I made a fresh pot of coffee for Carrie and left her a note just reminding her that I was going to work. It was my first day. Something very far from normal for me, but something so very needed.

I left the house with a bag on my shoulder and my travel mug filled to the brim with coffee. The first thing I did outside was look at the dining room table that I had messed up. I noticed the morning paper on the walkway to the house. Pausing for a second, I looked up and collected myself.

That was the one thing my grandmother loved. Getting the daily newspaper. No matter how far her mind slipped she would read that thing beginning to end. And if she ever got the wrong date, you’d get hell. I remember one time the paper didn’t come for some reason. So we gave her an old paper just to keep her daily routine. She looked right at it and knew. Threw it to the floor. Amazing how she knew it was the wrong date on the paper, but thought I was her baby sister who had been killed in a car accident over sixty years ago.

That doesn’t matter now, Emily. Forward. Move forward.

One foot at a time, I did just that.

I tossed the paper to the porch.

I walked by the broken table and gave the dangling leg a little punch.

The only way to move forward was to move backward, briefly at least, because I had to back out of my driveway.

As I did so, I glanced over at Jake’s house. The big pickup truck in the driveway. The rest of the driveway empty. It was still in the early hours of the morning, the sun not throwing much of its light around. There was a light on in one upstairs window at Jake’s house. I looked for a few seconds, my car halfway out of the driveway. My mind raced with thoughts.

Was that Jake’s room? Was that where Jake and… whoever… slept? Was that Sadie’s room? Was it some private room for Jake?

I chased the thoughts away and drove.

I treated myself to a morning breakfast sandwich and got to my job nice and early. I was told to be there early for my first few days just to get a feel for the place. To go through paperwork. Training. All the stuff that most people probably found boring but I was excited about it because I was getting out of the house. I had something to do. For me.

“Emily!” a woman cried out as she opened the door for me.

Way too excited for the morning, even for me.

No handshake here. It was a hug.

“I’m Julie,” she said.

“Miss Anderson,” I said with a smile.

“I keep wanting to get the kids to stop calling me that, since everyone else is called by their first name, but it’s too confusing now. So consider yourself lucky. You get to be Miss Emily.”

“You don’t want them calling me Miss Werzniak?”

“Miss Emily sounds better,” Julie said with a wink. “Come on, let’s get your day going. Are you excited?”

“Very. It’s been a long time for me. I’m sure you remember…”

“Of course. I’m terribly sorry about your grandmother. It’s hard when you lose a family member. No matter what.”

“That’s exactly why I’m looking forward to this. The innocence.”

“You’d be surprised how quickly that innocence goes away though,” Julie said. “Just a warning. Not everything is a TV show. But this year I’ve got a great group of kids. They’re eager to learn. They’re really well behaved. So I’m thrilled that you’re here. I’d like to split the kids up and just keep going with things.”

“Sure,” I said. “Whatever you need from me.”

“Coffee?” Julie offered.

I showed her my mug. “I’m good for now.”

“Well, let me show you the break room. Then we’ll tour the rest of the building, just so you’re semi familiar. Then we’ll get into the classroom and figure out the curriculum for the day. Sound good?”

“Sounds wonderful,” I said.

“Miss Emily,” she said.

“Miss Anderson,” I replied.

We both laughed at the same time.

We walked the hallways and my eyes darted all around, admiring the artwork. Seeing the changes in the artwork from the older kids to the younger kids. Those who were naturally talented when it came to drawing and painting and those who weren’t. Not that I would ever judge a person. I couldn’t draw a straight line with a ruler. And painting? I was lucky I made it through painting my house. So to me, all the artwork was amazing.

“Oh, here’s something fun,” Miss Anderson said, stopping at a wall that had a giant paper pizza on it. “When we do math with the kids, we try to make it fun. So this was our giant pizza… and we ended the week with a giant pizza party.”

“I missed the best week, huh?”

“Not quite. We have a candy week coming up soon.”

For the next two hours we made small talk as I absorbed all I could without getting too overwhelmed. I met more of the staff. I got to see the classroom. This large, beautiful room filled with so many colors, shapes, toys, books… artwork on the walls, the ceiling, like stepping into the mind of a child.

It was all so amazing. It left me smiling ear to ear.

But then came the surprise of a lifetime…

And it all started with a container of blue paint.

* * *

The first kids arrived and I stood next to Miss Anderson to greet them. Thus began the fun game of memorizing all the names. Tommy, Nicholas, Brett. Angie, Nora, Sophia.

I shook their little hands, walked them to their tables, and even purposely went to the wrong chairs a few times just to get a smile from them. They unpacked their bags, got their snacks on the table, and were very well mannered.

“I think almost everyone is here,” Miss Anderson whispered to me. “I’ll leave the door open in case a few stroll in late. Happens all the time. I don’t want to keep the kids waiting. I usually start with a good morning yell and then get right to it. We’re going to work on the ocean today since we talked about the jungle the last two weeks. Can you do me a favor and go into the storage closet and get me another container of the blue paint?”

“Of course,” I said.

I darted out of the classroom and into the storage room. Everything was thankfully organized. I grabbed a container of the blue and the lid popped off. I spun and caught the lid and managed not to spill the paint.

That was close.

I put the lid back on but could tell it was the wrong lid and was loose.

I turned and walked out of the storage closet, more worried about the lid than I was about where I was walking.

I turned to my left as I heard Miss Anderson say, “Good morning, Sadie!”

I looked to my right and swore I saw Sadie. Sadie from next door. Jake’s Sadie.

A second later, I felt myself bump into something.

Someone.

“Damn,” a voice said.

I looked, but not before the blue paint slammed into someone, splashing everywhere.

I gasped.

And I realized right then I had just coated my sexy neighbor with blue paint.

* * *

I stood there in shock.

Jake stood there with blue paint from just under his neck all the way down his shirt.

The chemical smell of the paint shot up my nose.

“Good morning to me,” he whispered.

A second later I heard someone yell, “Jake! Oh no!”

I looked back and Miss Anderson was there. She disappeared into the classroom.

Jake just stood with his arms at his sides. In his left hand was a small, brown paper bag with pink flowers on it.

“I, uh, I’m really sorry… I was… here…”

I reached forward and jammed the paint container against his shirt. Next thing I knew I was scraping the container against his shirt. Not paying any attention to the hard muscle under his shirt, or that his shirt lifted up enough to show the top of his jeans and skin.

Jake put one of his large hands - tattoos on his hand - to the paint container and pushed me away.

“It’s fine,” he said.

“I’m so sorry, Jake. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I work here.”

“You work here? This classroom?”

“Yes. It’s my first day.”

“You’re the new hire…”

“And Sadie goes here,” I said.

I saw the way his lip curled. Like he was mad at me for working there.

“Jake…”

“Here, get cleaned up,” Miss Anderson said.

She stormed from the classroom with large, wet wipes. She started to wipe Jake, her face slightly blushing. Jake grabbed for the wipes and stepped back.

“I’m fine,” he said. He pointed to the carpet. “You might want to worry about the carpet. I’m on my way to work anyway.”

“Still,” Miss Anderson said. “You should clean your shirt.”

“It’s going to get covered in grease,” Jake said. He glanced at me. He lifted his left hand up, showing off the girlie paper bag. “I was running late this morning. My fault. I left Sadie’s lunch in the truck. I wanted to bring it to her.”

I took the paper bag. “I’ll make sure she gets this, Jake. I’m so sorry about that. Totally my fault.”

“I know it was,” Jake said.

He turned and walked away.

Myself and Miss Anderson just stood there until he turned the corner.

I sighed. “I’m an idiot. I wasn’t even looking where I was walking. I saw Sadie…”

“You know them?” Miss Anderson asked me.

“I moved in next door,” I said. “Jake and Sadie are my neighbors.”

“Oh,” she said. “Do you know the story…?”

I shook my head. “Only what I can assume.”

Now Miss Anderson sighed. “Let’s just hit the reset button here. If you don’t mind, get the floor cleaned up. Then we’ll just move forward.”

“I’m sorry, Julie.”

“No use in crying over spilled paint,” she said with a smile. “My first day I turned my back on an open container of glue and one of the kids took a popsicle stick, lathered it up, and licked it.”

Miss Anderson went into the classroom and I went to work cleaning the carpet. I was very thankful for kids paint because it was meant to be washable. Not to mention the carpets themselves in the hallway were a shade of blue.

When I finished cleaning my mess, I went into the classroom.

Miss Anderson announced my arrival and made the class cheer for me.

Then we got right to work.

I went to Sadie’s table and crouched down to see her.

“Hey, Sadie,” I whispered.

She smiled big when she saw me. She was so beautiful.

“Emily,” she said. “Miss Emily.” She covered her mouth as she giggled.

“What are we painting right now?”

“Some water,” she said. “Then I want to paint a mermaid.”

“I like that. I like mermaids.”

“Me too. They’re real, you know.”

“Of course they are.”

“My mommy said so. That’s what Daddy says.”

“Oh?”

Sadie moved the paintbrush, turning the white paper blue.

“I’m going to paint the mermaid to look like Mommy. When she gets back, she’ll be happy that I didn’t forget how she looks.”

I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.

“She comes back…?” I caught myself asking.

Sadie looked at me. She nodded. “When the angels bring her back.”

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

“Miss Emily?” another girl - Angie - at the table asked. “I need to use the potty.”

I looked at Angie. I smiled. “Okay.”

For the rest of my first day, my heart was in my throat every time I looked at Sadie.

And it wasn’t going to stop when the day ended.

Whatever happened to Sadie and Jake was still lingering in their house and their lives.

And I knew my little white fence wouldn’t forever keep it away from my house… or my heart…