Lost & Found Love. Laura Browning

front of her, feeling suddenly indecent and embarrassed. “Yes sir.”

      “Very well. Use the staff restroom to change before you leave this office.”

      She felt humiliated. It set the tone for most of her day. While the students seemed to adore her, many of the teachers, older women who were themselves mothers, looked at her askance. A few even glared, and Tabby began to wonder if she had committed some horrible breach of etiquette during her workdays the previous week, but she couldn’t remember any of the women acting hostile toward her then. They had been a little reserved, but she had expected that. She was new and not from around Mountain Meadow, but today she was even getting a cold shoulder from the new kindergarten teacher. About the only one who did treat her normally was Mr. Powers, the P.E. teacher, who had seen her arrive on her bicycle, and Tabby noticed his eyes kept straying toward her butt.

      By the end of the day, she was exhausted and frustrated. It was frightening to think that her third, fourth, and fifth grade students behaved more maturely than her colleagues. When she noticed Mr. Powers lingering around the front door, probably waiting for her to come out with her bike so he could see her dressed in her cycling pants, Tabby sneaked out a back door and took the long way around. She arrived home hot, sweaty, and tired. She carried her bike up onto the veranda and took off her helmet.

      Hearing someone behind her, she spun around, trying to control the stab of panic that hit her. Joe stood there with a can of Coke in each hand.

      “You looked like you could use this,” he commented dryly. He was dressed casually in khaki shorts and a polo shirt, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses. “How was your first day?”

      Tabby started to say fine automatically, then let her book bag fall to the porch.

      “Terrible.”