Small-Town Mom by Jean C. Gordon Read Free Book Online Page B

jeans don’t fit. But we didn’t go that fast.”
    “Is that right?” Eli gave Jamie a once-over, his smile broadening.
    She looked around to see if there was a snow pile nearby that she could bury herself in.
    “Yeah, it was fun, but I would have liked to go faster.”
    “Opal, that’s enough. Drew is signaling me to get the next heat of races going.” Well, he was motioning someone about something.
    “Mommy! But I have a good idea I want to tell Mr….Mr….”
    “Payton,” Eli filled in, obviously enjoying himself from the look on his face.
    “Mr. Payton. I’m Opal Susan Glasser.”
    “Nice to meet you, Opal Susan Glasser.”
    Jamie sensed rather than saw the youth group members congregating behind her.
    “You can just call me Opal.” She turned to Jamie, dancing from one foot to the other. “Mommy, can I tell him my good idea?”
    “Go ahead.” At least she still had a modicum of authority.
    “If you and Mommy and me rode the toboggan, we could really fly.”
    “What about me?” Rose sidled up next to Jamie.
    Opal bit her lip. “I guess. You’d add some extra weight. What do you think, Mr. Payton?”
    “I agree. I think your sister would add some extra weight.”
    “No!” Opal stomped her foot in the snow and laughed. “I mean about us racing.”
    Eli’s gaze caught Jamie’s. The winter sun glinted off his steel-blue eyes, or was it a sparkle of humor? Jamie warmed. He was good with kids. But that was his job, wasn’t it?
    “We just went,” Jamie said. “We’ll have to wait our turn again.”
    “But Mr. Payton didn’t. He hasn’t had a turn. We could show him how to do it.” Opal reached for the rope to the toboggan.
    Jamie pulled it back out of her reach. She wasn’t nearly as anxious as Opal to pile on the toboggan with Eli. She ran her gaze from his snow-crusted boots up his long legs to the navy blue ski cap covering his sandy brown hair. By himself, he’d take up most of the length of the sled.
    “I’ll tell you what,” Eli said. “We’ll run the rest of the heats until we have a winner. Then, you and your sister…”
    “Rose,” her older daughter filled in.
    “And your mom can challenge the winner.”
    Opal surveyed the teens gathered around them. “Good deal. We’ll win for sure.”
    “Don’t count on it, squirt.” Myles walked up behind Opal and tugged her braid. He glanced from Jamie to Eli. A guarded look replaced his teasing grin.
    “Hey,” Drew shouted from below. “What’s going on up there? Let’s get these races going.”
    Jamie handed Myles the toboggan. “Okay, who’s up?”
    The nine teens who had won their heats lined up a few feet behind the crest of the hill with two on the toboggans and the third member of each team standing to the side ready to push them off to a running start.
    “Do you want to do the honors?” Jamie pulled a green bandana from her coat pocket and held it out to Eli. “The green flag. We’re improvising.”
    “Ah, you’ve got this all organized.”
    He pulled the bandana from her hand and gave her a lopsided grin that allowed her to ignore the surprise she’d detected in his voice.
    “Is everyone ready?” she asked.
    “Ready. Yes. Yo.” The teams each answered.
    Eli raised the bandana. “On your mark. Get set.” He dropped the cloth. “Go.”
    Opal and Rose jumped up and down. “Go, Myles! Go, Tanner!”
    Drew raised his hands over his head as Myles’s toboggan flew by him first. He jumped off the toboggan and threw his hands in the air with a “whoop.” They ran another heat with Myles’s team coming in first again. It lifted Jamie’s spirits to see him having fun and enjoying himself.
    “Come on, Mr. Payton.” Opal grabbed Eli’s hand as the teens returned to the top of the hill. “We have to beat Myles and Tanner.”
    Jamie visualized them all crowded onto the toboggan, which seemed to have shrunk since she’d unloaded it in the parking lot. “You don’t have to do this.”
    “Sure I do. I