Game of Love (The Remingtons, Book One: Love in Bloom Series)

Chapter Seventeen, Game of Love

Chapter Seventeen

MAPLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL was nothing like the low-income schools Ellie had been interviewing with. At Maple Elementary, the teachers dressed comfortably, in jeans and T-shirts or skirts and blouses, whatever made them feel the most confident. While she was at the Department of Education talking with one of the specialists about the grant process, the specialist had told her about Maple, a privately funded alternative-education school. An hour later, she was in the office of the school administrator, Blythe Wagner, discussing her ideas.

Blythe was a short woman with a friendly smile and thick, light brown hair secured with a leather barrette at the base of her neck. She wore a pair of boot-cut Levi's with a loose-fitting cream-colored, short-sleeved sweater. She was naturally pretty, with blue eyes and pale skin. Her face was devoid of makeup, save for a thin application of eyeliner. She and Ellie hit it off right away.

"I like your ideas, Ellie. They're fresh and certainly viable given the right funding opportunities." She leaned her elbows on her knees, perched beside Ellie on a comfortable couch in the main office of the school. "Would you be willing to teach and work through the proposal process in your spare time? We don't have the funding for overtime. It's a lot of work. Grants are not easy to come by, and the kids have to come first. Their learning can't be sidetracked by what may or may not become a project—even if it's a project that, in the long run, will help them."

Ellie felt her eyes widen and tried to gain control of her emotions. Blythe was already talking as if they had a real chance of winning an educational grant and developing educational software was a real possibility. A project. Ellie would give anything to see the concept of the software come to fruition. She'd gladly work overtime without pay if it meant working with a technical team that could develop the software. She couldn't have hoped for a more supportive administrator, but she had to make sure she wasn't overselling herself.

She cleared her throat. "I...um...I have no technical writing experience, only teaching experience."

"Yes." Blythe nodded. "I'm well aware of that."

"And I don't know anything about proposal writing. I've taken technical writing courses, but this is just an idea, a concept. I mean, my expertise is working with children, not developing the actual programs." Her heart beat a mile a minute. She couldn't believe everything was happening so fast, and she wanted to lean over and hug Blythe for even offering the opportunity. Most of all, she wanted to be sure Blythe knew exactly what her skills were. She didn't need to fail at her first job in New York.

"Think of it this way. If successful, you'll be the brains behind a program that just might change the way children are taught." Blythe sat back and smiled. "We'd have to find a technical staff to work with. An affordable one."

I wonder if Dexy could help.

Blythe continued. "We would need your guidance to bring the program to fruition. You'll be able to outline it, drive the development in the right direction, and make sure the kids would be getting what they need, without the technical aspects. But there's a bigger-picture concern we need to address. You were with your last job for two years, which is a fair amount of time, but for our kids, we hope for more. They have enough instability in their lives. There's security in knowing that the teachers they trust and rely on are here year after year. No one can promise to stay in a job, and we understand that, but we do like to know where our employees stand with their three- and five-year goals."

Ellie took a deep breath and wondered if she'd unknowingly walked through a patch of four-leaf clovers. Between coming together with Dex and finding her dream job, she felt like the luckiest girl on the planet.