Brows raised, Ridge stared back at him. “Oh? So what was it like, then? What the heck are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about a woman I admire and respect. Anya is…different. Different from any woman I’ve ever known.”
Ridge looked skeptical. “So what makes this one so special?”
Rafe didn’t have to think twice. “She’s smart and funny and super-independent. And trust me, she knows how to take care of herself.” He gave Ridge a rueful grin. “If you’re ever looking for a bodyguard she’d be perfect for the job.”
“Meaning?”
“That’s another story for another time.” Rafe wasn’t about to embarrass himself with an account of that episode. “She’s one-of-a-kind, Ridge. Once you meet her you’ll know what I mean.”
“Once I meet her?” Ridge cocked an eyebrow. “You talk as if you’re serious about this girl. She must really be something.”
“She is.” Slowly, Rafe nodded. “And that’s why some way, somehow, I’ve got to see her again.” Then he sighed. “Even though she doesn’t want to see me.”
Ridge’s frown deepened and that was when Rafe realized if he was asking his brother’s advice he would have to give him the full story. So he did. Every last word of it, even the part about almost tumbling face first to the floor, compliments of little Miss Petersen.
“Sounds like a real special girl,” Ridge said, his grin wide. “I like her already.”
By the time they’d finished discussing his dilemma Rafe had a plan…of sorts. A plan concocted by Ridge. “How the heck am I going to get a position teaching at her school?” Rafe asked. He wasn’t liking Ridge’s idea too much. What was he going to do? Storm the school? “And what about teaching experience? What kind of operation would hire me without that?”
Instead of an explanation Ridge gave him a confident smile. “Leave all of that to me,” he said, his look enigmatic. “Just get your teacher cap on. School starts early in Germany. You’ve got two weeks.”
***
“Guten Morgen, Herr Kent.” The tiny tots raised their squeaky voices in greeting. Some said the words at the top of their voices, some spoke shyly while others just mumbled. But they were all staring up at Rafe with rapt attention. And no wonder. At his height he was towering over this junior kindergarten class.
Trying to make himself less intimidating, Rafe dipped his head and gave the children a friendly smile. “Guten Morgen, Kinder,” he replied as he surveyed the group.
“And now in English, children.” Mrs. Rosner gave the children a nod and again they raised their voices in greeting. “Good morning, Mr. Kent.”
“Good morning, children.”
Then, the greetings over, the children plopped back down onto the circular mat in the middle of the room and reached for the toys and books they’d abandoned when their teacher asked them to stand and greet the new addition to the Coleman Private English School family.
Rafe, standing there in the middle of the room, was way out of his depth. There was no denying that. In fact, right then he was wondering how he could have been such a fool to listen to Ridge. What an ass he was, following a plan cooked up by the one brother he knew was not to be trusted. For all he knew, Ridge had come up this idea to embarrass the heck out of him. He wasn’t called the family prankster for nothing.
But now was not the time to be having second thoughts, not when he was already in Germany, starting his first day at the school where Anya worked, standing in front of his very own class. Well, it wasn’t exactly his class. Rafe had been assigned as an intern to Mrs. Rosner’s class, a student teacher in need of work experience. And it had all been set up by Ridge.
“There’s hardly anything in this world,” Ridge had told him, “that money can’t buy.”
Apparently, he’d been right. Before Rafe knew what was up Ridge was telling him that everything had been arranged. A hefty donation to the school had convinced the founder and principal to take the benefactor’s younger brother on board to allow him to gain some teaching experience. She’d even overlooked the fact that his experience was in the corporate world and not in the education field. Ridge had only asked for three months so she probably thought it was a small price to pay for the security of a monetary gift that could keep her entire teaching staff employed for a year. Who knew what lay behind that lady’s ultimate decision? Rafe only hoped that despite his misgivings all of this would make things work out in his favor.
But now to deal with the task at hand – how to relate to a classroom full of three and four year olds, still nothing but babies as far as he was concerned, when you knew absolutely nothing about working with young children.
“Come, Mr. Kent, you may sit here.” Mrs. Rosner directed him to the floor, to a spot right between a dark-haired boy and a tiny girl who stared up at him, eyes big as saucers.
Rafe glanced at his supervisor. “Are you sure?” he whispered. “I don’t want to scare them.”
Shaking her head, she smiled. “They’ll be fine,” she said gently. “I have a feeling you’re more afraid than they are.” She held out her hand again, pointing to the spot between the two children. “Now come. Sit. It’s time for us to sing our happy morning song.”
And that was how Rafe ended up on the floor, long legs stretched out before him, feeling like a giant among a throng of elves. He was the only big one there. Even Mrs. Rosner was small, not even five feet tall with a cherubic face that made her look like one of the children even though she was old enough to be Rafe’s mother. Great. Just what he needed, to not only feel stupid and out-of-place but to look stupid and out-of-place as well.
Feeling like a perfect dork Rafe sang the ABC song and 'The Wheel on the Bus', doing the hand movements and everything. Thank God no-one he knew was seeing him like that. He would never live that down.
He gave a soft sigh of relief when it was time to break for the mid-morning snack. There was just so much smiling, singing and wiping little runny noses that he could take for one morning. Eager to split, he got up and turned toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Claire Rosner’s voice brought him to a halt.
“Uh, out?” He turned to give her a quizzical look. “I thought this was time for a break.”