Page 165 of The Nanny and the Heartthrob

“Exactly,” the teacher replied. “Aria is in good hands. We’ve got instructional specialists here who work with every child. We’ll make sure she gets the support she needs to succeed.”

Where were the Miss Mackendorfers of the world when she was in school?

It didn’t get much better than that.

Hopefully, Landon agreed.

She chanced a look at the man, who no longer appeared ready to pounce.

“It might help you to know,” she said, meeting the teacher’s gaze, “that I’ve been working with Aria at home—with music lessons. I can relate to Aria because I was, well, I am a neurodivergent learner. Highlighting line by line seems to help Aria and me—at least with reading music.”

“That’s quite helpful. I’ll let our teaching aides and classroom volunteers know so we can continue the practice at school. We can meet in a few weeks after I’ve had some time to work with Aria and touch base,” the teacher replied as the bell rang. “We’ll talk soon.”

Anxiety rippled in her chest. She’d still be Aria’s aunt in a few weeks, but there was no guarantee she’d hold the title for much longer.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Thank you, Miss Mackendorfer.”

“Yeah, we’re grateful. You sound like you know what you’re doing,” Landon added.

The teacher nodded, then headed toward the mass of children congregating outside the entrance.

“She’ll be okay,” Landon whispered. He glanced up, then gazed at the lines of children snaking across the blacktop.

She squeezed his hand, not wanting to interrupt this moment when Raz’s voice cut through the hum of children saying their goodbyes.

“Landon, mate!”

“Yeah?” he answered, snapping back.

“They’re asking for parents and guardians to sign up for crossing guard duty, and Rowen’s making us do it.”

“Hey,” the tech nerd chided, waving a finger at the men. “Had their teacher not intervened, our kids could have been seconds away from getting sent to the principal’s office. We need to earn every brownie point we can.”

Landon peered down at their joined hands. “I’m going to—”

“Of course, I’ll wait with the girls.”

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, then hesitated before he released it like he didn’t want to let go. “Thanks for that, with the teacher.”

“Go sign up for parent stuff,” she replied, taking a page from Aria’s playbook and doing all she could not to get mushy.

He nodded and joined the guys, and they set off toward a table near the edge of the parking lot as Penny, Libby, and Charlotte circled her like a trio of wild dogs.

She inhaled and counted down, waiting for her friends to explode with commentary.

Three.

Two.

One.

“Just look at our, Harper,” Penny crooned.

“What about me?”

“She’s got it,” Charlotte chimed.

Libby nodded. “Yes, she does.”

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