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“Yes. He’s so sweet.”
“Very.”
Kenna wondered about the knowing smile Patrice gave her this time and chalked it up to Patrice being a romantic.
“Well, I’ll let you get settled. First bell is in five minutes.” Patrice headed for the door, waving over her shoulder.
Kenna put her things away, but grabbed her phone from her purse to send a quick text to Max.
KENNA:Thank you for the beautiful flowers. I love them. And you!
KENNA:Getting ready for class to start. Missing you.♥
She set her phone on her desk, not expecting a reply. Max was probably already out working on the ranch. Some of the huge property didn’t have cell coverage.
A moment later, her cell pinged with an incoming text.
MAX:Miss you too
MAX:Hope your group is better behaved than mine
She smiled at the picture that popped up a moment later of a herd of black cows surrounding the back end of a truck filled with hay.
KENNA:At least they don’t talk back and roll their eyes at you.
MAX:That’s what you think ;)
MAX:Love you
KENNA:Love you back
She smiled. They used to end all their texts and conversations just like that. It felt so natural and comforting to fall right back into their routine.
She needed to hurry before the bell rang. She took a seat at her desk and read the notes the substitute left her, along with the graded assignments the students completed last week. She logged into her computer, checked the students’ grades to see how they’d done before leaving for the winter break. She heard the bell, but finished reading the sub’s notes to be sure she knew where she needed to pick up the lessons in each period.
“Miss Baker,” Paula called from the doorway.
Kenna set the notes aside and looked up, not at all prepared to see the entire cheer squad line up in front of her. “Hello, girls. What’s all this?”
“We have a surprise for you. Follow us.”
She grinned, happy the students and faculty had set up some kind of special welcome back for her. She glanced at the beautiful roses Max sent her and wondered how she got so lucky to have a man like him, students like these, and friends who’d do something so sweet.
She stood. “Lead the way.”
Eight of the girls walked ahead in a straight line. The other two flanked her. There were no other students in the hall as they headed out of the building to the gym.
“Don’t worry, Miss Baker. It’s a good surprise,” Paula said, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
The cheerleaders up front opened the gym doors and raucous cheering and stomping in the bleachers spilled out. The cheers grew to a roar when Kenna walked in. Overwhelmed by the noise and the crowd filling the bleachers, all she could do was smile and wave at the students. But then she realized the entire Wilde family, including the cousins and aunt and uncle from Blackrock Falls were all seated in the first row, along with her parents and her aunt and uncle from Idaho.
The cheerleaders let out a bunch of shouts and held up letters spelling out Welcome Back.
And in the center of the gym in front of everyone, Max stood in a heart made out of red rose petals, wearing black jeans, a white dress shirt, and a nervous, but gleeful smile.
She went to him, getting a sense of what was really going on here.
The second she got close enough to him, he took her hand. “Welcome back to school, sweetheart.”
