Don’t date your students’ single fathers. It’s an obvious rule. It leads to complications. And it’s a rule I’ve never broken, nor even been tempted to break. I mean, for one thing, I don’t date. Not for lack of trying, but I’m just too damaged. My heart is too broken.

Riley Kerr, however, isn’t my student. She’s in second grade, and she’s the sweetest, most darling young girl I’ve ever met. So when my path begins crossing her father’s, it’s complicated.

Rory Kerr is…handsome. Rough-hewn. Solitary. But such a kind and loving father. And not the father of one of my students. He’s not really off-limits.

Except that of my broken heart. Which he seems to just…effortlessly mend, piece by piece, without even realizing it.

The holidays are approaching, and I usually spend them with my dysfunctional family back in Colorado. It’s not something I look forward to. But they’re all I have, so my Christmases are always spent there, with them.

This year, the blooming something between Rory and me has me wondering… maybe this year I’ll be spending Christmas in Connecticut.