His Two Little Blessings. Mia Ross

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СКАЧАТЬ good.” Flashing her a quick smile, he said, “Girls, let’s help Miss Calhoun unload her car and then head home. We’ve still got things to get done today.”

      In a matter of minutes, all of her crafts show supplies were stowed in the enclosed side porch she’d converted into her storage space, and she was waving goodbye to the Marshalls. When she was alone, she strolled into the living room and stared thoughtfully at the large painting she’d somehow managed to sell without even trying. A teacher’s salary didn’t go very far when you were maintaining your own house and still paying off a car and college loans, so the extra cash would be a welcome addition to her modest bank account.

      This month it would be easier to pay her bills, and she might even be able to put a little bit away for a future rainy day. They always seemed to pop up at the worst times, like when the aging chimney had started leaking into the living room and needed repair in the middle of a frigid, snowy January.

      Glancing up, she smiled. “I’m not sure why You did that, but thank You.”

      * * *

      Emma was late.

      Rick checked his watch again, confirming that it was now ten after three and he was still waiting for her. When she’d expressed concern about interrupting his afternoon, he’d assumed that meant she valued his time. It had made it easier for him to be more generous than he might have been otherwise.

      But now he was regretting the uncharacteristic lapse in his clockwork-style routine. Business school had taught him the importance of efficiently using every minute of the day to benefit whichever company he was working for. Having spent the past six years climbing the ladder through the banking industry, he knew that at least part of his success was due to his unyielding discipline.

      But there was something about Emma Calhoun that made him want to step outside his regimen and be more spontaneous. That unnamed quality had nudged him to cast aside his family’s usual Saturday routine and follow her to the quirky home filled with a creative light that he still remembered vividly. While his daughters enjoyed their tumbling array of collectibles and stuffed animals, in his own room he preferred clean, simple lines and as little clutter as possible. He attributed the difference to their younger view of the world around them, but maybe there was more to it than that.

      Quarter after, he noticed while he checked into his email to avoid feeling as if he was wasting his afternoon. It wasn’t like the lovely art teacher had asked him to bend the rules for her, he reminded himself wryly. He’d done it willingly, and all on his own. Lesson learned.

      “Rick, I’m so sorry,” the lady in question apologized as she lunged through the door into his office, loaded down with an armful of manila folders. “There was an art emergency at school, and I totally forgot to call you to let you know I was running late.”

      That was a new one, he thought as he shook off his irritation and stood to motion her to one of the client chairs opposite his desk. “What’s an art emergency?”

      “One of my middle schoolers was making a model of Independence Hall and accidentally glued his fingers together. I know, I know,” she added, holding up one hand in a quieting gesture. “It’s crazy, and I didn’t believe him at first, either. But when I realized he was serious, I knew I couldn’t send him home like that. Once I stopped laughing, it took me a good ten minutes to get him unstuck and cleaned up.”

      Her charming account chased away the last of his annoyance, and he chuckled. “Boys, huh?”

      “And how. If you knew half the scrapes my brothers got into when we were growing up, you’d never believe they survived.”

      “Meaning you were the perfect child?” The question sounded perilously close to teasing, which was completely inappropriate given the professional setting they were in, and he gave himself a mental shake. In his defense, it was hard to remain detached from someone as bubbly as Emma Calhoun.

      “The most perfect one,” she informed him, mischief twinkling in those crystal-blue eyes. “Just ask my dad.”

      Rick had encountered Steve Calhoun a couple of times and had no doubt that the burly mechanic had been wrapped around Emma’s little finger since the time she was old enough to smile at him. Warm and open, she’d quickly broken through Rick’s usual reserve, and he was an expert at keeping his distance. Being the father of two charmers himself, he could only imagine how completely Steve doted on his only daughter.

      Eager to move the conversation onto safer footing, he glanced down at the folders she’d dumped onto his formerly empty leather blotter. “So, what have you got here?”

      “Ideas for projects, sketches, wish lists from the kids, things like that. You said to bring everything related to the after-school program.”

      “When I said everything, I meant all your receipts and invoices,” he explained patiently. He thought he’d been perfectly clear about what he needed, but apparently they had a difference of opinion on what was important.

      “Oh, I have those, too.”

      Opening one of the unmarked folders, she finger-walked through the pages inside, plucking out a receipt here and there. After about a minute of that he honestly thought he was about to lose his mind. “They’re all mixed in, then?”

      “Well, yes,” she replied as if she had no idea that there was a better way to organize her materials. “I keep them connected to the project idea they belong with. That way I know how many kids wanted to do each one, and how much I spent on supplies to get them done.”

      Rick grudgingly admitted that her system did make sense. In a convoluted, totally random kind of way. Her free-spirited demeanor reminded him of his daughters, and it occurred to him that the best strategy for getting through this task was to recognize that their minds worked in different ways. Once he accepted that, he could figure out how to meld their vastly dissimilar talents into a cohesive approach.

      He could take a shot at it, anyway. Fortunately for him, he liked taking on a new challenge once in a while. It helped to keep his problem-solving chops in shape.

      “Tell you what,” he suggested, tapping the stack of folders. “Why don’t we go through these together, sorting and categorizing your records into something that we can present to the board on Wednesday?”

      Her forehead puckered in confusion. “I thought we were going to do that now.”

      “I didn’t realize how big a job it was,” he confided, feeling more than a little foolish about admitting that to her. “I have a meeting at four, but tomorrow afternoon is clear and we won’t be rushed to get it done.”

      For some reason she hesitated. After a moment she said, “That’s very nice, but tomorrow afternoon is supposed to be beautiful. I hate to intrude on time you could be spending with Caitlin and Aubrey.”

      Quite honestly, it had never occurred to him that with his schedule clear after one o’clock tomorrow, he could leave the bank and hang out with his girls either in their spacious backyard or at the town playground. His father had instilled in him the importance of always striving for more, working harder than his peers to ensure that his achievements shone the brightest. In any business, having happy customers translated to success, which brought you more income and security for the future. But now that this soft-spoken teacher had pointed out another way for him to use his free afternoon, Rick saw no reason not to take advantage of it.

      “I’ll СКАЧАТЬ