Christmas Daisy Read Free Page A

Esmerelda’s voice leading them, slightly off key.  He saw Daisy Donovan smile. It felt like someone had turned on a beacon.  It brought a smile to his own lips, despite the myriad of concerns swirling around in his brain.
    “It sounds like the day has begun, so maybe we should put off any reservations until later? I’m game to give it a try, and I don’t thi nk I can do any worse than that at this late date.” She pointed her thumb up the stairs, with another grin that made his heart  leap.  He took a deep breath.
    His mind began to function again.  She was funny, bright.  And she was right. The day had begun. Whatever his dreams had been, he needed to realign them. And he would be an awful person to count her out just because of her tiny size, wouldn’t he?  He remembered the last sub, who had been amazingly large, but who had also reeked of marijuana. He sniffed.  Daisy-the- diminutive smelled like spring flowers and strawberries. He gulped.
    “Fine. We’ll talk at lunchtime. Here are some materials I had gathered for you.”
    He looked at the size of the giant pile, which was almost as big as she was. How was she ever going to carry the load upstairs?  
    “Here, I’ll help you carry these materials,” he said, feeling chivalrous.
    She saw him look at the pile, and grinned.  “Don’t worry. I’ve got it.”  She pulled off her shawl, flung it quickly over the pile, and with a giant jerk,  expertly twisted the shawl around it like a rodeo star, flinging the whole thing over her shoulder like a giant sack. We learned to carry as much as a pack mule in Africa,” she said with a laugh.   “I like the sweatshirt in the pile,” she said simply, heading for the door.
    “U m, I think it’s going to be a bit too large,” Ben said, picking up another pile of books.
    “Well, it’ll be fine as it’ll keep me warm . I’m freezing.  And I’ll look forward to hearing about your school at lunchtime. Right now, I’d better find the way to my class. “
    “What do you know about New Horizons?” he asked quietly, feeling a bit like he was abandoning a baby rabbit to a pack of giant dogs.  She was so calm. Would she be okay?
    “I don’t know a thing,” Daisy said, “Except that Hugh Highfield thinks you are awesome, that you respect your students, and that I’d like it here. So here I am.”  She started up the wide stairway, moving much more quickly than he could ever have imagined with her large bundle on her back.
    “And please don’t forget my hot chocolate,” she said in that soft and lilting voice.

 
     
     
    Chapter 2
     
     
    Daisy grinned as she lugged her load up the steps. Dr. Benjamin Wilson had looked totally baffled by her appearance.  It didn’t matter.  He’d expected a male, and she had been in that spot before.  She knew he was dedicated, and an excellent educator.  She had been given a long list of his many attributes by Hugh Highfield, when he had determined that she would be employed here.  So she had faith in HIM, even if it wasn’t reciprocated at the minute.  She had no doubt of her abilities. 
    She’d be teaching a high school curriculum, and to a variety of students.   It didn’t matter to her what their issues were, specifically.  She’d need to get to know each one of them individually, anyway, to teach and guide them well. Com pared to the variety of students she had in her African village, from different tribes, scattered over years of civil war, different languages, different ages, different religions, different cultural needs, she’d learned how each individual person mattered.
    But Dr. Ben Wilson certainly was cute!  There was an intensity in his eyes, a charm in the messy curly hair, a comfortable aura about him in his dark green corduroy pants and well worn multicolored cotton sweater. And most of all, she could FEEL the concern and care he had for his students. He was absolutely dedicated and invested in his school.
    Excellent.  She