Finding Faith (Love's Compass Book 4) (2 page)

End of July

Serenity shoved a box with her foot and sucked in a sharp breath when it didn’t move an inch. A zap of pain raced up her leg. Performing what she was sure could pass as a circus act, she managed not to drop the box she was carrying. She set it down on the bed and joined it, massaging her calf. Good grief, the last thing she needed was to break a toe less than two weeks before she started her new job. Not to mention she had no idea where the closest ER was in her new neighborhood near Dallas.

“Are you okay?”

Serenity let her foot fall to the floor and gazed up to find Tuck studying her closely. He was obviously in full big brother mode.

“Yes, I’m fine. I stubbed my toe.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. But I’m not talking about your foot.”

Sounds of other family members carrying boxes into the new rental house floated through the door. Serenity gave Tuck what she hoped was her best, “Don’t even start” expression. “We’ve talked about this until we’ve both been blue in the face. I’m fine. This is the best thing for Gideon right now. And me, too.”

“Moving away from your family?”

A heavy sigh worked its way from her lungs. “No. Moving towards a new opportunity. This special needs school is huge for Gideon. He needs it. And I need a change of scenery. It’s time I did something on my own.”

Tuck folded his arms and leaned against the wall. His brows knit together and if he stared at her any harder, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he could have heard her thoughts. Just when she expected him to start lecturing her, his expression softened. “I
am
proud of you. What you’re doing — it can’t be easy.”

“It’s not.” When Serenity had sent in the application, she hadn’t really expected Gideon to receive a scholarship. Not long after giving up, she heard back from the school and learned, not only had he been accepted, but the scholarship he qualified for covered a surprising seventy-five percent of Gideon’s tuition. She was still amazed every time she thought about it. Getting a job at the same school further assured her that the move was a good one.

She was going to make it work and her family didn’t need to know she might not have much left after paying tuition and rent. Not when they’d practically thrown an intervention to keep her from moving. With the exception of Lexi, who insisted that a new beginning might be exactly what Serenity needed.

She planted her hands on her hips and stared at Tuck. “I’m less than three hours away. You come up here on cases semi-regularly. And we’ll make it down for the weekend here and there.”

Tuck straightened, switching from big brother to cop mode. “You’ll call if you need anything.”

It wasn’t a question. Serenity suppressed a smile. Her brother would protect her no matter what. “I will. I promise.”

He gave a firm nod. “We’ll come visit, too. Once Laurie’s feeling better. This pregnancy has her getting sick just from driving from our house to her studio.” A wave of sympathy passed over his face. “I can’t imagine what a drive like this would do to her. She felt bad for not helping you move.”

Serenity didn’t blame her sister-in-law. She remembered well how close she and the toilet had become after dealing with morning sickness while carrying Gideon. She didn’t envy Laurie one bit. “Please tell her not to feel bad. Growing another human being’s a lot of work.”

Lance peeked his blond head around the corner, his eyes full of mischief. “If you guys are done with your little work-avoiding pow-wow, could you tell me where you want me to put these miscellaneous boxes?”

Serenity stood, relieved that her foot no longer hurt. She led her brother-in-law into the living room. “Anywhere in here is fine. Those are the boxes that I’m going to have to find a home for.”

Grams spoke from her spot on the futon. “If you run out of room and you need us to keep anything for you, we’ll be happy to.”

Mom nodded her agreement. Her eyes were misty. She’d been emotional for the better part of the last couple of weeks. Serenity flashed her a quick smile of thanks but averted her own eyes quickly. Tears were already threatening to spill and she didn’t need that. Not now.

Lance placed the box he was holding against a wall and dusted his hands off on his pants. “I think that’s the last one.”

“Nope.” Lexi emerged with another box in her arms. “This is, though.” She set it down on top of the one Lance was carrying and moved to stand next to him. He pulled her closer with one arm and kissed her on the temple.

Serenity suddenly felt like everyone was staring at her. And no one was saying a word. She cleared her throat, the sound echoing off the walls. “You guys are the best. Thank you all so much.” She wanted to say more, but the words lodged in her throat. How did she tell her family goodbye? She’d reminded Tuck she was only a few hours away, but it seemed like much more right now.

Footsteps approached them from one of the two bedrooms and Gideon threw himself into the recliner. He relaxed, his legs stretched across one of the arms while his head rested on the other. A huge smile lit his face, eliciting chuckles from around the room.

Tuck went forward and ruffled the boy’s hair. “We’re going to miss you both.”

His words about did Serenity in. Since Gideon’s father had been absent from his life since day one, Tuck had been that influencing figure for him. She felt worse about separating the two of them than she did anything else.

Grams pushed herself up off the futon. “That’s enough of this pity party. The longer we stand here waiting to see who starts crying first, the harder it’s going to be.” Even as she said the words, a tear trickled from the corner of her eye. No one was about to point it out and more than one sniffle from somewhere else in the room followed in its wake.

Mom’s eyes got wide and she looked from Grams to Serenity. “We can help you unpack. I hate bringing all your things in and just leaving.”

The family had gone into town earlier, had a leisurely take-out lunch at the new house, and then started unloading the truck. Serenity didn’t know where she wanted anything to go, much less tell anyone else. As much as she didn’t want them to go, anything else was prolonging the inevitable.

Lexi squeezed Lance’s hand. “Grams is right, Mom. We need to leave if we’re going to get back before dark. And I think Serenity probably could use some time to figure out where she wants everything.”

Serenity bobbed her head. She picked at the hem of her shirt, attempting to distract herself from the tears that were building. Again. She looked around the room at the faces of her family. They’d supported her and Gideon for so long. Could she make it without them? Right now, she wasn’t sure. The little girl in her didn’t want to find out. She wanted to go back to the Chandler house where she felt safe with her mom and Grams.

But that was the problem, right? She was safe there. And stuck. She had to do something for herself and her son and this was the first step. Even if it was a doozy.

Her eyelashes fluttered, her last defense against the tears. “I’ve got this. I’ll probably tackle it throughout the week. You guys helped with the hardest part.”

There was another round of silence before everyone gravitated towards the middle of the room. When the first set of arms circled Serenity, the tears broke through. She didn’t even try to stop them. Instead, they painted evidence of her mixed emotions as they slid down her cheeks.

After countless whispers of “I love you” and “We’ll see you soon,” Serenity stood on the front porch of their little two-bedroom duplex with Gideon’s hand in hers. She waved both of their hands as she watched the caravan of vehicles disappear from view.

She swiped at the tears and ignored the headache that was quickly gaining momentum. When Serenity turned, she found Gideon’s eyes on her.

“I’m okay, big guy. It’s just hard to say goodbye.” She planted a kiss on the back of his hand before releasing it. “What do you say we unpack your room and get it all set up?”

Gideon pulled open the screen door so quickly that it hit the side of the house before Serenity could stop it. He was already running down the short hallway when she stepped inside.

Taking in the cluttered room full of boxes, she released a steadying breath. “Well, God, we did it. Please help us all as we adjust.” She said an extra prayer for Gideon. He was excited now, but she wasn’t sure how well he was going to sleep in a new house. Hopefully getting his room set up would help.

She also prayed he’d like the new school a lot more than he’d liked his previous program. The thought shifted towards her own first day at Hope Academy. Everyone there had seemed nice enough when she’d gone for her interview. But what if she didn’t get along with her co-workers? Her family had served as her friends for a long time. She prayed she’d be able to make a friend or two once she got settled in.

~

Aaron Randall performed a visual tour of his classroom, making sure everything was in its place. This was the last of the two-week summer break before all of the children came back to Hope Academy on Monday. He’d finished cleaning the tables and instruments that morning. Printouts and activities were ready for the new school year.

A light knocking at the doorway drew his attention. Letty, a kindergarten teacher and one of his friends, walked in and motioned towards the large keyboard rug in the middle of the room. “I heard you found a new one. That’s fantastic.”

Aaron smiled at the rainbow-colored keys. When he saw it in a catalog, he knew it had to go in his music room. “Think the kids are going to like it?”

Letty lifted an eyebrow. “Definitely. Though you may have a hard time with Cecil focusing on anything but that when he walks in.”

He laughed. He had to admit the boy had been the first to come to mind when he saw the rug. Cecil had a love for everything related to the piano.

Letty’s expression sobered. “Did you get the memo?”

Aaron resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The page-long memo had been delivered to every teacher, therapist, and member of the administration. There was nothing like a heading of “New Policy Regarding Dating” to snag his attention.

He hooked a thumb through one of his belt loops and leaned against a table. “You mean the one suggesting that, if anyone working here gets involved with the parent of a student, they may be fired?”

“Yeah. I thought it was a little harsh.”

Aaron thought so, too. After the whole fiasco with one of the teachers at Hope Academy going out with a student’s mom and breaking up in the middle of the hallway, everyone anticipated some kind of response from the board of directors. But the memo did seem a bit overdone.

“I do get how it put the powers that be in a bad position. But I think it would have all blown over. This school has been in place for fifteen years. If that’s the first time it’s happened, we’re probably doing pretty well.”

Letty lifted her left hand and wiggled her fingers, the lights reflecting off her wedding ring. “I’m glad I found my man before all of this happened.”

“I doubt you’d have gotten in trouble for going out with the computer tech.” He and Zane had been friends for over two years before the couple had started dating. The romance between the two couldn’t have been more perfect — or entertaining.

She shrugged. “Maybe not. But at least we don’t have to worry about it.” She jerked a thumb towards the door. “Speaking of the hubby, we’re supposed to go to lunch. You want to join us?”

“I appreciate it. But I think I’m going to finish up here and then stop by the music store this afternoon.”

“Sounds good. See you later.”

Aaron waved his goodbye. He had to admit there were times when he envied their relationship. To have someone to go home to, or even hang out with, was something he hoped to experience himself one day.

But for now, all he had waiting for him was his forty-inch television and a recliner with his name on it.

He’d just dropped off a few things in the mailroom when Cynthia, one of the assistant directors, peeked her head around the corner. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Oh, great. The only time she wanted to talk to him was if she needed his help or wanted to remind him to do something. He shoved down his annoyance when he really wished he’d seen her in time to duck into another room. “What’s up?”

“Did you get the memo?”

“Yes. I found it in my box when I got in this morning.”

“Good. Do you have any questions about the new guidelines?”

Was she serious? If it were anyone else, he would have joked.
I know my students’ mothers are out of the question. What if one of them has a hot sister? Is that against the new guidelines?
He could imagine the vein in her temple nearly popping through the skin. It took a lot of willpower to keep the grin off his face.

“Not a one. Is there a reason why you’re concerned?”

“I’m checking in with everyone.” She gave him a dismissive flick of her head. “Have a great afternoon.”

Who did the woman think she was kidding? Everyone had seen the guidelines and she didn’t need to treat them all like children. Maggie and Rachelle, one in administration and one who worked in the lunchroom, flirted with the guys more than about any other women he’d been around. He’d gotten to where he made a point of not being alone with either of them. But even then, he highly doubted they would go against the policy, either.