Page 35 of Since the Day We Wished

He took a deep breath when he saw a picture of himself, Kate, and a five-year-old Jeremiah, all smiling happily together. The scrapbook was organized by year, so he clicked through the folders of Jeremiah’s freshman and sophomore years. Within those folders, he found photos of Jeremiah holding numerous trophies and medals he had earned from competitions, videos of him practicing with Kate, and recordings of the competitions themselves. Luke was even able to find photos and videos of the historical landmarks Kate and Jeremiah had visited together.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Luke shut his laptop and slumped back in his chair. A bitter realization creeped in, overwhelming him with remorse for not having been an active part of Jeremiah’s life, no matter how hard Kate had tried to fill in the gaps. Tears welled up in Luke’s eyes as he realized the magnitude of what he had lost.

But Luke wasn’t one to let circumstances hold him back. With a renewed strength surging through him, he slowly rose from the chair and vowed to do whatever it took to fix the broken relationship with his son.

Chapter 15

Emma

It had been four days since Luke had texted her. Emma had watched the clock relentlessly, hoping to hear from him again soon, but all she got were hours and days of dead radio silence.

She had tried to forget about him and channel her energy into something more productive, but his image still lingered in the back of her mind. A part of her thought perhaps he liked her too. But after spending the past few nights mulling it over, she was finally certain that Luke was only being friendly. He had been genuinely worried about his son and that was the only reason he sought her out, Emma told herself. She decided she would go on with life as usual and forget about her silly crush.

Fortunately, the timing couldn’t have been better for Emma. She had just started teaching summer classes at Hadley Cove High and had also been busy with her tutoring sessions, leaving her with hardly any spare time to dwell on her thoughts. Instead, she focused on creating engaging lesson plans and study guides for her students.

As Emma locked up her classroom after a long day of teaching, she was surprised to see Luke and Jeremiah walking out of the front office. Luke was carrying a hefty stack of papers, and Jeremiah seemed to be trailing behind reluctantly. Emma had no choice but to head in their direction. She straightened her posture and consciously relaxed her muscles, mentally preparing herself to appear at ease and unconcerned, hoping to sidestep any uncomfortable moments.

Approaching Luke, her heart raced and her cheeks flushed. She attempted to take a deep breath and steady herself, but as she drew nearer, the feelings only intensified.

“Well, hello,” she said, flashing them a smile and putting on her best poker face. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Luke smiled back at her. “Hey there. What are you doing here?”

Emma’s heart fluttered at the sound of his voice, but remained calm, holding up her ID badge. “Summer school...I teach a couple of the courses. And run tutoring sessions as well.”

Recognition flickered in Luke’s eyes. “Ah, that’s right. I think I remember you mentioning that. Sorry that I forgot.”

Emma felt a rush of warmth spread through her body. “No worries,” she said, discreetly wiping her sweaty palms on her pants. “I’m not sure if I ever mentioned I teach summer school, so don’t worry about it. How about you two? What brings you here today?”

Jeremiah rolled his eyes. “Registering for the fall semester,” he muttered.

Luke interjected, “Yeah, we picked up the syllabi for his classes so he can get started now.”

Jeremiah let out an exasperated sigh. “Keys?”

Luke fished in his pocket and pulled out a set of car keys. “Take these with you as well.”

He handed the stack of papers to Jeremiah, who begrudgingly took them and walked off.

Emma watched him go, then turned back to Luke.

“We had a meeting with Principal Kennedy yesterday,” he explained. “As long as he stays out of trouble, he’ll be able to stay in his senior year. So, I’m really hoping this is going to work out this time.”

While Luke spoke, Emma struggled to resist getting lost in his ocean blue eyes. She had told Lisa and her grandfather she wasn’t seeking love yet being in Luke’s presence made it difficult to remember that.

Emma nodded. “I promise I’ll pay extra attention to him. I can always help with tutoring or extra credit if he needs it too.”

“I’d appreciate that. Well, I better be going before Jeremiah steals the car and drives to Mexico with it,” Luke said with a laugh. “I’ll see you around.”

“Sure. Yeah. See you later,” Emma said, letting out a deep breath she didn’t even know she was holding.

As Luke walked out the main doors, Kara and Charlotte entered. When Emma headed over to greet them, she noticed Charlotte seemed a bit glum, possibly still upset about how Jeremiah had acted at the rescue over the past weekend.

“Hey Kara. Hey Charlotte. What’s up?”

Charlotte sighed. “Finishing up my last assignment and then I’ll be done with summer school. Thank God!”

“She needs to bring her math grade up a bit,” Kara explained. “So, she had to take some classes for extra credit before the fall semester starts.”

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