The Mason Dixon Line (A Horizons Novel)
Read The Mason Dixon Line (A Horizons Novel) Online
Authors: Linda Morris
Praise for the Horizons series by Linda Morris
"The
Mason Dixon Line
is an amazing
real-to-life romance. The hero Mason is not your typical romance hero—he’s
better. Gorgeous, artsy, brilliant, flawed, and at times, self-centered, Mason
completely swept me off my feet with his realism, and ultimately, his
incredible ability to love. His heroine doesn’t hold back any sass or energy in
trying to keep him in line (or maybe he’s trying to keep her in line. Either
way), and when they finally realize how much they need one another? Yeah,
combustion. The depth of the character’s flaws, struggles, and climb to
acceptance and love is beautifully done. This is a book that sticks with you
for a long time."
Elizabeth Otto, author of
Tempting the Cowboy
"Sexy enough to make your pulse pound,
sweet enough to tug at your heart."
Christine Bell, author of
Down for the
Count
"I loved how this story had so many
voices: it was romantic, passionate, moving and even funny. If you'd like to
read a short but sexy and fun story, you won't go wrong with
Melting the Millionaire's Heart
."
Stella of Stella Ex Libris
(stella-exlibris.com/)
"With great characters that feel like real
people you can relate to and romance that makes the Valentine season heat up,
Melting the
Millionaire's Heart
is the perfect
book to warm you up on these waning cold winter nights."
Crystal of My Reading Room
(myreadingroom-crystal.blogspot.com/)
This book or any portion
thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the
express written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of brief
quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to
actual persons, places, events, business establishments or locales is entirely
coincidental.
All Rights Reserved
Edited by Nan
Reinhardt
Cover design by
Dragonfly Press Design
To my
husband and son, for being who they are
Contents
Chapter
1
:
Dr. Dunne Has an Idea
Chapter 2
:
Carolyn Meets Her
Match
Chapter 3
:
The Man with the Red
Hat Makes an Appearance
Chapter 5
:
In Which Things Are
Not as They Appear to Be
Chapter 6
:
Mason Faces the Ugly
Truth
Chapter 7
:
Mason to the Rescue,
Eventually
Chapter 9
:
Barney Arrives on
the Scene
Chapter 10
:
A Walk in the Woods
Chapter 11
:
One Big, Happy
Family
Chapter 13
:
Carolyn Reverts to
Form
Chapter 14
:
Mason Moves On, Sort
of
Dr. Dunne Has an Idea
“You
wanted to see me?” Carolyn Hart peered into Dr. Dunne’s half-open doorway. Being
summoned to the principal’s office always made her heart flutter, even though
she was a teacher’s aide and not a naughty second-grader.
“Yes, of course. Carolyn, come in and close
the door behind you.”
Her boss wanted the door shut.
Craaap.
This sounded serious.
Dr. Dunne folded his hands and placed them
on the cluttered desk in front of him, his expression earnest. He nodded to the
chair across from him. “Horizons is one of the finest private schools for
special-needs kids in the Midwest. All of us here have a responsibility to
build that reputation. I take the relationship between Horizons, its staff, and
the public very seriously.”
“Yes, of course.” Her unease grew as she
took a seat. Dr. Dunne and his zeal for fundraising and PR drove the staff nuts.
What scheme had he hatched now?
“I’ve recently come up with an idea that I
think would garner the school a lot of positive attention, not to mention
funds.” He stretched his hands out like a pitchman in an infomercial. “We’re
going to publish a Horizons-branded book. For children.”
“A book?” That was unexpected.
Normally Dr. Dunne’s PR ideas involved
subjecting the school staff to humiliation. Like the time he’d decided to hold
a fundraising carnival and made every staffer except himself “volunteer” for a
turn in a dunk tank. She’d survived the first few poor-throwing contestants,
but finally a semi-pro football player with a long-festering grudge against
teachers had nailed the target. She’d wound up soaked to the skin, mascara
running and teeth chattering, and fantasizing about throttling the man who’d
dreamed up this stunt.
Comparatively, the book thing was
surprisingly not horrible.
“What kind of a book?”
“A child’s picture book. About being
different. We’re working with a small publisher to produce it, but we’ll
control the content.”
“Okay.” So far, the idea didn’t sound
disastrous. Knowing Dr. Dunne, that probably meant she didn’t have enough
information. “So where do I come in?” Did he want her to oversee the
production? Give the author a tour of Horizons? She could do that.
“I want you to write it.”
“What?” She stared. Dr. Dunne peered
through his wire-rimmed glasses as if he hadn’t just said something completely
crazy. Knowing him, he didn’t think he had. “Me? Write a kid’s book? Why?”
“I understand you had ambitions in that
direction. You took classes in creative writing, correct?”
Had
ambitions.
As in, the past tense. They hadn’t lasted much past the first semester of
creative writing classes. Her aborted attempted at a degree in fine arts had
come after the stint at culinary school, but before the web design program. “I
took some classes, sure, but I’ve never written for children—”
“This should be easy for you then. If you’re
used to writing for adults, think how much easier it will be to write for kids.”
Oh, God.
“I don’t
think it works like—”
“Besides, this will be a picture book. Not
that much text to begin with. It’ll write itself.”
Carolyn closed her eyes for a fraction of a
second before she caught herself and opened them wide. She hadn’t learned much
in her creative writing classes, but she did know that a book never, ever wrote
itself. Now she’d have to explain that to Dr. Dunne. Calmly and without shrieking.
“I think a children’s book is a fantastic idea. But I’m not sure I’m the best
person for it. Wouldn’t you want a professional children’s author to do it? If
it’s going to reflect on the school, don’t you want the best possible product?”
“I’ve thought about this carefully,
Carolyn, and I’ve come to the conclusion that you’re the best person for the
job.” Once again, he clasped his hands on his desk blotter and gave her his
best beatific smile. She knew that smile: It meant he’d gone absolutely bonkers
and wouldn’t listen to reason under any circumstances.
She saw that look on Dr. Dunne’s face about
twice a week on average.
“Besides, I looked into the idea of hiring
a pro, and it’s very expensive. So, congratulations. The job is yours. I’ll put
you in touch with the artist so that you can get some work done over spring
break.”
“You’re hiring a professional artist?”
If he could hire a real artist, why couldn’t
he hire a real children’s author?
“Oh, yes. Not just anyone can illustrate a
book, you know. That takes real skill.”
She gripped the seat of her chair hard, out
of his line of sight. She would not lunge across the desk and strangle the
doctor until his shiny face turned beet-red. She needed her teacher's aide job
and its income, meager though it was. Needed it
badly
. Asking her dad for another loan would be too humiliating.
He rummaged in a desk drawer and pulled out
a manila folder. “I’ve put together this portfolio with the specs for the
project, and more about what I’m looking for. The artist is coming in from
Chicago. I’ve set up a meeting for the three of us tomorrow at noon at Java
Jones,” he said, naming the nearby coffee shop where Horizons staffers often gathered
in their off-hours. “Review this portfolio by then and let me know if you have
any questions.”
This was crazy. If she didn’t stand up to
him, she would get steamrolled and fast. She took a deep breath. “Dr. Dunne,
this kind of project isn’t in my contract. I get paid to work as a teacher’s
assistant, not to write books. I’ve stayed here because I love the kids and the
people,”
except for you,
she mentally
added. “But if you insist that I do things outside of my contract, I can go to
another school if I want.” It was a bluff—she loved the kids she taught—but he
didn’t know that.
He leaned back in his seat and steepled his
fingertips together. “I think you’re bluffing.”
Oooo-kay. On the other hand, maybe he did
know that.
“Besides, let’s keep this civil, shall we?
You’re right. You’re not being paid to write a children’s book. I can pay you
an extra $250 for your work on the project. I’ll draw up a contract and you can
sign it before you leave today. What do you say?”
The teeth of a trap were closing around her
ankles. If she was going to do this, she might as well get something out of it.
Her credit-card balance was on the verge of becoming self-aware. She needed
money. “Make it $500, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”
“Deal.”
She slumped in her seat.
Damn
. He agreed too quickly. She could
have gotten more.
He glanced at the wall clock. “Now if you’ll
excuse me, I have another meeting to get to. Jacob Fane’s mother requested a
meeting.” He gave her a significant look over the rim of his glasses.
Oh, great. She would bet the Coach bag her
mother had bought her last Christmas that the woman wanted to gripe about her
son’s unsatisfactory progress.
“She’s upset that his teaching team has not
seen fit to progress him to pre-calculus,” he said.
“But his math tutor, Mr. March, says he
feels Jacob is on the right pace for him.” Not that Dr. Dunne cared what actual
educational professionals thought about anything.
“She’s a concerned mother, Carolyn. She
wants him to skip a grade next year.”
“What?” She leaned back in her seat,
stunned. “That’s crazy.” Dr. Dunne’s face remained impassive. “You’re not going
to let her do it, are you? That’s against Horizons policy.”
“We pride ourselves on being flexible and
meeting children’s needs. You know that, Carolyn. There are no hard-and-fast
rules here, only children with needs.” He peered over his glasses at her, his
smile mechanical.
Carolyn’s eyes narrowed. She’d feel a lot
better about Dr. Dunne’s reassurance if she didn’t know what a greedy bastard
he was, and how often Mrs. Fane and her affluent husband had dangled a donation
in front of him.
“I understand that, Dr. Dunne. But I think —”
she broke off as Dunne’s gaze went sharp.
You’re
just an aide, Carolyn. Your opinion doesn’t count
. She took a breath and
began again. “His
teaching team
thinks that he’s in the right grade level for him socially right now, and his
high math abilities are being challenged by his tutor.”
“She’s a mother, Carolyn. We have to
respond to her concerns.”
Pushy
mother
was more like it. And Mrs. Fane was a Horizons donor, which
meant she could do no wrong in Dr. Dunne’s eyes.
“Besides, I’ll be taking this up with Ms.
Johnston. She's his teacher.”
And Carolyn was a menial teaching aide,
good for nothing but running the copier and fetching paste from the stockroom.
She wanted to argue, but knew it was useless. She raised a practical point
instead.
“Kayla’s gone. Remember? She took two
personal days in advance of spring break to go on vacation.”
Dr. Dunne frowned, and then his face
cleared. “Ah, yes, that’s right. She’s on a trip with Mr. Langford, isn’t she?
Such a lovely couple they make.”
And such
lovely
donations Mr. Langford made to Horizons.
Kayla hadn’t thought so at the time, but
getting snowed in with hotshot entrepreneur Ryan Langford more than a year ago
had been the best thing to ever happen to her. They’d been over the moon
together ever since. They were going to Bali for spring break this year.
Carolyn knew that Kayla loved Ryan’s
intelligence, his concern for kids, and his love for his autistic brother.
Dr. Dunne, on the other hand, loved his
enormous bank account and penchant for writing big checks. It was a beautiful
three-way relationship in Dr. Dunne’s eyes.
Dr. Dunne looked at her over his glasses
again in that superior way he’d mastered. “I think you have a reading class to
get back to.”
“Math,” she corrected.
“Whatever.” A smile broke across his oily
face. “Have a great day.”
