Without Mercy - Lisa Jackson [97]
She had to start thinking of him as an ally rather than an adversary. The heartbreak between them was long over; they both had to deal with the here and now.
No more tripping down memory lane to that summer when she’d first met him. He’d smelled of dust, tobacco, and horses, a three-days growth of beard had shaded his strong jaw, and an irreverent smile that touched his eyes had slowly crept across the lower half of his face. She’d been caught up in the mystique and pure, sexy male ness of him.
“Fool,” she said under her breath, but even so, her stupid heart was racing at the memory.
Forgetting about their time together was easier said than done, Jules decided, and found out she was right a few hours later.
She caught her first glimpse of Trent that day at breakfast when he took a seat at the table with his pod. A glum Shaylee sat next to him, picking at her muffin. Each time Jules glanced Trent’s way, she saw him dealing with his students. She never caught him looking in her direction, which was just as well. Still, that didn’t improve the taste of her oatmeal, fruit, and coffee.
On the other hand, Shaylee nearly stared a hole right through Jules, which wasn’t smart. Jules tried and failed to ignore the plea in her sister’s eyes. It wasn’t that Jules didn’t want to talk to her sister; she simply couldn’t risk it. Not with the faculty and student population of Blue Rock Academy looking on.
Before the meal, Reverend Lynch had given his prerequisite prayer about trusting God for their safety. “Psalms twenty-seven five tells us, ‘For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling, he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.’”
High upon a rock? Jules mulled that one over, wondering if he’d chosen the Bible quote because the academy was called Blue Rock.
The meal itself was strained, with students and staff still reeling from the attacks on campus, still worried that the killer had not been found.
As students began clearing their plates, Lynch went to the podium again and moved on to housekeeping, breaking down chores by pod. Then, to Jules’s surprise, he called up Shaylee, Lucy Yang, and Eric Rolfe. He asked them to hold hands and “break through the wall of misunderstanding” that had put them at odds.
Jules tried to ignore the snickers that punctuated the room as Lynch placed a hand on each of their heads and led a prayer asking the Lord’s forgiveness for their sins. At the last “Amen,” he insisted everyone in the dining hall link hands and say a kind word to each of the people they were touching.
Just the kind of thing Jules abhorred.
“I’m glad you’re a part of the staff,” Rhonda Hammersley said to her. “We need a few more women.”
Jules, forcing the lie over her lips, responded in kind, that she was happy to be at Blue Rock.
On her other side, Wade Taggert, with his ever-worried expression, told her she was a welcome addition to the school and that he was looking forward to working with her. The whole scene seemed surreal, even scripted. Hoping she sounded a hell of a lot more sincere that she felt, Jules repeated what she’d said to Hammersley. As soon as Taggert dropped her hand, he rubbed nervously at his goatee.
She couldn’t hear what Shaylee, Lucy, and Eric said to each other, but the set of Shay’s jaw didn’t bode well in the forgiveness department, but Jules couldn’t worry about it. Not now.
Even though it was technically the weekend, Jules was busy. First up, she had to complete employment forms for her personnel file. As soon as breakfast ended, Jules headed over to the office in the admin building and located Charla King, Lynch’s secretary, who looked a little like a former beauty queen—very faded and slightly unhappy. With manicured fingernails, Charla pointed out where Jules was to sign on insurance, retirement, and tax forms. The process was tedious, but Jules scanned the documents as she signed them.
“Almost done,” Charla promised, as if reading Jules’s mind. She slid the final form across her desk. “This is about