Page 3 of The Apple Tree

I returned to my grumble instead of anything that could sound like a whine.

“Howdy, neighbor,” Mom said as two men carried boxes into the house while the boy with dark, curly hair chased a dragonfly.

“Slow down,” I whispered to the boy as he passed me.

He stopped, brown eyes wide as if he were in trouble.

“Hold out your hand like this and hold still.” I lifted his hand out in front of him and helped him hold still. After a few seconds, the dragonfly landed on it. Then he giggled, and it flew off.

“Howdy, yourselves,” one guy said.

I turned back toward my mom, and my jaw dropped when he smiled. The nerdy math teacher had ahotfriend with golden blond hair that swept along his sweaty forehead and brilliant blue eyes with tiny creases at the corners when he smiled. He set the box in the entry and lifted his shirt to wipe his sweaty face.

I may have peeked at his abs.

My mom was happily married to a man of God (except during traffic violations), so I stared at the guy’s abs long enough for both of us.

“Are you Kyle?” Mom asked because she was stupid.

Of course, he wasn’t Kyle.

There was no way that guy was a math teacher with a kid. Math teachers had pocket protectors and glasses with transition lenses, not hard abs.

“I am,” he said.

My gaze snapped from his abs to his face.

“I’m Janet Jacobson, Peter’s wife. And this is our middle child, Eve.”

“Oh, yeah. Fred told me you were my neighbors. It’s nice to meet you.” He offered his hand to my mom, and she shook it like a normal human.

However, I didn’t notice he offered to shake mine until my mom nudged me, but it was too late. “H-hi,” I stuttered, even though I wasn’t one to stutter or lose my mind over a guy.

He inspected me with a slight raise of his brows, rubbing his lips together before clearing his throat. “I’m teaching Trig and Calculus at the high school. Will you be in one of my classes?” His lips twisted like he was chewing on the inside of his cheek.

Again, my mom elbowed me.

I straightened my back and smiled with a quick inhale. “No. Uh, I graduated. I’m eighteen. An adult. No longer in school.”

And I had diarrhea mouth. A simple “no” would have sufficed. I didn’t melt at boys’ feet. But he was a man, not a boy. Still, I felt ridiculous.

“Eve wasn’t the best at math.” Mom tee-heed.

I shot her a scowl. “I was fine at math.”

“You barely got a C in Algebra.”

“It was Algebra II, and it’s because everyone thought Mr. Dillon would drop the semester final, but he didn’t. And I had a meet, so I didn’t have enough time to study.” I laced my fingers behind my back and eyed Kyle with a nervous smile.

Why did my mom insist on embarrassing me?

“Oh, this is my buddy, Adam,” Kyle said as a stocky guy squeezed past him.

Adam stopped. “Hey.”

“These are my neighbors, Eve and Janet Jacobson. Janet’s husband and my brother are best friends.”

“Nice to meet you,” Adam said, smiling at my mom before gazing at me. His grin morphed into mischief as he adjusted his John Deere baseball hat. He shot a look in Kyle’s direction like they had some secret. “Eve, I’ll keep my distance.” He winked at me.

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