I glanced up and over in the direction she indicated and saw a tall man leaning against an SUV across the lot.
He was talking on the phone, and he didn’t seem to be aware of our presence.
He really was very good-looking, with broad shoulders, long legs, and that hair that shone a dark gold.
I knew it wasn’t right to stereotype, but he didn’t look at all like any other substitute first grade teacher I’d ever seen.
He had to be around thirty. If he wanted to be a teacher, then he’d certainly had time to get his certification and get a full-time job by now. I wondered why he hadn’t. Maybe he was some kind of a slacker, just hanging around and taking on substitute jobs because they were easy. I hoped that wasn’t the case. Not only was that not the kind of teacher I wanted for my daughter—or for any student for that matter—but it also wasn’t the kind of teacher we needed for our school. Private schools required a more dedicated type of instructor. And if this man was only looking for an easy paycheck, then...
Okay, I was getting ahead of myself, and Lily had a tendency to easily read my moods. If I continued to stand here scowling, she was going to catch on.
Fast.
“I’m sure things will be better in class tomorrow,” I said to Lily, who was frowning in the man’s direction.
Like mother, like daughter.
“I hope so.” Lily looked up at me with big blue eyes. “I asked him why the sea was salty, and he said I should look it up because right now was playtime.”
I hid my immediate indignation at this half-hearted answer to a genuine question from an intelligent girl. “We can look it up when we get home. How about that? I’ve always wondered why the sea is salty too.”
“Okay.”
We both climbed into the car, and I glanced once more at Mr. Curtis as I started to pull out of the parking lot. He was still on the phone, and he didn’t appear to be having a happy conversation. He was scowling, as if he were angry.
Fight with his girlfriend or something. He was probably really popular with women.
I dismissed the man from my mind as I turned onto the street.
“Do you want to go pick out a Christmas tree this weekend?” I asked, glancing at Lily in the rearview mirror.
I saw her face break into a smile. “Yes! Can we get a really big one?”
“We can get as big a one as will fit in our living room.”
“How big is that?”
“I’m not sure. We’ll measure it before we go out and look so we’ll know exactly how big we can get.”
She nodded, obviously thinking deeply on this issue.
I was glad she was excited about the Christmas tree. About Christmas.
Last year had been really hard—being the first Christmas without Nick.
My husband, Nick, had been a SEAL, but he died on a mission a year and a half ago. We’d been married seven years. Sometimes I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn’t believe I was a twenty-eight-year-old widow.
But I was. That was me. Living the rest of my life without Nick, who’d been just as sweet and serious as Lily.
We’d grown up together and had been high school sweethearts. It was our love of literature that had first drawn us together in our tenth grade English class. I had known from the first time he read to me from Pride and Prejudice that he was the one for me. And just knowing that I’d never hear him do so again was sometimes too much to bear.
As if she’d read my thoughts, Lily said into the silence, “Remember when Daddy brought home the tree that didn’t fit.”
My throat ached slightly at the memory of Nick cursing under his breath as he tried to get a too-big tree into our small house. “I do remember. He had to chop off the top to make it fit.”
Lily giggled. “He wasn’t happy.”
“But it still looked good, didn’t it?”
“Yes. It was pretty. I picked out a bigger star for the top so it didn’t look so silly.”
“Your daddy always wanted the best for you.”
“Yes.” She was giving a little nod when I glanced to the mirror to check her expression. “Even the biggest Christmas tree.” After a pause, she added, “I remember he liked to read to me.”
“He did. He loved books just as much as we do.” Nick had loved his job, but he hadn’t been what most people thought of in a SEAL. In fact, he’d been thinking of getting out so he could go to graduate school. He’d just about decided on that plan when he’d been killed in action.
If he’d made the decision a little sooner, he might still be alive.
I shook the thought out of my head. Nick had always done his best—in his career, for his family—and there was no use thinking about could-have-beens.
For some reason I pictured again the handsome substitute teacher, leaning against his SUV.
But he was clearly nothing like Nick.
***
About Samantha Chase
New York Times and USA Today Bestseller/contemporary romance writer Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan's Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40's to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.
When she's not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, blogging, playing way too many games of Scrabble on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina. For more information visit her website at www.chasing-romance.com.
Books by Samantha Chase
Jordan’s Return
The Christmas Cottage
Ever After
Catering to the CEO
In the Eye of the Storm
Wait for Me
Trust in Me
Stay With Me
A Touch of Heaven
Mistletoe Between Friends
The Snowflake Inn
The Baby Arrangement
Baby, I’m Yours
Baby, Be Mine
Exclusive
Moonlight in Winter Park
Duty Bound
Honor Bound
Forever Bound
Home Bound
The Wedding Season
Return to You
Meant for You
I’ll Be There
Made for Us
Live, Love & Babies Trilogy
Love Walks In
Christmas in Silver Bell Falls
Waiting for Midnight
Always My Girl
Website:www.chasing-romance.com
Facebook:www.facebook.com/SamanthaChaseFanClub
Twitter:https://twitter.com/SamanthaChase3
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About Noelle Adams
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she writes full time, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com.
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Books by Noelle Adams
Tea for Two Series
Falling for her Brother’s Best Friend
Winning her Brother’s Best
Friend
Seducing her Brother’s Best Friend
Balm in Gilead Series
Relinquish
Surrender
Retreat
Rothman Royals Series
A Princess Next Door
A Princess for a Bride
A Princess in Waiting
Christmas with a Prince
Preston’s Mill Series (co-written with Samantha Chase)
Roommating
Speed Dating
Complicating
Eden Manor Series
One Week with her Rival
One Week with her (Ex) Stepbrother
One Week with her Husband
Christmas at Eden Manor
Beaufort Brides Series
Hired Bride
Substitute Bride
Accidental Bride
Heirs of Damon Series
Seducing the Enemy
Playing the Playboy
Engaging the Boss
Stripping the Billionaire
Willow Park Series
Married for Christmas
A Baby for Easter
A Family for Christmas
Reconciled for Easter
Home for Christmas
One Night Novellas
One Night with her Best Friend
One Night in the Ice Storm
One Night with her Bodyguard
One Night with her Boss
One Night with her Roommate
One Night with the Best Man
The Protectors Series (co-written with Samantha Chase)
Duty Bound
Honor Bound
Forever Bound
Home Bound
Standalones
A Negotiated Marriage
Listed
Bittersweet
Missing
Revival
Holiday Heat
Salvation
Excavated
Overexposed
Road Tripping
Chasing Jane
Late Fall
Fooling Around
Married by Contract
Trophy Wife
Bay Song