Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I smiled. “The kids probably made it!”
“Look, Daddy, there’s a horse eating hay,” she cried excitedly.
“And a cow by the barn,” I added.
“Oh, wow. I see it. Dad! There’s a baby donkey wandering around in the field. Can we pet it?”
“No, let’s get you registered first,” I said, parking the car underneath a tree.
My daughter sprinted out of the car enthusiastically. It seemed weird to be sending her to school wearing jeans and tough boots, but the catalogue I received was clear. There was no formal uniform, All children were to be dressed as if they were going on a day picnic in the woods.
As we walked to the main building, we could see a group of students gathered around a woman who was kneeling on the ground and showing them something. My eyes were drawn to the teacher as she rose to her feet. She had dark hair that half-covered her face, but there was something vaguely familiar about her. It wasn’t a good start if there was someone in this town I knew from the past and I wanted to wait and catch sight of her face properly, but our appointment was ten, and we were already a little late, so I had to let it go and hurry to the Principal’s office.
Noah Moore was exactly as I had pictured him.
A tough old boot of a man. He had bright blue eyes that shone with intelligence and a nonsense approach to life. His handshake was dry and firm and his smile was warm and welcoming. I felt as if he was someone I could go out and have a few drinks with. He seated Anya and me in front of him in his office and answered my questions in a way that made me sure I had chosen the right school for Anya.
A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and he smiled at Anya.
“Your new teacher is here,” he said. “She was out in the fields teaching the kids to plant. If you wish she’ll be able to give you both a little tour of the projects you and your classmates will be working on this year.”
“That would be good,” I replied and waited for the teacher’s entrance.
“Good morning,” a woman said from behind.
And I fucking froze.
I didn’t need to turn around for my ears to instantly recognize that voice. Suddenly, I knew who the dark-haired woman kneeling on the ground was. That was her friend, Natalie. Fuck! It must have seemed so rude, but I was too stunned to move. She came around, a hat on her head, perhaps to shield her face from the sun, and a pair of gloves that she had taken off and was trying to fit into her pocket. She looked completely different from the painted Jezebel from that night, but to my eyes, she was even more beautiful and alluring.
“Montana, meet Mr. Cole Swift,” the Principal introduced. “Mr. Swift, this will be Anya’s new teacher, Montana Moore. She is also my only daughter.”
My gaze connected with a pair of very, very familiar eyes. Her ghastly white face was staring at me with disbelief which flushed bright red a few seconds later.
Her hand was frozen in the air, and I could see the surprise on her father’s face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked his daughter with a frown of concern. It was the catalyst I needed to recover from the shock of finding her in my daughter’s new school.
I rose to my feet and smoothly accepted her offer of a handshake. I stared into her eyes and found anger simmering in the depths.
“Mr. Swift,” she said formally, almost robotically. “Good to meet you.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too. This is my daughter, Anya.”
My little angel immediately sprang to her feet and stuck out her hand. Instantly, Montana transferred her entire attention away from me and focused it on her new pupil. Treating me as if I were a complete stranger, she smiled brightly at my daughter.
At that point, her father stood. “I have another appointment, but as mentioned earlier my daughter will give you a tour of our facilities.” He turned towards Montana, his eyebrows raised inquiringly. “Everything alright?”
“Of course,” she replied grimly.
“Fine. I’ll see you later. Have a nice day, Mr. Swift.”
Without another word, she went to hold open the door of the office. She remained silent as we walked out of the reception area and onto the spacious hallway of the administrative block. She even pretended not to see me, and I understood that she was probably just trying to recover and regain her composure, or perhaps she was just thinking of how best to ignore me given our history.
Chapter 22
Montana
For a few seconds there I thought I was seeing things. My mind had finally snapped and I was hallucinating. I knew it couldn’t be a Cole lookalike because the girls and I had unanimously agreed that he was one in a billion. There was no one else like Cole.