was not gelling with the one she’d formed in her head. Which one was right? Or could he be both?
When Anya glanced back at Claire there was a curious look in the older woman’s eyes. “Are you all right, dear?” she asked. “You look like something’s on your mind.”
“No, nothing.” Anya tried to look nonchalant. “So where’s Rafe?” she asked, her tone deliberately casual.
“Oh, he’ll be back soon. By late afternoon,” Claire said as she sat back in her chair, folded her arms and looked up at Anya. “I sent him to that half-day retreat they’re having for new recruits. He shows real promise as a teacher. I think the session will be good for him.” She was speaking casually but in her eyes was a knowing look that made Anya glance away. She had no intention of letting Clairvoyant Claire read her mind.
“Well, I’ll catch you later,” she said, making ready to escape. “I’ve got some things to finish up before I go.”
When she was safely back at her own desk Anya opened the drawer and pulled out her sticky notepad. On the top sheet she wrote one simple sentence, ‘Can we talk’, signed her name and ripped the paper off the pad. Then before she could chicken out she folded it and, coolly and casually, she walked to the other end of the staff room, acting like she’d gone over there to have a look out the window. Making sure no one was looking, especially Mrs. Know-It-all Claire, she slipped the paper onto Rafe’s desk and shifted his Berlin Wall paper weight on top of it. Then cool as cucumber she sauntered back to her desk, sat down and pretended to be absorbed in the lesson plans she’d been working on.
Soon, though, she wasn’t pretending. She became so caught up in what she was doing that she didn’t notice the passing of time and it was only when she heard heavy, unmistakably male footsteps across the room that she looked up from her work. Immediately, her heart jerked.
It was Rafe, back from his off-campus meeting, looking so serious, so handsome and…so distant. He walked right by her desk and even as she gazed up at him all he spared her was a curt nod.
Anya dropped her gaze then bit her lip. Talk about embarrassing. Here she was, eager to see this man – stupidly eager, if she should admit it to herself – and he, on the other hand, hardly even noticed. He might have had an interest before but he’d gotten over it pretty quickly. That much was obvious. Painfully so.
And now, as if that weren’t bad enough, he would go to his desk and find her note. And how would he react to that? Would he crumple it and throw it in the bin or, even worse, would he laugh? Anya cringed at the thought. Feeling mortified even though it hadn’t happened yet she began to pack up her papers, ready to stuff them into her shoulder bag. She would finish her work at home. She couldn’t stay there a minute longer.
And before she left she wouldn’t even look over at him. If she saw him laughing at her or saw even just a smirk on his face she would never live it down. Before it came to that she would just slip out and hope he would forget she’d ever written him that stupid note. Oh, why had she been so-
“Yes. How's this evening for you?”
Anya gasped and her head jerked up. Rafe was standing there, right beside her desk and he was smiling down at her.
“Yes?” she whispered, not knowing what else to say.