Rancher's Deadly Risk by Rachel Lee Page A

and that troubled her. She wondered if he was still being hassled, but she had no way to know.
    On the bright side, her students had come up with some interesting ideas for projects. As she taught them math with some physics mixed in, she enjoyed their pleasure and growing interest.
    Success was sweet. She hoped it lasted.
    So maybe the worst of the dustup was over, at least for her. Maybe whoever had been mad at her had finished venting. The detentions were scheduled for Thursday afternoon and Les had insisted on supervising them. After Monday, he said, he didn’t want her involved with the disciplinary action.
    She was, however, involved with Linc in a meeting with the students whom he had approached to become the vanguard in the antibullying campaign.
    As she would have expected of the students who were most respected among their peers, they were all good-looking. At that age, appearance meant a lot. But as she listened to them talk with Linc, keeping mostly quiet herself, she was impressed with how good-hearted they were and their quick grasp of the problems.
    She knew they’d been handpicked by Linc, and there were probably other student leaders he hadn’t chosen, but this group was great.
    “There’s always bullying,” said one of them, a petite blonde named Marcy. “Always. But not like what they did to James Carney. What’s wrong with James, anyway? He’s just a nerd.” And from that statement, Cassie realized the story of what had been done to James had made it all over school. The students were talking about it, so they needed to turn that talk to a positive end.
    Linc responded. “There’s nothing wrong with James. The question is what is wrong with people who would treat him that way, and whether the student body is going to allow bullying of any kind to continue. The teachers can crack down, but you know where that gets us.”
    “Yeah,” said Bob, a young linebacker from the football team. “It just goes under the radar or happens out of school. That’s no good.”
    “So,” said Linc, posing the question, “how do we make bullying uncool?”
    “Speak up and speak out,” was the first answer from another of the girls. “And we’ve got to get our friends to do it, too.”
    “Police it,” agreed a boy. “Maybe form a group of students who are willing to step in if they see it.”
    “Like hall monitors,” someone else suggested.
    “Diss it,” said yet another young man.
    At that point, Cassie was moved to speak. “We’ve got to be very careful not to let our attempts to stop bullying become bullying themselves.”
    The boy eyed her ruefully. “That makes it harder.”
    She had to laugh. “You bet.”
    The important thing was that the conversation had begun, and these students were going to start getting the word out. Specific actions seemed to be beyond reach, other than expressions of disapproval, but that disapproval could spread like ripples.
    After the students left, Linc remarked he needed to get ready for practice. “Are you walking home?”
    “No, I brought my car today. I need some groceries.”
    “Okay, then. Have a good evening.”
    She picked up her book bag and headed out to the faculty parking area, feeling almost amused. No point in feeling hurt by it, but after letting her into his life—even in a small way—on Monday evening, Linc had pulled back like a turtle into its shell.
    Oh, he was pleasant, but the distance was back.
    How did you figure a man like that? she wondered as she pulled out of the lot. Monday night had been a lot of fun. She’d enjoyed the animals, liked helping with them, and enjoyed his company. Had she done something wrong?
    She supposed she would never know. Whatever it was with Linc, she was beginning to think it was his problem, not hers. Which in itself ought to cheer her up. It was a far cry from her usual reaction, that she must be to blame for the way men lost interest.
    Heck, she thought with a near giggle, he’d never really been