Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 97337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
She was well aware that boys that age were a far cry from the little tykes she now taught and was much more comfortable with. But as much as she argued, she knew that she was going to do it in the end.
It’s not like she had a choice really. The teacher who’d been slated to teach this particular class had fallen and fractured her back while rock climbing and will be out for quite a while, and no one else was available to take her place at such short notice.
“Well, will you do it? Or are you going to put me through the trouble of having to find someone else?” Principal Thorne grinned at the young woman knowing that she wouldn’t be disappointed.
She knew the grit and determination in this particular teacher. Knew that she was one of the most intelligent people walking the halls of their local grade school, and was more well suited to the high school anyway, which is where she’d wanted her to teach in the first place.
But she also knew of the other woman’s shyness and her tendency to stay away from anything male. They’d met years ago at a getaway for teachers and prospective teachers. And even with the thirty-year age difference, the two had hit it off and stayed in touch.
Mrs. Thorne didn’t know why, but from the moment she first met the younger woman, she knew she belonged in her small town. And after hearing her story, no family to speak of and no real home to go back to, she’d offered her the job after graduation. She’d not regretted that choice once.
So far all the parents has been singing the younger woman’s praise and thanking her for having the foresight to hire her away from the more prestigious establishments that had been seeking her out.
Elizabeth sighed once again as she picked up her bag. She checked her watch as she headed for the door. “You knew I was going to do it before you called me in here. I have to go, class starts in ten minutes.”
Drake Davenport was indeed everyone’s favorite pupil. He’s the kind of kid that all the other parents held up as the epitome of what they wished their own children to be. But it wasn’t just because of his prowess on the football field, or even his outstanding academic achievements. But because the kid is the whole package.
Smart, handsome, kind and rich, he had star quality all across the board, with a personality to match. Sure he got his financial start earlier than most at the age of sixteen when his paternal grandmother gave him part of his inheritance early on a whim.
But it’s what he did with that start-up cash that made him standout even more not only amongst his peers, but the adults in the community.
Unlike many young men his age, he didn’t run out and buy the hottest new car on the market, though he’d just got his license that year. Then again his maternal grandfather had already taken care of that with the brand new custom made Phantom he’d surprised his grandson with.
What Drake had done, in keeping with his entrepreneurial ancestors, was to open up a business, and not just one either, but two. The first thing he did was hire members of his team that he knew were less fortunate than he.
He bought lawnmowers and an old truck and all the equipment they would need for a lawn service that summer. Between his mom, his grandmas and their many groups, he had more than enough yards to cut to keep his guys in business.
And so that the girls didn’t feel left out, he’d opened up an ice cream shack in the perfect spot for motorists coming in and out of their small picturesque town in the summer. To no one’s surprise both businesses were successful, especially for one ran and owned by a teen.
Everyone got behind the young men and women who were doing something positive in the community and though they were all singing his praise, Drake never took all the credit, always bringing his crew into the conversation. He was that kind of guy.
And it was indeed his crew, since on any given day he could be seen working one of the riding mowers on somebody’s lawn. The joke around town was that all the housewives hired him because of his good looks, and maybe there was some truth to it since by the middle of that first summer they’d had more business than they could handle.
Drake wasn’t just about the money though. As a very socially conscious young man, he was into shit most people his age didn’t even know about. His grandma is fond of calling him an old soul, someone who’d been here before, because of his tendencies and his general outlook on life.