Phantom Lesson
Lynn Donovan
To Christina.
Introduction
Elementary School Teacher, Samantha Gladstone isn’t happy. As a child she, too, had an experience with Phantom Horse’s famous ghost. Unlike everyone else, hers wasn’t a happy experience. In fact, it was terrifying and has left her with nightmares ever since. Now things are even worse. A Paranormal Investigation team is in town to do a TV show on the Phantom, and they want her to share her experience on camera. She just wants them gone, but more importantly, she wants them to leave her alone. So why is she drawn to Paul Horton, the team’s leader?
Paul Horton has seen it all: skeptics, true believers, religious bigots, even those girls who want to hook up with a Paranormal Investigator. So why is it the one woman in Phantom Horse, Colorado who doesn’t want them there is the one woman he finds himself attracted to? Samantha Gladstone has made it plain she wants him and his team gone, yet he can’t help himself. Suddenly it seems he’s hot for the teacher. She haunts his dreams and his waking thoughts.
Can a woman scarred by her ghostly experience and a man who craves those experiences find a way to come together? Do opposites attract, or is this one case where someone will be haunted by a bad romantic experience for the rest of their life? Or can Grandpa Harold help them learn to love with a few well timed PHANTOM LESSONS?
PROLOGUE

Samantha’s Story
“Get away from me!” Little Samantha Gladstone screamed. The huge black horse reared high above her head, slicing its hooves through the air. If just one hoof came down on her, it would cut her to bits. The hooves looked sharp as Daddy’s razor.
The fascinating fireflies she had followed into the woods had all gathered together, swooping and swirling, until they transformed into the black horse’s mane. Flowing with his movements as if they were blowing in a breeze or floating in water, it was beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
But there was no wind. And he wasn’t in water. What lifted the horse’s mane, Samantha’s five-year-old brain couldn’t fathom. Nor why the rider tried to trample her, she had no clue.
Sam watched the fireflies, mesmerized by their beautiful glowing light, until they took formation on the horse’s neck and then the entire horse rose up on his hind legs, out of the darkness where he had not been a moment ago. Towering above her short stature, he was horrifying. Fascination turned to raw fear. She backed up, then turned to run. Tripping over roots, losing her shoes, skinning her knee and her palms, tearing her jeans, and shredding her t-shirt. Every time she fell the horse was upon her. Rearing above her. She scrambled to her feet and ran harder.
Fear!
Fear was all she understood. And so she ran.
She’d lost sight of her sister and the camp fire. Daddy had barked some orders about watch your little sister to Nancy. He didn’t tell Sammy what to do. Mommy was sick. Really sick. And Daddy took her into the tent. Sammy had been twirling and watching her shadows made by the fire light and then she noticed the swarm of light bugs. She walked away from Nancy to follow the amazing sight.
Now she ran for her life. From tree to tree, she tried to hide, but he came alongside her and she’d take off running from him. It felt like he was toying with her. It was a horrible game. She hated it and she hated him. He was a mean man for letting his horse chase her like this. She was lost and all she wanted was her Mommy and Daddy. She screamed for them, but no one heard her. She screamed for Nancy. Still nothing. She fell over a root and her face scraped into the leaves and dirt. Her cheek burned and her hair had all kinds of sticks and dried leaves in it. She tried to brush it out, but there he was. So she ran.
She was barefoot now and her feet burned. They were bleeding. Her palms were bleeding, too. She cried. Where was Daddy? Why didn’t he find her and stop Grandpa Harold from chasing her? He swung up close to her left side. She screamed at him, “Go away!” and ran to her right. He’d swing up close to her right side, and she run to her left.
Would this ever end? She was going to die out here, alone and afraid. Grandpa Harold’s horse was going to stomp her into the ground and she’d be dead, cold, and alone.
Then she saw some lights and she heard adults talking on radios. She ran to them, screaming, “HELP ME! HE’S CHASING ME! MAKE HIM STOP!”
She ran across the Phantom Horse Bridge. It hurt her feet, they were already so sore. Her tears poured and slobber ran down her chin. She cried and cried.
Suddenly she was caught in a woman’s arms. Sam blindly slammed into her. The woman held Sammy close to her bosom and stroked her hair. She repeated over and over. “Shhh. It’s all right now. You’re safe. No one can hurt you now. Shhh.”
Sammy looked into the woman’s face and she seemed to float away down a dark tunnel. Everything faded and Sammy fell back in her arms. All the people’s voices, the noise faded, too. Then nothing.
Someone called her name, “Sammy!” She opened her eyes. Nancy and Harry and Leanne were holding her, hugging her so tight. Nancy cried and cried, and kissed her face. She kept saying, “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!”
Why was Nancy sorry? It was Sammy who wandered off to see the light bugs.
She didn’t know why Nancy was so sorry, and right now she didn’t care. She was back with her sister and her cousins. Lucy Christine was there, too. They were friends in school. The girls all cried and even Harry, although he was eight years older than her, seemed relieved Sammy was found.
Then Mommy and Daddy ran to her. They all cried together. Daddy said something about going home and Sammy cried even more. Yes, she wanted to go home. She wanted a bath and she wanted her Mommy to hold her until she fell asleep in her own bed. She wanted to sleep and forget this ever happened. She didn’t ever want to go camping again.
But the nightmare returned nearly every night. Nancy crawled into bed with Sammy and held her. Grandpa Harold’s ghost and his horse still chased her in her dreams. She hated going to bed at night and begged for one more story, a glass of water, anything to postpone going to sleep. Sleep was where he chased her. She insisted a lamp be left on, and still he chased her. Nancy slept with her many nights, but still Grandpa Harold chased her.
Other children in Gladstone, Colorado had stories about Grandpa Harold and his black and white steed. They loved to tell the tales about how he saved them from freezing to death or stopped a bad person from hurting them. Sammy hated them for their happy ending story. Her experience with Grandpa Harold was horrible. And it was years before the nightmares came further and further apart. By the time she went to high school, she hardly dreamed about him.
By the time she started college, it was just a bad memory. Still, there was a residual fear that lingered always in the back of her mind. She didn’t ever again want to feel like she did when she was a child and terrified to go to bed. She learned to put it way back in the back of her thoughts. Compartmentalizing, she learned the word for it in college psychology.
Still, life always had a way of bringing our deepest, darkest fears out into the open. As a grown woman, a three year veteran of teaching fourth through sixth grade at Gladstone Elementary, it was her very own Uncle Hal, the Mayor of Gladstone, Colorado who did just that.
ONE

Oh God, they’re here!
Samantha Gladstone’s heart sped up. She had hoped this would never happen. But, there sat Lucas Hart’s red Mustang, with the ridiculous tags, GhostMe. So much for wishful thinking.
As Director of the Paranormal Encounters TV Show, he had interviewed Sam back in August. Uncle Hal pushed for a Halloween live show, and in August he’d even persuaded the City Council to change the town name from Gladstone to Phantom Horse, Colorado. She really didn’t think they could pull this off so soon. But there they were! The whole Paranormal Encounters team and American Paranormal Investigations, Inc. team, judging by the door signs on the vehicles.
And Lucas Hart had parked right there, in her assigned faculty parking spot. “Damn!”
Tyson Adcock sat up straighter in the back seat of her car. “What?”
Principal James Chambers and Vice Principal Emily Wesley stood at the entrance to the parking lot, communication radios in hand. Orange cones blocked anyone from entering. Sam pulled parallel with the entrance and Wesley bent over to speak to Sam through her window. “Sorry, Miss Gladstone. We are diverting all faculty to park around by the soccer field. I know it’s an inconvenience and we’re trying to get this cleared up with the Mayor. But for now, please park over there.” She pointed a curved index finger toward the field, the walkie talkie in the same hand. Sam nodded agreeably. Ms. Wesley’s usually lovely Filipino complexion looked ashamed. She had probably had all the negative feedback she needed for one day.
“Well, Ty, looks like we get to walk a little further today.” It was all Sam could manage to say in a civilized tone. A seven year old didn’t need to hear the words she wanted to spew at the impertinent parking lot thieves. Angry, vulgar words that would get her in trouble if Ty repeated them to his mother. Violet Snow was one of her best friends. And one of many reasons she was late to work today.
Sam gawked at the equipment as she drove by. Crates and cases were neatly arranged in parking spaces. Men and a few girls dashed back and forth, unloading more cases, cables, and Sam had no idea what else. They must have started out early this morning to already be here from Denver. It was a good three-hour drive and it looked like they had been here at least an hour already. Both entrances to the faculty parking lot were blocked with orange cones.
She fumed! How dare they block the entire faculty parking lot! “Ugh!” Did Principal Chambers know this was coming? By the expressions on his and Ms. Wesley’s faces, Sam thought not. Besides, if he had known, he would have alerted the faculty on Friday before school ended to park somewhere else today. Samantha closed her eyes. Would they be parking here the entire time of their investigation. Clear until Halloween? “UGH!” Emily said they were trying to get this cleared up with the Mayor. Did Uncle Hal agree for them to park in the school parking lot? What gives him the right? That arrogant—
“What’s going on, Aunt Sam?” Tyson’s head twisted and turned like a parrot, his eyes were wide with curiosity.
“I suspect Mayor Hal got his TV show.” Sam couldn’t help but express her frustration. The coffee she had picked up at Hal’s diner, that her cousin, Leanne Gladstone, ran for her father, wasn’t sitting well in Sam’s stomach. She really wanted to scream, but she didn’t want to upset Tyson more than he already was. This Monday morning had been rough on both of them.
“What TV show?” Tyson asked, still perusing all that his young eyes could take in.
“The Paranormal Investigation team from Denver. They are here to make a TV show about the Gladstone legend, the Phantom Horse and Rider. Remember, Mayor Hal changed the name of our town to Phantom Horse, Colorado, just after school started? It was one of the first things you studied in Social Studies. We all did. Mayor Hal wants to bring tourists in. Thinks it’ll help with our economy.”
Tyson’s brows squeezed together. “What’s a economy?”
Sam thought for a moment. “AN Economy” —she corrected his grammar— “means spending money. Mayor Hal thinks having this story told on TV will help Gladstone, er, Phantom Horse make more money, as a town.”
“How?”
Sam sighed. She hated her Uncle’s whole plan for exploiting Grandpa Harold’s ghost. It was a nightmarish memory for her to begin with. And these Paranormal Freak Hunters were going to make her quaint little town look like a bunch of yahoos without a lick of common sense. But Tyson was an inquisitive second grader and deserved a less biased answer to his question. “Mayor Hal thinks after people all over America watch the TV show about our Phantom Horse and Rider on TV, they will want to come here to do their own ghost hunts. They’ll stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants, and buy souvenirs and other things in our shops. They’ll spend money while they are here and that will help our town’s economy.”
“Oh.” Tyson was very intelligent for his seven years, but did he really understand Sam’s explanation? He sat back and stared out the window of her vanilla-white Mitsubishi. It was just like her life, plain vanilla, nothing exciting or colorful. Just the way she liked it.
Today, however, had started out with a bit of excitement, if you can call having your electricity interrupted and your alarm not going off exciting. Then the water supply to her apartment had been shut off for an emergency repair, probably associated with the electricity break. So, no shower, no first cup of coffee.
Then Ty was having one-of-those-mornings, too. His mother had been fussing at him to hurry, but he, too, was running late. Sam received her payment from Vi for taking Ty to school, a bag of sweet rolls, and rushed the kid to her car. The Sweet Cheeks bakery was always busy of a morning and it was impossible for Vi to get a break to run her son to school. It worked out well for Sam and Vi… and Tyson. This morning, though, he looked as disheveled as she felt. It seemed every traffic light turned red, not a single green to let her make up any lost time.
And now this.
“What you gonna do, Aunt Sam?” Ty had a tendency to take on adult’s concerns, far beyond what his maturity level should handle. It was one of the things Vi tried so hard to protect him from.
“Oh, don’t worry, Ty. We’ll figure out something.” She slowly pulled past the teacher’s parking lot. The orange cones had been her last straw. Anger festered in her chest. She drove around the corner. Recognizing other teacher’s cars parallel parked along the curb, she parked her’s in front of Coach Addy Ringer’s electric-blue Toyota Tacoma truck. Addy’s ability to parallel park her big ol’ truck impressed Sam. She set her brake.
She hated being late. It threw her whole day off and the kids suffered for it. “Come on, Ty. No time to dawdle.”
Ty leapt from the car and waited for Sam to come around to him. He was good about staying close to her and she appreciated that. Violet had taught him to be very wary about wandering off alone, ever since her ex-husband left them over three years ago. Vi was always afraid Tyler Adcock would show up out of nowhere and try to take their son. Even though the judge granted her managerial custody of Tyson, Tyler could be unpredictable. According to Vi, Tyler had threatened to come get Tyson on several occasions, with or without her permission. As it was, she hadn’t seen him in over a year.
Sam gathered the drink carrier with two coffees. She lifted the sack with the sweet roll from Vi and held it with her teeth. Her purse and satchel with homework papers she slung over one shoulder and shoved the door closed with her bottom. A click of her key fob locked the car. She took a big breath and stumbled forward to take Ty’s hand and guide him across the soccer field. She was panting for breath in no time and Ty kept looking up at her. He was a sensitive child, and Sam tried not to reveal her frustrations.
But everything had piled up this morning. Now this long walk across a wet field was just icing on the poop cake of life for Sam. Her patience wore dangerously thin. The sack became saturated with spit in no time. There was nothing she could do about that until she got to her classroom. She kept trudging forward.
The cute black and white checkered pumps she had chosen this morning quickly became a huge mistake. The small heels sunk into the soft loam with every step. She groaned and tried to walk on the balls of her feet, as if she were in six-inch heels. Ty watched her carefully. “You okay, Aunt Sam?”
“I’m okay.” She mumbled with the sack between her teeth. Just then her ankle twisted and a heel broke off her shoe. The coffees tumbled from the carrier and one spilled into the grass. “Sh—aah!” she growled, jerking the one coffee up. Its lid had stayed intact. The other was a lost cause.
She looked at the broken shoe on her foot and then at Ty. “Could you please get that for me?” Pointing with her nose at the heel buried in the muddy grass. She placed both cups back in the carrier, even though one was empty. Despite her horrible morning, she didn’t want to litter.
“Sure.” Ty quickly lifted the heel and handed it to Sam.
“Sweetheart.” She sighed. “Could you carry it for me?”
He nodded and juggled it between his hands. She limped closer to the school building. Those paranormal freaks needed to be sent to detention! Anger prickled her skin like a cactus covered shawl. She wanted to slash every tire in the parking lot. Not just the little red Mustang’s.
Her ankle hurt. Her back hurt. Her calves hurt from trying to tip toe. The sack in her mouth had soaked up so much saliva it disintegrated in her mouth. She let go of Ty and took the sack, then held Ty’s hand again with two fingers.
Ty smiled at her. “You love Momma’s sweet rolls, don’t you?”
Sam sighed. “Yes.” She did, but for right now, she grew more enraged with each difficult step, and her sweet tooth was taking a serious back seat to the anger. It shouldn’t be this difficult to walk to work in the morning!
She had a spare set of shoes she kept in her desk, because with fourth graders, one never knew when someone would get sick and ruin the pair one had on. So the broken heel wouldn’t be a day-long problem. Just a momentary one, right now. To be honest, she’d had enough problems this one morning to last a month or two.
As she finally stepped on the asphalt, she stopped abruptly. Ty looked up at her with fear in his eyes. “Oh. It’s okay, Ty. I just thought of something.”
“What?”
She nodded. “I’m not sure we should walk through the middle of all this.” Something in her gut told her she should avoid the parking lot all together. But she was sick of traipsing on the wet grass. She transferred the sack to her other hand, adjusted the satchel and purse on her shoulder, and moved forward cautiously. Squeezing Tyson’s hand so that she had a firm grip on him, she led him through the flurry of activity.
Ty looked at the large cases and all the people moving among them. His eyes were as big as a full moon. “Wow!”
“Yeah.” Sam didn’t try to hide her sarcasm. “Wow.”
A rough voice called from across the lot. “Tyson!”
Sam turned to see who was calling his name. Her gut clenched. A man who was the spitting image of Ty stood between a cargo van and a black Hummer with his arms out stretched for Tyson to run into.
Tyson shoved up against Sam and she stumbled. “It’s all right, Ty. I’m here. Let’s get you into the building.” She wrapped her hand with the sack around his shoulder and hurried as best she could with the broken heel to the entrance. She marched in a lop-sided gait straight to the school office, through the half swinging door and back to Theresa Campbell’s office.
The Principal’s secretary looked up from her computer when Sam limped into the room with Ty in tow. “Sam! Er, Miss Gladstone? What’s wrong?”
“We may have a problem. I don’t know for sure. But can you let Principal Chambers know that—“ Sam glanced at Ty. “Ty, honey, could you go sit over there for a minute?
Ty nodded. His face had drained of color. Did he know that was his dad? As far as Sam knew, he hadn’t seen the man in three years. Could he remember? Or was he just mirroring her emotions?
“It’s all right. I promise.”
Ty nodded again. He slowly walked over to the chair and crawled up in it. His backpack prevented him from sitting all the way back.
Sam smiled at him and then stepped closer to Theresa. “Ty’s father is with the Paranormal Investigators. He’s right outside.” She widened her eyes to emphasize the urgency of the matter. “I don’t think Vi realizes he’s in town.”
Theresa’s eyes darted to Ty and back to Sam. “I’ll let Jim know. Should we have him go to class? Those annex buildings aren’t all that secure. I’ve tried for years to make the board realize that!”
Sam bit her lip. “How about I take him into my classroom? Lauran Majors won’t mind, once she knows the circumstances. Would you ask her to send his work over? I’m sure KatLynn won’t mind, either. I’ll explain to her.”
Theresa nodded and walked around her desk. Lifting the communication radio to her mouth, she entered Principal Chambers’s office, so Tyson couldn’t hear what she said. “Jim.” Theresa spoke into the radio as she closed the door.
Sam turned to Ty. “Hey, Ty. How would you like to spend the day in my classroom?”
He jumped off his chair. “Sure. But Aunt Sam…”
“What, baby.”
“Who was that man?”

Sam took Ty to her classroom, dumped the armload on her teacher’s desk at the back of the room, and showed Ty which student desk he could sit in for the day, or week, or whatever it turned out to be. Ty took a chair from the stack under the coat hooks and moved to the desk.
Sam knew if the paranormal investigators were here, they’d be here through Halloween. It was what Uncle Hal wanted. She rolled her eyes.
Her co-teacher, KatLynn Eidelman, should arrive any minute. She typically slid in just as the first bell rang. The second bell meant tardy for students. Most teachers, including Sam, arrived an hour before that. They had a running joke about KatLynn moving to blue for an incentive to arriving on time. Purple was the excellent behavior color indicating the student was performing far above the normal, blue was great. Green was where everyone started their day, it was called, “ready to work” level, yellow was below what was expected, and red meant the child was having a bad day.
The first bell rang. KatLynn was later than usual. The fourth graders meandered in, hung their coats, and took a chair to their desks, where they unloaded their backpacks with their homework folder. Some put the completed homework in the ‘in’ basket on Sam’s desk and some visited with their neighbor. Sam gave Tyson a map of the counties of Colorado to color while she checked her emails and set up the board for the day. She wrote, “Monday” and the date. Then she updated the schedules for each grade level, fourth, fifth, and sixth.
She looked toward the door. Still no KatLynn. Tyson busily colored the different counties and seemed to be at ease. Sam laid out the morning papers by grade appropriate levels and returned to her desk. The tardy bell rang. Sam walked to her door and gestured for a few stragglers to hurry in. Down the hall, KatLynn half ran, half walked to their classroom. She had tossed her hair back in a sloppy bun, her shoes were covered in mud and one knee was wet. Obviously, she’d had as much trouble getting across the soccer field as Sam had.
“Oy vey, I’m sorry.” KatLynn panted. “Those people… took up the entire parking lot! I had… to park… over by—”
“I know. Listen I need to talk to you.” Sam handed her the surviving coffee cup. She didn’t want the sweet roll and couldn’t care less that the other coffee spilled. “I need to leave the classroom. I’ll be right back. Tyson Adcock is going to stay in our room this week, maybe more.” Then she mouthed, “Vi’s ex is out there.”
Kat mouthed, “Oh. Okay.” She glanced at Ty and winked sweetly at him. He ducked his head and continued coloring.
“Go ahead and get started, Ms. Eidelman, I’ve got the morning work laid out. I’ll be right back.” Sam pulled her spare shoes from her desk drawer. Kat stared at the broken pair as Sam tucked them in the drawer. Then KatLynn stood as if at attention. She clapped three times and then two. Most of the students repeated her pattern. Some kids were still talking, so KatLynn clapped again. Three claps and then two. This time the entire class repeated her pattern and fell silent. Even Ty had clapped and had his eyes and ears tuned to Miss Eidelman’s directions. The overhead speakers buzzed, Principal Chambers’s voice reverberated across the school. “Good Monday Morning, everybody…”
Sam hurried out of the classroom and out to the parking lot.
Sam didn’t see Lucas Hart, so she approached the tall, dark haired man who looked and acted like he was in charge. “Excuse me!”
Tall-dark-and-handsome handed a clipboard to a plainer looking guy with strawberry blond hair and a nicely trimmed beard, and turned to greet her. He smiled and her breath caught in her chest. He had the whitest teeth she’d ever seen. “I-I, are you in charge?”
“Well,” he chuckled. “I’m Alan Rivers.” He stuck his hand out to her. She took it and they shook. He placed his other hand on top of hers, as if they were long lost buddies. “But you can call me Face.”
“Why-why would I want to do that?” Sam pulled her hand back from his as if it stung.
He turned his head but not his eyes. “Beeecause that’s what people call me.” He pointed at his face and drew a circle in the air around it. “I’m the face.” His smile brightened, if that were possible. “The one in front of the camera. The spokesperson for American Paranormal Investigations, Inc., and I’m one of the investigators. Perhaps you’ve seen me on our TV shows? Paranormal Encounters, Wednesday evenings at ten, nine central?”
She looked at him more closely. He did look familiar. “I’m not sure.”
“Oh.” His shoulders slumped slightly. The other man lingered behind Rivers as if he were waiting on him to do something. “What can we do for you, ma’am?” He had kind eyes.
Sam returned her attention to Alan. “I need to speak to somebody who’s in charge.”
“I’m not what you would call ‘in charge.’” Rivers looked around. “That’d be“ —he tipped his head back when he spotted who he was looking for— “There’s who you want.” He tilted his head toward a Malibu tan and blonde man who looked like he’d just come in from a morning’s surf. When he turned around toward Rivers and the red-headed guy, Sam recognized Lucas Hart.
A flood of emotions washed over Samantha. She hesitated approaching the Director. He had been kind to her during the interview back in August. Still, it had been totally against her will. Nancy, her sister, or Mystery Stonestar, as she legally changed her name, had called in the I-Owe-You-One chip for attending church the day Sam sang her first and last public solo, ever, and the Reverend Obadiah Begley accosted Mysti in front of God and everybody for practicing witchcraft.
In the end, that all worked out though. Mysti fell in love with and married the youth pastor, Alexander Cayden, and together with their dad, had started the New Beginnings Ministries Church across town.
She sighed. She’d earnestly prayed Lucas Hart would never come back. Hashing out her childhood nightmare was not her idea of entertainment.
“That’s Lucas Hart, he’s the director, the man in charge.” Alan chuckled.
Sam nodded. “Yeah, I—“
“But I didn’t catch your name.” Alan’s eyes twinkled. She felt lost when she looked into his eyes, like Alice in Wonderland when she fell through the mirror. “I-I’m Samantha.” She cleared her throat. “Samantha Gladstone.”
The red-headed guy perked up as if he recognized her name. She glanced at him. But he remained silent.
“Well, Samantha Gladstone, if Lucas over there can’t satisfy your needs, you come back to ol’ Face. I’ll make sure all your needs are met.” He winked and licked his bottom lip.
Sam’s brows shot up on her forehead. Involuntarily, her hand rose to needlessly tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She hated the giggle that escaped her mouth when she uttered, “Okay.”
She crossed the parking lot, aimed toward Lucas Hart. A residual visceral feeling washed over her. This was for Tyson and Vi. She had to do this. Lucas spotted Face pointing him out and waited with hands on hips for her to walk to him. Nice. Couldn’t meet me halfway? Did he recognize her? “Lucas—”
A voice interrupted. “What were you doing with my son? Where’s my wife?”
Sam turned toward the voice. A man who looked just like Tyson held a large black case and several sets of earphones wrapped neatly with their cords circling the headset. Samantha swallowed. “Who are you?” She knew. Ty was a clone of his father.
“I’m Tyler Adcock. Who are you? And why were you with my son? Why don’t his mother take him to school?”
“I’m Samantha Gladstone, Tyler. I’m a friend of Vi’s. I-she, we have an arrangement. I take Ty to school, and she—“ The sweet roll arrangement seems irrelevant at the moment.
He bent to put his load down.
“Adcock!” Lucas called out to him. “I’m not paying you to chit chat with the locals. You want to get back to unloading and make some sort of arrangement to have this conversation when you’re not on my clock?” Lucas closed the distance and stared Tyler down.
“Yes sir.” Tyler glanced at Samantha. “I’ll talk to Vi later. Can you let her know I’m in town and I want to see her… and my son?”
“You can count on it.” Samantha suddenly inhaled. When had she stopped breathing?
Tyler took his load and left the parking lot. Samantha followed him with her eyes as he traipsed across the street toward Phantom Horse Bridge Park. Why hadn’t they parked over there?
“So. You needed to see me, Miss Gladstone?” Lucas’s voice brought Sam back to the moment.
“Oh. Yeah. Well, that man works for you?”
“Yes. Adcock’s been on our team six months now. Why?”
“Well… you heard what he said. He’s the ex-husband of a friend of mine. They split up over three years ago. And now he shows up here… I’m just concerned.” Her eyes met his. The morning sun burned directly into her face. She had to lift her hand to shield her eyes.
“He won’t be any problem.” Hart said firmly. “I’ll have a talk with him, just to be sure. We realize we are quite a disruption to your gentle little town without adding something like this to it.” He smiled. “Besides, I promised your uncle the townsfolk will hardly know we are here.”
She stared at him, then panned the parking lot. “Then why’d you take over our faculty parking lot?”
TWO

“No.” Samantha held her phone close to her face and covered it with her hand. She didn’t want the students or Tyson Adcock to hear. KatLynn, however, listened intently. The students all had their heads down, concentrating on a four-grammar-problems paper. Tyson continued coloring his Colorado County map. “Ty’s fine.”
He looked at her at the mention of his name. Sam smiled at him and crunched her nose in an ‘everything’s fine’ gesture. He resumed coloring.
“I’ve made arrangements for him to stay in my classroom… No, Vi. He’s all right, I promise.”
KatLynn glanced at the seven-year-old in the last desk against the Smart Board. He was so much smaller than the other students. Fourth through sixth graders had a good head in height on him. Even the two GATE kids who were eight year olds looked bigger than Tyson. The difference a year makes, especially with boys. A student from Miss Majors’s classroom delivered a manila envelope marked “Tyson.”
“Thank you Micah, are you Miss Majors’s student of the week?” KatLynn took the envelope.
Micah nodded vigorously. “Yes ma’am.”
“Well, tell her thank you for Tyson’s work.”
Micah nodded and rushed back to his classroom behind the building.
KatLynn pulled out his work and handed him a Skip Counting paper. Ty’s eyes lit up and he eagerly began filling in the boxes. He was a smart boy, a good student.
“He can’t get in here,” Sam continued. “The building’s secured. I spoke to Eddie Gonzales. Yes, the liaison officer. He’s not going to let Tyler or any of the paranormal freaks in this building. You know how he is? He may be a retired prison guard, but he’s still got what it takes.” She chuckled. “Okay. I just wanted to give you a heads up. So… you let me know if anything happens. Lucas Hart swore to me he’d talk to Tyler. If he does anything inappropriate with you, you let Lucas or me know. If nothing else, we’ll sick Eddie on him… better yet, I’ll call Trent… Well, I certainly think the Chief of Police can talk some sense into your ex-husband, if Lucas Hart cannot.”
Sam hung up and looked at KatLynn. The sadness in Sam’s eyes made Kat want to take her friend and co-teacher into her arms and hold her. But not in front of the children. And certainly not in front of Ty. They had to, at least, not be concerned about Ty’s father being in town with the paranormal investigators.
Kat whispered. “Everything all right?”
Sam sighed. “Yeah. Vi sounds really nervous, though.”
“What happened between her and her ex?”
“Vi shared some of their story and it wasn’t pleasant.” Sam glanced at Ty and lowered her voice even more. “It seems Tyler ran off with some actress, thinking she was going to introduce him to producers who would put Tyler on big budgeted documentaries. He left Vi and Tyson when Ty was not quite four. Vi had been a stay-home mom since Ty was born.
“Tyler got his last paycheck, emptied the bank account, and left Denver before paying any bills or rent or anything. Vi was desperate and it so happened that my cousin had looked her up on Facebook, and Vi spilled the beans on how miserable she was. See, they had become good friends in culinary school in Denver. Leanne told her to come to Gladstone and she worked out a deal with Harry for Violet to stay in the B&B. She baked desserts for the diner and the inn to earn her keep. That way she didn’t have to put Ty in daycare.
“I don’t know if you know this, but Harry, Leanne, Mysti, and I pooled a small portion of our inheritance to help her put a down payment on that bay next to Mysti’s shop. Vi started the bakery downstairs and made her apartment upstairs. She has been running a successful business ever since.
“She’s come such a long way, Kat, emotionally and financially. I just hope Tyler doesn’t screw it all up for her.”
KatLynn walked to where Ty was working and peeked over his shoulder. “That’s very good, Ty. Are you ready to go outside and play?”
He raised his head and nodded vigorously. “Well, come on, then.” KatLynn clapped her hands and announced it was time for recess. All the children, including Ty, pulled their coats from their hooks and lined up at the door.
Sam stepped closer to Kat and whispered, “Watch for any suspicious men, especially the one who looks just like Ty. That’s his father. In fact, if any of the paranormal team act like they’re watching the children, we need to let Principal Chambers know.”
Kat nodded and followed the kids outside. Samantha set up the projector flip chart for the next lesson. When they came back in, she’d be ready. But her thoughts were on Ty and his safety. She hoped KatLynn kept a sharp eye out for any trouble. Sure Tyler had the right to see his son. She just hoped he didn’t cause Vi any more heartache.

“Miss Gladstone, a word.” Alan Rivers called across the soccer field.
Samantha froze. She stood statue still with her eyes closed and let out a long slow sigh.
Rivers jogged to catch up with her. The day’s sunlight had dried the field. It was much easier to traverse now. Slowly she turned to face him. “Yes, Mr. Rivers.”
“I wanted to apologize.” He panted heavily.
“Apologize? For what?”
“I didn’t realize who you were when we met this morning. Paul Hourton, the man who helped me unload, reminded me you are a key witness in our investigation.”
“I am?” She glanced at her car. Could she beat him to it and make an escape before he asked her to recall her most terrifying nightmare. She glanced at her feet. These shoes could withstand running, unlike the cute pumps she ruined this morning. Her eyes returned to his strikingly blue eyes which contrasted his dark brown hair. Such a unique combination. That Alice-falling-through-the-looking-glass effect swooned in her head. She smiled. “I am.”
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