Page 59 of Mine to Hold
“I can’t do that.” I shook my head. “Trust me when I say that I tried to let her go. I tried to carry on with my life without her, but I can’t.”
“I hear that,” Scott said knowingly as he looked at Teddy. “I gave up the big city life for you and I’ve never regretted it. Take it easy on Colt. He’s not dumb. He’s just trying to make a really big decision and that takes time sometimes.”
I nodded. “Amen to that.”
Teddy sighed. “The difference is that, when you showed up on my doorstep, you already knew what your decision was. If Colt isn’t sure, you can’t really compare his situation to yours.”
“I’m sure,” I said firmly. “There are a lot of things I’ll have to figure out in the coming weeks, but the one thing that I know for sure is that I want to be with Emma and I’m going to do whatever it takes to do just that.”
“In that case,” she said, a slow smile spreading on her lips as happiness sparked to life in her eyes. “I’ll help you win her back, and I know just how to do it.”
38
EMMA
It was the first week of class and my students were still a bit unruly. Small children always took a bit of time to get used to school, though. The first few days until I could get them into a routine were always chaotic.
We were working with finger paint, and as I watched them dip whole hands into the tub or smear their fingers on their faces instead of their papers, I sighed.Welcome back to your real life, Em.
Once again, just like it had been with the day camp, the moment was bittersweet. It was like the whole summer and everything that had happened had just been a dream, and now that things were going back to normal, I could hardly believe I’d actually been to Paris.
From the corner of my eye, I saw one of the kids trying to paint the girl next to him and I jumped into motion, catching his little hand just before he covered her entire pigtail in green paint. “No, Stan. We don’t paint our friends. We paint our pictures, remember?”
“Yes, ma’am, I’m sorry,” he said, casting his eyes to the floor before he glanced up behind me. “Is that an ice-cream truck?”
I frowned. “Nice try, mister, but I’m not falling for that old trick.”
Then I realized that he was right. I could hear it, too, the faint sound of the familiar music playing as it approached. As always, my first thought was of Colt, but then I remembered that Malcolm had been driving the truck for years now, and I’d asked him so many times not to come near the school grounds during class hours.
Unfortunately, before I could distract them, the whole class heard it and everyone ran to the windows, pointing and chattering excitedly. I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing that I’d need to have another word with Malcolm for this. I realized that preschoolers were the perfect audience for his business, but not right now. Their parents wouldn’t be collecting them for hours and it wasn’t like I could buy each of them an ice cream every day. Plus, a lot of them weren’t even really allowed sugar except on special occasions, which meant that even if I could’ve afforded it, I wouldn’t have been able to buy it for them anyway.
As I reached the window, hoping Malcolm would leave if I waved him away from here, my eyes flew wide open and my heart started pounding. Something wasn’t right. It was Malcolm’s colorful truck outside, but Teddy jumped out of it and waved me over.
It had been in that same truck that my relationship with Colt had started, and even though it had been repainted a few times since, it still had special meaning for me. And seeing Teddy coming out of it made me suspicious enough to open the door and risk the mayhem of fifteen preschoolers descending on a truck they wouldn’t be getting anything from.
Numbly walking out into the parking lot where it had stopped, I watched in a state of total disbelief as the side window opened and I saw Colt standing inside. Dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, he grinned and started asking the kids what flavors they wanted. My jaw unhinged and practically hit the floor.
“It’s on me,” he called when his gaze met mine, like the cost was what I was most concerned about right now. “Free ice cream for everyone!”
By now, the rest of the classes had made their way outside and the teachers were corralling the children into lines while Teddy smiled and made her way over to me. “We’re sorry about the interruption, but I didn’t think you’d mind once you found out who was disrupting your day.”
“What is he doing here?” I whispered urgently, searching her dark eyes for any hints. “You can’t tell me he came all this way to hand out some ice cream.”
She waggled her brows at me. “Maybe he did. He’s always been very generous. Who knows? You’ll have to speak to him to find out.”
“Teddy—” I grumbled, but she was already gone, herding the kids from my class, who had been the first ones out and therefore the first ones done, back into the building.
Knowing they would be fine with her for a few minutes, I hung around while Colt handed out treats to the rest of the small school. Once he was done, I watched as he jumped out of the truck. He strode over to me with a sheepish grin on his face, putting his palms up when he was a few feet away from me.
“Now, I know we disrupted your class time, and I’m sorry, but I thought the kids might like it.”
“They’re kids and it’s ice cream. Of course they like it,” I said softly, my voice ringing with the incredulity I was feeling from head to toe. “What are you doing here, Colt?”
He ran a hand through his dark hair, shaking his head lightly with a playful spark in his eyes. “Jeez. Why do people keep asking me that? I’m from here, aren’t I? Is it really that surprising to see me in town?”
“Yes,” I said, completely deadpan. “I need to get back to my class, so will you please cut it out and just tell me what’s going on?”
“Okay, then. What am I doing here? I’m starting my new job. Although it’s not really new, so maybe I’m just going back to my old one. It depends on how you look at it.”
