Heart Of A Cowboy. Margaret Daley

anatomy starts in September, too. Those courses are part of the co-op classes some of the kids tap into.”

      “So I don’t have to teach every subject? Because there are a few I’m not good at.”

      “No one is. If you have some kind of expertise, you might want to offer a course for the group, but it’s not a requirement.”

      “My job is a computer graphic designer. It might be fun doing something with that. I’ll have to think about it.”

      “Let me introduce you to Nancy before the meeting begins.” Alexa searched the large room. “Ah, I see her talking to Ian and Zachary.” The young woman started for them.

      Jordan braced herself with a deep breath and followed Alexa. Maybe no one else sensed the tension flowing from Zachary as she and Alexa joined the small group with Ian and Nancy, but Jordan did. That tic in Zachary’s jawline jerked.

      “This is Jordan, Nancy. She’s thinking about homeschooling her son.” Alexa stepped next to Ian, who slipped his arm around her shoulder.

      Nancy shook Jordan’s hand. “Great. If you need any help, there are plenty of us to ask.”

      “I wondered if I could come look at your materials. Nicholas needs a lot of enrichment, and I want to make sure I can give it to him.” Jordan shifted from one foot to the other, conscious of Zachary next to her. Only inches from him, her arm prickled as though there was a physical connection.

      “Fine. How about we set up a time to talk, and then you can look through the resources? Say tomorrow morning at eleven?”

      “I appreciate that. I don’t want the situation at school to go on too long.”

      “Then I’ll see you at eleven. Now if you all will excuse me, I need to get this meeting started. We’ve got an HHH Junior Rodeo Event to plan for in October.” Nancy walked toward the front of the room.

      “What’s going on at school?” Zachary’s deep voice, with a husky edge, broke the momentary silence.

      Suddenly Jordan faced him alone because Ian and Alexa moved off to sit in a row not far away. “He’s teased a lot because he’s smart. He has trouble socializing with some of the kids his age. But mainly Nicholas isn’t being challenged enough in school.” She didn’t want to go into too much detail. That could lead to questions she wasn’t prepared to answer.

      He scanned the group of children filing into the room off the main one. “It looks like he’s getting along great with Randy.” He gestured toward Nicholas, who was laughing and talking with the boy as they trailed behind the group of kids. “I know that Randy wanted to learn to ride as much as your son did. Nicholas will be a good addition to the Saturday riding group. They both have a fascination with the rodeo.”

      “Nicholas said something to you about that?”

      “Yes, he wanted me to teach him to ride a bronco.”

      “That’s not gonna happen.”

      “He could learn some of the less risky activities like barrel racing.”

      Racing! Falling off a horse going fast! She ground her teeth and kept those thoughts to herself. As Nancy started the meeting, Jordan realized they were the only two not sitting. Two chairs nearby seemed the logical choice for them to sit in, but she didn’t want to be seated next to Zachary. How in the world was she going to handle him being in Nicholas’s life as his father?