Mary raises her hand. “My daughter goes horseback riding. They have bunnies, goats, and cows. I can ask how much they’d charge to bring some of the animals over to our school.”

Teachers brainstorm ways to make this as cheap as possible for us to put together. Jaxon writes everything down on his pad. All the while, my excitement soars. This idea might actually work.

After the meeting clears out, Jaxon asks me to meet him in his office to go over the details.

“If you have plans, we can do it another time,” he says.

“No, I’m free. Let’s get started.” I turn to Mary before following Jaxon down the hallway. “Call me once you hear back from the farm.”

“Will do.” She squeezes my shoulder. “This is going to be great, Rae.”

I smile. “It will if we can pull this off.”

“If anyone can pull it off, it’ll be you.”

I wave good bye and head to Jaxon’s office.

“Let’s sit at the table,” he says, gesturing to the oval-shaped table.

I take the seat across from him and click open my pen. “I’ll make a list of everything we need. You can take a look at the calendar and pick a few dates that will work. Once you solidify a date, you can contact the PTO. We’ll also need to make flyers: One asking for parent volunteers, and another for families to purchase tickets. Maybe we should put out a sign-up sheet to form a committee …” My voice trails off when I notice Jaxon’s hand covering his mouth to conceal his smile. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” he says. “It’s nothing. Continue.”

I fold my arms over my chest. “It’s not nothing, otherwise you wouldn’t be smiling.”

“You’re so excited about this. It’s just … it’s cute.”

I laugh. “I just know the kids are going to love this. I get a little enthusiastic sometimes.”

“A little?”

“Shut up.” I toss my pen at him but he catches it. “I used to be a cheerleader in high school. I have a lot of school spirit. I can’t help it.”

Jaxon raises an eyebrow. “A cheerleader, huh?”

I roll my eyes and snap my fingers. “Focus, Waters. We’ve got work to do.”

An hour later, Jaxon’s tie is off and so are my heels. His shirt’s unbuttoned and my hair is in a top knot. I’ve moved to the floor to give myself more room for my timeline. Things feel comfortable between us. Like we’re two friends helping each other out.

My phone buzzes on the table. Jaxon tosses it to me.

“Hey, Mary. What’d they say?”

“They’ll bring their animals for free!”

I jump to my feet. “Are you kidding me? Why would they do that?”