Alphas of Red Moon Ranch(51)

“Very interesting theory,” Holly coaxed.

Trish looked shy suddenly and turned her eyes down to her paper with a mumbled, “Thanks.” The little excited grin on her mouth, though, told Holly this girl had a real passion for learning and probably didn’t have a lot of people who understood that passion, locked up on a farm ranch.

“What about you?” she asked Tanner.

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

They had their mother’s sharp features and, when Tanner frowned, he looked just like Cassidy. Tanner wasn’t hard to figure out; she’d seen a million Tanners in her classes before. Kids that didn’t want to study or work—for whatever reason. Maybe they didn’t think they were learning anything important, maybe they lacked the passion, or maybe they lacked the self-discipline to sit still for so long. Even now, she noticed Tanner’s lanky knee bobbing up and down under the table as he tapped his foot repeatedly. Hormones must hit these kids hard, Holly thought. Not only were they maturing into full-grown adults, they were also maturing into full-grown brown bears.

“Can I take a look at what you’ve written so far?” Holly asked, putting on her teacher mode. Tanner hesitated, then reluctantly nodded and handed over the slip of paper.

Holly read through his introduction. It was vague with sloppy sentence structure, his assertions broad and directionless. “Okay…this is a good start,” she said, trying to sound encouraging. Then she found a red pen on the table and picked it up. “Do you mind?”

He shook his head, watching her warily. Holly clicked her pen and glanced down at his work. “Did your teacher give you a specific prompt?”

“Dad usually lets us write about whatever,” he said with a shrug.

And then it clicked. “You’re homeschooled?”

The twins nodded simultaneously. As a teacher, Holly knew how much work went into preparing young minds and she knew it took a very special, dedicated parent to properly homeschool. Cassidy seemed all over the place, but Dave had the patience…still, isolated on the ranch, Holly couldn’t help but worry. If anyone had faith in the school system, it was Holly. “I’m applying to colleges, though,” Trish said firmly. There was a fire in her voice, as though she had something to prove.

“Oh yeah? Which colleges?”

“I was thinking about Elmswood.”

“You know I work there, right? I could probably get you in for a night so you can see if it’s something you would like.”

Trish’s expression lit up. “Really?”

“Fat chance,” Tanner grumbled.

When Holly gave him a questioning look, Trish filled in the blank. “Mom isn’t exactly supportive of me going off. But—”

“But what’s wrong with the ranch?” Tanner shot back.

“Nothing!” Trish’s irises flashed gold suddenly as her temper flared defensively. Holly worried that she was going to have to break up a couple adolescent bears if this continued for much longer.

“What’re we hollering about?” Cassidy said as she came back in, baring a pair of cowgirl shoes.

“Frankenstein,” Holly said quickly, covering for the bickering twins.

Cassidy tossed the shoes down by Holly’s feet. “It’s just a book, let’s not get too excited. Here, try these on.”

Holly did, slipping out of her heels and tugging the boots over her feet. The heel sank back as the too-big shoe hung limply from her feet.

“Hell, Cinderella, what shoe size are you?” Cassidy asked, arms folded.

“Seven,” Holly said reluctantly. “But it’s fine, I can work in these, I don’t mind.”

“She can borrow one of mine,” Trish said and shot Holly a hopeful look. As though she’d suddenly found a friendly face behind enemy lines and she wasn’t going to let go anytime soon.

Holly simply smiled back. She was, after all, still the new girl in town and she wasn’t about to rock any boats, especially when she was on such thin ice with Cassidy already. “Thank you, I would like that,” she said and then turned back to Cassidy. “I’ll head out in a moment, I told Tanner I’d take a look at his paper.”

“Guess we’ve got a real teacher in the house now, huh?” Cassidy grinned and then slipped her hands over her two kids’ heads, messing up their hair playfully. “What do you think?”

She was—rightfully—proud of her children. Holly said, “They’re great. Trish is very passionate about her work.”

“Stubborn is what you mean. She gets that from her mama.” Cassidy toyed with her daughter’s hair.