Page 35 of Sweet Surrender

“That’s very wise,” Maggie told him. “Farmers have to be careful with money, because a good year can always be followed by a bad one.”

Daniel placed his hand on his wife’s and squeezed gently and Becca felt a lump in her throat. The two of them had obviously been through their share of bad times as well as good.

Suddenly, the alarm on her phone began to chime.

“Oh dear,” she said, pulling it from her pocket and stopping the sound.

“What was that for?” Cal asked her.

“That was my lesson plans,” she told him. “They’re reminding me that they won’t write themselves.”

“What are lesson plans?” Nick asked.

“That’s my plan for what I’m going to teach the class tomorrow,” she told him.

“You don’t already know?” Cal asked her worriedly.

“I know all about your subjects,” she reassured him. “And I know the material we need to cover. But I like to change uphowI’m going to teach it a little, and add some new ideas for each day, based on how things went the day before.”

“Like about our town project?” Cal asked hopefully.

“Exactly,” she told him, pleased to see him interacting so much with her. Cal was a different person here at the supper table than he was in class. “You and your classmates gave me so many great ideas about other things we could include in the project. So, I definitely want to go over my notes and make sure we have time built in tomorrow to talk more about it. And of course, I need to include all the wonderful things I learned here today.”

Cal smiled, his eyes lighting up, and she felt another surge of warmth in her heart.

Seeing the family here together made it easier to understand the boys, and their father too. All the Lawrence men seemed to relax and open up around this table.

She stood and grabbed her bowl and spoon.

“But that’s my job,” Nick said, frowning.

“Oh yes,” Maggie told her. “Nick carries all the dishes over to the sink for us.”

“Thank you, Nick,” Becca told him, impressed.

His chest puffed up a bit and she couldn’t help but smile. They were such good boys.

“I’ll walk you out,” Zane said quietly.

“Thank you again for everything,” she said, turning back to the family.

A sudden sense of longing hit her, and she found herself wishing that she could stay, though of course that made no sense at all.

I’m just missing my own family…

“Hope to see you again soon,” Daniel said with a warm smile.

She headed down the hallway, not wanting to say anything more through the lump in her throat.

As she slipped her boots back on, Zane grabbed her coat from the hook and held it out for her, the gesture only making her feel more oddly sentimental. He didn’t bother with a coat himself, opening the door as soon as hers was on, and following her outside.

It was a cold, clear night, and Becca smiled at the sight of the stars overhead.

“Can’t see those in the city, huh?” Zane asked.

“This looks just like the sky at the planetarium,” she said wonderingly.

“Until we get some clouds going,” Zane said.

---