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Charlotte sighed. “Lame summer school. That’s what.”
“She needs to bring her math grade up a bit,” Kara said. “So, she has to take some classes for extra credit before the fall semester starts.”
Emma offered Charlotte a reassuring smile. “Hey, at least you’re stuck here with me.”
“I guess.” Charlotte gave her a half-smile, then walked away.
Kara shook her head. “I love her, but she is such a handful sometimes.”
Emma raised a brow. “Really? I thought Charlotte was one of those self-sufficient kids.”
Kara leaned in, lowering her voice. “She used to be such a breeze, but now? Every little thing is an episode.”
Emma smiled. “There’s never a dull moment with you two.”
Kara rolled her eyes with a playful smirk. “Add the attention from boys into the mix, and it’s a whole new level of drama.”
“Boys, right? You remember how we were when we were her age.”
“That I do. Speaking of boys, will you be seeing Luke anytime soon?” Kara teased.
Emma’s cheeks turned tomato-red. She looked down and cleared her throat. “I should get to class.”
Kara grinned. “Alright, I won’t pry. But keep me updated. See you later.”
“Take care,” Emma said as she hugged Kara.
She watched Kara walk down the hall, then turned on her heel and headed in the opposite direction.
As she passed by the front office, Principal Kennedy called out to her. “Oh, Ms. Wright! Ms. Wright! You’re just the person I was looking for.”
Emma turned in his direction. “Yes, what can I do for you?”
“Well, it’s what you can do for us, actually,” he said. “Do you remember Mrs. Anderson?”
Emma paused, narrowing her eyes. “She teaches calculus, right?”
“You’ve got a good memory. Well, she was expecting at the end of the spring semester, and she’s due any day now. The sub we’d lined up resigned. Would you be willing to cover her class full-time during her maternity leave, through the end of October?”
Emma nodded. “Of course, I’ll step in.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Ms. Wright. Here’s Mrs. Anderson’s classroom roster and the keys,” the principal said, handing them to her. “In case you want to check her lesson plans, she mentioned having them in a filing cabinet behind her desk.”
She took the items from him. “It looks like I have my work cut out for me.”
Emma chuckled to herself as she made her way to Mrs. Anderson’s classroom. She had never held a full-time substitute position for that long before.
Glancing down at the roster, Emma read through the names. Charlotte Walker, Jeremiah Grayson...both in the same class. This should be fun, she thought with a wry smile.
16
Luke
One month later
The warm August sun hung brightly overhead as Luke eagerly finished his afternoon conference call. He looked up at the clock—it was almost time to pick up Jeremiah from his first day of school. He hadn’t received any frantic phone calls from the principal yet, which he considered a positive sign.
On the drive over, Luke rolled down the windows of his Range Rover, putting on an upbeat country song to set the mood. As he cruised down the coastal highway, he realized this small town’s charm was growing on him.
