Stronger By Your Side (Great Love Book 2) by A. Hart

circle carpet. Pleased with me, they each smiled and glided to where they needed to go. I could do this, I could do five-year-olds, and if I was honest with myself, deep in my mind, I was still five myself.
    The days went by easily and I was getting quite used to my rambunctious class. I was now about a week and a half into my new teaching position. Charlotte was loving her preschool program and we were spending a lot of time either at Aunt Jules’s or at Emerson and Cal’s. Last night we had gone to a BBQ at Emerson’s house, and Charlotte got to ride one of their horses. She thought that was just about the coolest thing on the planet and insisted on telling everyone when I dropped her off at school this morning. Unfortunately, our night out meant I procrastinated on lesson plans, so I would stay an extra couple of hours at work today catching up. Jules had already picked Charlotte up early today for a late summer swim.
    I sat at my messy desk, staring at my lesson plans for the week. Even with everything going on with my new job and my second job of single mom, I couldn’t get Sawyer out of my mind. I tried not to think about him and about how good it had felt to be in his arms again. Although he was capable of making my knees feel weak, I myself never felt weak with him. Sawyer always made me feel stronger when I was by his side, like we could face anything together, like I was capable of things I knew I wasn’t. I sighed and tried to focus again on my work. I had lesson plans and art projects that needed to be strategized, not to mention our upcoming field trips.
    In kindergarten, one of the social studies topics is community helpers. In the unit, we go over all of the different jobs that are in a community and why they’re important. It’s also where the famous “What I want to be when I grow up” unit is in the curriculum. We had the honor of going to the Wheatland Police Department last week, and this week was the Lincoln Fire Department. I had called the Wheatland Fire Department, but they said that since their department consisted of one room and one truck, the classes usually took the twelve mile drive to Lincoln, which just happened to be where I had run into Sawyer the other night.
    I wasn’t sure if the possibility of running into him again excited me or scared me. However, I truly doubted he would be at or near the fire department. I always saw Sawyer being a lawyer like his father. I wonder if he followed in his dad’s footsteps? I frowned to myself. Sadly, I gave up the right to know what he became when I left all those years ago. The questions about him wouldn’t stop running through my mind, though, as if I had no control. What was he doing in California? Did he find me, or was it the most insane coincidence in the history of man? I wasn’t sure, but I felt this drive to know. I knew that was bad. I yelled at myself in my mind. No, Megan, just leave it alone, leave him alone!
    I took a deep breath and focused back on my lesson plans. I was trying to fit in as many community helper field trips as possible, because the kids absolutely loved them. They loved this unit in general. Next week was the veterinarian’s office and then we were going to the post office. I had a class of twenty-five students, and over half of them were boys. Almost all of my boys wanted to be police officers or firefighters. One very spunky girl also wanted to be a firefighter. The girls either wanted to be a veterinarian or a teacher, and then there was Jason. He wanted to be driver for the Postal Service, just like his dad. I thought that was just about the cutest thing I had ever heard. I was working hard to make sure all of my little impressionable souls were covered, because I wanted each one to feel special since to me, they were. Seeing their smiling, giddy faces was worth the many hours of extra work putting it all together.
    I wonder what Sawyer is doing right now? God, woman. No! Just stop.

Chapter Ten