Page 69 of A Perfect Target

What she wanted to say was that she liked it the way it had been before the fire, too. She had liked it when they were all together and acting like a real family. “How’s Lady doing?” she asked instead.

Happiness danced across Sammy’s features. “She’s good. I play with her all the time, and she makes me laugh.”

“And how is George?” she asked.

“Oh, George left. He got tired of sleeping in my shoebox.”

“Do you miss him?” she continued.

“Nah, he mostly didn’t do anything, so I don’t miss him.” His features once again took on a look of misery. “But I do miss you a lot.”

“I know, honey. Now go on to your desk. It’s just about time for us to start our day.” She released a deep sigh as Sammy walked to his desk.

And with that, another day began.

The kids were fairly well behaved, and the day went smoothly. Once the day was done, she told all the children that she would see them on Monday unless it was a snow day. They all whooped and hollered, hoping that a snow day would come.

When all the children were gone, she sank back down at her desk and went over her lesson plans for the next week. She had about an hour to kill before her appointment with the salesman at the car lot, and she’d decided to spend it here instead of going home.

Besides, it was time to change up the bulletin boards, and that was always a job she enjoyed. She had snowmen whose bellies were the face of a clock. There were also Christmas elves to dance across the top as a border. She started by hanging up the pictures of winter that the students had drawn in art class, and then moved on to the snowmen.

She didn’t know how long she’d been working at the bulletin board when he walked in. Clad in jeans, a brown plaid shirt and a suede coat, he might have looked as handsome as ever, but deep lines cut into the sides of his face, and his blue eyes held a weariness that made him look exhausted. He was probably working around the clock at his house.

So what was he doing here? Did he have a question about Sammy’s work? The very sight of him broke her heart all over again.

“Seth,” she greeted him, glad that her voice held none of the emotion that bubbled up inside her. “How are things going at your house?” she asked.

“The work has finally started, and so things are moving along,” he replied. The familiar scent of him eddied in the air, further breaking her heart as it smelled like safety, it smelled like home.

“So, how can I help you today?” She set the rest of the snowmen she had been putting up on the bulletin board down on a nearby desk.

“You can hear me out,” he replied, a touch of emotion she couldn’t identify in his tone.

She looked at him in confusion. “Hear you out about what?” She walked over to her desk and sat and then gestured him into the seat across from her. She needed the distance from him this arrangement gave her.

He sank down in the chair, blew out a deep sigh and then raked a hand through his thick hair. “Where is Sammy?” she suddenly asked.

“He’s home with Lydia watching him.”

“So, what do you want me to hear you out about?” Her heart beat an uneven rhythm as his very nearness disturbed her. Why was he torturing her by coming here?

He gazed at her. “When I left your house, I was sure I was doing the right thing. I was protecting Sammy by making sure another woman didn’t walk out of his life. He’s really having a difficult time adjusting to you not being in his life the way you were before.”

He wasn’t telling her anything new. She saw how much Sammy missed her every time she greeted him in the mornings at school. “I know he’s having a hard time,” she said.

He looked away from her for a long moment and then gazed at her once again. “The issue is I’m having a hard time adjusting to you not being in my life, too. I was sure it would get easier with each day that passed, but it hasn’t gotten easier. It’s only become more difficult.”

Once again, he released a deep sigh. “I was so sure I was protecting my son. But every night I dreamed about that moment when you stepped out of the flames with my son and his dog in your arms. You literally walked through fire to save Sammy’s life.”

“And I would do it again in a minute,” she replied fervently.

For a long moment he gazed at her, and in the depths of his beautiful eyes she saw an emotion that made a tiny ray of hope shine in her heart.

“Suzanna, I lied to you when I told you I didn’t love you. I am madly, crazy in love with you. I have realized that a woman who walked through fire for my son is a woman who loves him like her own.”

He got up and walked around the side of her desk. “More importantly, I realized that I wasn’t just protecting Sammy by not marrying again, but I was really protecting myself. I was afraid of being hurt again, but you’ve made me realize I don’t want to play it safe anymore.”

He reached out and took her hand in his. He pulled her up to her feet in front of him. “Suzanna, I’ve missed you every minute of every day since we’ve been apart. I want to marry you, and I want you to have my babies. I want to wake up with you every morning and go to sleep at night with you in my arms. I want to build a family with you and…”