His Neighbor's Secret
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Lillian Warner
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18,1K
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21
Chapter One
Squashing the urge to collapse onto her desk, Mackenzie Reid scanned the spacious room with critical eyes. It was the first classroom she’d ever set up and she wanted to get it as perfect as possible.
Kenzie had prepared each area for a different creative activity suitable for first through fifth grades. Cheerful colors bloomed on all sides. Pots of bright paint lined the shelves next to several easels in one corner. Fairy-tale puppets hung in a row near the miniature stage. Dress-up clothes spilled from a trunk. Another space boasted sturdy musical instruments surrounded by room for dancing.
Her young students would have fun while they experimented with the arts in preparation for the school’s first ever performance, scheduled for October. And that was all that mattered. The headmistress knew that Kenzie hadn’t taught since her student teaching days over ten years ago, when she was working on her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. She was still amazed that she’d gotten this job and wanted to do her absolute best, especially given everything that had gone wrong over the past couple of years.
She wouldn’t allow herself to take a single step into the past. It was like walking into quicksand. The only way to look was forward. Now she was the creative arts teacher at the Good Shepherd Academy, a small private school in the heart of Massachusetts’s beautiful Berkshire Mountains. She had a whole new life, so different from the old one she had no idea what to expect. This was an adventure. It was exciting. It was challenging.
It was exhausting. And she hadn’t even started yet.
She took comfort in knowing the room had once been used for Sunday school classes. The school had started up in the old church building a few years ago when the new chapel was built, right across the parking lot.
For the past two years, faith and her little daughter, Pippa, had been the only things that made it possible for her to keep going.
Glancing at the oversize clock on the wall, she was surprised to see that it was already a quarter to one. She had to pull herself together and get to her first faculty meeting on time if she wanted to make a good first impression.
Which she desperately needed to do.
In a hurry to push the thought aside, Kenzie rose too hastily and had to grab the desk as the room spun around her. Squeezing her eyes shut, she took deep, slow breaths and waited for her brain and stomach to settle.
“You’re fine,” she whispered. “You’re perfectly fine. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you.”
That was what all the Boston doctors had said, and that was what she tried to believe, in spite of the strange array of symptoms that had assailed her after a week on Martha’s Vineyard two years ago. She firmly believed it was Lyme disease but the doctors didn’t agree.
Maybe out in the country it would be easier to find a doctor who would listen to her. She hoped so, anyway.
Her eyes opened. The room had stilled, although it was a bit out of focus. Kenzie raised her chin and strode toward the door to the unlit hallway. Her still-unsteady feet caught on the threshold, and boom, she was on the floor.
“Whoa! Are you all right?”
The man’s voice came out of nowhere, forceful enough to echo through the empty corridor. Startled, Kenzie looked up, trying to blink the darkness away. “I’m fine. Just...the floor is slippery, and I was rushing to get to the faculty meeting.”
“No rush. They never get these things started on time.”
Something in his booming voice with its slight Boston accent stirred her memory. She peered harder at his face, a shadowed blur in the dark hall.
“Good to know.” Kenzie struggled to get back on her feet with her modesty intact. Not so easy in a dress.
“Let me help.” A firm hand took hold of her wrist.
“I’m fine. I can manage,” she huffed.
The hand released her. “Yipes. Sorry.”
After some more ungraceful flailing, Kenzie stumbled to her feet and sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I’m just so embarrassed. Not the introduction I was hoping for.”
The man laughed, a pleasant, hearty sound. “You must be the new creative arts teacher.”
Kenzie took a deep breath to tamp down the dizziness. “Yup, that’s me.”
“I’m right across the hall, in the old rec room. It’s my second year teaching health and safety. Which is just a fancy name for phys ed.” The big, warm hand took hold of Kenzie’s and shook it. “I’m Mr. Raymond.”
Kenzie felt her throat go dry.
It couldn’t possibly be Jonah. Could it?
He kept talking, oblivious to Kenzie’s silence. “Anyway, we should head on up there and grab some coffee before it’s all gone.”
She followed numbly as he guided her toward the stairs, where the lighting was better. When she took another quick glance up, her fears were confirmed.
Kenzie’s heart clunked into her stomach.
Even though silver was starting to invade his thick, dark hair, even though the lines around his eyes and mouth were etched more deeply and his muscular physique showed the beginnings of dad bod, even after not seeing him for many years, Kenzie would have known him anywhere.
Jonah Raymond. The man she’d been in love with back in grad school, eight years ago. The man she’d been ready to marry the minute he asked. And when he didn’t ask, the man she’d left behind for a job on the other side of the country.
Then discovered she was pregnant.
He was talking away in his hearty, cheerful voice, but Kenzie hadn’t heard a word. It took her a moment to find her voice. When she did, it came out hoarse. “Jonah?”
He turned to look at her, surprised, then confused. “I’m sorry. Do I know you?”
Kenzie winced internally. She knew she’d changed but hadn’t realized how much. Forcing a smile, she said, “It was a while ago. About eight years, in Boston?”
She watched recognition dawn in Jonah’s eyes, followed by dismay. “Kenzie? What—what on earth are you doing here?”
His tone reminded Kenzie that their parting hadn’t been bittersweet, just bitter. “I could ask you the same thing.”
Jonah seemed frozen in place, one foot on the first step of the staircase. His lips barely moved when he spoke. “I’ve been here over a year. Moved here from Boston. You?”
“I just moved here a week ago. From Cambridge, actually.”
“Really?” The crow’s-feet deepened around his eyes. He was only a few years older than Kenzie, in his midthirties, but he looked older than that. “How’d you end up in Chapelton?”
“Because I got this job.” Kenzie’s heart was beating way too fast. Her brain spun like a Tilt-A-Whirl. With deliberate nonchalance, she held on to the stair rail to steady herself. As she did, she took a casual glance down at Jonah’s left hand.
There was no missing that thick gold ring on his third finger.
“What happened to the big career? Last I knew, you were some kind of big shot in kids’ TV.” Jonah sounded indignant, as if he thought she’d come here on purpose to upset him.
“Oh, you know, things change.” Skirting the subject of the disastrous end of her career in educational television, she cleared her throat. “Last I knew, you were a Boston cop. What happened to that?”
“Oh, you know, things change.” Jonah echoed her words in a sardonic tone.
After a tense pause, Kenzie started up the stairs, still grasping the railing to keep herself steady. “Well, I don’t want to be late, even if they don’t start on time.”
She heard a heavy sigh behind her, then Jonah’s footsteps. At the top of the stairs she kept going straight.
“Do you know where the meeting is?” Jonah sounded cautious.
“I’ll find it.”
“Not that way, you won’t.”
Careful not to move too quickly, Kenzie turned back to look at him. The sight of his amused smile made her insides shiver, but she kept her face neutral. “Where, then?”
“This way.” Jonah crooked a thumb in the opposite direction. “Meetings are usually held in the old sanctuary. I’ll show you.”
“Thanks.” Kenzie held herself stiffly as they walked down the hall together. She sensed that he was looking at her, but kept her own eyes riveted ahead.
“You’re welcome.” His chilly inflection made it clear to Kenzie that he hadn’t forgiven her.
She didn’t blame him. But she had every reason to be even less forgiving. And he didn’t seem to realize or acknowledge that.
Frustration tightened Kenzie’s throat and threatened to strangle her. What a mess. This was the only job she had managed to get since her health took a downturn, her television career had crashed and burned, and her husband deserted her for another woman. The pay wasn’t great, but at least her ex paid child support and alimony. Plus, life in this village was far more affordable than in the city. And since she was faculty, Pippa got free tuition to this small but reputable private school.
The health insurance would kick in soon and she could resume her quest for a diagnosis. Lyme disease was very common in the Berkshires, so local doctors might be more likely to listen to her.
Kenzie needed this job for her own and Pippa’s sake. She had no choice but to make this work. No way was she going to let Jonah Raymond spoil it for her.
“Look.” Kenzie stopped dead in the middle of the hall and glanced around to make sure no one would overhear. To be safe, she slipped into a nearby nook and gestured for Jonah to join her. In an urgent undertone she continued, “I’m not happy about this, and obviously you aren’t either. But this is a new start for me and I need to make the best of it.”
Jonah blinked. “O...kay...”
“So here’s the deal.” Kenzie summoned every ounce of determination and laser-focused her eyes on Jonah’s. “Let’s keep things at a distance, okay? I mean, let’s be civil but not...not interact much unless we have to. Okay?”
A corner of his mouth quirked as if amused by her bossy tone. “Are you serious?”
A pleading note crept into her voice as she went on. “Absolutely serious. I think it’ll be better for both of us, don’t you?” When he didn’t respond right away, Kenzie closed her eyes and added, “Please?”
When Kenzie opened her eyes again, bewilderment mixed with sympathy had softened Jonah’s expression. “Yeah. Okay. I agree.”
“Thanks,” she whispered. Giving him a quick, grateful smile, she turned away and started toward the sanctuary again.
Jonah Raymond felt like he’d been stabbed in the heart and then crushed by a freight train crammed full of uncomfortable emotions. Running into Kenzie and finding out they were colleagues swept him into a state of unreality. Joy turned quickly into bitterness, which morphed into a bout of nostalgia. And that led to memories of being overwhelmed by hurt and despair.
He’d certainly never expected to see her at Good Shepherd Academy. After all, the last he’d known, she’d been a children’s television producer in San Francisco. And he hadn’t recognized her at first.
He found himself wondering how long it would have taken him to realize it was Kenzie if she hadn’t said something. Her face had lost its cherubic roundness and the sparkle of her eyes had dimmed. Her once plump but muscular body seemed to have shrunk. Her curly strawberry blond bob was now a mass of copper waves that trailed well past her shoulder blades, bundled into a careless ponytail. Her vibrant teal dress, typical of the bold colors Kenzie favored, seemed to overwhelm her thin frame.
Strangest of all, she walked slowly and carefully, as if afraid she might fall again. Where was the purposeful stride that had been her trademark? Back when they were together, Jonah used to joke that “Getouttamyway” was Kenzie’s middle name.
What had happened to her to cause such a dramatic change? And why on earth did she want to keep him at a distance? After all, she’d been the one to break up with him, not the other way around.
By now they’d reached the door to the sanctuary, which was propped open with a battered hymnal. The old-fashioned, high-ceilinged chapel buzzed with conversation and laughter as faculty members greeted one another after the long summer break.
Fighting to keep his voice neutral, Jonah turned to Kenzie. “Here we are.”
Kenzie stood frozen a few feet from the door, her face so pale her freckles stood out, her blue eyes wide as if with fear.
From the corner of his eye, Jonah studied her in surprise. The Kenzie he remembered was larger-than-life, bold and adventurous. Nothing daunted her.
Again he asked himself how she’d gone from that daredevil girl to this pale, anxious woman.
As he watched, she drew in a deep breath, raised her chin and put on a brave smile.
That gesture punched Jonah right in the heart. He’d seen it many times all those years ago. It was part of Kenzie’s preparation when she was about to do something she’d never done before, like giving a speech at a crowded conference, or going for a television interview, or that time he taught her how to ski and she went right for the steepest slope.
A faculty meeting at Good Shepherd Academy was nothing to be afraid of, but Jonah could see clearly that she was intimidated.
Chin up, she strode past him with her oddly hesitant gait and headed for the table sporting a colorful sign that declared it “The Caffeination Station.” Puzzled, Jonah stood behind her and watched as she seized a cardboard cup and pumped decaf into it. It took her three tries to pry the top from a creamer.
As Jonah grabbed his own cup and filled it, he continued to observe Kenzie from the corner of his vision. Her hand was unsteady, her lips pursed, her eyes focused and determined as she tried and failed to put a lid on her coffee cup. Her expression became more stubborn and she tossed the recalcitrant lid into the trash before turning to face the room.
His cup filled to the brim with high-test black coffee, Jonah also turned. The Good Shepherd staff comprised only a dozen teachers, but they made enough noise for at least twice as many. Happy voices rang through the old chapel, bright as the sunshine that made the stained glass windows glow.
“They’re a friendly bunch,” he assured Kenzie.
She jumped at the sound of his voice, sloshing coffee out of her lidless cup and onto her hand. “Ouch!”
Jonah quickly grabbed a napkin and patted her hand dry. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Sorry, that was clumsy,” she murmured, setting her coffee on the table with trembling fingers.
“Are you okay?”
He could hear Kenzie’s deep inhalation as she raised her head, proud and feisty. “Of course I am. I’m perfectly fine.” She flashed him a bright smile that didn’t mask the anxiety in her eyes. “Everything is great.” And she started to move away.
Before he could say anything else, Mick D’Angelo jumped between him and Kenzie. “Hey, I’m Mick. I teach science. You must be the arts teacher?”
Kenzie smiled and took Mick’s proffered hand. “Kenzie. Nice to meet you.”
Mick turned to Jonah. “Hey, buddy, how’s it going?”
“Hey, Mick. All good,” he auto-responded.
“Yeah? How are the kids?” It wasn’t just a casual question. Worry creased Mick’s high forehead. “I know it’s been over a year since you lost your wife, so hopefully they’re coping okay now?”
Jonah couldn’t help glancing at Kenzie, who registered Mick’s words with surprise. “Excuse me,” she muttered, then made her way to the back of the hall.
Jonah shrugged. “Jolie is great. Obviously she was way too young to have Elena’s death affect her much, if at all. Frankie’s up and down, though.” He chewed his lower lip. “I thought we had a pretty good summer, all things considered, but recently he’s gotten quiet and started having nightmares again.”
Mick clapped him on the arm. “These things take time. For grown-ups as well as kids, so don’t leave yourself out of the equation.”
Jonah blinked away a sudden stinging in his eyes that Mick’s words provoked. Elena and Frankie had shared a special bond. Their foster child had been so lost since she died. He didn’t know what they’d do without his sister and her husband, who had forced Jonah to move in with them.
“So that new teacher?” Mick nodded toward the pew where Kenzie sat alone. “She’s pretty cute, right? Maybe it’s time for you to get back out there.” He gave Jonah a wink. “Better go sit down. Enid’s about to kick things off.” Waggling his heavy eyebrows, Mick added, “Maybe sit next to that new teacher. She looks lonesome.”
Once Mick sat in the front row and started talking to the English teacher, Jonah glanced back toward Kenzie and caught her staring at him. Right away she switched her gaze to another part of the room, embarrassed but defiant. Should he go sit next to her? Did she look lonely?
No, that wasn’t Kenzie’s sad face. That was her don’t come near me expression. Jonah knew her well enough to keep his distance, so he plunked down next to Mick with a shrug.
As the headmistress called the meeting to order, Jonah couldn’t stop wondering what had happened to the joyful, intrepid love of his life, the woman who’d ripped his heart out and thrown it away for a shiny job in children’s television on the other side of the country. When he’d thought of her after they split up, which was way too often, he imagined her soaring high in her career, or skydiving, or belting out boisterous karaoke at a party.
Taking a quick glance at the clock on the wall at the back of the sanctuary, Jonah found himself worrying about how Frankie was doing in day care. He hadn’t done much socializing with other children over the summer, preferring to spend time with his family or wander around the farm they owned. Not surprising, considering the trauma he’d endured before Jonah and Elena had started fostering him. The little boy enjoyed exploring nature, which was fine but gave him far too much time alone.
Jonah sighed. His own proclivity for solitude had increased since his wife’s death shortly after Jolie was born. He knew he wasn’t setting a good example for his foster son by giving in to grief for so long.
Mick was right. He needed to get out there again. Not dating—no way was he ready for that, and certainly not with Kenzie—but he should make an effort to be more social. After all, he was closer to forty than thirty. It had been over a year since Elena died. Maybe if he pushed himself to be more social, Frankie would follow suit.
It was time for both of them to move on.
