Would-Be Mistletoe Wife - Christine Johnson

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      “I can see that.”

      Yet he didn’t leave.

      Louise looked up, prepared to scold him. He cast a sheepish grin her way, and her irritation evaporated. She shook herself. This sympathy for him was dangerous. It had gotten her into all sorts of trouble. She resumed entering grades.

      “She asked me to do five more lectures,” he said.

      “Five!” Louise’s blood boiled. Five additional lectures would eliminate her science lessons for the entire month of October and half of November. By then, they would no longer be able to go outdoors to examine plant life.

      “She insisted.”

      Louise swallowed her anger. It wasn’t Jesse’s fault that Fiona was trying to match him to her, just as it wasn’t Priscilla’s fault that Louise had lingered too long in Jesse’s arms. Oh, dear. How was she going to manage six lectures with him?

      “I didn’t realize there was that much information to reveal about the weather.”

      He looked even more sheepish. “Mrs. Evans suggested I tell your students about the working of the lighthouse.”

      Wonderful. Fiona thought science was too obscure for the girls. It had taken all of Louise’s persuasive abilities to convince her to allow a single class each week. Now she was throwing an entire period to Jesse, and for what? Talking about the lighthouse? What possible good would that do the students?

      “I thought you didn’t want to lecture,” she pointed out. “You did offer to withdraw and let me do it.”

      “Mrs. Evans has a way of persuading a person. She did say we wouldn’t have to work together. You can simply introduce me and monitor from the back of the classroom.”

      Didn’t he know how difficult that would be? She could only get rid of these unwanted feelings by distancing herself from Jesse, not putting herself in his path each week.

      A piercing scream sent Louise to her feet and Jesse into the hallway.

      “One of the girls,” she cried, rushing past him.

      He followed and soon ran past her. Then, when he reached the parlor, he halted. Right in the doorway. Louise skidded on the wood floor and nearly bumped into him. Only the door frame spared her from another embarrassing encounter.

      Then she spotted Priscilla, who lay at the base of the staircase, moaning and grasping her ankle.

      “Mr. Hammond,” Priscilla sobbed. “Help me.”

      He hurried toward her and knelt.

      Louise wrestled with unseemly thoughts—that Priscilla hadn’t fallen at all and that this was all a ruse to attract Jesse. The jealousy welling within was wrong.

      Fiona pushed past Louise. “What happened?”

      “I tripped and fell,” Priscilla cried. “My ankle.”

      Fiona took charge. “Louise, fetch Mrs. Calloway. She’ll know whether or not to get the doctor from Saugatuck. Mr. Hammond, let’s get Priscilla to the sofa.”

      Jesse didn’t need Fiona’s help. While Louise donned her hat, he scooped up Priscilla, who draped both arms around his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder. Whether or not Priscilla had really tripped and hurt her ankle, she was definitely taking advantage of the situation.

      Louise yanked open the door and stepped outside. She would not battle an eighteen-year-old for the attentions of a man. She took a deep breath of the late afternoon air.

      Louise Smythe was a teacher. She could stand on her own. No man was required.

       Chapter Four

      From the look on Louise’s face, Jesse had the distinct impression that he’d done something wrong. Yet he’d just gone to the aid of an injured student. Yes, it was the same girl who could make trouble for Louise, but he didn’t see how setting her on the sofa was a problem.

      Even so, Louise had stormed out of the school. True, she’d gone for help, but that didn’t explain the look of fury she’d cast his way. It was a good thing she didn’t see him carry the girl upstairs to her bedroom under the guidance of Mrs. Evans. Though he’d retreated to the parlor at once, the sense that he’d done something wrong still gnawed at him. Trouble was, he couldn’t figure out exactly what that was.

      True, the girl had given him the sort of coy smile that debutantes had cast his way before the war. Her thanks were overly profuse, and she’d hung on to his neck far too intimately, but she was just a girl. Louise knew that. Besides, she was gone for most of that. No, her irritation had begun while they were still in the classroom. She’d been somewhat cool but cordial until he’d mentioned the additional lectures.

      He raked a hand through his hair. He must have offended her by agreeing not only to the lecture on the weather but to five more. Yet hadn’t Louise refused his offer to step down? It wasn’t as if he’d asked to give more lectures. Mrs. Evans had proposed them and then refused to accept his no. He’d only accepted when she agreed that Louise did not have to be involved in the lectures—and when he realized they gave him the perfect opportunity to get Blackthorn to show him the workings of the light. He’d been about to tell her that when the screams interrupted them.

      The sound of footsteps on the staircase drew his gaze upward.

      Mrs. Evans descended a few steps. “Thank you, Mr. Hammond, that will be all.”

      Jesse gripped his hat between his hands. “Is she hurt badly?”

      “I suspect it’s nothing more than a sprain. Mrs. Calloway will help me examine her.”

      “The doctor is far?”

      “Less than a mile upriver.”

      Jesse hadn’t taken time to explore the area yet. “The town’s that close?” From what he’d seen, when two towns sprang up next to each other, they either merged into one or the smaller one died out. Fortunately, the lighthouse location wouldn’t change. It marked the entrance to a port that saw a decent amount of traffic, thanks to both the lumber trade and the produce that was still being shipped out this time of year.

      “Peculiar, isn’t it, when Singapore holds the river mouth. Sawyer—that’s my husband—says all incoming ships stop here. That virtually ensures Singapore will outlast Saugatuck, even after the timber runs out.”

      Jesse didn’t comment. His thoughts still ranged over Louise’s departure. “If a doctor is needed, I can fetch him. I assume there’s a road between the towns.”

      “Of course, though you’ll need to walk it unless you have a mount.”

      Jesse did not. It seemed virtually no one here did. He’d seen only the wagon horses at work on the wharf.

      “I can walk. I’ll be at the lighthouse if needed.”

      Jesse stepped toward the front door at the moment it burst open. Louise flew inside, almost running into him. She hopped aside at the last minute.

      “Oh! Excuse me.” She then focused on Mrs. Evans. “Is Priscilla any worse? I checked everywhere, but no one has any ice left.”

      An older woman bustled in after Louise. “Too late in the season.” She tugged a bonnet off and headed for the staircase. “I assume she’s upstairs?”

      “Of course.” Mrs. Evans extended a hand. “I’m glad you came, Mrs. Calloway. I’ll tell you what happened the best I can.”

      The two ladies ascended the staircase, talking the entire way. That left him with Louise.

      “Well, I suppose that’s that,” she said.

      For a woman of words, that statement was unusually vague, but Jesse was more drawn by the

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