Page 2 of The Christmas List

Her light, strawberry blonde brows are hunched tight in concentration, the tip of her tongue peeking out at the corner of her lips as she focuses intently on the illustration.

I squat down in front of her desk and peer down at the drawing. “What are you working on, Luce?”

Bright green eyes raise to meet mine, paired with a sweet, lopsided grin that shows her missing front tooth.

Somehow, the toothless smile only adds to how adorable she is.

“Oh, this?” she mutters, glancing back down at the paper in her hand. “That’s my dad. I drew him with a frown because he’s kind of… grumpy sometimes. But he has a really big heart… kind of like the Grinch!”

“Well, you know what that means?” I ask, lifting a brow.

Lucy blinks up at me. “What?”

“That just means that he needsextralove when he’s grumpy. That’s when we should give the most love, to those who need it more than we do. And you know what? I think you have lots of love to give, Lucy.”

She looks at me curiously for a moment, chewing on the side of her lip, and then finally nods. “I think you’re right, Miss Josie. Maybe my dad just needs someoneelseto love him too.”

My shoulder dips as I stand. “Maybe so. Either way, I love this picture. You did a wonderful job.”

“Thanks, Miss Josie!”

I leave her with a wink and head back to my desk, which is my own brand of organized chaos, and tidy it up while the kids finish their activity. Tomorrow is officially Thanksgiving break, and while I’m looking forward to sleeping in past six thirty, I have so much to do in my classroom that I’ll probably end up back here, like I always do.

Not that I’m complaining.

One thing I learned very early on… being a teacher is never a nine-to-five job, and since I’m painfully single and have no kids of my own… it keeps me busy.

And I love it.

I spend most of my nights and weekends lesson planning, cutting out things for activities, and working on projects to display in the classroom. Anything I can to make my classroom a happy,festiveplace for my kids to be.

A few minutes later, the bell rings, and the kids spring from their seats, rushing over to their cubbies for backpacks.

“Okay, don’t forget all of your things, everyone! And your carpool or bus tags,” I singsong, grabbing a few pastel-colored tags off the hooks and handing them out. “Everyone, have a fun turkey day, and make sure yougobble gobbleall of the yummy food for me.”

A string of giggles greets my silly joke, and I grin, watching as they all file out into the hallway in a flurry of excitement.

Lucy’s still packing up at her desk extremely slowly, which grabs my attention.

“Everything okay, Lucy?”

She nods, raking her tooth over her bottom lip. “My dad said he was going to pick me up today. He wanted to meet you since he couldn’t the first day, but I don’t think he’s here yet…”

I’m looking forward to meeting her father, not only because I think it’s important to have good communication with all my students’ parents but because Lucy talks about him with just as much affection as she talks about Christmas.

I give her a reassuring smile as I walk over and help her put her pencil pouch into her backpack. “That’s okay. That just means you can hang out in here with me for a b?—”

A soft knock sounds against the classroom door, and Lucy’s face lights up, a wide smile splitting her lips. “Daddy!You’re here!”

When I turn to the doorway and my gaze lands on his face, it takes my brain a moment to catch up with what I’m seeing.

Because Lucy’s Dad?

IsWyatt Owens.

The very man who broke my heart eight years ago.

My first andonlylove.

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