Her Wickham Falls Seal

“Yes, please.”

Aiden walked over to the built-in refrigerator/freezer to select the items he needed to prepare breakfast. Of all of the rooms in the house, he felt most comfortable in the kitchen. He’d grown up watching his father cook for his family, and once he entered adolescence he had been invited to join his father and uncles in the Wolf Den’s kitchen.

“Do you cook?” he asked Taryn as he returned to the cooking island with eggs, bacon, a loaf of bread and a plastic bag of shredded cheddar cheese. Aiden placed strips of slab bacon on a baking sheet and sprinkled them with a shaker filled with brown sugar before setting the pan on a shelf in the oven.

“I do. But I prefer baking.”

“That’s where we differ. I love to cook, but I don’t bake.”

Taryn slipped off the stool, took off her suit jacket and draped it over the back of her stool. “Do you work weekends?”

“Right now I do, because we’re down one cook. I’d like for you to clear up one thing for me.”

“What’s that?” Taryn asked.

“Why do you want to homeschool my daughters?”

* * *

Taryn leaned forward. “Why do you need someone to homeschool your daughters?”

Aiden went completely still and gave her a direct stare. “I asked you first.”

“I can’t answer your question until you answer mine. After all, Aiden, you’re the one who put out the word that you were looking for someone to provide instruction to your children.” They engaged in what Taryn thought of as a stare-down until Aiden nodded.

“You’re right. I don’t know if Sawyer told you about how folks in The Falls view my ex-wife’s family.”

“He’s never said anything to me,” Taryn admitted truthfully. She knew Jessica’s husband had grown up in Wickham Falls.

“The Wilkinsons are considered the town’s black sheep, and because my daughters share that bloodline they are looked down upon. Many of the parents in this neighborhood won’t allow their children to play with Livia and Allison because they claim they’re bad seeds. Rather than confront some of these narrow-minded adults, I prefer to have my daughters homeschooled until they’re ready for middle school. By that time, they’ll need to socialize with other kids their age and hopefully will be confident enough to hold their own against some of the bullies.”

Taryn stared at Aiden as if he’d taken leave of his senses. She did not want to believe feuds like the Hatfields and McCoys were still happening. “Have the parents openly bullied your daughters?”

“Not to my knowledge. It’s their kids who repeat what they hear their parents say.”

“So they don’t have any friends at all?”

“They play with their cousins.”

Taryn was still attempting to wrap her head around the fact that Aiden’s daughters were pariahs because of their mother. “I believe you made the right decision to keep them home at this age. However, I’m going to socialize your daughters and teach them what they should know.”

Aiden’s features softened in a smile. “Now that we’re on the same page, I’d like to know why you prefer homeschooling to teaching in a traditional classroom.”

Taryn tucked her shoulder-length, chemically straightened hair behind her ears. “Although I like teaching in a traditional classroom setting, it was the commute that wore me down. I drove, on average, three and a half hours each day, five days a week and most times when I got home, all I wanted to do was grab something to eat and go straight to bed. The next day, I was on the road at dawn to make it to work before eight. I hardly ever hung out after work with coworkers or friends because I had a fifty-five mile drive back to Long Island.”

“What about the weekends?”

Taryn wanted to tell Aiden that she’d had a very active social life when she lived in Brooklyn, even before she moved in with her ex. There was always somewhere to go, new restaurants to explore and Manhattan was only a subway stop away. “If I went anywhere, it was usually on Long Island, because I didn’t want to drive or take the train into the city.”

Aiden filled a pot with water and set it on the cooktop. “Are you saying you’re through with the big city?”

“You can say that.” Reaching down into the tote, she removed the envelope. “I’m giving you copies of my teacher certification, certification in CPR and first aid, and several letters of recommendations that I’d sent to you. I’ve already resigned from my former school, so if you choose not to hire me, then I plan to apply for several vacant positions at Jessica’s school.”

“Did I say I wouldn’t hire you?” Aiden questioned.

“You haven’t said you would,” she countered.

Aiden flashed a sheepish grin. “I must admit, I would’ve hired you sight unseen after the background check, plus Jessica told me you’re a dynamic teacher. And being one of Johnson County’s more popular teachers, I have to believe her.”

“You don’t think she said that because we’re homegirls?”

“No. I don’t know Jessica like that. I met her for the first time this past summer when she came into the Wolf Den with Sawyer. That’s when I asked if he knew anyone looking for a job as a live-in nanny.”

Taryn recalled her conversation with Jessica during her first visit to West Virginia. “When Jessica first told me you wanted someone to homeschool your girls, I wasn’t ready to move down here because, initially, I thought Wickham Falls was too quiet.”

Opening the oven door to check on the bacon, Aiden asked, “What made you change your mind?”

“I was still on the fence until my second trip. I spent most of the time relaxing on Jessica’s patio, clearing my head and weighing my options. That’s when Jessica reminded me that if I was tired of commuting, then I could always get a teaching position here because there were a number of vacancies at her school district. Then I thought about how much I enjoyed working for a couple with young kids when I was a student at Howard University. I babysat and tutored, and seeing them excel was very rewarding. That’s when I asked her for the phone number to your restaurant.”

“So it was commuting that made you give up the bright lights of the big city for a life in rural West Virginia.”

Taryn wasn’t about to tell Aiden about having to work alongside the woman who made her question true friendship. She was also embarrassed that as a thirty-two-year-old professional woman she still lived with her parents. After she’d sold her condo, she had invested the proceeds with the intent of using it as a down payment on a house if or when she and James decided to marry. And she was certain she and her boyfriend would’ve eventually exchanged vows if not for interference from a third party.

“It definitely tops the list as to why I want to relocate,” she half lied after a pregnant pause. It didn’t top the list but rated higher than some of the other reasons.

Aiden walked over to the opposite end of the countertop and opened a drawer. “And because I don’t want you to apply for a position with the local school district, I’m officially hiring you to homeschool my daughters.” He removed a large envelope and a pen, and he handed them to Taryn. “You’d mentioned you wanted a contract, so I had my attorney draw up one for you. We didn’t discuss salary, but this is what I’m prepared to offer you. If you agree to the terms, I’d like you to sign all three copies. I’ll countersign them and give them to the attorney for execution.”

Taryn removed the contract from the envelope and perused it. When she glanced up, she noticed a hint of a smile tilting the corners of Aiden’s mouth. He wasn’t what she thought of as handsome, but rather ruggedly attractive. His face claimed too many sharp angles, and the bump on the bridge of his nose indicated it may have been broken at one time. However, it was the color of his eyes, a rich blue-green that reminded her of the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea that she found hypnotic. It was as if fire burned behind the brilliant orbs.

“How did you know?” she asked, once she recovered her breath. Aiden was offering her the same salary she’d earned from the New York City Department of Education.

“The investigator who conducted your background check told me,” Aiden admitted. “I was afraid if I offered you less, you wouldn’t take the position.”

When Aiden had informed her he was going to have someone conduct a background check on her, Taryn had given him the information he needed to complete the investigation. She wasn’t concerned that anything negative would surface when it came to her profession, but she was less than confident as to her personal life. She still could not believe she’d been so trusting, so naive when there had been obvious signs that her love life was in trouble.

Once she discovered her boyfriend had cheated on her, Taryn had not explained to her colleagues why she moved back to her parents’ home. Nonetheless, the truth was revealed when her best friend, Aisha, invited James to accompany her to their faculty Christmas party. There had been whispers and shocked looks all around once everyone realized Taryn and James were no longer a couple. Gossip reverberated throughout the school building for weeks, while those who were bold enough to approach her and ask what had happened were disappointed when Taryn rebuffed their queries.

“It appears as if your investigator was quite thorough.” Her voice did not reveal the inner turmoil she always felt whenever she recalled the shame and embarrassment of coming face-to-face with her ex-boyfriend and her best friend and colleague in the private dining room at a restaurant overlooking the East River. It had taken Herculean strength not to retrieve her coat and leave. She managed to stay until the end and then got into her car and drove home. Within minutes of walking into her bedroom, she went online and searched for vacation websites. It hadn’t mattered that it was two weeks before Christmas and many of the airline deals were blacked out. Throwing caution to the wind when it came to price, Taryn decided to rent a villa in Fiji where she spent six glorious days detoxing from bad karma. She returned to the States tanned, rested and ready to start over.

“That’s because I have to be able to trust you to be around my children. The contract is for a year, beginning January 1 with an option to renew or opt out thirty days before December 31. You’ll notice I’ve included a clause where I’m willing to pay for your medical insurance. Once you give me your tax information, I’ll have my accountant add you to our payroll. All employees get paid on the fifteenth and the last day of each month.”

Taryn glanced at the contract again. The language wasn’t filled with the legalese she would usually have to ask her attorney father to interpret. She picked up the pen and scrawled her name where indicated on all three copies, dated it and then gave them to Aiden to countersign. “It appears very straightforward.”

“That’s because down here most of us are plainspoken. After breakfast, I’ll give you a tour of the house and show you where you’ll have your private quarters.”

“Will I have space to set up a classroom?”

“Yes. The enclosed back porch and sunroom should give you more than enough space for what you’ll need. A cleaning service comes in every Friday morning, so I don’t want you to do any housework. And you don’t have to concern yourself with cooking, because I’ll prepare meals in advance for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”