One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas #3)(17)

Mavis Brennan’s round face was stone cold. Her blue eyes, set in a bed of wrinkles, did not leave room for argument. She reached up and patted her stovepipe-black hair into place.

“I guess we’ve both laid our cards out on the table,” Leah said.

“Yes, we have. The difference is I’m holding the winning hand. Right now I’ve got a meeting with my grandsons. You think about what I said.”

“Oh, I will, Granny. I certainly will.”

“Good. I trust that your good judgment will override your hormones.”

Mavis left the table and Leah fished her phone from the back pocket of her pair of designer jeans. She flipped through several windows before she found the right one and dialed the superintendent/principal of the Burnt Boot public school.

“Hello, Wanda, this is Leah Brennan. I heard that the Gallagher school burned and that the public school is going to take in the students that had been going there. Y’all are going to need more teachers,” she said.

Leah had been in charge of the eight-to ten-year-old Sunday school class for years and Wanda helped her out almost every Sunday. They weren’t best friends, but like most folks in Burnt Boot, they knew each other well.

“Yes,” the woman said quickly. “I don’t even need to interview you. There have already been more than a dozen Gallaghers in here this morning, and more have called to get their kids enrolled. I’m surprised that you called, Leah, but the answer is yes. I know you’re a good teacher and I’ll gladly hire you right now. We’ve only got three weeks until school starts, and we’re going to be scrambling for extra teachers. But why do you want to leave the Brennan school?” Wanda asked.

“Thought I might like a change,” Leah said.

“Well, I’m glad you want a change. I’d like to put you down to teach fourth grade. Let me know by noon, and I’ll get the contract ready for you to sign,” Wanda said.

Leah inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “I’ve thought about it long enough. I’ll take the job. Thank you for offering it to me. You reckon the Gallaghers will have a fit about a Brennan teachin’ their kids?”

“I’ll put those kids in with the other fourth-grade teacher and give you the ones who aren’t Gallaghers. Hey, I heard that you and that cowboy who’s gone to work for Gladys at Fiddle Creek are an item now. That got anything to do with this decision?”

“Rumors can sure stretch things out of proportion, can’t they?” Leah chuckled.

“You didn’t answer me, but it doesn’t matter. I’m glad to have someone like you on our staff,” Wanda said.

“Think you can keep this under your hat for a few hours?” Leah asked.

“I can until noon. We’ve got an emergency school board meeting then,” Wanda answered.

The next call Leah made was to her own principal, Matthew Brennan. “Hey, Matt. How are things at the school?”

“Wouldn’t know. I’m on my way to a meeting with Granny. She’s afraid the Gallaghers are going to retaliate for the burning.”

“Did we do it?” Leah asked.

“Doesn’t matter. We got the blame for it,” Matthew said.

“I didn’t ask that. I asked if we did it.”

“You know the family creed, Leah. When Granny says do something, we do it and we don’t talk about it, or else the law would come down on us. I can tell you that I did not do it, but I can’t tell you the Brennans didn’t do it,” Matthew said. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m handing in my resignation today. The public school has offered me a job and I’m taking it,” she said.

He gasped. “You can’t do that.”

“I just did. Amanda has finished her degree and is looking for a job. Give her my classroom. I’ll be in this morning to clear it out and hand in my keys,” she said.

“Does Granny know?”

“No, sir, and I’d appreciate it if you kept quiet about it until I can tell her myself.”

“She’s going to raise hell.”

“Yep.”

“I wouldn’t want to be you.”

The line went dead before she could say anything else.





Chapter 5


Mavis didn’t find out about the new job until Monday evening, and she was furious when Leah sat down at the supper table that evening. Honey and Kinsey sat on one side of the table, with Declan, Russell, and Leah on the other side.

Granny had brought reinforcements, no doubt to either toss Leah off River Bend or to talk her out of her decision. Her blue eyes were barely visible she was squinting so much, and her lips almost disappeared when she set them in a hard line. Leah’s stomach twisted up into a pretzel and she sighed. It was going to be one long night and she’d told Rhett that she would be at the bar by eight.

Too late to change my mind, Granny, she thought.

She’d already handed in her resignation. Her second cousin, Amanda, now had the job, and Leah had signed the contract for a year at the Burnt Boot Independent School District. She’d cleaned out her schoolroom, the boxes still in the back of her truck. Tomorrow or Wednesday, she’d take them to the new school and start getting her new classroom ready.

Mavis picked up a platter of steaks and passed it down the table. “I understand that you’ve got something to tell us.”