AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mr. O’Connell,” Janet calls, her arms folded behind her politely. Janet is one of my extremely precocious students. “Is this your girlfriend?”
Penny’s eyes widen, and a blush creeps up her face as she glances at me.
“Oh, no.” I gently shake my head. “Guys, this is Penny. My friend.” I gesture toward her. “Penny, meet some of my students.”
“It’s so nice to meet you.” Penny waves at them.
“You’re not his girlfriend?” Janet asks, her face drawn with disappointment.
“No, I’m not.”
“Are you his wife?” Another girl asks with gleaming eyes.
Penny shakes her head resolutely, but I notice that the blush has gotten deeper.
“No. Just his friend. I hate to disappoint all of you.”
“Penny and I have to go,” I place my hand on Penny’s arm. “But we’ll see you a little later, okay?”
“Will Penny be there for our lessons?” They ask.
“For today, yes.”
With excited laughs and Tex following behind, the kids leave us alone again.
“Tex seems to be having such a great time with them,” Penny says as I lead her toward the office.
“He adores them.” I shrug. “I made sure to get him his walks and exercise, but I couldn’t give him half of the amount of attention and exercise he gets here. Plus, the kids love him.”
We head into the main building toward Patrick’s office. I knock once.
“Come in.” He calls from behind the closed door. When we walk in, he looks up at us with a smile. His gaze immediately shifts to Penny with raised brows.
“Hello, Liam,” he says, rising to his feet and extending his hand out to me. “Who is this lovely lady?”
I extend my hand to him and shake it. Then I turn to Penny.
“This is my friend, Penelope Miller. She’s here to watch the lessons and get a feel for how things are run.”
Patrick gently shakes her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Penelope. I hope that you enjoy the day’s activities as much as we do.”
“I have no doubt that I will. What I’ve seen so far is amazing.” Penny steps forward. “I love what you’re doing here. I wish we had had something like this available to us when we were growing up.”
“That’s part of the reason I started this.” Patrick agrees. “As a kid, I loved the outdoors, but there were really few areas in which to channel that energy on a larger scale. After my service in the Army, I decided to create the Wilderness Warriors, and I’m glad I did. Feel free to take a walk around the facility and take a look at all the services we offer. I’m sure Liam will be happy to show you around.”
“Thank you, Patrick. I will take you and Liam up on that offer.”
“You’re welcome. Feel free to share your observations with me later, okay?”
“I definitely will.” Penny nods and smiles.
We wave and head out of Patrick’s office just as the bell rings. Penny turns to look at me and asks.
“What's the bell for?”
“There are a few bells; they announce when class is about to start and when it’s finished.” I pick up the pace realizing we’re going to be late. “We have to hurry to get to my class. My current students are still covering all of the poisonous plants. What to look for, what to do if you find one, touch one, or eat one. Sounds interesting?”
“Oh.” Penny’s eyes sparkle as she recalls our past lessons. “I believe it was my dad who taught us about plants on our hikes in Yosemite Park.”
