Page 47 of Love's Bloom
“Okay. It’s a nice night.”
Sugar followed him out to the deck while Misty grabbed a glass of water for herself.
David had placed his glass on the table and stood at the deck railing looking into the woods. A moon hovered above them shedding silvery light on the trees around them.
“It’s almost magical, isn’t it?” murmured Misty, standing beside him, gazing into their surroundings. The sound of the river’s flowing water was like music on a night like this.
David turned to her and gave her a questioning look. “May I?”
Misty’s pulse pounded. She lifted her face to his, and when his lips met hers, she shivered with delight. Being with David was so different from what she’d known. He cupped her cheeks with his hands and moved closer.
Though she could feel his arousal, she wasn’t scared. And as his kiss deepened, she welcomed it.
When they finally pulled apart, David studied her with such a tender expression she wanted to weep. She laid her head on his shoulder and held on tight.
“On the nights we can’t be together, let’s talk on the phone, keep things going,” said David.
“That would be great. I want to move forward with you,” said Misty, grateful for the work she’d put in to enable her to speak openly with him.
“Me too,” murmured David, leaning down to kiss her, stopping the conversation, and letting his lips speak to her in a heart-stopping way.
Long after David left, Misty replayed the evening in her mind.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The morning of the first school day with her students, Misty checked her canvas bag once more to be sure she had everything she wanted. She liked to keep aspirin, Tums, breath mints, and a few other personal items in her desk. Her favorite water bottle was filled with ice water and tucked inside the bag. Star “Welcome” stickers for each student were ready, along with a new book she intended to read to them in the afternoon when she knew they’d be tired and a bit restless.
Hazel beeped her car horn, and Misty said goodbye to Sugar. Then, she activated the alarm system and closed and locked the front door.
“Ready?” asked Hazel when Misty climbed into the car. “I can’t wait to meet my kids.”
Misty smiled. “I’m taking a photo of each child and mounting them on one of the bulletin boards. The last class I taught loved that.”
“We missed you at Jake’s last night, but nothing exciting was going on. I didn’t stay long. Everyone is talking about going to Crystal and Emmett’s picnic over the weekend, but nothing super big is happening in town. Just the usual holiday sales and neighborhood picnics.”
“Labor Day celebrations are pretty tame compared to 4thof July,” said Misty. “It’s a time to change gears from summer to fall.”
“Dani invited me to use the lake facilities at The Meadows. Are you interested in taking their canoe out on the lake with me?”
“That would be fun. It’s always beautiful there.”
They pulled into the school’s parking lot.
Anxious to get inside, Misty grabbed her things from the backseat of the car and waited for Hazel to walk inside with her.
They took another selfie of them together and began their first day with the kids.
In her classroom, Misty posted the names of each of her students alphabeticallyon the bulletin board leaving spaces for photographs. It was a way for her to learn the names and faces of her students and was something the kids loved, almost like seeing their photo on a refrigerator at home. In Florida, she’d loved comparing the first day of school photos to the last day of school. There was always such obvious growth.
The students started arriving.
Wearing a large name tag, Misty greeted each child and handed them a "Welcome” sticker to put on the back of their hands.
As soon as all her students had arrived, received a warm welcome, and were seated at one of the round tables, Misty closed the door, introduced herself, and talked about her expectations of them being like a family, with everyone getting along and showing kindness to everyone.
As they created artistic designs on their name tags, she took a photo of each child and asked a simple question about him or her. She loved the children’s openness at this age. Living in a small town, the children represented different parts of it, from a fireman’s daughter to the son of a worker at Beckman’s Lumber.
Misty did her best to connect with each of them, but afterward, her thoughts kept returning to the little boy whose father worked at Collister Construction. Brody Kirk hadn’t smiled yet, would only whisper, and looked scared. Misty knew that kind of behavior. She’d lived it.
