Forever With You (Bayou Dreams Book 5) Read online

  But she was tired of handing Stew excuses. And she was tired of this long, solitary drive that gave her too much time to think. Too much time to reminisce about the life she’d once led, to contemplate a future that was no longer possible.

  A familiar pain tightened Leslie’s chest.

  Never again would she witness the joy on her daughters’ faces when they hugged their dad after a year-long deployment. Never again would she rest in Braylon’s arms while they swung lazily on the porch swing and made plans for the day he reached his twenty years with the Army and was able to retire.

  This frustratingly long drive gave her too much damn time to remember. Remembering hurt too much.

  Leslie swallowed the lump of emotion bottlenecking in her throat and blew out a deep breath.

  She needed to meet with Stew. It was time she broached the subject of transferring to the office in The Woodlands, a suburb due north of Houston. She’d debated it back and forth for months, weighed the pros and cons.

  The cons were winning by a landslide.

  Aside from the upheaval that came with any major move, Leslie also knew that uprooting the girls right now would be hard on them emotionally. They were both enjoying school and their friends. Cass loved being one of the best players on her softball team, and Kristi had joined the Diamond Dolls, the adorable cheerleading squad at GEMS.

  But Leslie knew the hardest thing for the girls to endure would be leaving their aunt Shayla.

  Shayla had lived on the West Coast for two decades, seeing the girls only a couple of times before moving back to Gauthier after Braylon’s death. Since her return she had become an integral part of their family. It wasn’t just Shayla; Xavier had slipped so effortlessly into the role of being the male figure in the girls’ lives. The thought of taking Kristi and Cass away from two people who had come to mean so much to them made Leslie’s stomach hurt.

  But it was more than just her girls’ love for their aunt and uncle tying her to Gauthier. She couldn’t just pack up and leave during her term as president of the PTO, could she? And what about church? She’d been a member of the choir for eight years and had served on the finance board for three.

  Even Buster had climbed onto the list of cons. The puppy was just starting to acclimate herself. Who knew what moving to a new house would do to her.

  Yet, despite the horde of items crowding the con side of the list, there was one thing on the pro side that outweighed everything else. If she left Gauthier, then maybe she could finally, finally put these memories of Braylon behind her and move on with her life.

  Leslie knew she could not continue living this way. The memories were like quicksand, slowly pulling her down, keeping her in this mental space she no longer wanted to occupy.

  “Which is why you have to leave.”

  She turned up the volume on the radio and sang along to the gospel CD she kept in case of emotional emergencies.

  When she finally arrived at the office, she felt marginally in control of her emotions. She got out of the car and headed straight for Stewart Campbell’s office, the determination to finally make this move pushing her feet forward.

  “Where’s Stew?” Leslie asked when she walked into the darkened office.

  “He had to fly to New York this morning for an emergency meeting at headquarters,” Kianna Sims, her boss’s executive assistant, said as she breezed into the office and set a collection of files on it.

  Leslie couldn’t deny the relief that washed over her at the reprieve from asking for the transfer. She was such a coward.

  “Why the urgency?” she asked Kianna.

  The executive assistant shrugged. “Don’t know, but the quarterly report is due to be released next week.”

  Leslie grimaced. They all knew that an emergency trip to headquarters so close to a report release didn’t spell good news.

  With Stewart gone, Leslie was the most senior employee in the office and technically in charge, but in this office, which ran like a well-oiled machine, it didn’t really matter.

  She’d joined the financial capitalist firm as an analyst shortly after she and Braylon were married, and in that time she and her coworkers had become a family.

  The office was located in Slidell, but most of their clients were based in downtown New Orleans, requiring multiple analysts to make the hour-long drive several times a week. Everyone in the office had agreed that, as the only single mother in the group, Leslie should be exempt from making the trek into the city just in case her girls had an emergency at school that required her to return quickly to Gauthier.

  She loved these people. They had seen her through two pregnancies and helped her through the death of her husband. Leslie could not begin to comprehend how much she would miss them if she transferred to Houston.

  When. When she transferred to Houston. She’d already made the decision to leave. But if she could, she would take them all with her.

  The morning coasted by without incident. After lunch, Leslie and two of her coworkers sat in on a conference call with Stewart. To everyone’s relief the news out of New York wasn’t bad at all. In fact, it was fabulous. The firm had exceeded expected profits for the quarter. There was so much patting on the back that Leslie figured they would all have bruises by the end of the day.

  As they filed out of the conference room, she grabbed a cup of tea from the break room before returning to her desk to tackle the emails that had sprouted and multiplied during the past hour. An email from the GEMS Connect system caught her eye. She should have been ashamed of the excited tingles that erupted throughout her belly when she spotted Gabriel Franklin’s name in the sender section, but she was too busy darting for her computer mouse to feel shame.

  Mrs. Kirkland,

  It was a true pleasure seeing you at this past Tuesday’s Parent/Teacher Conference night. I wanted to thank you again for being such a supportive and engaged parent. You make a difference not just in Cassidy’s education, but in the academic lives of all GEMS students, who benefit from your involvement in the school.

  I’m writing in hopes that we can meet to discuss the agenda for the special PTO meeting we talked about on Tuesday. It is imperative that parents get the full story regarding my changes to the Lock-In event. Would you be willing to have coffee with me this evening so that we can discuss?

  Sincerely,

  Gabriel

  Leslie stared at the screen for several moments, unsure how she should respond.

  Coffee? He’d asked her out for coffee? And look at the way he’d signed it. Gabriel. No Mr. Franklin. No GEMS Interim Assistant Principal. Just Gabriel.

  “Leslie?”

  Leslie’s head popped up. Kianna stood in her open doorway, a sheaf of papers in her hands.

  “You needed something?” She minimized the email on her computer screen.

  “Stewart asked if you could sign off on these security statements.”

  “Has he read them?”

  “Yes. They just need a signature.”

  Leslie motioned for her to bring the papers to her and signed the flagged pages. Then she began to pack up her work to take home with her.

  “I have to meet with the assistant principal at the girls’ school, so I’ll be leaving a little early today,” she told Kianna.

  “Uh-oh. Who’s in trouble, Cassidy or Kristi?”

  “No, no, no. It’s nothing like that,” Leslie said with a laugh. At least the girls weren’t in trouble. She, on the other hand, had better control these pesky little tingles that kept going off in her stomach before she found herself in trouble.

  Once Kianna left, Leslie pulled up the email again and went through a mental list of why it would be a bad idea—a stupid, horrible, ridiculously terrible idea—to have coffee with Gabriel Franklin. Even when coffee was just coffee, there was always the risk of so
meone seeing it as something more than just coffee. What if someone saw them together and took it as something more than what it was meant to be? What if Gabriel meant for it to be something more?

  They had chemistry. There was no way to deny it. Leslie had run out of benign explanations for the palpable attraction that had soared between them Tuesday night. There had been only one other time in her life when she’d connected with another person so immediately, so intimately. And it scared the hell out of her to think of connecting with someone else on that level again.

  Leslie rolled her eyes. “It’s just coffee, for crying out loud.”

  Yet, when she replied to his email, she suggested they meet in his office at the school. Because she really was the biggest coward on the face of the planet.

  She quickly packed up her briefcase and asked Kianna to send an office-wide text for anyone to contact her via her cell if they needed her.

  The girls were both going over to The Jazzy Bean after school today, per Shayla’s request. She was trying new healthy bakery recipes and wanted to use the girls as guinea pigs, a role both Cassidy and Kristi relished. Leslie was just happy that she didn’t have to pay a babysitter.

  Less than an hour later, she pulled into the visitors’ parking lot at the school just as the last yellow bus was turning onto the highway. She entered through glass double doors and headed for the front office. Ardina Scofield stood at the copier, catching papers as they shot out of the machine.

  Leslie rapped her knuckles on the counter to get her attention. “Hi, Ardina.”

  “Hey,” she answered, then turned her attention back to the copy machine.

  “I’m here to see Mr. Franklin,” Leslie provided.

  “Yeah, he told me you were coming. He’s in there.” The secretary nudged her chin toward the assistant principal’s office.

  Okay. That was awkward.

  With a confused shake of her head, Leslie walked in the direction Ardina had directed her. She found Gabriel sitting behind a large wooden desk, his head bowed over a stack of file folders.

  “Mr. Franklin?”

  He looked up and a broad smile flashed across his face. “Mrs. Kirkland.” He rose from behind the desk and came around to meet her. “Thank you for coming on such short notice,” he said.

  He gestured to one of the seats directly in front of the desk. Then, instead of returning to his chair, he sat in the seat opposite her, putting his knee in such close proximity to her leg that Leslie could feel his body heat.

  Lord, let this meeting be a quick one. It was getting harder for her to control her feelings for her not-so-safe-anymore crush.

  “I hope my asking you here didn’t disrupt your evening routine too much,” he started.

  “Not at all,” Leslie replied. “My girls are with their aunt at her coffee shop.”

  “That’s the place on Main Street, right? It’s a nice hangout, especially on a Friday night when there’s jazz and dancing.”

  “I’ve only been there once on a Friday night.”

  “No way.” He looked at her as if she must be joking.

  Leslie nodded and shrugged. “My sister-in-law is always hounding me to come to jazz night. She’s even offered to pay for the babysitter.”

  “You should. The music acts are impressive, especially for a town as small as Gauthier.” He paused for a moment, then, in a low voice edged with warmth, said, “Maybe I’ll see you there one Friday. Maybe this Friday, if you’re not busy?”

  Leslie’s eyes flew to his. Had he just asked her out?

  “This Friday?”

  What if by Maybe I’ll see you there? he literally meant that maybe he would see her there and just wave. As in Hi, Mrs. Kirkland. Nice to see you here.

  But what if he had just asked her out? What if her daughter’s very young, very handsome science teacher had just asked her out on a date?

  “You seem to be thinking really hard,” he said.

  His invitation—if that was indeed what it had been—had caught her off guard. Leslie had been asked out on a number of dates this past year, but never by someone to whom she was wildly attracted.

  “Mrs. Kirkland?”

  “Yes,” she said much too loudly. “I am thinking...about the PTO meeting. What exactly do you want us to discuss?”

  The low timber of his deep chuckle sent ripples across her skin. He shook his head and said, “You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?”

  The look in his eyes took away any doubt that his words a few minutes ago had been anything but an invitation to join him on Friday. He had asked her out. He was interested. So was she. At least she was more interested in him than any other man she had come in contact with in the past two years.

  But, God, was she ready to take this next step? Were her children ready? How would this town react to her stepping out with a man on her arm—a much younger man?

  She couldn’t deal with this. Not right now.

  “The meeting, Mr. Franklin?”

  His steady gaze bore into hers for several moments before he nodded slightly and said in a resigned voice, “Yes, the meeting.”

  Leslie’s entire body relaxed with the relief that he would not push her any further or come right out and ask her on a date. She needed time to unpack this, spread it out in her mind and decide whether or not she was truly ready to embark on this next part of her life.

  Gabriel clasped his hands between his parted knees and began, “It occurred to me during Parent/Teacher Conference night that even though I had a pseudo-introduction to parents when I came on board as the new science teacher, that was mostly to the parents of the students I personally teach.

  “As the interim assistant principal, I need to become a familiar face to all parents. With this special PTO meeting I can kill two birds with one stone—clear up the false rumors about wanting to cancel the Lock-In and make a formal introduction to all the parents who don’t know me. I really need to get the parents on my side,” he finished.

  “If you want to get the parents of GEMS on your side, it’s very simple,” Leslie said. She leaned in. “I’ll tell you the secret.”

  * * *

  Gabe’s head dropped into his hands.

  “That is not what I wanted to hear.”

  “Probably not, but it’s the truth,” Leslie said. She sat back in her chair, crossed her legs and folded her hands over her knee. “If you want the parents around here on your side, your best bet is to leave everything exactly the way it is. To say this town is resistant to change is an understatement.”

  “Change isn’t a dirty word, especially when it comes to education,” Gabe stated. “There are so many new and innovative ideas out there. Technology is changing by the second, and if GEMS doesn’t change with it, it’s going to get left behind.”

  “You’re preaching to the choir, Mr. Franklin. And it’s possible that if the right person delivered the message some parents may get on board, but I’m not sure you’re the right person to deliver it.”

  “It’s because I’m new, isn’t it?” She didn’t answer, but Gabe could tell just by her expression that he was onto something. “I knew it.” He shook his head. “When I accepted this position, I told Mr. Williams that people would take exception to it. Hell, I don’t blame them. Here I am, brand-new, and I’m now in a position of authority over teachers who have been here for years.”

  “It is a difficult position to be in, isn’t it?”

  The look of understanding that stole over her face, combined with the empathetic lilt in her voice, brought Gabe more comfort than he would have expected. He hadn’t realized just how much he needed an ally, how alone he’d felt in all of this.

  One of the reasons he’d fallen in love with this town was because, at first, the town had fallen in love with him. He’d fit in from the
very beginning, which was why it had been such a jolt to his system when he’d learned that he was at the top of everyone’s shit list because of the rumors Ardina had started. Just like that, the love affair was over. The stark reminder that he was an outsider had never hit home more than it had this week.

  “I can’t change that I’m new in town,” Gabe said. “But I’m here now, and I am in the position to make what I believe are positive changes to the education system. How do you suggest I go about getting parents on board with this?”

  “The first would be an apology.” She held up a hand before he had the chance to protest. “It doesn’t matter whether you think you have anything to apologize for. An apology will go a long way in soothing hurt feelings. Second, you must explain that you never had any intentions of cancelling the Lock-In.”

  “I didn’t, so that’s not a problem.”

  “Also, let them know that you want them to be engaged. Ask for their input.”

  “Which is exactly what I want,” Gabe said. “This isn’t a dictatorship. I don’t want anyone to think I’m just stepping in and trying to rule the day.”

  “That’s good to know,” Leslie said. “And that’s what you need to make sure parents understand. Just be honest and open with them. The people here may be resistant to change, but once they recognize that the changes you’re suggesting will help further their children’s education, they will rally behind you like nothing you’ve ever seen. We all just want what’s best for our kids.”

  Gabe felt a slight brush of guilt. He wasn’t being totally honest with her right now, but Superintendent McCabe had stressed that news of the potential merger was to be kept under wraps.

  “I also think when you explain the changes you want to make to the Lock-In parents will climb on board. It really is...” She paused in the middle of her sentence and pointed to his purple windbreaker. “Jefferson Davis Panthers? In Near Northside?”

  “Yeah,” Gabe said. “It’s my alma mater.”

  A smile broke out over her lovely face. “Is your butt still sore from all the whippings you used to take from the James Madison Marlins?”