“Whit’s up wi’ you?” Jack Ryan, the thorn in my side, sneered and effectively ruined the positive atmosphere. “Someone finally givin’ it tae you?”

My blood boiled and while I counted to ten in order to answer the little shit calmly, Jarrod let his eraser fly. It was some throw.

It hit Jack’s cheek. Hard.

“Whit the f**k!” He slapped a hand to his cheek and glared in Jarrod’s direction. He moved as if he was going to get up, but I was already marching over to him with determination.

“Sit down,” I demanded with a chilling calm. The whole class tensed at the anger in my voice.

Surprised by my tone, Jack lowered himself back into his seat.

Reaching his table, I put my palms on it and leaned down so he had nowhere to look but at my face.

My voice quiet and taut, I laid it out for him. “If you ever speak to me like that again, you are out of here. Do you understand me?”

He shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes. “Let me make myself perfectly clear, then. I am not impressed by you. I am certainly not intimidated by you, and, frankly, I am sick of your continuous interruptions in my class. One more inappropriate word from you and you’re gone, and I’ll keep putting you out of this class every time you do it. Because do you know what? It’s no skin off my nose if you don’t pass this class. I’d rather everyone else gets the attention they need from me, because they deserve it. If you want to walk out into the real world without even a basic education and then spend your life struggling to make ends meet, then go ahead – say something that will really, really annoy me.”

Jack’s answer was to stare at me sullenly.

But he didn’t open his mouth. I took that as progress.

Shooting him one last warning look, I bent down and picked up Jarrod’s eraser. I walked over to his table. “I think you dropped this.”

Smirking, he reached up to take it back, but I held it out of his reach for a moment.

“I’m asking you not to drop it again.”

Jarrod’s expression changed, the smirk disappearing, a serious note in his eyes. He nodded carefully and I handed the eraser back to him.

We finished up the class but Jack had officially ruined the mood. I gave him another stern look as he left my classroom at the sound of the bell. The kids were filtering out when Jarrod came over to my desk, waiting for his classmates to leave.

As soon as the last one was out the door, he grinned at me. “You do seem really happy, Miss.” That grin turned knowing. “Anything to do with that big guy that came to see you a while back?”

“Jarrod,” I said crisply, “it’s none of your business.”

“Right.” He grinned. “Just saying. Nice to know a big guy like that’s watching your back.”

That was kind of sweet, but I didn’t let him know I thought that. Instead I said, “As much as I appreciate the sentiment behind you throwing the eraser at Jack today, I need you to start thinking before you act. You’ve got a short fuse, Jarrod. That short fuse could get you into situations that you might not work your way out of easily and I want more for you than that. So when someone says something you don’t like or tries to get a reaction out of you, stop, think, and remember that you’re a smart kid with a bright future and a little brother who thinks the world of you.”

He stared at me a moment, seeming to process my words.

To my relief he didn’t give me a smart-arse retort. He just nodded.

CHAPTER 17

I was coasting along, almost a little smug not only in my present contentment, but in the fact that I’d beaten my issues with the past.

Little did I know that the past doesn’t take too kindly to smugness, to disinterest. The past can be spiteful. It can creep up on the present to taunt it with the memories and all the old hurts.

It wasn’t snowing. For this I was thankful. Snow was for when you were curled up safe inside with a fire roaring in the grate. It wasn’t for when you were driving a rental to some unknown place in Argyll.

Marco had decided he wanted us to get away for the weekend. He said we needed to talk.

I knew it had to do with his mysterious weekends away and I was glad he was finally going to broach the subject. We’d been officially dating each other for a few weeks now. It was definitely time for me to know what was behind his disappearances, and I was preparing myself for the news.

What I hadn’t prepare for was the sight of the large old cottage on a hill overlooking the Holy Loch. My lips parted in wonder as the car drew to a stop on the gravel driveway. With its multicolored stone block facade, creeping vines, and old-fashioned windows made up of lots of little panels, the cottage was like something out of a fairy tale. Smoke puffed out of the top of the roof from a chimney, and a fat tabby cat skittered across the front doorstep as the car drew to a halt.

I glanced over at Marco and he smiled.

Before I could say a word he was out of the car and hurrying around to the passenger side to open my door. My feet had just touched the driveway when he grabbed my hand and tugged me gently over to the front door. Bending down, he unearthed a key from beneath a ceramic tortoise and let us inside.

Heat hit us and I followed Marco in a daze as he led me out of a small foyer into a hallway and then to the right. My eyes grew round with surprise as I took in the large sitting room. Antique furniture cluttered the space, but in elegant coziness. There were dark plum velvet sofas in the French style, a mahogany tea chest, and a huge crockery display cabinet with china plates. But best of all was the roaring fire in the massive fireplace on the main wall. Shadows danced around the darkening room as the flames from the fire licked out at us.