Then Sam finished off his beer and went inside.
After one last peek in on his babies, he crawled up onto his bed, still in his jeans and T-shirt, and closed his eyes.
And fell asleep.
Chapter Nineteen
The principal met Katie as she was coming in the door the next morning.
“Ree Phillips has been withdrawn from school.”
Katie’s shoulders slumped. “Okay, but I’m not surprised. I’ll clean out her cubby.”
“Wait,” Susan said.
Katie paused and turned. “Yes, ma’am?”
“You have a gift. You saw the genius in one student and danger signs in another, and both on the first days you met them. I feel very fortunate that you accepted this job. I just wanted you to know you are appreciated.”
“Thank you,” Katie said. “I feel very fortunate that you offered it. And today is a whole new day.”
And it was.
The class was so new, and Ree had been so quiet, that the children never noticed she was gone. Each day after that for the entire week was busy, and hectic, and fruitful in one way or another, and each evening, Katie went home feeling satisfied.
Teachers’ meeting was on Wednesday after school, so Katie was delayed in leaving. Once the meeting ended, she raced back to her room to get her things. She was getting ready to leave when she saw a little blue blinged-out headband on the floor beneath one of the chairs. She knew immediately it was Beth’s and picked it up and took it with her. She had a couple of stops to make before she headed home, and by the time she pulled into her driveway, Sam was home and Roxie was gone.
She unloaded her school stuff, then grabbed Beth’s headband and walked across the street and rang the bell. Even before the door opened, she could hear crying. Then Sam was standing in the doorway with a harried expression on his face, and the wailing was even louder.
Katie held up the headband.
Sam rolled his eyes, pulled her into the house, and hugged her.
“You are a freaking saint,” he muttered. “This has been nonstop since I came home. Come with me.” He grabbed her hand and led her to the girls’ bedroom.
Evie was sitting on the bed with her arm around Beth, crying right along with her, because that’s how they rolled.
Katie walked in with Sam, then sat down on the bed beside the girls and put the headband in Beth’s lap.
Beth squealed in the middle of a sob and immediately slid the headband on her head.
“I found it under a chair near the reading center,” Katie said.
Tears were running and snot poured, but Beth was smiling through it all.
“Thank you, Miss Katie. I thought it was lost,” Beth said.
Katie grabbed a handful of tissues, scooted Beth onto her lap, and began wiping up Beth’s face, then wrapped her arms around her and gave her a big hug.
“I’m sorry you were so sad, but it’s all better now, right?”
Beth nodded and leaned against Katie’s shoulder as she looked up at Sam.
“Daddy, I’m not sad anymore,” she said.
Not wanting to be left out, Evie scooted close to Katie.
Without thinking, Katie pulled her close, too.
“Did you girls tell Daddy about what we did in science today?” Katie asked.
“Science? Is that the bean?” Evie asked.
Katie nodded.
And all at once, Sam was inundated with the story.
“We had a cup. And we had dirt. And we had a bean,” Beth said.
“Then we put the bean on the dirt and pushed it down,” Evie added.
“And what else?” Katie asked.
They frowned, thinking, and then Evie shouted.
“We gave it a drink!”
Sam laughed. He was relieved the crying was over and moved by the sight of his daughters in Katie’s lap.
“Okay,” Katie said. “I have to go home and get stuff ready for tomorrow, and I know you two and Daddy have supper to make. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, then gave the girls a last hug.
Sam walked her to the door, then cupped her face and kissed her.
“Every day you dig yourself a little deeper into my heart,” he said.
“You are an irresistible man, Sam Youngblood, but be patient with me. Like those beans, taking root takes time,” Katie said, and went home.
***
The next day after work, Katie brought her bouquet home, put it on the kitchen table, and started digging through the pantry. She’d been wanting chocolate cake for days and couldn’t stand it anymore. After changing and making herself something cold to drink, she turned on the oven and began getting out what she needed to make cupcakes.
Soon she had the batter mixed up, and she was putting the paper liners in her cupcake pans when her phone rang. When she saw it was Sam, she quickly wiped her hands and answered.
“Hello.”
“Katie, it’s me. I am in a bind. Roxie left early for a dentist appointment and I just got called back in. There’s a wreck, and both drivers are fighting in the street. Can the girls come stay with you for a bit until I get this sorted out?”
“Absolutely,” Katie said. “Head them this way and I’ll go out to meet them.”
“Thank you so much,” Sam said, and hung up.
Katie ran out of the house and was already crossing the street when the girls came out of the house with Sam between them.
“I owe you,” Sam said as he passed the girls over to Katie.
Katie took each girl by a hand. “Who wants to help me make cupcakes?”
“Me! Me!” they said.
“Then let’s go to my house, because that’s where the good stuff is happening!”
“You rock. Save one for me,” Sam said. He jumped in the patrol car and took off up the street with lights flashing as Katie led the girls into her house.
“I smell chocolate!” Beth said.
“That’s because I’m making chocolate cupcakes,” Katie said. “Are your hands clean?”
They held them up. “Daddy washed our faces and hands before we came over.”
“Awesome, but you need to be a little bit taller. How about you sit up here and you can put the papers in the cupcake pans?” Then she lifted them up onto the barstools, pushed the pans toward them, and began separating the cupcake papers from the stack.