Heart Smart (Work For It Book 2) by Emma Lee Jayne

Author:Emma Lee Jayne [Jayne, Emma Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Smartypants Romance
Published: 2021-03-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Max

I spend the next twenty minutes watching Holly interact with her students through the narrow window in the door.

Not because I’m a stalker, despite the accusations of Holly’s student, Tria.

No, it’s merely an issue of wanting something to occupy my time. I check my emails on my phone. While there are several I need to respond to, the only thing I hate more than answering emails is answering emails on that tiny keyboard. I even spend a full five minutes looking over the student work displayed on the walls outside the classrooms. It’s not intellectually stimulating, so I end up watching Holly.

She is a completely different person here than she was in the lecture I watched at the university. There, she was in command of the room, a bundle of kinetic energy the students couldn’t take their eyes off.

Here, the girls are the center of attention. They aren’t in control—that’s obvious in the way Holly steps in any time the conversation gets off track—but they are her focus.

Finally, at five forty-five on the dot, Holly ends the class.

She opens the door and indicates I can come back in. Like at her class on campus, a few of the students linger, asking her questions.

I can’t help but watch her interactions. There’s something about her that draws people in. It must be the way she focuses her attention on them. The way she listens. The way she actually seems to care. The soothing tone of voice she uses.

As each of the girls prepares to leave, Holly makes sure that they have a ride home and she hands them a brown paper sack with their name written on the front. There’s no discussion or conversation about the bag. Each of the girls takes it, though several roll their eyes when they do.

When we’re finally alone, I ask, “What was in the bags?”

Holly stills. There’s something in her posture that makes me think she’s about to tell me to mind my own business.

But then she slides her laptop into her bag and answers without looking at me.

“Two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, an apple, and a Clif Bar.”

“Why?”

“The first year I did this, one of the girls left her cell phone in the class. I had to follow her out to give it to her. I found her behind the school, digging through the cafeteria trash bin.”

Holly zips her bag closed and then slings the strap over her shoulder. Finally, she meets my gaze. Her chin jutted out at a stubborn angle. Like she’s ready to argue with me about it. Like she’s daring me to push back.

“What was she looking for? Her retainer or something?”

I’d accidentally thrown away my retainer in middle school when I threw out my trash from lunch. My mom had been furious.

Holly’s lips curve, but there’s a bitterness to her smile. “The girls who take this class usually aren’t from families who can afford braces.”

She says it like I should have known that.

If there’d been clues about the girls’ socioeconomic status, I’d missed them.

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