Roses in June by Clare Revell

limo pulled up next to her.
    The back window wound down. “Dawn, get in.” Gabe opened the door.
    Her breath came in huge gasps, terror flooding her. Tempted to refuse, her fear got the better of her, and she climbed in the car. She shook from head to toe as she sat there struggling to fasten her seatbelt. “Drive…please.”
    Gabe’s cool fingers covered hers. “Dawn?”
    “Just go.”
    He nodded and hit the intercom. “Peters, go.” The car pulled away, and Gabe twisted to face her. “Why did you hang up?”
    “What?” she asked, looking at him, her breathing gradually returning to normal.
    “You rang the house phone, but when I took the call, you’d hung up.”
    “No…” She frowned in confusion. “I deleted your number.”
    Gabe frowned as the car pulled away from the junction. “Hardy said it was you. You sounded terrified. That’s the other reason I came.”
    “I rang a taxi. Only this bloke was watching me once I got to the main road. The cab didn’t arrive so I started to walk. Only he was following me—”
    “Good job I came to find you,” Gabe said calmly. “Besides I did say I’d take you home.”
    “Yeah.” But I didn’t mean to call you. And I wouldn’t, not after the way your mother behaved.
    She sat silently as the car drove her back to the school. Gabe’s hand was next to hers, but he made no attempt to take it. As they parked, he pulled out his phone. He typed quickly. “There, don’t delete it this time.”
    “OK,” she whispered. “But your mother…”
    “I apologize for her behavior and mine. I should have warned you. My mother is ill. She has Alzheimer’s. The disease has changed her, but she always was a self-opinionated cow at times I’m afraid,” he said bluntly. “But I don’t share her feelings. Once she gets to know you, she’ll feel differently.”
    “Perhaps. Thank you for the lift.” She got out of the car.
    “I’ll follow you home,” he said. “Stave off any would be stalkers.”
    “OK.” Dawn went into the school car park to retrieve her vehicle. She didn’t remember calling him. However, he had appeared from nowhere when she needed him, and she had to admit, she did feel calmer knowing he was going to follow her safely to her door.

10
    The flowers continued to arrive daily as the week progressed. Always roses to the school and cornflowers to her home. Dawn looked up the roses on line to find out what the colors stood for. The yellow with red tips meant friendship and falling in love. The peach stood for sincerity while the coral indicated desire.
    All seemed to show that Gabe liked her; maybe even more than liked her.
    But she simply could not figure the man out and decided to stop trying. His Hollywood image seemed to fill every aspect of his life when he wasn’t being an earl or under his mother’s thumb. However, his mother was ill, and she knew from her coworkers how horribly Alzheimer’s affected not just the person with the disease but the family as well.
    So the fact that she liked him a lot was irrelevant.
    Dawn finished arranging the roses on her classroom windowsill as the year tens arrived. “Are they all from Gabriel Tyler, miss?”
    “Yes.”
    “Are you going out with him? All the papers say you are.”
    Dawn turned to the teenagers. “No, we’re not going out.”
    “My sister said she saw you with him in here on Tuesday. Are you going to see him again?” Henry asked.
    Dawn rolled her eyes. “We’re not discussing Gabriel Tyler this morning. Open your textbooks to the chapter on volcanos.” As she taught, she glanced out of the window. The same bloke stood inside the playground, watching her.
    Dawn frowned. “I’ll be right back.” She left the classroom and ran down the stairs to the fire door that led to the playground. She burst through it to find the playground empty. Was she imagining things? She sucked in a deep breath and went back inside. She headed down to the office.
    Jackie smiled at her.