“Sometimes it’s a dad,” she said. “He or she comes in for a couple of hours every week for the month, usually with a snack, and does something with the students. It can be a craft or activity. Sometimes the parents just read to them.”

She moved behind her desk and sat down. “The purpose is to give the teacher a little time to get caught up on paperwork or whatever it is we’re behind on that day.”

“Could I do it?”

She stared at him. “Why would you want to?”

“You need help. I’m available. I like kids.”

“Micah, that’s sweet, but you don’t want to take this on. The snack alone is complicated. It has to be kid-friendly, but no nuts and not all sugar-based. And it’s two hours. That’s a long time with fifteen eight-year-olds staring at you.”

He shrugged. “It’s just for December, right? And school gets out for the holidays, so it’s what? Three times? I can handle it.”

“But—”

“People are going to be busy,” he added, determined to convince her. Being the classroom dad would give him something to look forward to and would be a distraction. Right now, given his complete lack of talent, he needed to be distracted. “You won’t be able to find someone on short notice, so here I am, volunteering. You should say yes.”

“You’re trying to write a song.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not going well. Besides, I liked career day.”

“I guess you could play music. They’d like that.”

He wanted to ask if she would as well, but told himself going there could make things weird between them, and he liked how they were right now.

“Good. Give me the particulars and I’ll get started on my lesson plan.”

Her lips twitched as if she were trying not to smile. “It’s two hours and a snack, Micah. You’re not going to need a lesson plan.”

“I like to be prepared.”

Thirteen

Reggie stood with her mom in the lobby of the resort. Although she hadn’t been inside for over a year, she felt as if she knew every inch of the space. When she and Jake had been dating, she’d often met him here after he was done working. They would grab a drink or dinner, then head upstairs to the suite where he lived.

She took a breath and tried to figure out if she was feeling any lingering discomfort being back, but there didn’t seem to be much beyond the sense that she wasn’t really a big hotel wedding kind of person. If she were to get married—and her plan was that one day she would—she was thinking maybe a summer wedding in her parents’ backyard. Or a beach destination wedding.

She heard a familiar voice calling her name and smiled when she saw Paisley approaching.