“’Cuz it’s her last day today, silly,” a little girl replied.
A little blonde-haired girl began whimpering and he and Cody and Spencer exchanged looks and shifted uncomfortably. On cue, two more girls burst into tears, including the one who had answered the question.
Maizy shushed them gently and said, “I wanted my friends to see what a wonderful, smart class I have. Now, collect your lunch boxes and we’ll quietly line up to go wash hands for lunch.”
The class did as told, but one little girl, who hadn’t cried as much, walked right up to him, craning her neck and said, “You sure are big. Are you a hero?”
Heath squatted down so he was closer to eye level with her. “A hero?”
“Yeah, you know. Like Flynn in Tangled!” Heath chuckled, not sure what to make of being compared to a Disney movie character.
Maizy put her hand on his shoulder and stroked the back of the girl’s head and said, “Yes, Sara, he is a hero.”
The girl turned to Maizy and said, “Miss Owen, can we go on the playground after lunch? It’s not muddy today.”
Maizy shook her head. “No, Sara. Mr. Clark told me he killed a snake on the playground this morning. He said the big machinery next door is stirring them up so it’s not safe to go out there.”
“Yuck. I’m scared of snakes.”
“I am, too. We’ll play games in the gym instead. Go get your lunch box, sweetie.”
Satisfied, the little girl trotted off, giving Maizy a chance to speak privately with the three of them. “I didn’t want to scare them, but Mr. Clark has been finding snakeskins all over the school grounds since construction started in August. The snake he killed this morning was a copperhead.” She looked over at the flowers and back at the three of them. “You really didn’t need to do all this, but I am so glad to see you.”
The vulnerability in her eyes made it hard not to crowd in around her to comfort her. “Hard day?”
“Very. I see you brought your lunches, too,” she said as she glanced at the four containers in the bag Spencer was still holding.
She put her hand up to her mouth and merriment entered her eyes as she cleared her throat and then whispered, “Notice anything interesting when you woke up this morning, Heath?”
He’d fallen asleep in front of the television with them the night before. When he’d gotten in the shower early that morning, still nursing his first cup of coffee, and started to wake up he noticed that she’d painted his toenails bright red. He’d cussed a blue streak and then laughed his ass off.
Heath coughed, too, and whispered back, “Yes. I like that shade of red, which is a lot like the bright red lace panties with the sexy little ribbon ties at the sides that I have hidden in my pocket right now.”
Maizy gaped at him and blushed. “You took my panties? I thought I lost them somewhere between my house and your house.” She flushed as she held back giggles and lightly whapped him on the arm. “You’re a bad boy. I had to go without when I got dressed this morning.”
Cody growled softly and said, “Which means you’re wearing a garter belt and stockings…and nothing else?” Maizy looked around to make sure the kids weren’t watching them.
She nodded and giggled as Spencer rubbed his hand over his goatee and gave a low whistle.
Cody arched an eyebrow and smiled at her. “That’s it. No more panties.”
“You can’t—” Maizy began to say but Cody cut her off.
“I know I can’t but you’ll let me just the same.”
The kids were getting restless and had their curious eyes glued to their teacher. Maizy gulped and said, “You may have a point there, Mr. Welsh.” She flashed a “this discussion is not over” look at him and said, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to sit in the cafeteria, to keep an eye on them. They’ve had some teary and clingy moments today and I don’t want to leave my volunteer to handle that alone.”
“Sure.”
She fanned herself and looked at them as she directed her students to line up, and Heath liked that she now had a smile on her face again, at least for a little while.
The custodian hurried past them, talking into a cell phone, followed by the receptionist. She stopped to tell Maizy the construction workers next door had broken a waterline that was connected to the school so for the time being their water supply was shut off. “It’s just a lucky thing lunch is ready, otherwise the kitchen might be in dire straits.”
Maizy smiled and grabbed a bottle of hand sanitizer off of a shelf and led the class into the hallway. Heath admired her conservative but sexy outfit as she lined them up, squirting hand sanitizer in each of their little hands. She chatted with the students as she went down the line, grinning mischievously as she made the men take some too, to be good examples for her students.