Patchwork Family in the Outback. Сорейя Лейн

the bat.”

      Now it was Harrison laughing, and she couldn’t help but smile back at him. His face changed when he was happy—became less brooding and more open. He was handsome, she couldn’t deny, but when he grinned he was...pretty darn gorgeous. Even if she did hate to admit that about a man right now.

      “Honest truth?”

      Poppy nodded, following his gaze and watching his children as they whispered to each other, leaning over and looking at something in the long grass.

      Harrison drew his knees up higher and fixed his gaze in the distance. “It’s hard to bring fresh blood into rural towns these days, and most of the young people that leave here don’t come back. Same with all small towns.” He glanced at her, plucking at a blade of grass. “I’ve stayed because I don’t want to walk away from the land that’s been in my family for generations. It means something to know the history of a place, to walk the same path as your father and your grandfather before him. This town means a lot to me, and it means a lot to every other family living here, too.”

      Poppy nodded. “Everyone I’ve met so far seems so passionate about Bellaroo,” she told him earnestly. “And I really do believe that if you fight hard enough, then this town will still be here by the time you’re a grandfather.”

      He shrugged. “I wish I was as positive as you are, but honestly?” Harrison sighed. “I never should have spoken to you the way I did earlier, because if you don’t stick around, then there’s no chance we’ll be able to keep our school open. And that’ll mean the end of our town, period.” He blew out a big breath. “Being sole-charge teacher to a bunch of five-to eleven-year-olds isn’t for the fainthearted, but if you do stay? There won’t be a person in Bellaroo who won’t love you.”

      Now it was Poppy sighing. Because she didn’t need all this pressure, the feeling that everything was weighing on her shoulders.

      Before she’d moved here, she’d taken responsibility for everything, had tried to fix things that were beyond being repaired. And now here she was all over again, in a make-or-break situation, when all she wanted to do was settle in to a gentler pace of life and try to figure out what her own future held.

      “Sorry, I’ve probably said way too much.”

      Poppy smiled at Harrison’s apology. “It’s okay. I appreciate you being honest with me.”

      The kids ran over and interrupted. “Can we go back and finish the room?”

      “Of course.” Poppy stood up and offered Harrison a hand, clasping his palm within her fingers. She hardly had to take any of his weight, because he was more than capable of pushing up to his feet without assistance. But the touch of his skin against hers, the brightness of his gaze when he locked eyes with her, made her feel weak, started shivers shaking down her spine.

      “How about I join you in the classroom after I’ve tidied up here?”

      Poppy retrieved her hand and looked away, not liking how he was watching her or how she was feeling. “Sure thing. Come on, kids.”

      She placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder and walked with them the short distance to her new classroom.

      Their dad was gruff and charming at the same time, and it wasn’t something she wanted to be thinking about. Not at all.

      She was here to teach and to find herself. To forget her past as best she could and create a new life for herself. Alone.

      Which meant not thinking about the handsome rancher about to join her in her classroom.

      * * *

      “Wow.”

      Poppy looked down, paper stars between her teeth as she stood on a chair and stuck the last of them to the wall. There was already a row strung from the ceiling, but she was determined to cover some old stains on the wall to complete the effect she was trying to create.

      “Your children are like little worker bees,” she mumbled, trying to talk without losing one of the stars.

      “Little worker bees who’ve started to fade,” he replied.

      Poppy glanced back in his direction and saw that he’d scooped Alex up into his arms. The young boy wasn’t even pretending he was too big to be cuddled, and had his head happily pressed to his father’s chest as he watched her.

      “It’s getting pretty late. Why don’t you head home? I’ll be fine here.” She wobbled on the chair, but righted herself before it tipped.

      “How about we give you a lift home?”

      Poppy shook her head. “It’s only a short walk. I’ll be fine, honestly.”

      Harrison didn’t look convinced. “What else do you need to do here?”

      Hmm. “I want the kids to walk in tomorrow and not be able to stop smiling,” she told him. “So I need to put the glue glitter over the hearts in the middle, and the same with the border over there—” she pointed “—because that’s where I’m going to write all their names in the morning when they arrive, in their favorite colors.”

      She heard Harrison sigh. Which made it even crazier when, from the corner of her eye, she saw him put his son down on his feet and pick up a gold glitter pen.

      “Is this what you use for the fancy border thing?” he asked.

      Poppy took the remaining paper stars from between her teeth and bit down on her lower lip to stop herself from smiling. She nodded, watching as Harrison walked to the wall and started to help.

      “Like this? Kind of big, so it’s obvious?”

      “Yep, just like that,” she said, still trying to suppress laughter.

      From what she’d seen of him so far, she had a feeling he’d just storm out and leave her if she made fun of him for using the glitter, and she didn’t mind the help. Not at all. Even if a masculine rancher wouldn’t have been her first choice in the artistic department.

      She stepped down and pushed her chair back behind her desk before finding the silver glitter and covering some shapes at the other end of the wall from Harrison.

      “Daddy, we didn’t eat the cake,” called out a sleepy-sounding Katie.

      Poppy had forgotten all about the cake. She moved back to look at the wall, pleased with the progress they’d made. The children could help her decorate it more in the morning, but for now it looked good.

      “How about we finish up and reward ourselves with a piece? What do you say?” she asked.

      Harrison passed her the pen as his kids nodded. “Only problem is we don’t have a knife.”

      She gave him a wink. “But I have a pocketknife. That’ll do, right?”

      He stared at her, long and hard. “Yeah, that’ll do.”

      Poppy pulled it out and passed it to him, careful not to let their skin connect this time. “Well, let’s each have a big piece, huh? I think we all deserve it.”

      And hopefully, it would distract her, too. Because she might be done with men, but she sure wasn’t done with chocolate.

      CHAPTER THREE

      “THANKS FOR THE ride.” Poppy swung her door shut and waved to the children in the back. She didn’t expect to hear another one open and close.

      “I’ll walk you to the door.”

      What? She hadn’t ever had a man walk her to the door just to be chivalrous.

      “Thanks, but I’m fine. It’s not like we’re in the city and I’m at risk of being mugged,” she joked.

      The look on his face was anything but joking. “I’m not going to drive you home and not walk you to the door. It wasn’t how I was raised, and if I want my daughter to grow