Page 87 of Beacon

Then I walk back over to the couch. “Layne thought you were all relaxed over here.”

There’s warm amusement in his tone as he drawls, “She was wrong.”

I unbutton my jeans and glance over at the door, but this time there’s not another knock. So I take off the rest of my clothes and climb back onto Mack’s lap.

“Hey,” he says before I start kissing him again. He’s holding on to my bottom possessively.

“I’m really okay, Mack.”

“I know you are. I’m gonna be a little careful with you for a while, but I know you’re okay. That’s not what I wanted to ask.”

“Oh. What was it then?”

He works his jaw slightly before he says, “I wanted to know… I mean, I know you said you want to have babies with me, but I didn’t know if you meant right now. It’s fine if you want to give us time to get settled. I just need to know whether you want me to keep pulling out.”

“Oh.” I swallow.

“I know we had that one time, but that was when we thought it might be the end, so I didn’t know if you wanted to keep on like that.”

I lean down to kiss him softly. “I don’t want you to pull out.”

“You sure? Because we got time.”

“I’m thirty-three, Mack. Maybe in the old world that meant a woman still had a lot of time, but now I’m not so sure. If we want babies, we need to get going.”

His eyes heat up. I see it happen, and it gives me a ridiculous thrill. “We don’t gotta get going this week.”

“No, but there’s no reason not to, unless you’re worried about it for some reason. I’m ready. I’m ready for everything with you. And, just in case you forgot, I think there’s an adjustment time of quite a few months before a baby actually appears.”

He laughs at this, although his hands have gotten tighter. “I know. But I don’t want to rush you.”

“Nothing about the two of us has been rushed, Mack. We’ve taken more time than any couple I’ve ever known. But we’ve made it. We’re here now. And we’re home. I’m ready for what comes next as long as you are.”

He shakes slightly from emotion, but there’s a smileon his mouth and in his eyes as he cups my face with one hand. “I’m ready too.”

So there’s nothing to come between us any longer.

We’re us. Mack and Anna. Together.

At last.

EPILOGUE

One Year Later

It’s almostnoon as I’m finishing up my lesson on “The Lady of Shalott.”

There are only seven students in my upper-level English class, ranging between twelve and fifteen years old. As usual today, one boy is scowlingly annoyed by life, three students are generally cooperative but clearly unconvinced by the usefulness of these topics to their future lives of mostly manual labor, and three are either eager to achieve or enthusiastically engaged.

It’s not a bad percentage as far as I’m concerned, and I have a great time leading a discussion on Tennyson’s technique and meaning.

Ever since I began teaching at the Halbrook school, I’ve been responsible for the English, reading, and writing classes for all ages of students. There aren’t enough older ones yet for me to focus exclusively on them. Before now, I’ve never in my life had to teach little kids how to read and write letters and words, so it’s been a significant challenge. On quite a few days, I’ve come home discouraged and exhausted, and Mack has had to talk me down from my impulse to quit teaching and take a guard-duty post instead.

I’ve stuck it out so far, and I’m confident I’ve been improving my teaching skills with the younger students. I still much prefer the upper levels, and I’m looking forward to a few years from now when there are enough students for me to focus on what I’m best at.

I’m in a good mood and invigorated when I wrap the lesson up five minutes early. We had a great conversation, and I got all but the scowler to participate in a meaningful way. On Fridays, school always lets out at noon because of the weekly festivities in the evening, so my students are happy and exuberant as they collect their stuff and amble toward the main office to sign out and then head home.

I erase my board, straighten up the chairs and desks, gather my things, and step out of the room, only to stop abruptly when I see someone sitting on the floor next to my classroom door.

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