Home to Stay (The Long Road Home #2) - Maryann Jordan Page 0,15

you have no idea how glad I am you came today. It was… I mean… it is so nice to meet you, too. It’s wonderful to have you back safely. I’ve thought of you often… well, your safety. Yes, I thought of your safety often.” She shook her head and laughed, her cheeks rosy once again. With a final squeeze on his arm, she turned.

After watching her walk back toward her classroom, he headed outside to the parking lot and climbed into his vehicle, his heart lighter than it had been in months.

5

Lucy gripped the windowsill, her knuckles white as she watched John climb into his vehicle in the school parking lot. Not realizing she was holding her breath, it finally rushed out, the moisture clouding the glass. Jerking to the side so she wouldn’t miss a second of seeing him, she finally loosened her grip as he drove out of sight. John. Sergeant John Roster. Here. Right in front of me. Oh, God, and I splattered myself onto the floor right in front of him the other night in the store.

She tried to remember exactly how bad that scene was, and her face grew hotter at the memory. Staring stupidly at him because I thought he looked like John but knew it couldn’t possibly be him. He had to grab me by my overalls. My overalls? She banged her forehead against the glass window, her eyes now closed as mortification rushed through her. Oh, my God, he saw me in all my messy glory. And then I dropped all my items and had to scramble on all fours… wait, was my ass in his face as he bent down to help me? Oh, God, I think it was!

She banged her head on the glass window again. No one knew the nights she’d lain awake, a copy of the photograph he’d sent of him and his buddies resting on her nightstand, propped up against the lamp so it was clearly visible when she opened her eyes each morning for the past eight months. I’m such a dork.

In the picture, he’d had short hair, a beard, his sunglasses pushed up on top of his head, and his arms slung around some of the other men. While the others smiled widely, his smile had been reserved, the slight curving of his lips presenting a more serious expression than his teammates with their devil-may-care grins. At least, that’s how it appeared to her. And she’d looked at the picture enough to have every nuance analyzed and memorized.

“Handsome, isn’t he?”

She jumped, her hand landing on her chest as she whirled around. Mrs. Farthingale stood just behind her, a smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eyes.

“Oh, Charlotte, you scared me!”

“I’m not surprised. You were rather focused on the delicious Sergeant Roster.”

“No… I was just… I heard it might rain and wondered if I needed my umbrella when I left today.”

Charlotte’s brow lifted just before her chest bounced as laughter erupted. “Only if it’s raining men, my dear.”

Another hot blush flooded her face and she turned, looping her hand through the older woman’s arm. “Come on, I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one day.”

They headed back to the room in silence until they arrived at her classroom door. Charlotte’s eyes bored a hole through the side of Lucy’s head and, unable to remain silent, she swiveled around. “What? You might as well say it. I know you’re dying to.”

“Hmph. I was just thinking that you should invite him to dinner. Nothing like a home-cooked meal for a man who’s been in the service and rarely gets such a treat.”

Before Lucy had a chance to respond, her class came down the hall from their music lesson and into the room, their chatter all about Sergeant Roster.

“Is he coming back, Ms. Carrington?” The question was hurled from several of the children crowded around.

Clapping her hands, she called them to order, and once seated, announced, “Yes, Sergeant Roster will be coming back. I’ll make arrangements, and we can plan something special as a homecoming for him.”

The dismissal warning bell rang, indicating they had five minutes before the buses would begin to load. Clapping her hands again, she hustled the children to gather their materials and watched as they lined up at the door.

One of the smaller girls in her class touched her arm.

“Yes, Christina?”

“We could give him a party.”

“Nah,” Bobby piped up. “I want him to show us how to do push-ups and jump over walls like