Page 32 of Welcome to Forever
Seeming to read her mind, he added, “No expectations. You don’t have to be my date. I understand.”
“I’ll do it,” she said quickly. “I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t have to—”
“That was the deal, right?” she said shakily. “And I always keep my end of a deal. I’ll go. I could use the help, and I think it’d be great if you showed the kids how to work outside. Kids need that stuff, right?”
“I think so.” Micah shoved his hands in his pockets.
“The school will provide whatever tools you need to work with the group. I want you to work with us. Both of you,” she said, looking at Ben. “And I want to go to the ball with you.” She met Micah’s eyes again.
Okay, the last line was a boldfaced lie. There was no part of her that actually wanted to go to the Marine Corps ball, but a deal was a deal and she’d do anything for these kids, including going out with a Marine.
Slowly, he reached out his hand for her to shake. “Then it’s a deal.”
Electricity shot through her as she slipped her hand inside his. That was another reason this was probably a very bad idea. The chemistry between them was undeniable. Explosive even.
Pulling her hand away, she released a shuddery breath. “Yep. A deal.”
—
The next afternoon, Micah looked at the six children making up the Friendship Club. None of them matched any of the America’s Most Wanted descriptions hanging up at the entrance to Dail’s Grocery Store. If he hadn’t seen the rascals laughing at the assistant principal behind her back yesterday, he might be tempted to say the kids looked sweet.
The first one lined up in front of him was Shaun, a redheaded boy, who was a little overweight. There was a splash of freckles on the bridge of his nose. He’d allegedly stolen another kid’s lunch for three days running and threatened to beat the kid to a pulp if he told.
The next two kids, Kyle and Bogie, were lanky blonds with eyes that actually sparkled with mischief. They’d tripped a younger kid in the hallway and made him drop all his stuff. Then they’d laughed along with everyone else in the hallway as the kid had cried.
Marcus was the small African-American kid with shiny new sneakers and a smile that ate up half his face. Micah wasn’t sure what he’d done to get tossed into the group.
Shelby Cooke was the only girl. She had long brown hair and wore a blank expression. From what Kat had told him, she’d been to hell and back in the last year. Her father was in jail these days and Shelby and her sister were living with their aunt, recovering from years of unspeakable abuse. Now, Shelby was striking out at the world and everyone around her.
Then there was Ben, who hadn’t done anything wrong.
Micah clapped his hands in front of him as he stared at the kids outside the Sand Fiddler’s wing. It was a section of the school that he hadn’t landscaped yet. Before the bell had rung, he and Kat had exchanged ideas for the group. The kids needed to stop treating others with disrespect and start doing worthwhile things that didn’t tear anyone down in the process.
Micah pointed to a couple pairs of gardening gloves and a few hoes on the ground. “See those?” He didn’t wait for the children to respond before handing out the three hoes and two sets of gloves. “There’s a job for each of you. Follow me,” he said, leading the kids, minus Ben, to the land that bordered the fence. While he instructed three of the children on how to use a hoe, Kat showed two students what a weed looked like. Since there were no plants behind the school yet, pretty much everything was a weed.
“This is stupid,” Shaun said, his brows merging into one bushy, rust-colored line above his eyes.
“So is stealing other kids’ lunches.” Micah pointed at the weeds and headed back toward his son, who was sitting quietly, hands in his lap and a tired look on his face. No doubt he wanted to work with the others, but couldn’t. The story of his life.
“I have a job for you, too, soldier.” Micah motioned for Ben to follow him to a wooden picnic table on the side of the school. On the table, he laid three pots, a bag of soil, a small shovel, and a packet of seeds. “You’re a smart guy, right? Get to it.”
A small smile cracked on Ben’s freckled face. “This is the best job anyway.” His voice lifted on the end of his words; swinging easily from disappointment to the happy child he tended to be.
Always looking at the positive. Another of the many things that Micah loved about his son.
He patted Ben’s back and headed to where Kat was standing.
“You have a job for me, too?” she asked, shading her eyes with her hand as he walked toward her.
“Why? Have you been bad?” he asked, not meaning for it to sound suggestive, but her cheeks flushed anyway.
“Only according to the school’s assistant principal.” She sighed, and then sat on one of the benches lining the walkway.
Micah sat beside her. When he did, he could smell the scent of her perfume. It was one of those flowery smells that usually gave him a headache. This one made him want to lean in and take a deeper whiff. “What’s she got against you?”
Kat shook her head. “I don’t even know. Maybe that I got the job she wanted. Or she thinks I’m screwing it all up.”
