AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He did. Making everyone crazy as he videoed it all.” A small smile spread over her lips.
“Just text him. He just wants to know you’re okay.” He wanted to reach over and comfort her but didn’t.
“Fine.” She picked up her phone and typed for a while.
Looking at the TV, he asked, “Do you want to watch this?”
She didn’t look up as she said, “Yeah, it’s okay.”
They watched the end of the movie he had seen twenty times as she sent out texts. Her lower lip was permanently between her teeth as she typed, and every once in a while, a sound would indicate that she was getting a new text.
“Dad asked if I could stay here tonight. Jason is looking for me. I should talk to him, but I’m not ready. I don’t know what to say yet.” She looked up at him.
“Sure. The spare room is all ready for you. Did you want to sneak home and get some stuff?”
“No, I think I’ll wait until tomorrow. Maybe let things settle down a little. I have to make a plan for my life. Tomorrow maybe.”
“I don’t know if you need an entirely new plan for life. You have your job at the library. Your dad isn’t kicking you out. Just keep going like before.” He didn’t notice the new movie that started in front of them. All his attention was on her.
“I was moving to Fargo, so I turned in my notice at the library. Dad has to be tired of me.”
“Your dad has never been tired of you. You’re the center of his life. I didn’t really know if he was actually going to let you get married today. I had figured he would throw you over his shoulder and carry you out of the church long before letting you get married.” He chuckled and was happy when she joined in with a big laugh.
“I would crush him,” she admitted, settling into the couch more.
Even though she wasn’t all that big around, she was just under six feet tall, and her father was closer to 5’5”. She had been taller than her father for as long as Sam had known them. It dawned on Sam that she didn’t look like him either—Patrick was a blond-haired, blue-eyed, stocky man, and his daughter was tall, slim, and dark.
“He would let you. You do nothing wrong, Natalie.”
“Quit saying that, Mr. Sullivan. It makes me feel like I take advantage of him.” She groaned.
“Call me Sam.”
“Can I call you sexy Sam?” Her green eyes sparkled.
“No. And I wish you’d never made that one up.”
“Hanna made it up, not me. I just said it more. Mostly to your face.” Laughing, she pulled her feet under her and turned toward him, leaning her head against the back of the couch.
“It was super annoying. It made my first year teaching hard,” he confessed.
“I was pretty mean to you,” she admitted easily.
He turned toward her. “You were.”
“Sorry.” She crinkled her nose.
“I’ve gotten over it. Mostly,” he informed her with a laugh.
“What was the worst thing I did?”
He had always wondered if her memory had been affected by the accident but had never dared ask Patrick about it. “I think it was the May sisters boob thing. Not very nice thing to do to a young guy.” He watched her eyes sparkle again at the memory.
It had been early fall in his first year teaching history, and the three girls had come into his classroom during lunch. Just the three, Natalie and the twins, Hanna and Hazel May. They had started to talk to him about how they were twins and that they were identical, and that meant everything about them should be identical. He had taken the conversation seriously and argued that even twins have differences. And out of the blue, Natalie stated that the twins’ breasts were not the exact same and he needed to look to see if there was a difference the three of them couldn’t see. Before he could stop them, both the twins raised their shirts and showed him their bare breasts. He had been twenty-four at the time, and sex was still foremost in his mind. There he was staring at four breasts that were actually identical.
The girls ran out of the classroom laughing, and Sam was stuck picturing those two girls’ breasts every time he looked at them for months. The worst part of the entire incident was that as he looked at the perky breasts, he really wanted to see Natalie’s, not the twins.
“I forgot that. That was fun. I miss those days.” Her voice was soft and dreamy.
