Spectrum (Stone Society #14) - Faith Gibson Page 0,13
seeing where his brother grew up.
Stella’s eyes were gritty when she woke. Groaning, she turned over on her side to see the clock. It didn’t surprise her it was almost noon. She had stayed up late texting with Zeke. She had wanted to call him, to hear his voice, but he seemed to prefer texting. He didn’t come across as shy, but maybe it was easier to reveal parts of himself over text. She had learned a few tidbits about the handsome blond, but mostly, he asked about her. On one hand, it was a positive he didn’t drone on and on about himself. It showed he wanted to know about her. On the other, she hadn’t gleaned much about him other than he had quite a few siblings who were scattered around the globe. That was intriguing considering he was so young. Had his father found a woman after Sheila who he connected with and gave him lots of children? Or was the elder Ezekiel a player with different baby mommas?
If that were the case, Stella prayed Zeke didn’t take after his father. He did travel for his job after all. When she asked what he had been doing in Egypt, he told her it was a family reunion of sorts. Since Stella was an only child, she couldn’t imagine having siblings to travel with and visit around the globe. Maybe if she and Zeke hit it off the way she imagined, she would get to travel with him.
After they said goodnight, Stella lay awake dreaming of a life with Zeke. He owned a beach house, and she had to admit living with him by the ocean was enticing. Stella loved teaching, and she could always change schools. That was probably in the cards anyway. With the way things had been going with Bradley, she didn’t see herself staying at New Fallbrook High School after the current year was up. It had been a mistake to go out with the man, especially since he was the principal. There was nothing in the employee handbook about dating other teachers. In fact, there was a married couple who taught at the school.
Stella unplugged her phone from the charger and checked to see if she had any messages from Zeke. She smiled to see he had sent her a good morning text, but when she noticed the time he sent it, she frowned. Did the man not sleep?
Stella: Good afternoon, and yes, I just woke up. Hope your meeting is going well.
She didn’t expect a response if he was busy, so Stella rolled out of bed and padded to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. She had cleaned out her refrigerator before leaving on her trip, so her options for breakfast were slim. While she waited for the water to heat in the coffee maker, she popped a piece of bread in the toaster. After both were ready, Stella took her meager breakfast to the living room and sat cross-legged on the sofa. Her laptop taunted her from the coffee table. With next week being right before winter break, she didn’t have much to do in the way of planning lessons. The students’ attention span would be shorter than usual. In past years, she had given them a short book to read and had them write a report on Thursday to turn in Friday. Why deviate from what worked?
Stella popped the last bite of toast in her mouth and grabbed her computer, setting it on her lap. Kerri had forwarded all the grades from past lessons, and Stella spent an hour going over what she needed to catch up on for Monday. A new email came through, and when she saw it was from Bradley, Stella held her breath. It wasn’t unusual for him to send messages to all the teachers, but this one was from his personal account. Since that was the case, she left it unread. Professionally, she couldn’t ignore a missive from her boss, but personally, she could. Stella didn’t want anything to do with the man outside of school.
After taking care of business, Stella decided to run to the store. She didn’t like cafeteria food, so she took her lunch every day. She wasn’t getting any younger, and it was harder to keep her weight at a sensible level, especially since she didn’t jog as often as she used to when Bruce was alive. If she and Zeke got together, she would need to get back in