“You know what, you’ve been working on getting your credentials—do you have them?”
“I should finish up at the end of this year, if I can stand four more months of working and going to school as well. I’m tired.”
“It’s a lot. But the school counselor position might be opening up here in Mistletoe Meadows. I can keep an ear to the ground for you.”
“That’s awesome. Now that I know that, I can keep an eye out for it myself too. But do please let me know if you hear anything.”
“I absolutely will. I would love it if you came back in that position. That would be wonderful.”
“Wouldn’t it?” Kate said with a sigh.
“All right. I’ve kept you long enough.” She saw her grandmother stir and figured she probably ought to try to get her to bed and then take a little rest herself.
“Thanks for calling,” Kate said.
They hung up shortly afterward, and Nelly sat there for a moment, feeling so much better after having talked to someone. Of course, she needed to let Roland know she knew who he was. And then he could decide whether he wanted to know who she was. Maybe she should do that tonight.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Roland checked his watch—he was going to be really early.
He’d managed to get the box to Nelly’s porch, and he smiled at the thought of her opening it.
She might even guess that it was from him. But hopefully it wouldn’t allow her to figure out his identity as a Secret Saint.
But if she did… He was really hoping they could develop something more in their relationship, and having her guess who he was wouldn’t be the worst thing that ever happened.
In fact, he wondered if maybe subconsciously he was hoping she would.
Regardless, he slipped back into his pickup and drove to the tree.
He was pretty sure he saw his partner Secret Saint’s cloak moving gently in the wind in the shadows as he arrived at twenty after eleven.
The entire town was deserted though, so it wasn’t a big deal. He did think it was funny that both of them seemed to be getting there earlier and earlier. He didn’t know why she was, but he was eager tosee her and could hardly wait, and couldn’t keep himself from leaving his house way before he needed to.
They needed to talk about some of their Secret Saint activities, and he figured he would give her an update on his mom, letting her know that she was going for test results. It was nice to know that someone was praying for her. And… He thought about Nelly. She would pray for him too.
He felt torn between the two of them. Funny that they both seemed so similar, but he knew they weren’t the same. He was absolutely sure of it.
It had to have been him and some change he’d made in his life that all of a sudden had him getting along and working well with others.
He couldn’t just fall in love with every person he ever worked with. That would be a rather debilitating issue to contend with.
“Hey there,” he said as he stopped beside the tree. He wasn’t sure why she hadn’t moved out of the shadows of the other tree that wasn’t very far from the one they met at. Sometimes they would wait at that one, since it was a little bit more sheltered.
“Good evening,” she said, and her voice sounded a little different. Familiar, but before he could figure that out, she stepped out of the shadows and walked forward.
She wore her cape, but the hood was down.
He noticed that right away. And his heart stopped beating. He turned away immediately.
“You forgot to put your hood up,” he said. Still, something nagged at him. Her voice. He knew it.
And the glimpse that he’d had of her hair and face.
“No. I didn’t forget. I left it down on purpose. I have a confession to make.”
“But we said we weren’t going to let each other know what our identities were.” Why was he panicking? That should be a good thing. He was just thinking he wanted to know who she was, wanted to know the name of the woman he seemed to be falling in love with.
