“You’re welcome, Miss Katie. We like sharing with you,” Beth said.
Sam took off the blue headband and handed it to Beth.
“You girls stay put. I’m going to walk Miss Katie to the door, and then we’ll go home.”
“Okay, Daddy,” they said, and began putting their headbands back on as Sam and Katie got out.
Sam slipped a hand beneath her elbow as they went up the steps.
“Thank you for getting the girls out of the line of fire,” he said.
“Of course,” Katie said. “It’s weird… I think I was expecting a small town to be low key. Not necessarily crimeless, but nothing scary. Only I’m realizing that wherever people abide, there will always be the good ones and the bad ones.”
“That’s for sure,” Sam said. “It’s just a little easier to figure out the good from the bad in small towns. It’s hard to hide your truth when you’re acting like an ass every other day of your life.”
Katie unlocked the door and walked in, then turned to thank him, but Sam was right behind her.
Without saying a word, he slipped a hand beneath her hair and cupped her neck, then leaned closer—so close he could feel the warmth of her breath.
Katie sighed, slid her arms around his neck, and ever so slowly, leaned into his kiss.
Lips met with intention, sent blood pressure rising, and turned on a longing Sam had never expected to feel again.
For Katie, the kiss was hope she thought she’d lost.
Sam slowly pulled back, his gaze searching her face to see if he’d overstepped.
Her eyes were at half-mast and his thumb was on the pulse in her neck.
He sighed. She was fine. Just fine.
“God, Katie…you’re making me feel things I thought I’d buried with my wife. I’m not asking for miracles here…but I have officially tossed my hat into the ring with you, and now you know it.”
Katie put her hand in the middle of his chest, feeling the steady thump of his heartbeat. “If you can take comfort in the fact that I have turned everyone else away but you, and you can give me the space to get past the nightmares that haunt me, then I am with you all the way. I’m still not sure what’s going to happen at school with me and the PTSD.”
“No pressure, love. Just an admission of intent,” he said, and then headed back to the car.
Katie closed the door behind him, then kicked off her shoes and padded through the house, thinking how special Sam was, and how easy it would be to get hooked into believing his family could be hers, too.
But being out in public was exhausting. She spent so much time trying to control her anxiety, and she had a headache. So she crawled onto the bed, pulled a blanket over her feet and legs, and rolled over, remembering all the other times when she’d believed the people who swore they wanted her and instead had walked away. Sam felt trustworthy, but Katie didn’t trust her own judgment anymore.
She exhaled slowly as she closed her eyes.
She could hear life going on outside, but her house was quiet and a place of safety and comfort, and so she slept.
***
Mark Roman stood at the window of his upstairs bedroom, watching it rain. It was actually more of a downpour. No wind. No thunder and lightning to speak of. Just a curtain of rain between the house and the barn.
He and his dad, Joe, had done the morning chores before the rain came and were just finishing their noon meal when the sky unloaded.
Joe looked up from the table and frowned.
“Well, that changes this afternoon’s plans.”
His mom, Laura, reached over and patted her husband’s hand.
“You work too hard all the time. This is just God giving you an excuse to rest.”
Mark watched the gentleness with which they spoke to each other and couldn’t help but compare it to how he and Megan had communicated.
Instinctively, he had known this was the way marriage was supposed to be. He’d witnessed their kindness to each other every day of his childhood and never realized that it didn’t just come because they were married. It was there because they chose to treat each other exactly how they wanted to be treated.
They were actually living the Golden Rule.
Mark stood and began clearing the table.
“Mom, why don’t you and Dad go put your feet up. We’re all going to have a slow afternoon. Let me clean up the kitchen.”
“Thank you, Son. That would be wonderful,” Laura said, and as she got up to leave, Mark could see she was favoring her right leg again.
Mark watched the two of them leaving the room together and looked away.
After he was finished, he slipped up to his bedroom, and now here he was, watching it rain. Maybe after the storm passed he’d check email. His house still hadn’t sold, and the lawyers were still bugging him about how to disburse the Lanier fortune. He didn’t know what to do with it, either, but he knew he didn’t want it.
***
Katie spent all day Sunday going over the week of lesson plans, making sure she had everything ready in her room that she was going to need, and then in the evening she called Lila.
“Hey, bestie! What’s happening in your world?” Lila said.
Katie curled her feet up beneath her and settled in on the sofa for a visit. “Tomorrow is our first day of school.”
“Oh wow! You are starting earlier than we are.”
“I know, but I’m ready. I have eighteen students so far, and I also have my neighbor’s twin daughters in my class.”
“Your neighbor, the police chief?” Lila asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Katie said.
“So, how’s that going?” Lila asked.
“You mean with Sam? He’s fine. A really sweet man and I like spending time with him and his girls.”
“Yikes. Are the girls always along?”
“Yes, because I suggested it. His job is demanding. They have a nanny all through the week. They should not be expected to have to share their daddy time with a girlfriend. Besides, if I was a six-year-old girl with no mother, I wouldn’t like that girlfriend if she took my daddy away from me. So…it takes pressure and guilt off of Sam. The girls are great fun, and they like me.”
“That’s actually a great diagnosis of the situation, my friend. Does Sam like you, too?” Lila asked.
Katie sighed. “Yes.”
Lila persisted. “Do you like Sam?”
“Yes. A lot. But I’m having nightmares almost every night, and sometimes a sound will trigger a PTSD episode, so I’m not making any permanent plans until I trust myself again.”