First Class Hero (First Class Novels) (13 page)

“You’re looking for pillows,” he whispered.

Nic nodded. “I am,” she choked out and stepped back away
from his reach. “Next aisle.”

And the moment was gone as she found the pillows she came to
buy.

As promised, Paul buzzed Nic’s apartment at seven o’clock on
Monday morning, the first day of school. She let him up as she grabbed all of
the stuff she was taking with her. She opened the front door as Paul stood
before her and he busted out laughing.

“I need a picture,” he said as he pulled out his phone and
snapped a couple of shots.

She had bags over each shoulder and in the crook of both
elbows and in her hands were the massive Sears shopping bags that held her
precious pillows from Saturday’s trip to Brooklyn.

Paul slipped his phone back in his pocket and started
relieving her of most of the bags.

“Come on,” he grinned as she pulled her door closed and they
headed for the elevator.

“I’m glad it’s only a few blocks,” she whined as they began
walking in the direction of St. Luke’s.

“Well, hopefully, you won’t be doing this every morning.
Although I’m always up and available by now,” he offered with a grin.

“I do appreciate this Paul. You have been like my personal
angel. I don’t know how I can thank you enough.”

“I do,” he replied instantly.

“What?” she asked, slightly wary.

“Dinner, with me.”

“A date?”

“Yes…a date!”

“When?”

“Friday night. You can repay me for my angelic ways and we
can celebrate your first week of school.”

Nic laughed.

“Well?” he asked.

“Okay,” she grinned. “A date. On Friday.”

They continued walking the final two blocks and made their
way through the empty halls to her new classroom.

“I stood there and had my first kiss,” grinned Paul as he
recalled the memory in front of the water fountain.

“There?”

“Yup! Third grade. Margaret Eckles. She broke my heart the
next day when I saw her kissing Jason Kielman.”

“What a little slut,” Nic teased.

“And over there,” Paul pointed into the boys’ bathroom, “I
defended the honor of Leanne Grayson in first grade.”

“How did you do that?” Nic was curious.

“A couple of boys had pushed her into the boys’ bathroom and
she had run out crying as I walked in. I told the boys that they shouldn’t
treat girls that way; that we should be nice to them and treat them like
ladies.”

“Aw, so sweet,” Nic smiled.

“Yeah well, they asked me who was gonna make them and I told
them I was going to so Ethan Wilson hit me right in the nose. I got blood all
over my shirt and tie and I thought my mom was gonna kill me!” he chuckled.

“And did she kill you?”

“Nope,” he grinned. “She said I had made her very proud and
that I should always defend the honor of a woman when necessary.”

“So you’ve always been a hero,” Nic whispered.

Paul shook his head. “I’m not a hero.”

“Well to Leanne Grayson you are.”

Paul grinned at her. “Well how I can argue with that?”

“It’s so weird that you went to school here!” Nic said.
“It’s just a small world I guess.”

As they walked inside her classroom, Paul was impressed with
her handiwork.

“This is awesome!” he said as he wandered between the tables
and chairs. “I assume these go here?” He put the Sears bags down on the carpet
in the corner.

“Yes,” she grinned. “
That
is the magic carpet!”

“As in Aladdin?”

“As in it can take them to wherever we need to go; around
the world, back in time, wherever!”

“I’m suddenly jealous of a kindergartner,” Paul grinned.
“What else can I do to help?”

“Don’t you need to go?”

“Where? I’m all yours for as long as you need me.”

Nic gulped and tried not to blush. “Well you can’t be here
when school begins.”

Paul chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll leave before then.”

Nic instructed him to put paper and crayons on the tables
and she finished the last few items on her checklist. About twenty minutes
later she was ready. Now she just had to wait ‘til the children began arriving.

Paul heard Father Todd in the hallway so he stepped out to
say hello. He hadn’t been gone two minutes when Maureen strolled in.

“Good morning Nicole.”

“Maureen! Hello,” smiled Nic.

“I wanted to come and wish you the best on your first day. I
am confident you’ll be the best kindergarten teacher we’ve ever had.”

“Oh, that is too high a compliment.”

“No. It’s not.”

“Well thank you,” Nic smiled.

“Actually, there’s another reason I came to see you. And it
has nothing to do with work.”

“Oh?” Nic’s interest was piqued.

“You know, I have seven sons.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Yes, well, three of them are married now.”

“That’s great,” Nic nodded, not understanding where Maureen
was headed.

“But I have four sons who are completely unattached. And you
would be absolutely perfect for any one of them!”

“Oh!” Nic was speechless.

“I would be happy to act as, as…well, as a matchmaker, if
you’d like.”

“That’s incredibly kind of you Maureen, but…well…I’m sort
of, well, kind of seeing someone.”

Maureen’s face fell and she was visibly disappointed. “Oh
that’s just
too
bad.”

“I’m sorry,” Nic said. “I’m sure your sons are wonderful.”

“Oh they are. All of them. You’re sure?”

Nic nodded.

“Oh well, no harm in trying right?”

“No, not at all,” Nic smiled.

“Well? I’ll let you get ready for your day.” Maureen swung
around and started for the door as Paul entered the classroom.

“Paul!” Maureen yelled and hugged her son. “I wondered where
you’d gone so early.”

“Mom? What are you doing here?”

“I came to say good luck to our newest teacher.”

“You know Nic?”

“What?” Maureen was confused.

Paul walked past his mother and went and stood by Nic. “You
know Nic?”

“Nicole? Yes, I know Nicole.”

“Wait,” Nic whispered. “This is your mom?” she gasped.

“Hold on,” Paul freaked out a little. “This is the board
member who’s been helping you all summer?”

“Yes, this is Maureen. She’s your mom?”

“You know my son?” Maureen asked Nic.

“Um, yeah,” Nic hesitated for just a second.

Paul laughed. “Holy shit!”

“Paul, please! You’re not in the Navy any more. Don’t talk
like a sailor.” Maureen snapped.

“Sorry,” Paul chuckled.

“Well, I’ll leave you two alone then,” Maureen grinned and
turned and left.

“Your mom?” Nic asked.

“You’re the best thing St. Luke’s has ever seen?” Paul was
still chuckling.

“I am,” Nic grinned.

*****

Back at the Lathem home, Maureen was waiting impatiently for
her son to return. He finally walked through the door and Maureen’s
interrogation began.

“How do you know Nicole?”

“I met her on the cruise.”

“On the cruise?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. And you’ve been seeing her ever since?”

“Well, no, it’s not really like that. She’s a…a good
friend.”

“She says she’s sort of seeing someone,” Maureen repeated
Nic’s words.

“She did?”

“Yes, she did.”

“Really?”

“Yes really.”

“Huh,” Paul grinned.

Paul took the stairs two at a time up the two flights to his
bedroom.
She’s sort of seeing someone
, he grinned. That was definitely
good news.

He sat down at the desk and pulled out some note paper and a
pen and called Ed. He’d left a message while he’d been walking Nic to school.

“Hey Paul,” Ed said.

“Hi. How are you?”

“Good,” Ed replied. “I’ve got some information for you.”

“Great. Let’s have it. Where is he?”

“Paul, it’s not like that.” Ed’s voice told him something
was wrong.

“He’s wasn’t in the Navy?”

“He was.”

Paul sat silently and listened as Ed told him of DCFN
Wilkins. He closed his eyes and shook his head, wishing he didn’t have to tell
Nic what he was hearing.

“I’m gonna email you the file.”

“Okay,” Paul sighed. “Hey thanks.”

“I feel terrible for Nic. Never knowing her father and now
this?”

“Yeah,” agreed Paul. “This will probably be my toughest
mission yet.”

*****

Paul sat outside St. Luke’s at three o’clock and watched all
the kids run from the school and climb on busses, hug parents, or begin their
walk home. He sat there until there were only a few children scattered over the
bricked courtyard. Slowly, he made his way up the stairs and into the building,
dreading the conversation he was about to have.

When he’d agreed to find Nic’s father, she had made him
promise that he would tell her as soon as he found out anything, and that he’d
tell her all of it without leaving bits out to spare her, if she needed to be
spared. He walked down the hall to her classroom, wishing the news could be
different.

She was in her room, sitting at her desk looking as radiant
and beautiful as he’d ever seen her. She looked up just as he stepped inside.

“Hi!” she beamed. “I didn’t expect you to come back! I’m not
hauling it all home again you know,” she laughed.

Paul attempted a smile but couldn’t do it.

“Nic, I need to talk to you,” he said as he made his way to
her. “Let’s go sit on the magic carpet.”

Nic’s face drained of all color and she woodenly stood and
walked back to the pillows with Paul. They both sat facing each other.

“What is it?” she whispered.

“I’ve found your father.”

“Well this can’t be good news, can it?”

Paul took her hand in his and caressed it with his thumb. He
had to just tell her.

“Your father
was
in the Navy. He was based in Norfolk.
He enlisted in 1981 right after high school.”

“Well that’s good news, isn’t it?” Nic hoped.

“He died in 1982 while aboard the USS Bivans out at sea on a
training mission.”

Nic looked down at her hand in his. She didn’t speak.

“I am so very sorry, Nic.”

“Well, it’s not like I knew him or anything,” she choked.
And then a tear dropped onto his hand.

He pulled her to him and held her tight, as slowly the tears
fell and she silently sobbed. He felt her body shaking and he held her tighter.
After several minutes, she gradually stilled. Paul stretched and just managed
to reach the box of tissues on the shelf. He pulled out a couple and handed
them to Nic. She blew her nose but didn’t leave his embrace. They continued to
sit there for several more minutes until she pushed away and sat back on the
carpet.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know…”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Paul cut her off. “I can’t
even imagine what this must be like for you.”

Nic pulled some more tissues from the box and blew her nose
again.

“You know,” she began,” for my entire life I was told that
my father was nothing more than a good-for-nothing sperm donor who was just out
cruising for a pretty piece of ass and then disappeared and moved onto the next
blonde he found. And it wasn’t until just now that I realized for the last
thirty years I’d desperately hoped that it wasn’t the truth. But I’ll never
really know now, will I?”

“There is something else,” Paul said, as he wiped a stray
tear from her cheek. “DCFN Wilkins, your father, listed his parent as next of
kin and they are still alive and live in West Haven, Connecticut. I have their
address and phone number.”

“I have grandparents?”

Paul nodded. “You do.”

*****

The rest of the week was a bit of a blur for Nic. The
children were an effective distraction during the day, but the nights dragged
on and on and she couldn’t focus on anything. By the time Friday came she was
exhausted. Fortunately, the following Monday was a federal holiday so would
enjoy a three-day weekend. She needed it.

As she walked home from school, she thought about her date
that evening with Paul. He had called the night before to check on her, as he’d
done every night that week, and had said if she wasn’t emotionally up to it, he
could take a rain check. She was strangely disappointed that he’d offered, and
when she’d declined, he seemed happy she still wanted to go, and she was
strangely thrilled about that.

Her mother had done her a great disservice. She’d ingrained
in Nic that all men were evil. None of them were to be trusted. And to be fair,
according to Heather, the two men in her life, her father and Greg Wilkins, had
been worthy of her rage. But Nic hadn’t let any man get close to her to test
her mother’s theory until Paul, and he didn’t fit her mother’s description of
men at all. No. Paul was the Prince in every Disney movie she’d ever seen. He
was the hero in every romance novel she’d read. Her mother was wrong. Maybe
there were some men who didn’t deserve trust or respect, and maybe Heather’s
father and Greg Wilkins should be placed in that category, but not Paul. No,
not Paul.

By the time she’d walked home, she had opened her heart to
two realizations. The first being she was going to call Greg’s parents, and the
second, she acknowledged that she had feelings for Paul.

*****

At seven o’clock on the dot, the buzzer went off in Nic’s
apartment. Paul had arrived. She grabbed her purse and ran down the stairs to
meet him.

“Hi,” she smiled.

“You look great,” Paul grinned.

Nic had worn some mint green jeans with black pumps and a
black and white chevron striped shirt.

“Thank you. It’s nice to have a reason to dress up.”

“I’ll give you lots of reasons to dress up if you’ll give me
the chance.”

“Where are we going?” Nic asked as she hooked her arm
through his and walked out of the apartment building.