A Marine for Christmas (Hearts Ablaze: Men in Uniform) Read Free Page B

ready for the fifteen little faces that would soon come walking in through the door, hand-in-hand with their parents.  When she was a kid it was always her mom who dropped her off at school.  But these days moms, dads, grandparents, and even nannies were the norm.  It was rare that she didn’t have a full assortment of caregivers coming in with her preschoolers.  She’d set an activity out at each seat, ready to engage each child until everyone had arrived and she could begin today’s lesson.
    “Hi Chelsea!” she called out to a little blonde girl walking into the classroom, holding on to her daddy’s hand.
    “Hi Miss Amy,” the little girl said shyly.
    “I think she’s coming down with a cold, so please give me or Emily a call if we need to come pick her up.”
    “Of course,” Amy replied, guiding Chelsea over to a seat.   “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
    Two more kids came walking in with their parents, one crying as he clung tightly to his mother.  The beginning of each class was the hardest until the kids were all seated, the parents gone, and the class had started the day’s activities.  Then they could ease into their routine and before she knew it, three hours would have passed by and the parents would return.
    Her phone began beeping in her purse, and she hurried over to turn it off.  It was unlike her to forget and leave it on, but she’d been so distracted this morning as she rushed off to work.  Melissa had ended up spending the night, which was for the best given her state the night before.  Melissa had been in no hurry to leave this morning, since it turned out her first showing was pushed back until 11:30 a.m.  Amy had rushed around trying to get ready as Melissa lounged on the sofa.  Then her ex-boyfriend Ben had randomly texted her, asking if he could stop by one day to pick up some skiing equipment that he’d left in her basement.  She couldn’t even recall why he’d needed to store it there and wondered where he could be going skiing in November, but she hoped he’d at least come by alone.  Then as she’d been packing up her car, ready to head off to work, her neighbor Jason had called out “Good Morning.”  She’d been so startled she almost dropped the materials she was carrying for school.  Jason wasn’t ever around when she left in the morning, and truth be told, she wasn’t used to neighborly chats with anyone at that hour.
    She quickly glanced at the message on her phone before turning it off completely.
     
    Are you out of coffee?
     
    She rolled her eyes before stuffing her phone back into her purse.  Couldn’t Melissa figure out how to open the cupboard and look for a fresh can?  Honestly.
    “Miss Amy!” other little voices began to call out, and she turned her attention back to her students.  There was little else that she loved more than being in the classroom, and the kids deserved her full attention.  Melissa and Ben and everyone else would just have to wait until later.
     
    ***
     
    Melissa pulled her hair back into a sleek ponytail, examining her reflection in the mirror.  Her eyes were slightly puffy, but her face was no longer red like it had been from her sob-fest yesterday afternoon.  God, she really shouldn’t have had so much to drink last night.  She had to show a house to some potential new clients in less than an hour.  Digging around in her purse, she pulled out the make-up that she carried with her.  She carefully lined her eyes with a subtle brown that seemed to make her green eyes pop and then added a few swipes of black mascara.  The pressed powder evened out her complexion, and the red lipstick provided the finishing touch.  Hopefully the final result made her look calm, cool, and collected, not the heartbroken mess that she actually felt like.
    Amy had let her borrow some clothes so she didn’t have to go home and change.  It wasn’t like she and Michael lived together, but his things were definitely around, and she