She shook her head. “Not at all.”
After dinner, they walked back to her place, and his kiss goodnight was tender. “I’ll drop her off in about an hour. She’s got a key, so if she forgets anything, you can go back to get it.”
“Sounds good.”
“I’m going to miss you.”
She sighed. “I’ll miss you too. I wish you didn’t have to go.” Wrapping her arms around him, she buried her face in his shoulder. “I just got you back again.”
“I can tell them I can’t make it.”
“No, I can be a grown-up. I just wish you would stay.” She sighed. “I’m going to put fresh sheets on May’s bed and get the room ready for Alison. I’ll see you in an hour.”
He kissed her once more before leaving. She stood at the door, watching him get into his truck and leave. He’ll come back. He promised he would.
* * *
Alison seemed excited to be there, which surprised Sally. She knew they’d been getting along, but she hadn’t expected the girl to be happy to stay with her. “My house is tiny for two people and we’ll be tripping over each other, but May and I did it for eight years.”
Alison smiled. “It’s fine. I get to stay in the former bedroom of an author I love!”
Sally laughed. “Just don’t expect extra help with English. I have papers to grade.” So that was why Alison was happy to stay. She was still a little bit star-struck by May.
Jay looked back and forth between the two of them, a grin on his face. “I’m going to miss both of you.” He hugged Alison first. “Be good and do what Miss Jackson tells you.”
“I will.” Alison made a face. “I’ll probably miss you too.”
“Probably?” He shook his head. “That’s fine. I’ll probably bring you back something fun from Alaska.”
He hugged Sally next, wishing he was taking her with him. He knew she’d love Alaska and everything about the cold, wild land there. “I’ll be back in two weeks. I don’t get much cell reception there, so don’t expect calls or emails.”
She nodded, wiping at a tear that surprised her. “I won’t. See you in two weeks.”
He surprised her by kissing her once more with Alison standing right there. “Two weeks,” he promised, heading for the door.
When he was gone, Sally looked at Alison. “How’s your room? Do you need anything?”
Alison walked to her and hugged her. “I need you to stop thinking you have to act strong for me. I’m going to miss him, but not like you will. You can cry if you need to.”
Sally smiled. “How did you get so smart?”
“Just born that way, I guess!”
* * *
Late Monday afternoon, while she was still at work, Sally received a call from Jay. “I’m in Denali. I won’t have access to a landline after today, and I’ll try to use my cell, but they rarely work. You probably won’t hear from me again until I’m ready to head home.”
“I understand. I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too. I promise to write.”
She laughed softly. “Every day?”
“‘That, I promise you,’” he said softly.
“No fair, quoting Cyrano from thousands of miles away.” How could she not recognize what Cyrano had told Christian in act three of her favorite play?
“Probably not, but I’m done playing fair. I love you, Sally. Think of me.”
“I can’t think of anything else,” she said softly, hanging up. She put her head in her hands, feeling the tears falling. She knew it was only for two weeks, but it felt like the last time.
The door to her classroom opened, and she looked up. “I hear your boyfriend left town.”
She sighed. “You need to back off, Mr. Ward. He only left for two weeks, and you have no business at all talking about me to students.” She stood, piling the books she needed to take with her. She had to leave a little early for a hair appointment.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“A student told me you said you could get me to go out with you. You can’t. I’m not interested, and I’m in a relationship. Back off.” She picked up her books and walked out of her classroom, waiting for him to follow her out so she could lock the door.
He frowned, walking along behind her. “It was just a joke.”
“You shouldn’t be joking about dating me in the middle of class! I’m not a topic for discussion.” She turned and walked toward the faculty parking lot, refusing to spend another moment with him.
“It was just a joke! Lighten up!”
She didn’t answer, instead going to her car. She stopped by her house to pick up Alison for the drive to Weatherford. “Do you want to get your hair done too? Or I can drop you off for some shopping?”
“Oh, hair sounds fun!” Alison said. “I should get it dyed red for Halloween so I can look like Ginny Weasley.”
Sally shook her head. “Your uncle would kill me, and we really don’t have time for that. We can stop and get a wig on the way home. Are you still going to the Halloween party tonight at Kayden’s?” Alison’s hair was naturally dirty blond, and Sally wasn’t going to risk the wrath of her uncle.
“Oh, fine! Just so it’s red for Halloween.” Alison frowned at her. “Let’s just do a temporary color. I’ve always wanted to know if redheads are more popular.”
“No time.” Sally sighed, pulling into the beauty parlor. “What are you going to have done?”
Alison shrugged. “Just a trim. We don’t want to make Uncle Jay mad.” She sounded let down that she couldn’t have her hair dyed.
“Well, you might want to make him mad, but I like him happy,” Sally said with a wink.
“Do you think he’s having fun?”
“I hope so.”
* * *
When Sally got home from school Friday, she checked her mail as she did every day, and her eyes widened when she saw Jay’s familiar scrawl. She opened the letter and smiled. He’d written to her, just like he’d said he would.
Dear Sally,
I miss you already. I thought coming to Alaska for two weeks would be a breeze. I mean, we spent twenty years apart. I find myself wishing you were here with me. I walk down a pathway leading to an old cabin, and I see bear tracks … and wish I could show them to you. I see a moose digging through the snow to get to vegetation beneath… and I think of you. I can’t even do a simple task like making coffee in the morning without thinking that you don’t like coffee, but I’d make you some hot chocolate instead.
I hope you and Alison are getting along, but I’m not worried about her because I know you’ll take care of her. Did I mention yet that I miss you?
All my love,
Jay
Sally read the letter once more, grinning. Alison was sitting at the table when she walked in. “Let me guess. A letter from Uncle Jay?” she asked, nodding at the letter in Sally’s hand.
Sally nodded. “Yes. He promised to write me, but I was sure he wouldn’t remember.”
“Of course he did. Uncle Jay has it bad for you.”
“Oh, that’s an exaggeration, I’m sure.” But please, exaggerate some more. “What do you want for supper tonight? I can make a casserole, or we can go out for something. We could go into Weatherford.”
Alison jumped to her feet. “You don’t have to ask me twice. I need to get out of this tiny little town on occasion.”
Sally realized that she didn’t know where Alison had moved from. “Where did you live before Wiggieville?”
“Arlington.”
“Ah. No wonder Wiggieville seems too small, then.” Sally picked up her purse and keys from where she’d dropped them. “Let’s go to dinner.”
“Let’s go to Arlington for dinner!”
“It would take more than an hour to get there. What do you want to eat in Arlington that you can’t get here?”
Alison sighed. “It’s not about food. I haven’t been back since Uncle Jay got here. I figured if I talked you into eati
ng there, I could talk you into visiting my parents’ graves.”
Sally nodded. “Absolutely. If I’d known that’s what you wanted, I’d have said yes immediately.”
It took a little over an hour to get to Arlington, and Alison talked the whole time. “I really miss my friends there.”
“Which school did you go to?” Sally knew there were several high schools in Arlington. Her college roommate had grown up there.
“Seguin.”
“My college roommate went to Sam Houston. Did you like Seguin?”
“Yeah, but it’s so big compared to Wiggieville High. I was just a tiny little fish in a huge ocean there. I have a good chance of being in the top ten of my class in Wiggieville.”
“That’s an advantage of being in a small town.” Sally followed Alison’s directions to a small restaurant.
“This was Mom’s favorite place to eat. Dad would complain when it was where she always wanted to go, but he’d take her there. He loved her so much.”
“I know you miss them.” Sally wished she had answers for why some people died young, but she didn’t. No one did.
“The cemetery isn’t far from here.” Alison picked up her menu. “I don’t know why I’m looking—I know what I want. I just feel like I’m supposed to.”
“What will you get?” Sally asked, wanting to keep the girl talking. This was the most Alison had opened up to Sally about her past.
“Just a burger. I don’t like Greek food.”
Sally started to ask why they’d come there then, but she already knew the answer. “How did your parents meet?”
“University of Texas at Arlington. Dad did maintenance, and Mom had a spider in her dorm room and called 911, saying it was a horrific monster. The campus police laughed at her, told her not to call again, and gave her the number for maintenance. Mom called, begging them to come and exterminate, so they sent Dad. They got married six months later.”
Sally smiled. “That’s a sweet story!”
“Yeah, they lived in campus apartments for a while, and then they moved to the little house I grew up in. Mom graduated, and I was born six months later. They meant to wait to have kids until after she’d graduated, but they had an oops.”
“Did you ever wish you had siblings?”
“Yeah, Mom tried for years. She even did the whole in vitro thing, but nothing worked. She liked to call me her ‘little miracle.’ She was weird.”
“I don’t think that’s weird at all. Did she work?”
“She was the director of a daycare. I hated the place because everyone else got my mom’s attention and not just me. I don’t know that I would have been a good sister.” Alison looked down at her hands. “When I first moved in with Uncle Jay, I didn’t think he wanted me, and I was all upset, but now that you two are dating again, I feel better about it.”
“Why?” Sally was a bit confused about why Jay dating her would make Alison feel better about moving in with him.
“Because he’d still be in Alaska if I didn’t move in with him. And I don’t care how much he liked Alaska—I know he’ll be happier with you.”
Sally felt a tear trickle down her cheek. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
Alison sighed. “I wish he didn’t have to leave this week. He needs to give you that ring already.”
Sally shook her head. “I’m the one dragging my feet. I feel like I need to learn to trust him again.”
“Really?” Alison stared at her with shock.
“I shouldn’t have said that to you. I’m so sorry. You don’t need to know what’s going on between me and your uncle.”
“Yes, I do! I’ll worry I’m coming between you otherwise. You don’t have a problem with me being part of the package if you marry him, do you?”
Sally shook her head. “Of course not! I’d consider myself blessed to have you for a niece.”
“I didn’t think that was what was wrong, but I had to make sure.”
After their meal, they went to the cemetery, but it was almost dark. “We probably should have come here first,” Sally said. “Would you rather come back tomorrow?”
Alison shook her head. “No, it’s been too long since I’ve been here.”
“Why haven’t you asked Jay to bring you? I’m sure he would.”
“I don’t want to put him out any more than I already do.”
“Your mom was his sister. I’m sure he’d like to visit the grave as well.”
The two of them walked along the sidewalks to the graves, and Alison stood there, staring down at them. “I know I’m supposed to visit, so I’m here, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
Sally slid her arm around the girl’s waist. “Why don’t you just chat with them? Catch them up on what’s going on in your life. Tell them about Wiggieville and how you like living with your uncle.”
“That’s not weird?”
“It’s not weird at all. I’m going to walk a little way over there and look at the dates on the tombstones. We’ll want to leave within about fifteen minutes so we’re not out after dark. This isn’t the best part of town.”
Alison nodded. “I’ll talk to them.”
Sally wandered away, wishing she could help the girl more. Losing your parents at such a young age is difficult, no matter how strong you are.
When the time was up, she wandered back to Alison. “We should go.”
Alison nodded, swiping the tears off her face. “Thank you for bringing me here, Miss Jackson. It meant a lot.”
“I’m going to tell your uncle he needs to bring you on a regular basis.”
“He’ll listen to you.”
Sally slipped her arm around the girl’s shoulders and walked with her toward the car. “He’ll listen to you too, if you’ll just talk to him. He thinks you’re mad at him.”
“Why would I be? It’s not like he’s the one who killed my parents.”
“I know.” Sally sighed. “It’s always hard being the person left behind. When my sister died, I was pretty devastated, and then I had May move in shortly thereafter. And then Jay and I split up. I can say that year was hands down the worst year of my life.”
“But May did okay, right? She went on to college, and now she’s a famous writer.”
“That’s true, but she had some really tough years along the way. She never really felt like she fit in at school, especially with her aunt being her English teacher. She spent a lot of time along reading. I was really worried about how depressed she was for a while. But she was valedictorian of her class at Wiggieville, and then she was a summa cum laude graduate of her university. She was already a published author before she ever finished college.”
“That’s neat. You were good at being a second mom, then.”
“No, I just had an incredible girl to work with.”
Alison sighed. “I’m not that great.”
“I disagree. I think you and May are a lot alike.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. Except you’d never let your husband name your baby girl Bobbette, right?” Sally asked, knowing she needed to lighten the moment a bit.
Alison shook her head vehemently. “Never!”
Chapter Eight
Saturday afternoon, there was another letter from Jay, and Sally smiled as she took it out of her mailbox. He really was writing every day! She couldn’t believe it. Jay simply wasn’t the type to write letters. He was barely willing to text.
Dear Sally,
I hope Alison’s being obedient to you. I worry that she’ll get out of hand, and I won’t be there to intervene. Tell her I said hi and that I love her. Should I tell her I love her? You decide what to tell her. Let her know I’m thinking of her too.
Of course, most of my thoughts are on you. I saw a dog today, and her coat was the same color as your hair. She’s one of the dogs being trained for the sled team. Denali National Park has the only working sled dogs left in Alaska, but sled dogging is the state sport. Isn’t that weird?
/>
It’s probably weird that I’m telling you about the state sport of Alaska while I’m trying to write a love letter. Cyrano was much better at this than I am, but his nose was ugly, and mine isn’t too bad, I don’t think. Maybe I shouldn’t write that either, but I don’t know how to write a love letter. You’ll be happy to know that I don’t write love letters often. Only to you.
I’m not sure this even qualifies as a love letter, but I hope I’ll get an A from my favorite teacher for effort.
I love you, even if I’m not good at expressing it.
All my love and kisses,
Jay
Sally read the letter once more, not able to stop the giggles. The man was crazy, but he was trying. Hard. He was such a mess! Of course, he was the mess she loved.
“Did you get another letter from Uncle Jay?” Alison peered at her curiously.
Sally nodded, still laughing. She had tears pouring down her face, and her side was starting to hurt.
“Are you okay, Miss Jackson?”
Sally nodded again, collapsing on the couch and howling with laughter. How could he even think that might be a love letter?
“Do you need a glass of water? Can I get you anything?” Alison’s face went from amused to concerned.
Sally wiped her tears from her face and sat up, biting her lip to stifle the giggles. “I’m okay.” She held her stomach, which ached from the laughter and trying to contain it.
“Did Uncle Jay try to write you a love letter?”
Sally just nodded, and the peals of laughter started again. She couldn’t contain her amusement.
Alison shook her head. “I don’t even want to know. The very idea sends chills down my spine!” She walked off, leaving Sally on the couch alone in the living room, still consumed with her laughter. Alison’s reaction had made it even funnier.
Lost Love (Lazy Love Book 4) Page 8
