Chad Martin left the Math and Science building at Stockville
Community College after his last class Thursday evening
mentally reviewing the semester's syllabus, which he'd spent
the majority of class time explaining to the students. Sure,
he crammed a ton in the Advanced Biology course, but he
wanted them, or rather their parents, to get their money's
worth. And he wanted to prove to the university that he
could handle higher level courses in spite of his youth,
show them that he could make the work challenging for the
students but also entice them to enjoy the learning process.
No, he hadn't planned on being a teacher, but if teaching
was what he was doing, he wanted to do a good job.
He was so engrossed in calculating what he could cover the
first week that he nearly missed the movement to his right,
the slight shadow crossing the quad at an angle and heading
toward the parking lot. The woman wore a midlength dark coat
cinched tight around her waist and jeans. Her hair bounced
against her shoulders as she moved, and her arms cradled
several books to her chest. Small puffs of wispy smoke
escaped her mouth as her warm breath hit the crisp January
air. Northern Alabama wasn't as cold as most of the country
at this time of year, but it was cold enough to cause her to
huddle into herself as she briskly walked.
It was dark, but the campus lighting cast yellow ovals at
sporadic intervals on the quad, and Chad stayed where he
was, waiting for her to step inside the next patch of light.
There was something so familiar about the way she moved, and
he wondered whether he was doing it againexpecting to
see Jessica one more time. For six years, he'd occasionally
glimpsed someone who looked like her, walked like her,
laughed like her. And each and every time, when he garnered
the courage to approach the woman in question, he would see
that his eyes, his ears had played tricks on him again.
Jessica Bowman had walked out of his world six years ago,
and he was a fool to think she'd suddenly burst back in.
But something about this woman
Finally, she stepped completely into the circle of light.
Then she paused her pace, flipped open the top book in her
arms and then ran a hand in her purse and withdrew a pen.
She scribbled something on the page, nodded and then put the
pen away.
And he knew. This wasn't merely another woman who resembled
Jessica. After practically every class in high school, when
they'd walk to the lockers, her mind would churn over
everything that happened in the classroom, and she'd
inadvertently remember some little tidbit that the teacher
had said, something to do with her homework or any other
thing that she didn't want to forget later. After she made
the notation, she'd nod in satisfaction and continue down
the hall, the same way this woman did, as she plunked her
pen back in her purse and started to walk again.
Thankfully, the light covered her for long enough that Chad,
now moving toward her, saw her completely. Her hair was
shorter than it'd been back then but still long enough to
suit her youth, with honey strands accenting the shiny
chocolate hue. What would she be now, twenty-two? No,
twenty-three. Have mercy, it'd been a long time.
A pale pink scarf circled her neck, its fuzzy length
trailing down her back and the fringed trim dangling below
the edge of her coat. Her jeans were cuffed, he now noticed,
and she wore tennis shoes. She wasn't dressed showy, like
many of the college kids trying to get attention, and quite
often trying to get his attention. In fact, she was
dressed comfortably and looked more her age, older than the
average college student.
Just two years younger than Chad.
"Jess," he said and wasn't surprised when she didn't
turn around. His voice came out barely above a whisper
because his heart was lodged in his throat.
But he wasn't giving up that easily.
"Jessica," he repeated, maybe a bit too forcefully
because she jumped, turned and dropped one of the books from
her arms. Arched brows lifted, and those dark, insightful
eyes studied him. Obviously startled, her mouth gaped for a
moment before she recovered. And smiled.
He had really missed that smile.
"Chad."
Occasionally, at unique instances in his life, Chad's
medical studies came back to haunt him. Right now ended up
being one of those moments. Because he suddenly recalled the
result of a surge of epinephrine, or adrenaline. When
produced in the body, it increases heart rate, contracts
blood vessels and dilates air passages. All of that was
happening right now, and even with his med school knowledge,
he wasn't sure how to handle it.
"What
what are you doing here?" she asked,
scooping up the lost book and tucking it back against her chest.
Her question jolted him back to reality. What was he
doing here? He wasn't the one who'd left town so long
agosix years ago.
A lifetime ago.
"I teach here," he said and was thankful that his
voice remained calm. What he wanted to do was grab her and
shake her, ask her why she'd come backand more
importantly, why she'd waited so long. "Now, your turn."
"We
I
" Color tinged her cheeks, and she
cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect to see
you. You're teaching? Here? I thought you were living in
Georgia, going to school at the University of Georgia. Or
wait, Emory?" Her words came out in a rush, a slight
quiver with occasional syllables, as though she were cold.
Well, of course she was cold; it was January. But Chad
didn't think that was what made her voice shake. Jessica's
voice always trembled when she was nervous. She was nervous
now. He wondered if she was feeling even an iota of the
apprehension that he felt, being this close to her after
they'd been apart for so long. "The bachelor's degree at
UGA and med school at Emory, right?" she completed.
So she'd kept up with him. He'd attempted to keep up with
her way back when, but she wouldn't return his calls or even
tell him exactly where she went. He'd learned from his
sister that she moved to Tennessee to live with her
grandmother, but he didn't know where in Tennessee, and he
sure didn't know why. Basically, Jessica Bowman, the girl
he'd planned to marry, had left Claremont, Alabamaand
himwithout a backward glance.
"I was at Emory, but I came back home last year. Well,
close to home. I bought a house on the Stockville side of
Claremont. I'm still near Mom, so I can help her if she
needs me, and I have an easy drive to work." He was
rambling. It had been six years since he'd seen her, and
here he was talking about the drive to work. He wanted to
smack himself in the head and tell himself to get a grip.
But he didn't. Instead, he stood there, with Jessica again,
and attempted to act as though it were completely normal to
run into his first love on the Stockville campus.
"One of the new subdivisions?" she asked. "I
noticed them when I came in. They're very nice. It's
something, isn't it? When I left, there were only cotton
fields on the edge of town. Now there are entire
neighborhoods. I guess a lot of things can change in six
years."
A major understatement. A lot of things had
changed, but one thing hadn't. He wasn't the type of
guy to skirt an issue back then, and he wasn't going to
start now. He wanted answers to lots of questions, but he'd
start with the basics.
"Jess, when did you come back? Where are you living?
When did you leave Tennessee? And why are you here, on
campus?"
She blinked, moistened her mouth and then ran her top teeth
across her lower lip, like she always did when she was
avoiding something.
What didn't she want to tell him?
"I moved back last week, and I'm staying with my parents
until I find a place of my own. They paid my tuition to the
college as a Christmas present. They wanted me to go back to
school. I started my classes today."
Two women hurried across the quad toward them, and Chad and
Jess moved to one side to let them pass.
"Hello, Mr. Martin," one of the girls said.
"Ladies," he acknowledged, recognizing the speaker
as a girl who had taken his summer course last year.
The other girl waved at Jess. "Hey, it was nice to meet
you. See you next week."
"Okay," Jess said, then looked at Chad. "She was
in my last class. It seems kind of strange to be back in
school again but in a good way. Luckily, they were only a
few days into the semester when I registered. My instructors
said I should be able to catch up without any problems."
She visibly swallowed, her slender throat pulsing with the
motion.
Chad wanted to slide his hand beneath the edge of that fuzzy
scarf and feel that pulse for himself, to prove that she was
really here and that he wasn't merely dreaming again.
"I'm still hoping to be a teacher eventually, but right
now I'm working in a day care center. Actually, I got the
job today. I start on Tuesday," she added, another warm
puff of air escaping her mouth with the words.
Chad watched that wispy air fade away, as quickly as she'd
faded from his life years ago. It was a reminder of how
she'd left but also a reminder that this time she was real.
And she was here with him.
"I can see you teaching." He had envisioned that
very thing, her teaching kindergarten and the kids looking
at her and thinking she was the best part of their day. He'd
felt the same way about his kindergarten teacher; he'd bet
most kids did. But with Jessica it'd be true.
She was certainly the best part of this day for him.
Shifting her books to one arm, she tucked a thick lock of
highlighted honey hair behind her ear and asked, "How
about you? I thought you'd be doing, what, an internship or
something now in a hospital." She paused, then added
softly, "I heard that you married."
Jessica took her gaze from his face to his left hand,
wrapped around the handle of his leather briefcase.
The gold band glistened beneath the yellow light.
Chad cleared his throat. He'd forgotten all about the ring.
"It's not what you think," he said, indicating the
wedding band on his finger.
"It's not?"
He shook his head. "I got divorced last year."
"Oh," she said, her genuine concern evident in the
single word. "I'm sorry, Chad." Then confusion
etched across her features as she tilted her head toward his
hand. "Then, why do you wear the ring?"
"Like I said, it isn't what you think," he said and
shrugged as he smiled. "I'm a good deal younger than the
average college professor, not much older than my students,
and the ring helps keep the freshman girls in line."
Her amused look embarrassed him a bit, and he added,
"One of the other instructors suggested it, and it does
work."
"Well, at least they have the decency to respect a
marriage vow, even if it is a farce."
A farce. That'd be a good way to describe his marriage to
Kate. But he wouldn't think about that now, now that Jessica
had come home. To Claremont? Or to him?
Well, of course to Claremont. She'd clearly been surprised
to see him here tonight, and she'd thought he was still
married. She hadn't returned to him back then and she hadn't
now.
Even so, she was here now, and Chad wasn't about to waste
the opportunity to find out what had happened to her since
she'd left. Naturally, there was one thing he wanted to
know, had to know, before his heart started hoping
again. Andlike he told his studentsyou can't get
an answer if you don't ask the question.
"How about you?" he heard himself ask. "Have you
married?"
Chad's prayer life hadn't been what it used to be before the
divorce, but he said a silent one now.
Please, God, let her say no.
Jessica had heard people discuss experiences where it seemed
as though they were merely watching life occur around them,
where an individual wasn't actually participating in the
event but an onlooker, observing the activity and wondering
how the scene would play out. She'd never experienced
anything like that herselfuntil now.
Chad Martin. Of all the people she thought she might run
into on this small college campus, his name wouldn't have
even been on the list. But if she could list the one person
she'd want to see more than any other, his name would
undoubtedly be the one. She'd thought he would still be in
med school. She'd thought he would still be married.
Divorced? Chad? Why would anyone blessed enough to have Chad
Martin for a husband ever let him go?
It'd been six long years since she'd seen him, and she hoped
the darkness surrounding them hid the way she couldn't stop
studying every feature of the boynow a manthat
she'd first loved. He'd worn his hair in a crisp, short cut
in high school. Now it was a bit longer, and she noticed
that there was more of a wave to the streaks of sandy brown
than she remembered. He seemed taller, too, at least six-one
or maybe even six-two. Had he been that tall back then?
His jawline was exactly as she remembered, firm and
straight, a little angled, so that he almost appeared to be
clenching. But in a good way. A very nice, very good way.
She swallowed, then looked at the feature she remembered
better than any other. Deep, forest-green eyes that seemed
to pierce through to her very soul, and the tiny gold flecks
within that sea of green that caught the illumination of the
light surrounding them and made him look as though he'd
harnessed a bit of fire and held it captive inside his soul.
"Jess? I asked if you'd married," he repeated, those
intriguing eyes examining her carefully as he spoke.
She snapped back to the conversation. Married. The only man
she'd ever wanted to marry was standing in front of her.
"No, I didn't."
His head tilted slightly, not really a nod but more of a
questioning motion. And then Chad being Chad asked, "Why
not?"
She couldn't help it; she laughed. "You still say
whatever you want, whenever you want, don't you? You always
said if you wanted to know something you simply asked, and
people told you."
He grinned, and the deep dimple in his left cheek winked at
her. "Hey, it usually works." Then he raised a dark
brow. "So, why not?"