A Longtime (and at one point Illegal) Crush by Janette Rallison

that Carson is busy right now.”
    Kye took her hand, and they walked slowly back down the hallway. “We’ve got some more dancing to do, things to discuss—like when you’re coming back to Lark Field again.”
    “I really should start coming home more,” she said. “Maybe every weekend.”
    “ And I’m pretty sure I’ll need to go to Missoula on business trips a couple of times a month.”
    “I might be able to find a job here during the summer.”
    He ran his thumb over the back of her hand. “If you can’t, I’ll hire you myself.”
    “As a ranch hand?”
    “Don’t knock it. The job comes with perks. You’ll be able to wrap your boss around your finger.”
    “Sounds tempting.”
    He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. “Good. I plan to tempt you a lot.”
    “A job on your ranch . . .” she said, mulling over the idea.
    "Come back,” he said. “Stay where you belong.”
    It was a familiar request. This time she was going to listen to it.
     
                 
    THE END
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    Author’s note and dedication:
    When I first got the idea for this story, I hesitated writing it. The heroine kisses her teacher—which is certainly not behavior I would ever advocate for teenage girls. A teacher-student romance just seemed tainted with the sort of creepiness that should be avoided at all costs.
    And then I remembered my husband’s grandparents: Leo and Lucile Rallison. By the time I entered the family, Lucile was a white-haired widow who resembled Mrs. Claus. (And was as perpetually cheerful and chatty as I always imagined Santa’s wife to be.)
    Leo first met Lucile when she was a senior and he was an agricultural teacher at her high school. As soon as he saw her, he was interested in her. He wasn’t sure whether she was another teacher or a student, but he was interested. When he found out that she was a top scholar, he went out of his way to be friendly to her. One day after a basketball game he asked her if he could walk her home. Lucile told him that she had come with a friend and she would be walking home with her friend, so Leo walked them both home.
    At school, Leo would smile and wink at Lucile just to see her blush. Although it generally wasn’t permitted for a teacher to date a student, at the end of the year Leo got permission from the principal to ask Lucile to the prom. Permission was granted, and it was her first date. (She said she felt pretty smug going to the prom with a teacher.)  At the dance, one of the other teachers joked with the boys that they needed to dance with Lucile now because the next time they saw her she might be a married woman.
    The prediction wasn’t too far off.  They married two years later, settled down, and proceeded to have nine children.  She said of Leo, “He was all I had dreams of for a companion: tall, dark, and handsome; and he loved me.” My husband’s father was their oldest child. Their descendants now number into the hundreds.
    I’ve always thought their romance was a sweet story.  It avoided the whole creepiness issue because the two so clearly loved each other. He wasn’t using his position of authority to get something that was improper.  He didn’t hide his courtship—and he didn’t kiss her until they had been seeing each other for six months. He had real and honorable feelings for her, evident by their marriage. 
    So I went ahead and wrote my story about Elsie and Kye.  This one is for you, Leo and Lucile. I’m glad you fell in love! It led to me falling in love with your grandson.
     
    Contact me on-line at my website,
    JanetteRallison.com (email: [email protected])
    Or CJHillbooks.com