Bring Me Home for Christmas (Virgin River #16)(45)

“I’m thinking of a leave of absence,” he said, pulling her shirt away from her neck so he could cover her with kisses.

“I remember this about you… You’ve always been so passionate. Is this normal?”

“I don’t know, but I think you’re going to be stuck with this now.”

“Poor me…” she whispered, holding him close.

“Okay with you if I just chase you till you’re about ninety?”

“Only ninety?”

“You don’t know how hard it was to go to work this morning. How hard it is to think about going back this afternoon.”

“I’ll be here later, too.” It didn’t seem to be slowing him down. His hands were moving. “Go to work, Dennis.”

“Ugh…”

“Do you think you’ll ever have time to show me the place you work?” she asked.

He lifted his head from her neck. “Would you like to see it?”

“I would, if your boss wouldn’t mind.”

“She’d be thrilled. I’ll take you tomorrow. Bring a book—after a tour, you’ll have to wait for me to get my morning work done.” He sat up reluctantly. “I’ll go now, but I’ll see you later.” He closed his eyes briefly. “God, you smell good.”

“You’d better leave before you change your mind again.”

“Get a nap, Becca. Rest up.” He put her crutches by the bed so she could reach them and headed for the door. “I kept you up half the night. Sleep.”

That was exactly what she intended to do. She pulled the corner of the quilt over herself and with a smile on her face, she conked out immediately. When she woke, it was almost three in the afternoon. She pulled herself up, stretched and reached for the paperback that was sitting on the bedside table.

It didn’t take her long to feel like getting out and the only thing she could think of was Jack’s. By the time she got down the street, she noticed Danielle and Megan, walking into the church. Drawn to the kids, secretly hoping there was another activity she could help with, she followed them.

When she was inside the church doors, she heard voices. She had to manage a few stairs to get up to the sanctuary. There, at the front of the church, the pastor’s wife was talking to the girls as they were taking off their coats. “Hey,” Becca called to them.

“Becca!” they both said, beaming.

She made her way down the aisle. “More after-school projects?” she asked.

“I’m afraid not today,” Ellie said. “The bus just dropped them off and I have work to do. I’m Noah’s wife and the church secretary. While I finish up in the office, the girls are going to work on their homework in the conference room. Trevor and Jeremy are in the basement, hopefully staying out of trouble.”

“I can help with homework,” Becca said.

“We don’t want to be any trouble, Becca,” Ellie said. “You probably have better things to do.”

Becca laughed. “Well, I was going to go skiing, but it’s a little chilly for me.”

“What about Denny?”

“Denny’s working. I’ll see him at dinnertime. Really, I’d be happy to help with homework. I’m great at math and spelling and reading. Almost as good as I am with crafts!”

Danielle smiled enthusiastically, but Megan’s eyes shifted away and she looked unmistakably sad. Becca put a finger under her chin and drew her gaze back. “What? You don’t feel like help?”

Megan shrugged. “I’m not so good, that’s all.”

“At what?” Becca urged.

“Just about anything. I’m not that smart.”

“Well, I don’t believe that for a second,” she said sweetly. “If I help, maybe we’ll figure out your best subjects. Almost everything gets easier with just a little coaching and practice!”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Ellie said. “Go on, girls. Show Becca to the conference room.”

“Yay!” Becca said. “Let’s play teacher and students!”

Once the girls got their homework spread out and Becca had her leg propped up, it took her about ten minutes to see that Danielle was not just up to speed on her work but perhaps ahead of her class. Megan, a year younger and only in third grade, seemed to be struggling.

Becca tried to keep her attention fairly divided between the girls, but she really trotted out all her tricks to encourage Megan. She showed her a few simple exercises that would help her with the spelling words and her reading. “If you’ll copy this word ten times, sounding it out in your head when you write it, I bet when I ask you to spell it, you’ll get it perfect.” And, “Most of this adding and subtracting is just practice and memorizing.” And, “We’ll read together for a while, sounding out the words, and it will get easier every day.”

There was a problem, however. While Danielle was excited about performing for Becca, Megan was dropping little bombs that didn’t bode well. She said she was going to flunk. “Of course you’re not—you’re doing quite well with this homework!” She said her teacher hated her. “I’m sure you’re wrong about that. It would be impossible to hate you—you’re so delightful!” Becca said. And the one that killed her—I’m so stupid.