Schooled by the Cowboy by Liz Isaacson

Author:Liz Isaacson [Isaacson, Liz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AEJ Creative Works

Chapter Nine

“I don’t believe you,” Shannon said. She couldn’t. True, she didn’t know Grant that well. Sending hundreds of texts and spending a few days together didn’t make her an expert on the man. At the same time, she couldn’t believe he’d gamble away his entire rodeo winnings, his whole life, before showing up broke and broken in Brush Creek. He had to be smarter than that.

More than anything else, Claire looked sad, and Shannon didn’t know what to do with that. She didn’t seem vindictive. Angry. Just…sad. “It’s why I decided to end things with him,” she said, reaching out and touching Shannon’s forearm. Claire had started teaching the same year Shannon had been given her first administrative assignment at Brush Creek. Shannon herself had taught for six years, three of which she’d worked on her administrative endorsement and applied to be a principal.

Shannon stared at the other woman’s perfectly manicured fingernails. Vaguely, she heard Claire say, “I want someone who can take care of me, not the other way around.”

“I can take care of myself,” Shannon said. “I have to go.” She turned and marched up the aisle, her words practically ringing in the rafters. She could take care of herself. She’d been doing it for thirty-four years. Once she hit the lobby, she detoured into the ladies’ room to make sure all the pieces she used to put herself together were still in place.

Her eyes looked a little more watery than usual, but her makeup was flawless. Her gold hoops sparkled in the light. Her blouse lay exactly right, with the pink parts of the necklace showing right along her collarbone.

Staring at herself, she realized how tired she was. Tired of being this perfect version of Shannon Sharpe. She wanted to roll out of bed on Saturday mornings and wear her pajamas all day while Theo and Bear chased a ball.

Would Grant care if she did that?

No, a voice whispered in her head. She could barely hear it above the sound of her ticking, ticking, ticking biological clock. She wanted a family, and she wanted to be there to raise them. If Grant really couldn’t support her, would she have to work outside the home?

“I don’t want that,” she whispered to herself. But she couldn’t just believe Claire either. She drew in a deep breath and determined to do what she’d do at school: Get both sides of the story.

Satisfied, she exited the bathroom and entered the sunshine. Grant waited for her against his truck, and when he saw her, he pushed to a standing position and approached with long strides. He wore his anxiety openly on his face, and Shannon adored that.

He cared about her.

He cares about me. The thought felt like helium to her soul, lifting her spirits toward the clouds.

“Everything okay?” He reached her and ran his warm hands up her arms.

“Sort of,” she said, wondering how she brought up this rumor. Maybe he’d simply tell her. If he was as serious about her

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