Chapter 12

"Good morning, Mr. Eckholm," Ann Marie said as she walked by Jake. He was standing outside doing his morning bus duty. She winked, glad that it waited until the social studies department's week to get cold and gray.

"Good, morning, Miss Armstrong." They shared a secret smile. She walked right by him and try as he might, he couldn't stop himself from turning to watch the swing of her hips. It may have just been him, but there seemed to be a little extra sway in her strut.

His ears were numb and his coffee cold when the last bus arrived. Jake and Mr. Spinelli were the last teachers in. They strode into the office chatting idly about the football team's chances of making the regional playoffs.

Sally Barnett bumped—accidentally, of course—into Jake as he was checking his mailbox. There was laughter in her voice. "Have a nice weekend, Mr. Eckholm?"

"I did," he put his best poker face on. She slipped an envelope into his hands. "What's this?"

"Half of the pool," Sally's face broke into a wide smile. "I won."

"Won what?"

"The When Are Mr. Eckholm and Miss Armstrong Going to Hook Up? Pool," she laughed.

"Do you guys bet on everything?" he asked with mock exasperation.

"Not everything," she winked. "Although ... you wouldn't happen to know how many times you did it ... just out of curiosity."

"Sorry, 'need to know' and all that."

"Spoilsport."

"And who says we did anything this weekend?" he asked, knowing that it was okay to joke around with the school secretary. He was never the kiss-and-tell kind, but he knew that anything he told her would stay between them.

"The big I-just-got-some-this-weekend look the two of you had this morning, that's who!"

"Is it that obvious?" Jake asked, momentarily concerned what everyone else might think.

"It is to me," Sally replied. "I've been rooting for you two for a long time. Ever since I found out you and Tracy were getting divorced. You and Ann Marie are both good people. You deserve better than your ex-wife's family and she deserves a guy who will treat her right. That's why I want you to have what's in that envelope, Jake. Get her something nice."

He didn't open the envelope, but he wouldn't be surprised if Sally had put everything from the pool in. And then some out of her own pocket.

"And remember this, Jacob Eckholm," Sally's voice hardened with concern. "No one around here ever looked out for her like they should have, but if you break that girl's heart, you'll answer to me."

It wasn't a warning as much as it was a reminder that his lover didn't deserve to be treated like something to be thrown away. That whatever bad things had gone on between he and Tracy, taking them out on her was unfair to both of them. That it wasn't his place to make up for her crappy childhood but just to treat her well.

"I'll remember that, Sally," he vowed. "I swear to God I will."

"I know, Jake," the other woman said with a knowing smile. "That's why I'm going to win the other pool."

"What other pool?"

"Oh, my, will you look at the time?" She walked away and Jake could still hear her hearty laughter as he strolled down the hallway to his room.

His morning classes teased him a little bit. It seemed everyone in the county knew they had gone somewhere together. They tried all sorts of ways to inquire about the weekend, but he stonewalled them all. It became a game and for the most part, he won.

At the beginning of fifth period, right after lunch, there was a knock on the door. His geography class was playing with Google Earth on the projector. He had just zoomed in on the Khufu's Pyramid. He went to the door and found a student there holding an envelope.

Smiling to himself, he ripped the envelope open and read Ann Marie's note.

You lost a bet, Mr. Eckholm. Would you like to come over for dinner tonight to start paying it off?

He chuckled to himself, checked the "yes" box, sealed the paper in another envelope and sent it back with the student.

"What did Miss Armstrong want?"

"That's none of your business, Hannah," he said, turning the mouse over to the set of buttons on the bottom. He pressed one and the laser pointer highlighted the Khufu's Pyramid.

"No, really, Mr. Eckholm, what are all those notes you and Miss Armstrong pass about? Did she just ask you out?"

He had to smile inwardly, but kept a straight face. "Adult stuff, Hannah."

"That sounds kinky, Mr. Eckholm." The students all smiled. In a room laden with hormone-driven teenagers, simply using the words "adult" or "kinky" was going to draw a response.

"Not unless you find insurance kinky," he said with a straight face.

"Insurance?"

"Yeah, it's open enrollment season and she can't decide if she should get the dental and vision to go with the basic health care," Jake made up something on the spot. "She asked and I just told her that I get the vision and dental. It's only five bucks more per pay period."

"You are so full of crap, Mr. E.," Jessica Taylor rolled her eyes from the front of the room.

"Insurance is very exciting," he laughed. Then it was back to Egypt and the Giza Plateau.

The rest of his day passed quickly. He stayed after school for a little while and graded papers. When he left a little after 5:00, Jake found that he and the custodians were the only ones left in the building. He got in his truck and drove to the local grocery store.

He picked up two bottles of wine—a red and a white—along with some flowers. The cashier, who was one of his students three years ago even ID'd him and shot him a sly look. Jake only smiled then got back in his truck and drove over to Ann Marie's house.

She lived in a row house that was two blocks away from the house where she grew up, and where her mother still lived. All the houses in the neighbourhood were of the same basic floor plan and were built by the steel mill before it closed a decade ago. It was brick and had a nice, homey feel to it.

Her car was parked in the driveway. He pulled in and got out. The sun was just setting and Jake noticed that some of her neighbours suddenly and inexplicably found a reason to be out on their porches, despite the evening chill. Smiling to himself, Jake went up the steps.

The front door was wide open and he was greeted by the smell of marinara. He knocked on the screen door. "Anyone home?"

"Come on in," Ann Marie called from the kitchen. Jacob stepped into the modest living room. The television was tuned into the local news, but the volume was low. She came out to greet him and her face broke into a wide smile when she saw the flowers. As he handed them to her, she said, "They're beautiful."

"They're for a beautiful person," Jake flashed her his most charming smile. She blushed and gave him a quick kiss. She led him to the kitchen. As she put the flowers in a vase, he put the white wine in the fridge, then began hunting through her drawers.

"Next one on the right, next to the oven," Ann Marie said and soon he had the bottle opener out. "That will go great with the lasagna."

As she put the finishing touches on the salad, Jake poured them each a glass of the Rioja and they talked until dinner was ready. He found himself staring in wonder at the young lady who until recently was an enigma to him. She smiled a lot and he found himself liking the glances she shot his way.

The pair sat down to dinner at the table in her kitchen. As they talked about school and parents and siblings and hopes and dreams, Jake realised that he was falling in love. They only ate half the tray and before she could get up, Jake went to wash the dishes.

"I like a man who knows his way around a kitchen," Ann Marie said with a smile.

"Yeah, well, I've had lots of practice," he replied. "If you'd ever eat Tracy's cooking, you'd know why."

"Not that great, huh?"

"She's the only person I know who can screw up mac and cheese." As he bent over to pick up her plate, he gave her a soft peck on the cheek. "I don't think I've had seconds in years."

"I think you had thirds," Ann Marie taunted. She followed him into the kitchen and he shooed her away from helping with the dishes. After putting the rest of the lasagna in Tupperware containers, he bent over to put some silverware in the dishwasher and she whistled at him. "Looking good there, hot stuff!"

He wiggled his backside at her teasingly. Their playfulness seemed so natural. "Get a good look now, because your cooking is going to make me fat."

"Then we'll just have to find a way to burn all the calories off," Ann Marie winked. He set the empty tray in the sink and started to scrub it, when he felt her arms around him from behind. Her breasts pressed against his back. His pulse raced as she kissed the back of his neck. Her hands tugged at his shirt. "Let that soak."

Jake turned around and took Ann Marie in his arms. They kissed passionately. His hands cupped her ass and he pulled her to him.

"I've missed you," she whispered in his ear.

"It's only been a day," he said.

"It's been the longest day of my life."

"I know." His lips went to her earlobe. She let out a low, throaty moan. "As good as the lasagna was, I'm still hungry."

"You are?" There was an incredulous tone in her voice; he had deliberately phrased it so that she might have thought that he was being snide about her cooking.

"Yes," he replied, barely able to mask his laughter. "I thought you promised me there would be something else for me to eat when I got here."