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The house needed some work, but it had several redeeming qualities. A wide, sprawling front porch. Lots of fancy fret work that women loved and men hated to paint. Patty and her husband, Sam, had spent weekend after weekend painting the exterior of the place before Donna’s arrival. One of the neighbors told Hank that Patty’s sister, the doctor, had bought the house and would be moving to Huntley soon. Nothing stayed secret for long in a small town. And, of course, when school started, Patty set into her matchmaking mode.
    “So Monday’s the big day,” Hank ventured, hoping to reopen the conversation.
    “Actually, we have some electrical problems and open house has been delayed until Tuesday.”
    “Huntley has needed a doctor for a while now.”
    “So I hear.” Donna hurried up the porch steps.
    “I’m sure the folks will be showing up in droves.” Hank took the steps behind her.
    One last chance, Bradley. What are you going to say to her now? He walked across the porch and stood beside her at the door. Like most women, she appeared to be having difficulty finding her keys. At last she pulled the wad of keys from her bag and shoved one into the keyhole. This is it. You gotta say something now .
    “Look.” He shrugged, “I know we got off to a bad start this morning.”
    “I’m sure we’ll smooth things out in time.” Her gaze moved reluctantly to his. “Good-bye, Mr. Bradley.”
    Not prepared to give up just yet, he went for another opening. “If you ever want to discuss Melissa’s work or anything at all, I’m in the book. Just give me a call. Or walk down the block. Anytime.”
    “If I need to speak with you, I’ll do so at school,” she assured him. “I wouldn’t want to intrude on your personal time.”
    Hank plowed a hand through his hair. This was a hell of a lot more difficult than he had expected. “You really don’t like me, do you?”
    She stared at him a moment, her expression unreadable. “You’re my daughter’s teacher, but otherwise you’re a total stranger. Why would I like or dislike you?”
    “I’m wondering the same thing. Seems you’ve already made up your mind.”
    A telephone rang somewhere inside the house.
    “That’s my phone.”
    “You have a nice evening, Dr. Jacobs.” The telephone rang again. Hank smiled and gave her a nod before turning away.
    “Thank you, Mr. Bradley.”
    The reluctance in her voice halted him at the porch steps. He faced her. “For what?” he asked. “For being a nice guy? Or for just knowing when to leave?” Another ring echoed from inside the house.
    She smiled and he felt its warmth span the distance between them. “None of the above,” she said. “Thank you for telling me about Melissa.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    Another ring and she disappeared into the house.
    Hank grinned. First down and a whole hell of a lot of yards to go.

Chapter Three
    Thursday morning brought Hank’s weekly summons. As sure as the sun came up each morning, Masters found some reason to call him into her office at least once a week to chew him out. Thank God there was only one more day in this week; only about thirty-eight more weeks in the school year. He banged his fist against an already dented blue locker that had once belonged to him. A lifetime ago. His jaw hardened as he clenched and unclenched that fist.
    Why didn’t she just leave him alone? She’d had her revenge. He was a kindergarten teacher, for Christ’s sake. Since he was untenured, she could assign him to most any teaching position in the school for one year. The move had almost cost him his coaching assignment. Hank banged another locker as he focused on the door at the end of the hall. No one, except Jack Taylor—and he was gone now—understood how much coaching meant to Hank. He had lost everything else, coaching was the only thing that kept him going. And the kids. He loved the kids, from kindergarten on up.
    Jack had been the principal at Huntley for three decades. His sudden