A Maverick And A Half

Finished, Marina quickly disposed of the old diaper and deposited it, plus several wipes she’d used, into a plastic bag that she then knotted at the top, sealing away the last of the less than fragrant odor. The janitor hadn’t been by yet and she definitely didn’t want to gross the man out.

“Now then, let’s get you presentable again. A lady doesn’t hang around in just her undies—not unless she wants to get in a whole lot of trouble. Remember that, Sydney,” Marina emphasized. “Otherwise, someday you just might find yourself changing diapers in strange places, too.”

Having finished redressing her daughter, Marina popped Sydney into the car seat she had set up on her desk and tightened every available strap around her daughter—just in case. She knew she was probably being overly cautious, but she didn’t want to take a chance.

“When did I turn into this super cautious, neurotic woman?” Marina murmured under her breath. “I used to be so carefree.”

A lifetime ago, it seemed.

* * *

When he’d turned down the hallway, Anderson had found the door to his son’s classroom open. Hearing the same voice he’d heard earlier on his answering machine, he walked in, loaded for bear. He assumed that this Ms. Laramie was talking to someone, but he didn’t care. He wanted her to know that he was here and that he was ready to have it out with her about whatever it was that she found so lacking in his son—and he wasn’t about to go away until it was resolved.

He hadn’t expected to find his son’s teacher talking to a baby—or changing its diaper, either. Just how young were the kids in this school? he wondered.

The next beat, Anderson realized that the baby she was talking to had to be her baby. That in turn had him wondering just how lax things had gotten in school these days. Why would the principal allow a teacher to bring her baby in to school like it was some kind of a class project?

Didn’t the woman have any money for a babysitter? Or was she checking her fifth graders out for babysitting possibilities?

In any case, all of this seemed like very unorthodox behavior to him. And this Ms. Laramie had the nerve to tell him that they had to talk about his son?

Anderson couldn’t wait to give her a piece of his mind.

“There,” Marina declared after testing the strength of the car seat straps. “That’ll hold you in place, Your Majesty.”

That was when she heard someone behind her clearing their throat. Startled, Marina jumped as her heart launched into double time.

She could have sworn that she and Sydney were alone. Apparently she was wrong, Marina thought as she swung around.

The next second, she blinked, not quite sure she was seeing what she thought she was seeing.

There was a six-foot-one dark-haired, blue-eyed stranger in her classroom. A stranger who looked far from happy.

Neither was she, caught like this, Marina thought, flustered as she quickly tossed the bagged diaper into the wastepaper basket. She didn’t like being caught unprepared like this. She was still trying to get her bearings as a working mother and absolutely hated looking as if she was at loose ends.

“Just give me a moment,” she requested, struggling to measure out her words.

She was trying to sound as if she was in control of the situation even though she was very aware of the fact that she wasn’t.

Not waiting for the stranger to respond, Marina quickly hurried over to the sink where her fifth graders washed their hands whenever they got too into recess and enjoying the great outdoors.

Still flustered, Marina turned the faucet handle too quickly. The next second, she found herself on the receiving end of a water spray that promptly soaked her, if not to the skin, enough to look as if she’d been caught in an unexpected fall shower.

Even the floor beneath her feet was wet.

With a dismayed cry that sounded suspiciously like a yelp, Marina managed to turn off the water, but not before she was completely embarrassed.

She was fairly certain that the tall, dark and handsome cowboy who had just walked in, wrapped in scowling mystery, undoubtedly felt she was the veritable Queen of Klutzes.

“Sorry,” she apologized, grabbing two paper towels and drying herself off as best she could. She found she needed two more just to do a passable job. Wadding up the paper towels, she tossed them into the same wastebasket that contained Sydney’s diaper. “You caught me off guard.”

“Apparently.”

Had the word sounded any drier, it would have crackled and broken apart as it left the stranger’s rather full lips.

Marina walked back to her daughter, moving the car seat closer to her on the desk before she turned fully and addressed the stranger.

In her best “teacher voice” she said to the man in her classroom, “Now then, you didn’t mention your name.” She spoke as pleasantly as she could, waiting for him to fill in the blank.

Anderson drew himself up to his full height, aware of just how intimidating that appeared to the casual observer.

“I’m Anderson Dalton,” he informed her in a no-nonsense voice. “You left a message on my phone, saying you wanted to see me about Jake.”

The name instantly rang a bell. It wasn’t that big a classroom, nor that big a town, so Marina didn’t have to struggle to pair up the name to a student. But she was a little mystified as to why he felt the need to come in so quickly.

“Well, I didn’t mean immediately,” she told him, sounding half apologetic if she’d conveyed the wrong impression. “I wanted you to call me back so that we could set up an appointment for a time that was convenient to both of us.”

His wide shoulders rose and fell in a careless shrug. Okay, maybe he’d gone off half-cocked and misunderstood. But all that was water under the bridge in Anderson’s opinion.

“Well, I’m here now,” he pointed out needlessly. “We might as well get to it—unless you want to take some time to dry off some more or maybe change your clothes,” he suggested.

She didn’t have a change of clothes here. It never occurred to her that she might wind up taking an unexpected bath.

“No, I’m fine.”

That was Anderson’s cue. He immediately launched into a defense on his son’s behalf.

Taking a step closer to the teacher, he all but loomed over her as he began his rapid-fire monologue. “Look, Jake’s a good kid, but you’ve got to remember, he’s dealing with a lot right now. It’s not easy for a kid his age to go from a big inner city to the sticks. Even so, I think he’s doing a pretty bang-up job of it, all things considered. A lot of other kids in his place might have acted out. You just have to cut him some slack, that’s all,” he told her with feeling.

Marina opened her mouth but again, she didn’t get a chance to utter a single word. Jake’s father just kept on talking.

“If anything’s wrong, then it’s my fault. Jake and I hardly had time to exchange two words since I found out about him and bang, suddenly I’m the one in charge of him, making all these big decisions. And hell—heck,” he censored himself, casting a side glance toward her infant daughter, “I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time. This parenting thing is really tough.”

Well, that’s putting it mildly, Marina couldn’t help thinking. But being a private person, she kept that sentiment to herself. While she was generally friendly and outgoing, there were parts of her life that she considered to be private. Her unexpected entry into motherhood was one of them.

Anderson didn’t notice the silence. He kept his monologue going.

“Don’t punish the kid because of my mistakes,” he implored, growing more emotional. “Whatever Jake did that got you angry, he didn’t know any better. Let me talk to him—”

This could go on for hours, Marina realized, dismayed.

“Mr. Dalton, stop!” she cried, raising her voice so that he would finally cease talking and take a breath. “I don’t know what gave you the impression that Jake’s done something wrong, but he hasn’t. You’ve really got a great kid there, Mr. Dalton.”

Anderson stopped dead and stared at her, clearly bewildered. “I don’t understand,” he finally said. “You said we had to talk.”

“And we do,” Marina agreed. One hand on the car seat, she glanced at her daughter. Despite the man’s verbose monologue, Sydney appeared to be dozing. Thank heavens for small favors, Marina thought. “But not because he’s done something bad.”

The temporary relief Anderson felt quickly gave way to annoyance. “If he hasn’t done anything wrong, then why am I here?” he wanted to know. “I’ve got a ranch to run.”