Chapter 2

Lucy Preston groaned as her alarm beeped obnoxiously beside the bed. She smacked the alarm off with perhaps a bit more force than was necessary and rolled over, sighing in relief at the sudden blessed silence. Just as she closed her eyes with every intention of going back to sleep, her younger sister Amy walked into her room (without knocking Lucy vaguely noted). "You better get your cute little butt out of bed or you'll be late for your first day of school," she teased.

Lucy opened one eye and tried to work up a serious glare at her, but of course Amy was completely impervious. "Whoa, Luce, you better hit the concealer hard this morning or the dark circles under your eyes will scare your new students to death," Amy joked. Lucy privately acknowledged that her sister might have a point. She had not slept well at all the previous night, her doubts and misgivings swirling through her mind repeatedly until she had finally fallen into an uneasy sleep only a couple hours ago.

Amy sat on the bed beside Lucy and patted her leg. "Hey, stop worrying. You are a wonderful teacher and gonna do great–I promise! I know that this is a big change for you, and yes, change is hard. I have never thought you were meant to live the life you had in San Francisco. You just need to stop second guessing yourself and give this new teaching job a chance." Lucy loved her sister very much, and appreciated the pep talk, she really did, but because Amy was (and always had been) such a confident, secure person, she just didn't realize that her big sister was not. Lucy was rather shy and reserved, a creature of habit who was very fond of routine, probably too fond, she thought ruefully.

Just a few short months ago, Lucy had been teaching U.S. History to bored, spoiled teens at a private high school in San Francisco, working toward tenure, and growing more dissatisfied with her life every day. Amy had been bugging her for months now about coming to San Diego for a fresh start. "C'mon, Luce, it will be great! You will love living here, the weather is perfect, we can get a place together, and best of all, I think I may have found you a new teaching gig." Her sibling could be very persuasive when she wanted to be, and the more Lucy thought about it, the more the idea appealed to her. She really had missed Amy after she moved to San Diego to attend college four years ago.

And amazingly, it seemed that her sister actually had found Lucy a new teaching job. One of Amy's professors, Denise Christopher, was also the principal of Palm Grove Elementary School in San Diego, and she had mentioned to Amy that the school was looking to hire a new kindergarten teacher. After some emails back and forth, and several phone calls and two job interviews later, she got the job.

After the job issue had been solved (much to Amy's delight), it was time to be honest with herself and admit that her personal life hadn't been very fulfilling either. Lucy had been casually dating the same man for the past couple of years, a prominent oncologist she had met at the hospital where her mother was receiving chemo treatments before she passed away. She knew that Noah was getting impatient with her apparent lack of interest in a more serious relationship, and really, it was unfair to keep him hanging when she knew deep down she had no intention of marrying him. He was a nice guy and a wonderful doctor, maybe a little bit stuffy and sometimes rather condescending, but all in all, had seemed to be devoted to Lucy. She still cringed when she remembered the last time she had seen Noah.

Naturally, he was shocked and then angry when Lucy broke off their relationship, and she would have felt bad about that if she hadn't almost immediately felt so relieved. At that moment, she wished she had ended things sooner. The stunned look of disbelief on his face when she informed him that she was moving to San Diego to live with her sister and teach at an elementary school did make her pause, but his harsh words only strengthened her resolve. "Lucy, have you lost your mind? You're 30 years old, certainly old enough now to settle down, instead of running away on a childish whim. Not to mention that you have been building tenure at a fine school for several years here in San Francisco–how can you just throw that away?" he demanded. "Look, I get it, I know that even though we really haven't talked about it much, the thought of possibly being a doctor's wife can be a little intimidating, but you seemed to be agreeable. But this, what you're doing here, this is a serious life change, and one that I can't and won't support. I think you are making a terrible mistake, but apparently my opinion doesn't count." He finally stopped speaking and as he turned to leave, said with contempt, "Good luck in your new life, Lucy, because you are definitely going to need it." Lucy had stood quietly during Noah's rant, thinking she probably did deserve his anger. Gradually though, over the busy summer, as she had gotten caught up in the logistics of her move to San Diego, the sting of Noah's parting comments had faded.

She mentally shook her head and sitting up, impulsively wrapped her arms around Amy saying "You are the best sister I have–what would I do without you?" Amy merely raised her left eyebrow and responded dryly, "I'm the only sister you have. But you're welcome. Now, you better get going. You have a big day ahead of you, and I have class in 45 minutes. Text me later, okay? And Lucy, remember, today is just the first step. Love you." With that, Amy got up and left the room.

Lucy padded into the bathroom, and peering into the mirror over the sink, had to admit, her sister had totally called it-definitely a day for a little extra makeup. She quickly showered and chose one of her favorite dresses, hoping to boost her confidence. Lucy carefully applied some light makeup and ran a brush through her dark wavy hair, and grabbing her bag and making sure she had both phone and keys, hurried out the front door, glad she had already plugged in the directions to the school in her car's GPS.

Twenty minutes later, Lucy was standing with Principal Christopher in her new classroom, trying not to look too overwhelmed at the barely controlled chaos around her. The principal had thoughtfully emailed the class list to her ahead of time, explaining that while her room's head count for the school year was currently 20, quite a few of her small charges were the offspring of enlisted personnel from the nearby military base, Camp Pendleton, and sometimes those students had to move during the school year when their parents were assigned to another base. However, at that moment, it certainly sounded like there were a lot more than 20 kindergarteners running around the large, colorful, well-lit room. Lucy briefly closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and fixed a smile on her face, hoping her nerves didn't show.

Principal Christopher suddenly clapped her hands together loudly three times, and the children went silent. "All right boys and girls, would everyone please take a seat. I want you to meet your new teacher, Miss Lucy Preston." The two women watched for several minutes as each child finally chose a seat at one of the round tables that had been placed around the room and sat down. Then Principal Christopher smiled and said kindly, "There you go. They're all yours now." Lucy nodded and bid the older woman goodbye as she left the classroom. Taking another deep breath, she picked up the class list, and after asking the students to raise their hand when she called their name, started reading off names. All twenty were present and accounted for and, she hoped, ready to start the day. As she gazed at the sea of small expectant faces looking up at her, Lucy was suddenly struck by a feeling of confidence. "I have to admit, Amy was right," she thought. "One step at a time, and I just took the first one."

From that point on, the hours seemed to fly by, with Lucy making a point of spending a few minutes with each child. They really were a wonderful group of five-year-olds, very bright and curious, some rather boisterous and others shy. As the school day went on, she thought she might be making a connection with some of the students, in particular Emily Carson, a very talkative (but sweet) redhead with freckles and brown eyes, and James Logan, a quiet little guy with big dark blue eyes who solemnly confided, "My daddy calls me Jamie."

As the big clock above the doorway ticked closer to the end of the school day, Lucy noticed through the window of the closed door that some of the parents had already arrived to collect their children. A couple minutes later, the dismissal bell rang promptly at 3:00 p.m., and the previously fairly calm atmosphere in the room dissolved in an instant as the kids began to chatter excitedly and get up from their chairs. "Just a minute everyone. Please sit back down until you are dismissed," she requested. After everyone was seated again, she continued, "Now before you leave, please make sure you have all the papers for your mommies and daddies that I gave you this morning. It's really important, okay? I want to thank you for a really good first day of school. Have a great evening, and I will see you all tomorrow." The next few minutes were a blurred mix of chattering students, backpacks, lunchboxes, and papers. A few of the parents came into the room and introduced themselves (which she appreciated) and she noticed several were in uniform, assuming they had probably come directly from the base.

One by one, the children left and the room grew quiet. Lucy looked up from her desk where she had been gathering up the paperwork she was taking home to work on that evening, and was startled to see one student still sitting at one of the round tables. It was Jamie Logan, and he didn't look very happy. "Oh, Jamie, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were still here. Is everything okay?" she asked. "My daddy isn't here yet, Miss Preston," he whispered. "Well, I'm sure he's just running a few minutes late. Would you like to help me carry some stuff out to my car?" Jamie's face brightened and he nodded. After making sure the little boy had all his things and turning out the classroom lights and shutting the door, she handed him a small bag to carry, and they made their way out to the parking lot.

Lucy and Jamie stopped beside her car, and after she unlocked the doors, they managed to fit everything in the back seat. "There, all done. You are such a good helper, Jamie," Lucy praised. He beamed up at her, but then Jamie's expression fell as he said, "But Miss Preston, my daddy still isn't here to pick me up. Will you stay with me 'til he gets here?" he asked. "Of course I will," Lucy replied. "Why don't we have a seat on that bench over there, the one under the nice shady tree, and maybe we can get to know each other better." That seemed to be the right answer, and she received an even bigger smile this time that revealed the little boy's dimples, and he reached up to take her hand as they walked across the school yard to sit on the bench under the tree.

Fifteen minutes later, Lucy felt she had gained quite a bit of insight into the mind of the five-year-old. She learned that Jamie's favorite superhero was Spiderman (although she might have guessed that from the tee shirt he was wearing), he loved pizza (with pepperoni), he thought she was very pretty (that made her smile), and the most important person in the world to him was his daddy. "His name is Master Sergeant Wyatt Logan," Jamie proudly informed her, "and he takes care of me and is the best daddy ever." Lucy was touched by the young boy's obvious love for his father. She had noticed however, that Jamie didn't mention his mother. Before she could decide to ask him about that, Jamie spied a caterpillar under the bench. "Look Miss Preston, a worm! Can we pet it, please?" As he carefully squatted down to look at the caterpillar, Lucy tucked her skirt under her knees and knelt down beside the excited child.

Before she could explain that it was actually a caterpillar, behind them a deep voice asked, "Jamie, what are you doin', buddy?" As Jamie exclaimed, "Daddy! You finally got here!", Lucy was so startled she fell back on her bottom. "Well, this isn't embarrassing at all," she thought as a rosy blush spread across her face. This must be Master Sergeant Wyatt Logan, and he was easily one of the best-looking guys she had met in a long time (maybe ever her treacherous mind supplied). Her eyes involuntarily traveled up his muscular figure neatly dressed in camo pants and a snug green tee shirt when his strong calloused hand reached down to help her to her feet. Her mouth went dry as she met his amused dark blue gaze. Jamie definitely favored his father in appearance, she decided. "You must be Jamie's teacher. Sorry I startled you, and I'm really sorry I'm late to pick up my son, Ma'am. I got called into a meeting at the last minute," he explained. To cover her embarrassment, she replied in a rather cool tone,"Yes, I'm Lucy Preston. That's quite all right Mr. Logan, but let's not make a habit of being late at pickup time." Lucy instantly wanted to take the words back, but it was too late. Wyatt Logan stepped back, his broad shoulders going rigid as he frowned at her, dark blue eyes no longer amused, and said tersely,"Yes, Ma'am, it won't happen again. Let's go, Jamie." With that, he took his son by the hand, and the pair quickly walked out of the school yard. Jamie waved at her as they left, saying "Goodbye, Miss Preston, see you tomorrow."

Standing there watching them leave, Lucy sighed, thinking she had just behaved rather badly. Who was stuffy and condescending now? She really was hopeless when it came to men, and knew she could never tell her sister what had just happened or Amy would tease her mercilessly. She just knew her poised, pretty sister would have known exactly what to say to the handsome soldier instead of sounding like a stuck-up old lady the way she had. She dusted off her skirt and slowly walked to her car. Lucy was starting to feel the effects of her nearly sleepless night catching up with her, and wanted nothing more than a nice hot bath and a good night's sleep. As she drove home, though, she kept seeing Wyatt Logan's stunning blue eyes (before she offended him that is), and Lucy found herself hoping that the next time she saw him (please let there be a next time), she would make a better impression. All things considered though, it had been a good day, and realized for the first time in a long while, she was looking forward to tomorrow.