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“Yes, ma’am. I’ll walk you to the door.”

“I know where the door is, honey.” She nodded at Wilda, then left the room.

Milo looked at Wilda. “So, yeah. That was my mom.”

“I like your mom.”

“Hmm. She can be a bit…” He shrugged. “I guess you know how moms are.” Wilda looked away from him, and he sighed. “Dammit. Did I just put my foot in my mouth again?”

“It’s fine. I lost my parents when I was a senior in high school.”

Milo shook his head. “I’m an idiot.”

“You had no way of knowing.”

“So it’s just you, Mathias, and Caleb?”

“Yes. Caleb has his other grandparents, but they moved to Arizona to get away from the snow. We see them a couple of times a year.”

“Well, if you ever need to borrow a grandparent, I’m sure my mom would love to help you out with that.”

Wilda laughed. “I might take her up on that.”

“And…about dinner. She was just…”

“You don’t want me to have dinner with your parents?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

Wilda cocked her head. “You’re very cute when you’re flustered?”

“Cute?”

She walked back to her can of paint. “In a strictly teacher-of-my-child, employer sort of way.”

“Hmm. So, you don’t yet consider me a friend? I thought maybe we were getting close to that.”

She turned to look at him. “I think friends would be appropriate at this stage.”

“Great! I mean…yeah.”

“Milo?”

He held up his hands. “I know. Friends is the best I can hope for.”

She picked up the paintbrush. “I wish…” She dipped it in the can of paint.

Milo watched her for a moment. “I wish you’d finish that sentence.”

She smiled. “I can’t.”

Chapter ten

“No woman can resist a man in uniform.”

Missing a day of school had thrown Milo off. He sat at his desk and stared at the stack of worksheets the kids would be working on today. He picked up his mug to take a sip of coffee, but it was empty. He set it back down and rubbed his face. “Wake up, dammit.”

Wilda walked into the room, and he got to his feet. “Morning.” It was an unexpected but very nice surprise.