Chapter Eight
The rest of July went quickly, and before I knew it, the approaching school year was about to begin. Getting the call from the elementary school in town was a blessing. I had started to give up hope I would find a position when the phone call came.
The first grade teaching position had come up when the current teacher had to resign. Her husband had been transferred for his job at the last minute, and they were forced to move.
I was now gainfully employed with Brooklet Elementary School. The same school I attended and Rhett will be going to as well. I was nervous, but seriously, how bad could it be? I mean, they were first graders.
It would help that Maria was in the same school with me. She was the art teacher. The thought of spending the day with her so close helped ease the flutters of nervous energy.
What didn’t help was when I arrived on the first day of school to find Reed standing outside my classroom door. He was leaning against the wall just opposite my room, with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. As I approached, his gaze lifted and met mine. His lips slightly lifted into a gentle smile.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi. What are you doing here?” I looked from side to side, observing the hallways.
“I heard today was your first day in the working world. I just wanted to wish ya luck.” He pointed to the classroom to my desk. The vase of pink roses sitting in the middle of it. I started to tell him that we couldn’t go there, but he held up his hands to stop me. He began backing down the hall toward the front exit. “It’s just a friendly gesture, Kori, nothing more. A friend wishing another friend good luck on her first day at a new job.”
The moment Reed walked out through the front entrance, the hallway began to empty. I took one last deep breath before entering my classroom. Setting my bag on the desk next to the flowers, I let the uneasy feelings go. Biting my lower lip, I pulled the card from the holder, opening it with slight hesitation.
Kori,
These little rug rats are lucky as hell to have a teacher as amazing as you. Keep your head up and flash that gorgeous smile, because it can melt anyone…no matter what age. Good luck on your first day, Giggles.
R
I couldn’t help the warm feeling spreading through me as I read his words. Before things went wrong between us, he always said my smile did him in. No matter what his day had been, once he saw my smile and heard my laugh, everything felt right. He called me Giggles for years, and to have him say it once again, well, it only made it that much harder to remember how he once hurt me. Trusting Reed would not come easy.
I shook my head as the bell rang, and I looked up into the faces of all the curious little friends I had scattered out in front of me. This was it, the start of my future.
***
“Hey, darlin’, how was your first day?” my daddy hollered out from behind the truck as I pulled into the drive. He was chucking bundles of hay to the ground, as Hank, my daddy’s long-time friend and farmhand, carried them off toward the barn.
“It was good, actually. Much better than I thought it would be. I think I’m gonna love it. Where’s Momma and Rhett?”
He pointed toward the porch, and I looked up to find them swaying gently on the wooden swing. I stood for a moment observing them snuggling, as she held a book out in front of him.
Rhett began getting excited once I came into view. He reached out for me, his face filling with his daddy’s smile. This little man was gonna be the death of me when he got old enough to date. I could hear it now, all the little girls were going to turn to putty with that killer grin. Blake had the most amazing smile. The smile I could never tire of. It didn’t matter how mad I was pretending to be, I caved every time he flashed that dimple.
“Why you all smiles? It looks good on ya though, sweetie. I’m just wondering what brought it on?”
“I was just thinking about Blake, and how Rhett looks just like him when he smiles. I’m gonna be in trouble when he gets older.”
I looked up at my momma, seeing that she was watching me carefully. “It’s getting easier to talk about him. Easy to remember things without breaking down. I miss him, Momma, every day. I know those feelings will never go away. I just don’t wanna forget him. I want Rhett to know all about his daddy.” I took a deep breath. “I just wish I had more of his life to share with Rhett. The only thing I have is the almost year we had together. I never thought about how I would carry on his memory after he was gone…who would have planned for that?”
She pulled me down onto the bench next to her and placed her arm over my shoulder, the three us rocking together. “You’re doing amazing with him. I know things are hard for you. I also know you will do everything you can to make sure Rhett knows who his daddy was. That is all you can do, baby girl.”
We sat in silence for a long time, watching as Rhett tugged on the pages in his rubberized books, laughing and squealing in excitement.
Things were gonna be okay. I knew I would still have hard days and hard times. But I now believed I could get through it one day at time. I had made it this far. Of course it wasn’t without struggle, but I got here.