A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks Page A

shooting you were doing that you didn’t get him yet,
now, did you?”
    After a long
moment, the young one shook his head.
    “Then let’s not
try again, okay?” he said in a voice that brooked no disagreement. “It isn’t
safe to be shooting out here, not with the highway so close. It’s also against
the law. And that place isn’t for kids. It’s just about to fall down and you
could get hurt in there. Now, you don’t want me to talk to your parents, do
you?”
    “No, sir.”
    “Then you won’t
go after that owl again, will you? If I let you go, I mean?”
    “No, sir.”
    Miles stared at
them wordlessly, making sure he believed them, then nodded in the direction of
the nearest homes. “You live out that way?” “Yes, sir.”
    “Did you walk or
ride your bikes?”
    “We walked.”
    “Then I’ll tell
you what—I’ll get your rifles and you two get in the backseat.  I’ll give you a ride back home and drop you
off down the street. And I’ll let it go this time, but if I ever catch you out
here again, I’m gonna tell your parents that I caught you before and warned you
and that I’m gonna have to bring you both in, okay?”
    Though their
eyes widened at the threat, they both nodded gratefully.  After dropping them off, Miles made his way
back to the school, looking forward to seeing Jonah. No doubt the boy would
want to hear all about what just happened, though Miles first wanted to find
out how things had gone that day.  And
despite himself, he couldn’t suppress a pleasant thrill at the thought of
seeing Sarah Andrews again.
    • • •
    “Daddy!” Jonah
screamed, running toward Miles. Miles lowered himself into position to catch
his son just as he jumped. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Sarah had
followed him out in a more sedate fashion. Jonah pulled back to look at him.
    “Did you arrest
anyone today?”
    Miles grinned
and shook his head. “Not so far, but I’m not finished yet. How’d it go in
school today?”
    “Good. Miss
Andrews gave me some cookies.”
    “She did?” he
asked, trying to watch her approach without being too obvious.
    “Oreos. The good
ones—Double Stuf.”
    “Oh, well, you
can’t ask for more than that,” he said. “But how’d the tutoring go?”
    Jonah furrowed his
brow. “The what?”
    “Miss Andrews
helping you with your schoolwork.”
    “It was fun—we
played games.”
    “Games?”
    “I’ll explain
later,” Sarah said, stepping up, “but we got off to a good start.” At the sound
of her voice, Miles turned to face her and again felt pleasant surprise. She
was wearing a long skirt and a blouse again, nothing fancy, but when she
smiled, Miles felt the same strange fluttering he’d experienced when he’d first
met her. It struck him that he hadn’t fully appreciated how pretty she was the last
time. Yes, he’d recognized the fact that she was attractive, and the same
features immediately jumped out at him—the corn-silk hair, the delicately boned
face, eyes the color of turquoise—but today she looked softer somehow, her
expression warm and almost familiar.
    Miles lowered
Jonah to the ground.
    “Jonah, would
you go wait by the car while I talk to Miss Andrews for a couple minutes?”
    “Okay,” he said
easily. Then, surprising Miles, Jonah stepped over and hugged Sarah—who
returned the squeeze with a hug of her own—before he scrambled off.  Once Jonah was gone, Miles looked at her
curiously. “You two seemed to have hit it off.”
    “We had a good
time today.”
    “Sounds like
it. If I’d known you were eating cookies and playing games, I wouldn’t have
been so worried about him.”
    “Hey . . .
whatever works,” she said. “But before you worry too much, I want you to know
the game involved reading. Flash cards.”
    “I figured
there was more to the story. How’d he do?” “Good. He has a long way to go, but
good.” She paused. “He’s a great kid—he really is. I know I’ve said that
before, but I don’t