Smoky Mountain Home

But he hoped The Hawkridge School could do better. And he prayed that Jayne Thomas and her staff would show him how to avoid making mistakes with this fragile soul for whom he’d taken responsibility. Now that Brittany had transferred custody to him, he planned to move to Ridgeville within the next few weeks. Living nearby, and without his ex-wife’s constant interference, Jonah hoped he could learn to be the parent Darcy needed.

Business-wise, planning and construction of the school’s stable, along with his other projects in Atlanta and Charlotte, would allow him to start up his solo firm in North Carolina on a solid financial basis. Without the Hawkridge commission, though, he couldn’t cover his expenses. He’d have to spend another year in New York, working with his prima-donna boss and going not-so-quietly insane.

So whether she knew it or not, Ms. Ruth Ann Blakely held his future in her hands. If he didn’t win her support on the stable, he wouldn’t be his own boss for at least another year. More important, he wouldn’t be able to give Darcy the support he knew she needed.

But the argumentative, assertive Ms. Blakely would not be easy to win over. And given his lousy track record with women, Jonah didn’t have a clue what approach to take!

Chapter Two

Someone had set fire to the sky.

Or so it looked to Ruth Ann, studying the sunrise during her walk from her cottage, on the main campus, to the stable. Red-gold clouds hovered just above the treeline, reflecting pink light onto the mist rising off the mountains.

“Red sky in morning, sailor take warning,” she told herself. “I wonder if that still holds true when we’re four hundred miles inland and a mile above sea level.”

Two hours later, with her horses fed but half the stalls still needing to be cleaned, she propped her chin on her hands, gripped around the handle of a manure fork, and gazed at the gentle rain falling outside the barn windows. “I guess it is true. We’re going to have rain for Moving-In Day.”

Waldo, the twenty-three year old Percheron, stuck his huge white head over his stall door and whickered in her direction. Ruth Ann moved closer to rub the soft white hair on his cheeks and throat. “No time for a ride today, old man. I’ll be down at the school until dinnertime, helping the girls get settled.”

He pushed his nose into her hand, and she knuckled the velvety pink skin between his nostrils. “Yes, even in the rain. We’re all gonna be chilled and damp by the end of the afternoon. I hope they’re planning spaghetti for dinner.”

The horse lipped her fingers. “This new cook makes some strange choices, though. She served spinach quiche for lunch one day during summer school—whatever made her think teenagers who’d spent the morning hiking and swimming in the summer heat would want eggs and spinach for lunch? What do you suppose Cook thought when most of the pieces of her green and yellow pie returned to the kitchen untouched?”

Lightning flashed outside, followed quickly by the growl of thunder. Waldo turned away and paced to the outside door of his stall, settling in to contemplate the weather.

“Just as well,” Ruth Ann murmured to herself, and to the horses around her as she hurried to finish her work. “I’ve got to be at the dorm by nine. I hope there are more dads here this year than last. I really don’t want to spend all morning schlepping luggage in the rain.”

Just in case, though, she donned her raincoat and pulled rubber boots over her sneakers. She checked the various buckets set under the leaks in the roof and emptied those more than a third full.

“That’ll hold us till lunchtime,” she told Patsy, a dark bay thoroughbred mare. “I’ll rush back while the girls and their folks are eating. Be good.”

The Hawkridge stables were located half a mile from the main house and the dormitories, an easy walk across the lawns and meadows of the grounds. Driving her pickup truck to avoid the rain required Ruth Ann to use the four-mile service road running through the forest surrounding the estate. Here and there, the trees were starting to show a few yellow-edged leaves and some splotches of red. After a hot, dry summer, the welcome rain had already washed away lots of dust, leaving the woods a deep green against which the autumn colors glowed brightly.

Due to the weather, parents would be unloading their cars as close to the dorm as possible, so Ruth Ann left her truck in the faculty parking lot near the main house—the Manor, Howard Ridgely had called it, a title that had stuck—and walked to the more modern student residence behind. Inside, the usual controlled chaos of Moving-In Day ruled. Because the girls on each grade level roomed together on a hallway, all students would be relocating today, whether this was their first year at Hawkridge or not.

Alice Tolbert, the head of the literature department, sat at a table on one side of the big room, checking in first-time students. Across the open space leading from the front door to the staircase, the new physics teacher, Teresa James, occupied the table where returning students would pick up their room assignments. Having just graduated from college herself, Teresa was still making the adjustment from student to authority figure.

Ruth Ann went to stand beside her. “How’s it going?”

Brushing shiny blond bangs back from her face, Teresa produced a tense smile. “I think I’m doing this right. I’ve had a few complaints, though.”

“Someone’s always going to be unhappy with their new room.” Ruth Ann pulled up a chair and sat down. “They complained last year, they’ll complain next year. Just ignore it.”

The physics teacher glanced around. “I want them to like me,” she said in a low voice. “I’ve heard I’m replacing the most popular teacher in the school.” Then she winced. “I mean, you’re a teacher and I’m sure they all like you—”

“Don’t worry.” Ruth Ann grinned. “Mason Reed was definitely popular—he was the only male, he’s handsome as sin and a really nice guy. But now he’s in Boston with his new wife, starting classes in engineering himself, God bless him. And we are going to carry on just fine without him.” She nodded at the girl who came to the table. “Hi, Sherry, good to see you. This is Ms. James, the new physics teacher. And your room this year will be…”

The morning passed quickly. Ruth Ann stuck by Teresa James until the young teacher seemed to feel more at ease. Then she helped new students convey bags and boxes to their rooms, making conversation to ease the difficult moments. Most parents bringing their daughters to Hawkridge carried with them some kind of guilt or a sense of failure. The girls themselves were often resentful as well as scared—they’d been brought to this school because they couldn’t be trusted to follow the rules anywhere else. And Hawkridge rules were tough—no alcohol, cigarettes, drugs or sex, no piercings, no makeup or jewelry other than a watch, no unescorted trips off-campus.

Of course, not all girls complied with all of the rules. But the success rate at Hawkridge was high. Most students left with a good sense of self-esteem and real, reachable goals for their lives. Ruth Ann took pride in the part her horses played in that process.

As she returned to the lounge after carrying a heavy pair of suitcases to the fourth floor, she saw Darcy Granger standing in the midst of the traffic flowing through the room. Clutching a bed pillow in a pink cover against her chest, she looked completely bewildered, on the verge of tears.

Had her stepfather dropped her off without making sure she got where she belonged? Jonah Granger was probably worried his Porsche would be hit by one of the other parents’ cars.

Ruth Ann approached Darcy. “Hey, there. I’m glad to see you made it. Have you checked in yet?”

Darcy shook her head, her eyes wide and her lips pursed as she stared at the bustle around her.

“Okay, then, you come stand here.” With a light hand on Darcy’s shoulder, Ruth Ann led the girl to the check-in line. “Is your da—Is Mr. Granger coming back?”

“I think so.”

“Good. He’ll see you if you stay in the line.” Ruth Ann looked around for other girls who needed help, but this late in the morning, almost everyone had arrived. Lunch in the Manor dining hall with their parents would be the opening of the school year. Then would come all the tearful—and quite a few not-so-tearful—goodbyes.

Alice Tolbert was talking to Darcy, going over papers and forms in a gentle voice. And still Jonah Granger hadn’t made an appearance. Ruth Ann heaved a big sigh, shrugged into the slicker she’d discarded a couple of hours ago, and went out into the rain to find him.

What she found first was a mountain of luggage right outside the front door. She counted ten suitcases, four large and four medium plus two huge athletic bags, stuffed until the seams had started to pull. Each was labeled with a lime-green luggage tag which read Darcy Granger.

As she stared at the pile, a man came around the corner of the building nearest the parking lot, wheeling a handcart on which rested a full-sized footlocker—the kind the military issued for recruits to store all of their gear. This one was shiny black, with silver metal on the corners, and Ruth Ann had a feeling that—even if she hadn’t recognized Jonah Granger’s tall, lean frame—this, too, would have Darcy’s name on it.

When Granger reached the bottom of the steps he stopped, straightened up and blew out a long breath. Then he glanced up and saw Ruth Ann.

“This is the last of her gear,” he said, his voice even, emotionless. “If you’ll point the way to the elevator inside, I’ll get everything to her room.”

Ruth Ann struggled with the smile she knew would only infuriate him. “I’m afraid we don’t use the elevator on Moving-In Day. It’s only for emergencies.”

He leaned an elbow on the upturned edge of the footlocker. “You’re kidding, right?”

She shook her head. “Afraid not.” Today, he wore jeans and boat shoes and a leather jacket softened with wear—but not too much—in all the right places. His wet hair had fallen into very natural and appealing spikes across his tanned forehead, and his long eyelashes had caught several beads of water. Did the man ever look less than gorgeous?

His blue gaze remained locked on her face for a moment, the expression changing from surprise to irritation to a steely resolve. “Okay, then. No problem.” Grabbing the handle of the handcart, he began to bump it up the steps. When he reached the top, Ruth Ann opened the door for him to back through.

“Thanks,” he said, without looking at her.

When she came inside again, he was standing with Darcy and Alice, getting an explanation of where Darcy’s room would be. He glanced at Ruth Ann, and lifted an eyebrow. “You don’t have to carry those. We’ll manage.”

Ruth Ann would have shrugged, but the two athletic bags were slung over her shoulders and in each hand she held a large suitcase. “That’s what I’m here for. And you haven’t got much time—lunch is at noon. Which room, Alice?”

“Two East, Fourteen,” Alice said, meaning the east wing of the second floor, room fourteen.

“That’s a good one,” Ruth Ann told Darcy as they started up the steps. “You’ll get morning sunshine and cool afternoons.”

Darcy didn’t answer. Behind them, her stepfather bumped the footlocker up a step at a time.

As they walked down the hallway, Ruth Ann could see that the door to room fourteen stood open. “Your roommate must be here already. Did Ms. Tolbert tell you her name?”

Darcy shrugged one shoulder. “Um…Eve, I think.”