by DeSalvo, Kim
“Tell me what, Dylan?” she asked softly, hopefully, her heart drumming in her chest and every nerve in her body tingling in anticipation.
He reached into his bag and pulled out a stack of papers tied with a red bow. “These are copies of all the letters I wrote to you, Tia. The police kept all the originals as evidence, but I insisted they give me copies. I had to give them to you.” He handed them over the table and they were passed down until Tia held the large bundle in her hands. There were dozens of them, and her eyes filled with tears. On the top of the stack was a first class ticket to Australia. Her heart nearly melted as she looked back up at him with real hope in her eyes.
“Oh Tia,” he breathed. “No matter what, I never stopped trying, never stopped thinking about you, never stopped wishing that you’d call me.” He paused, and looked deeply into her eyes. “I never stopped loving you Tia, not for a second. Please tell me that you’ll…” But he never got to finish the sentence, because she had leaped from her chair and into his arms and finally he was holding her, touching her, smelling her, kissing her…
“Oh Dylan, I never stopped loving you either,” she whispered frantically into his ear as she held him close. “I couldn’t ever stop loving you. Oh God, I’ve missed you so much…” Tears of joy spilled from her eyes as she pulled him closer, breathing in his scent, kissing him, and feeling his arms wrapped tightly around her.
The burst of applause from the room was almost as deafening as a concert venue, but neither of them heard it. There was only the whispered love, the frantic kisses, and the desperate need for contact between them.
Finally, Tia turned and looked to her coworkers, her friends, and said, “Well, you’ve obviously figured it out already, but now I can finally introduce you to the man I love,” she said, her smile taking over her face and tears still spilling down her cheeks. This is my Dylan,” she whispered, smiling up at him and snuggling closer. He leaned down and kissed her again, full on the mouth, before looking up and saying, “It’s, ah, nice to meet all of you.” The applause and whistles continued, and then they were all rushing up to shake Dylan’s hand and to hug them both. It was near chaos until the principal held up his hand and called for order. When they were finally quiet, he spoke.
“You know Tia,” he said with a wink, “I don’t think you’re looking very well, and I think maybe you need to take the day off. I can have an aide cover your room until a sub can get here. Are you OK with that?”
She looked at him, then at Dylan. “More than OK with that,” she replied. “I can honestly say that I’m feeling a bit feverish,” and she wrapped her arms around him again, amazed at how comfortable, how right he felt even after such a long time away and the pain they’d both been through.
“Actually,” Dylan said, “I’m booked here for the weekend, but once this story breaks, it’s going to be crazy. I’m scheduled to do the whole talk show circuit early next week, and I’m not waiting another minute to go public with us. Any chance you can get a few days off? I really want you to be with me.” He looked hopefully at the principal.
“You haven’t used your personal days yet,” he said. “I’ll take care of it for you—it’s probably better that you aren’t here when this story breaks—it’s going to bring a lot of attention to our little school, I’ll bet.”
Dylan nodded. “You’ll definitely want to keep the doors locked, and probably get the cops out here for at least the first few days,” he said. “The paparazzi will be out in force, I’m afraid.”
He looked at Tia. “Call me on Tuesday. I’ll talk to the superintendent and see about getting you more time. It’s only a week until Christmas break; by the time we get back in January, hopefully things will have died down.” Then, he addressed the rest of his staff. “This school isn’t a newsroom, either. I trust that all of you will keep this to yourselves until Tia decides how she wants to handle things. We certainly don’t need the media making an early appearance. Any questions will be deferred to me, OK?”
Everyone nodded their agreement.
Dylan looked at Tia. “You’ll still come for Christmas, right?”
She laughed, and Dylan thought he’d never heard a more beautiful sound. “Wouldn’t miss it,” she smiled, snuggling against him. “Not for anything.”
The bell rang then, signaling the start of another school day. The other teachers had to head back to their classrooms, stopping to hug the couple once more on the way out. Dylan and Tia stood in the teacher’s lounge, listening to the pounding of children’s feet and the sounds of their voices. They waited until the start of day bell rang, and then slipped out the side door and into the limo.
“God, I’ve missed you so much!” he said between tender kisses. “I was so scared I’d lost you!”
“I’m so glad you came back for me,” she breathed. “I missed you terribly—oh Dylan, it just feels so good to hold you again!”
“I’ve got a room in the city,” he said, kissing her again.
“My house is closer,” she breathed, running her fingers through his hair and pressing herself against him. God, he felt so good.
“Even better,” he whispered. They had the weekend together before they went public, and he was looking very forward to making up for lost time. He pulled her in tighter and pressed his lips to hers. He was going to spend the rest of his life making it up to her, he figured, and he couldn’t wait to get started.
About the Author
Kim DeSalvo holds a master’s degree in education and works as an elementary school teacher. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two hairy mutts. She is an avid reader, an environmentalist, and a music lover. Travel is one of her passions, and she enjoys bringing the places she’s visited to life in her writing.
Incidental Happenstance is the first novel she’s published, but not the first she’s written—and it’s definitely not the last.
Acknowledgements
As is the case with any great endeavor, I owe many thanks to all of those wonderful people who helped make this dream come true. First, to my dear Mumsy; my first sounding board, my biggest cheerleader and critic, and the one who taught me to love language. Next, to the members of my book club, and all the other friends and family who read my early drafts and provided clarity, advice, inspiration, and support. Thank you to Tyler, who was my go-to expert in all things technical and photographic. Finally thank you, dear readers, for taking a chance on a newbie and for your comments and praise. For you I am eternally humbled and grateful.
