Lessons Learned (20 page)

“I went swimming in the river.”

Mortified and needing an escape, I turned my back toward them and poured myself a cup of coffee.

I hated coffee.

“Swimming? Isn’t it a little cold for swimming?”

“I didn’t notice the cold at all. The scenery was far too beautiful.”

Call it intuition, but I had a feeling he wasn’t talking about the trees.

“Well, that sounds . . . fun,” Shellie muttered just as the first bell rang. “I’m volunteering today, so let me know if you need anything copied or stapled or . . .”

Is she flirting?

Pivoting on my heel, I narrowed my eyes in her direction.

“Thank you very much,” Lucas said kindly.

Shellie tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and flashed him a pearly-white smile before sashaying out of the faculty lounge.

Completely irritated and more than a little jealous, I abruptly dumped my coffee into the sink and tossed the cup into the trash.

“Hey,” Lucas whispered, his hand brushing against mine. It was just a slight touch and wouldn’t be noticed by anyone, but it still sent a shiver up my spine.

I lifted my eyes to his, and he winked.

And just like that, my jealousy disappeared.

English class was tense.

I tried my best to get the students to focus on Macbeth’s descent into madness, but honestly, it was like talking to brick walls. Every eye in the room was fixed on either Patrick or Matt—just waiting for one of them to pounce. Now that both young men had been kicked off the football team, they weren’t sitting in their regular seats in the first two rows. Today, Matt was in the third row while Patrick was occupying a desk in the back corner of the classroom.

Howie volunteered to read aloud from Act 5, and when my eyes scanned the page, I immediately regretted opening the textbooks today.

“Out, out brief candle. Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard of no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

“What does that mean?” Howie asked after he finished the passage.

“What do you think it means?”

“I don’t know.” Howie glanced around the room, looking for help. “Life sucks?”

There were a few chuckles, and I smiled at his effort.

“Sometimes it does. Anything else?”

“Maybe it means he’s playing a part,” a deep voice echoed from the back.

Twenty pairs of eyes turned toward Patrick.

I glanced at Matt, whose eyes were glued to his English textbook.

Nineteen
pairs of eyes.

“He’s faking it,” Patrick continued, his voice hard and cold. “Going through the motions. Pretending to be something he isn’t in order to get ahead.”

Every head swiveled back to me.

“That could certainly be one interpretation.”

Suddenly, Patrick rose to his feet.

“
It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
 . . .” he said with conviction as he slammed his textbook shut. His eyes swept the room and settled on the back of Matt’s head. “. . . 
signifying
nothing
.”

Thankfully, the bell rang, and Patrick grabbed his jacket and stalked out of the room. The textbook remained on his desk.

The room was deathly quiet, and I took a steadying breath before dismissing the rest of the class.

I could not
wait
to be finished with this play.

“Are you all right, Miss Bray?”

Matt was still sitting in his chair. His cast was prominently displayed with a few signatures in black marker along the plaster.

“I’m fine. How are you?”

He shrugged. “This is just day one. How many days are left in the school year?”

“Too many.”

Matt nodded. “I can do this, Miss Bray.”

He sounded so determined and optimistic, so I offered him a supportive smile.

“Hey, do you want to sign my cast? You’ll be the only teacher . . .”

He pulled a marker out of his hoodie pocket, and I laughed while I proudly added my signature to his cast.

“Don’t worry, Miss Bray. I can handle anything he dishes out. I’m not crazy. I know it’s going to get rough.”

A knot of fear formed in the pit of my stomach.

“Matt, if it gets too rough—”

Smiling, he stood and grabbed his textbook with his good arm.

“You’ll be the first to know,” he promised.

“Monica, I’d love for you to visit over Fall Break!”

Lucas glanced up from his pile of tests and grinned at me. My kitchen table was covered with exams that desperately needed to be graded before Friday. Lucas, at least, was being productive. I, on the other hand, had been on the phone with Monica for over an hour.

“Are you sure? You don’t have plans?”

“I do now,” I replied happily while checking the chicken baking in the oven. “Besides, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

“Oh?” Her voice was bright and curious. “An important someone?”

“He’s pretty important, yeah.”

Lucas didn’t look up from his grading, but I could see his smile.

“You’ve met someone,” she breathed softly.

Dropping my oven mitt onto the counter, I walked over to the kitchen table and climbed into his lap. He smiled up at me and immediately dropped his pen as he wrapped his arm around my waist. Lowering my head, I kissed him softly.

“Are you
kissing
?” Monica screeched in my ear, her voice a mixture of wild disbelief and extreme glee. Lucas chuckled and buried his face against my neck. “Put him on the phone right this instant.”

Laughing, I offered him my cell.

“Hi, Monica,” he said with the biggest grin on his face. “I’m Lucas Miller . . .” Unfortunately, she’d stopped screaming so I could only hear his side of the conversation. With his eyes never leaving mine, he trailed his fingers along my spine. “Yes, I was just kissing your best friend . . . yes, I have a job . . .” We both laughed, and then his face turned solemn as he pulled me closer to his chest. “Yes, I know she has. I will take care of her, I promise.”

I smiled. Moni had always been protective of me.

“I look forward to meeting you, too,” Lucas said softly before handing the phone back to me.

Leaning down, I kissed him once more before climbing off his lap and turning my attention back to the stove. Monica promised to call once she’d made arrangements, and we hung up just as the oven timer chimed.

“Should we eat at the island?” Lucas asked, pointing toward the stools. The kitchen table was still cluttered, although his pile of grading was now significantly shorter than mine.

“That sounds good.”

We worked around each other—him finding plates and silverware while I finished heating the rolls—and it amazed me how easy it was to be all-domestic with someone I’d only known for a short period of time. So far,
everything
with Lucas had been effortless.

We ate in a comfortable silence as I tried to find trouble where there really was none, and even
that
was troubling to me.

“What are you thinking?”

Surprised, I looked up into his sweet eyes. “What makes you think I’m thinking about anything?”

“Because you haven’t taken two bites of your dinner. You’re not worried about Monica’s visit, are you?”

“No, although the town didn’t exactly welcome her with open arms the last time she was here.”

“Why?”

“She’s African American.”

Lucas nodded in understanding.

“But you’ll love her, and she’ll love you,” I assured him.

“So, what’s wrong?”

I sighed softly and continued playing with my food.

“Nothing’s wrong. Absolutely nothing is wrong, and it scares me to death.”

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Nothing is wrong, and that frightens you?”

“I’m not sane, Lucas. You’ll figure this out soon enough, and then you’ll run screaming.”

He laughed quietly and dropped his fork against his plate.

“I seriously doubt that, Sarah.” Taking my hand in his, he gently pressed a kiss to my wrist. “Aren’t you happy?”

I trembled slightly as his lips ghosted along my skin.

“I’m happier than I’ve ever been.” It was true. Being with Lucas had brought me a sense of peace I hadn’t felt since I was a little girl.

“You know, it’s okay to be happy.”

“Is it?” I honestly had no idea.

Lucas stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork and lifted it to my lips. “It is. For example, you made me very happy this morning.”

I took the bite and swallowed quickly. “What did I do this morning?”

“You were jealous of Shellie.”

Frowning, I grabbed my own fork and forcefully gouged my food.

“She was gossiping about the two of us before you walked in. Apparently, Deputy Hank has a big mouth. The entire faculty knows about our little escapade in the back seat of your car, and she
still
flirted with you right in front of me.”

“And that bothered you?”

“Of course it bothered me!”

Lucas was trying very hard to hide his laughter while I continued to massacre my dinner.

“I think we’re done,” Lucas said with a grin.

Pulling me by the hand, he led me into the living room and over toward the couch. Once he was seated, he promptly pulled me sideways onto his lap and nuzzled my neck. I sighed contently and trailed my fingers through his hair.

“You have no reason to be jealous,” Lucas whispered against my ear, “and you have no reason to worry. Life is good, isn’t it?”

“Life is
so
good, but that’s when it usually falls apart on me.”

“So, what’s your plan? Look for drama where there isn’t any, just so you’ll be prepared in case something horrible happens?” I shrugged, and he sighed softly. “That’s no way to live, sweetheart.”

“I know, but old habits die hard.”

He ghosted his lips along my jaw, and I shivered.

“It’s time for new habits, Sarah. It’s time to be content. We’ll handle whatever . . . whenever it comes, but for now, can’t we just be happy?”

“I want to
trust
being happy.”

“Me, too.” His eyes were shining and warm as they gazed into mine. Very tenderly, he brushed his hand across my cheek.  “Maybe we can help each other with that.”

Pressing my forehead against his, I sighed softly.

“Maybe we can.”

Chapter 16

“Have you ever been so glad to see three o’clock on a Friday?” Aubrey asked as we headed down the hallway. The teachers were actually racing the kids to get to the door. “This week has been absolutely insane.”

    She was right. School had been crazy. There’s always a little excitement when vacation is on the horizon, but this week had been particularly wild. Thankfully, I’d kept control of my English class just long enough to finish
Macbeth
. To motivate my creative writing class, I’d bribed them with the promise of food, and I’d spent last night baking dozens of cupcakes.

It was a small price to pay for a little peace.

“You’re bringing Daniel to my house for trick-or-treating, right?”