“Jesus....” Jess jumped back and looked down at the mess. He ran the towel across his shirt, but only managed to make it worse. Outside, the school bell clanged again. Resolutely, he lifted Jimmy out of the chair. “Come on, we’ve got to go.”

Jimmy ran down the hallway ahead of him.

“Maggie!” Jess tossed the sticky towel aside. The last thing he needed was to be tardy for school and have the schoolmarm poking her nose into his business again. He headed down the hallway. “Come on, Maggie, let’s get going.”

She came out of her room, books in one hand and two red ribbons in the other. “Braid my hair.”

Jess stopped dead in his tracks. “What?”

She shook the ribbons at him impatiently. “Yesterday, Mary Beth Myers had her hair all braided and she said her hair was prettier than mine and it’s not. I want my hair braided today.”

His jaw slackened. They were already going to be late for school. There was no time to braid hair, even if he knew how.

Jess pulled the ribbons from her hand and tossed them aside. “It doesn’t matter what Mary Beth Myers says. Come on, now, we’ve got to hurry.”

He shepherded her out the back door, then nearly stepped on her when she stopped suddenly.

“Where’s Jimmy?”

Jess slapped his hand over his face. Jesus, he’d nearly forgotten the other kid. He yanked open the back door again. “Jimmy! Come on!”

Seconds ticked by and finally Jimmy appeared, licking his fingers. Jess led the way around the house. At the gate he stopped, remembering to shorten his strides so the children could keep up.

In the house across the road the curtain in the parlor window parted ever so slightly and Jess saw Mrs. McDougal peek out. He cringed at the sight of her. Not once since he’d moved into his sister’s house had the woman come outside and spoken to him, but she kept constant vigil at her window, spaying on his every movement. He fought back the urge for an obscene gesture, then strode off with both the children at his side.

The schoolyard was empty when they got there, the small, one-room school building quiet. Red with white trim, it sat sedately among tall oaks and elms, an even lawn surrounding it, and several wooden tables and benches at the side. Jess’s stomach tightened and he pushed the image of his sister from his thoughts.

“Mrs. Wakefield must have started class already.” Maggie looked up at Jess. “I’ve never been late for school before. Am I going to be in trouble?”

“No, honey. You’re with me. It’s okay.” He gave her hand a little squeeze. The day he couldn’t handle a schoolmarm was the day he’d call it quits for good.

Jess pushed open the door and strode inside. The students, seated in neat rows of desks, turned and stared. Mrs. Wakefield stood at the head of the class. She looked up at Jess, folded her hands in front of her, and gave him a look that froze him to the floor.

“Mr. Logan.”

It was not a question or a greeting, but a reprimand, plain and simple.

Jess fidgeted, suddenly feeling as if he were a student in the little schoolhouse again. “Sorry we’re late,” he mumbled.

Her frosty glare warmed not one iota. “Maggie, you may take your seat.”

Maggie gave Jess a little smile and went to her desk; Jess winked at her.

In the back of the room, an older boy laughed. “Hey, it’s not like he robbed the bank or anything.”

The students giggled.

“That’s enough, Luke,” Sarah said.

Jess glanced at the boy in the desk near him, a scrawny-looking kid, maybe fifteen; he was grateful that icy stare of Sarah Wakefield’s was focused on someone else.

Warming to the attention of the students, Luke laughed again. “Maybe we should get the sheriff over here, have them locked up.”

Sarah’s gaze turned sterner. “Luke, I said that will do.”

The boy threw his head back and laughed. “Or maybe—”

Jess reached down and grabbed the boy by the shirtfront. He hauled him out of his seat and leaned down until they were nose to nose. “The teacher told you to shut your mouth.”

The boy’s eyes rounded and he pulled back.

Jess gave him a shake. “Understand?”

Luke gulped. “Y-yes, sir.”

“Good.” Jess released him and he clattered into his desk. He hadn’t yelled at anyone in a long time; it felt good.

A startled hush fell over the classroom and all the students shrank back, their eyes wide, mouths gaping. Jess suddenly felt like a brute, towering over the children. He shifted uncomfortably, gave a curt nod to Sarah and strode out of the school.

“Feel that chill?” Jess mumbled to Jimmy as they walked down the steps. “That woman can lay down a blanket of ice quicker than Jack Frost.”

The child remained silent, so Jess was startled when someone called his name. He spun around and saw Sarah on the steps of the schoolhouse, glaring down at him.

“Mr. Logan, in the future, I will thank you to keep to yourself when in my classroom.”

She was all drawn up like a banjo string ready to pop, glaring at him as if he were one of her disobedient students. He’d expected a kind word for shutting up that kid, or at least a thank-you, but not this.

“Is that so?”

Her chin crept up a little. “I will not have you undermining my authority, Mr. Logan. Is that clear?”

Lordy, she was a pretty thing, all puffed up and full of vinegar. She stood straight and tall, her ample bosom rounded against the hundred little buttons up the front of her dress. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a bun, but stray wisps curled around her face. Her dark eyes sparked with fire.

Jess shook his head. What was he thinking? She was the schoolmarm, for God’s sake.

“The boy was shooting off his mouth. I wasn’t going to stand there and put up with it.”

She folded her arms under her breasts. “I will handle situations like that, Mr. Logan.”

“I didn’t see you handling anything, Mrs. Wakefield.”

“Perhaps if you hadn’t interfered, you would have.”

He rolled his eyes. “Well, pardon me all to hell.”

Color rose in her cheeks and he saw the quick intake of her breath as she clamped her mouth closed. But instead of feeling pleased that he’d shut her up, he was embarrassed by his foul language.

“Look, Mrs. Wakefield, I—”

She turned on her heels but stopped at the door and looked back at him. “You have jam on your face.”

Jess felt his cheeks pinken as she disappeared into the school. He dragged his hand over his chin and looked down at Jimmy. “Thanks a lot, partner.”

The boy just stared up at him.

“Come on.” They headed home.

After getting cleaned up and having breakfast, Jess headed for town, Jimmy at his side. He’d put it off as long as he could, but now his shelves were too bare to delay another day.

The late morning sun shone brightly on the hills in the distance, turning them greener than expected, thanks to the spring rains. Jess tried to look at them, tried looking at the sky too, but eventually had to turn his attention to the houses they passed.

His heart rose in his throat. God, it had been a long time since he’d walked down this road.

Cassie came into his mind, and recollections of the two of them running, playing with friends filled his head. Growing up here—the early years, at least—had been magical. He’d done most of his mourning on the trail getting here, but still it hurt, being here, thinking of her. Cassie, gone. His only relative in the world.

Except now for these two kids. Jess looked down at Jimmy skipping along beside him and he forced down the swell of emotion. He’d gotten over the other deaths. He’d get over this one, too.

They passed the schoolhouse as the road curved slowly toward the west. Across from the school squatted a tumble-down shack and Jess wondered why somebody didn’t just tear the thing down; it didn’t look inhabitable. On the other side of the road stood the church and a nice house, both with tended lawns.