Welcome to Forever (25 page)

“He doesn't get sad, Ben.” It wasn't in his father's emotional repertoire. Sad would imply that the man had feelings. Nope. Micah was willing to bet that look on his father's face was more disgust than anything.

And he hated himself for caring. His father's actions never said they cared about what he wanted.

“Dad?” Ben said again.

Micah's gaze lifted to the rearview again, meeting his son's eyes. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for taking me fishing. This was the best father-son day ever.”

And that was all that mattered—being a good father to his own son. “It's not over yet, buddy. Let's go fry our fish.”

Kat yawned and considered going to bed. It'd been a long, boring Sunday, which she used to think was the best type—until a certain tall, dark, and handsome groundskeeper had come into her life. She'd missed him today, but she understood. Spending time alone with Ben was important.

Her phone buzzed on her nightstand table, signaling a text. He must've been thinking about her, too. Hopefully missing her as much as she missed him. She glanced at her screen and read:

Are you awake?

She typed “Yes” and waited to see what he'd say next, hanging on his every word. Or she would've been hanging on his every word if he texted her again. The phone was quiet. No buzzing. No beeps.

Her doorbell rang across the house and she jumped. Getting out of bed, she hurried toward the door, hoping it was Micah. She went up on her tiptoes to look through the peephole and got a rush of excitement. “Who is it?” she called, loud enough for him to hear her, teasing him. Her phone buzzed in response.

I know you're alone. I've come to take advantage of that fact.

She giggled, preparing to open the door when her phone buzzed again.

Don't open the door unless you want me to take you to bed.

Well, she had planned on going to bed. She doubted Micah had sleeping in mind, though, which was just fine with her. She opened the door and met his ready gaze.

“I told you not to open the door unless you wanted me as much as I want you.”

She grinned. “I know.”

He wasted no time walking in, closing the door behind them, and scooping her up into his arms.

Kat laughed. “What has gotten into you tonight?”

“I told my father the good news this afternoon,” he said, his face turning serious for a moment.

“Oh. Wow. How did he take it?” she asked, bracing her hands against his chest.

“He didn't.”

She surveyed his demeanor. “Then why are you smiling?”

“Because there are no more secrets. I want to celebrate by touching you. Is that okay?” His voice dropped to a low, sexy growl.

“Um.” She swallowed, her entire body responding to his request. “I guess that's okay.”

“Good.” He placed one hand on each side of her face and gently led her mouth to his.

If the kiss was any indication of how the “touching” was going to go, then she couldn't wait for him to get her to bed. “Julie comes home in one hour.”

“So we better get started,” he said, already lifting her shirt.

She tugged his overhead also. Then she unbuttoned his jeans. Clothes fell to the floor as they made their way to the back bedroom. She lay back on the bed and he bent to kiss her navel. “No time for foreplay,” she said breathlessly. Her body had gone from zero to one million with one heated kiss.

Micah moved upward, leveling his gaze with hers. “There is always time for foreplay, Kat.”

One million skyrocketed to infinity.

Then he touched her, like he promised, delivering more than he promised. She touched him, too, enjoying the way she made such a big, alpha male go weak. Loving the way his body responded to her hands and mouth. The tough guy who'd gone to war, who'd seen and done things that no one should have to, was putty beneath her.

His body quaked and he started to pull away, but she drew him closer.

“I can't take it any longer,” he growled.

“It's okay. Stay,” she whispered, not caring about her own satisfaction. She was more than satisfied. “Stay,” she said again, arching up into him and pulling him into a deep kiss. He didn't pull away again. This time he rocked into her harder, gaining speed until his grip finally tightened around her. He held her so tight, she wondered where her next breath would come from. But she didn't care.

“It's your turn,” he whispered, relaxing into her a moment later.

She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “I'll have to take a raincheck on that. Julie will be home in ten minutes,” she said, really wishing she didn't have to kick Micah out of her bed. Waking up with him tomorrow morning would be heaven.

“I only need five minutes,” he said, pulling one of her nipples into his mouth.

She gasped, started to argue, but each word stuck in her throat as he continued to suck. His hand moved between her legs, moving with a rhythm that mimicked the one they'd just found together. Then, true to his word, she found herself biting her lower lip, suppressing her own cries of pleasure.

“Damn. I'll never tire of doing that for you.” He brushed his lips against hers and got up to collect his clothes.

“I'm glad you came,” she said, dreamily, sitting up.

When he grinned at her, she shook her head. “Came over,” she clarified.

“I just couldn't sleep without seeing you tonight.”

“You can't even go a day without me anymore, huh?” She pulled a T-shirt overhead, deciding that was enough to walk him to the door in.

“I can, but I don't want to.” He kissed her again and then groaned, pulling himself away and heading down the hallway toward the front of the house.

“I'll see you tomorrow?” she asked.

“Can't wait.” He opened the front door and they both stared at Julie, who looked between them, grinned, and continued walking inside without saying a word.

Monday morning came too fast, as it always did. The weekends were never long enough, especially when Kat had barely gotten to spend any time with Micah. The time they had spent together, however, had been quality.

Val rapped on Kat's office door and stepped inside without waiting for her to answer.

“What are you smiling so cheerily about?” Kat asked, taking in her friend's demeanor. Val looked as giddy as a child with a secret to tell. And knowing Val, she probably did.

“Have you seen the morning paper yet?” Val asked, stepping further inside.

Kat shook her head. She usually avoided the paper until she'd had her second cup of coffee. “What's in there? Anything good?”

“Oh. You know. There's a nice write-up on Seaside Elementary, talking more about you than anything else.”

A sick feeling usually crawled through Kat's stomach when she heard people were talking about her, but judging by the look on Val's face, she didn't need to worry this time.

Val flattened the paper in front of her. “Front page, baby.”

Kat's gaze sharpened on the bold letters topping the newspaper.

Seaside's Favorite Principal Leads the Path to Success.

Her breath caught in her throat as she skimmed the first few paragraphs.

The Friendship Club, created to help troubled students increase their self-esteem, is also working to care for Seaside's local soldiers who are in need of a home-cooked meal and a show of appreciation…Principal Chandler believes every child wants to succeed. They want to do well at something, even if it's doing well at stirring up trouble in the classroom, she says. The Friendship Club shows these children that they are capable of working together as a team to create something beautiful.

Kat finished the article and smiled up at Val. “This is amazing.”

“We'll have to make sure
everyone
sees it,” Val agreed, glancing in the direction of Dora Burroughs's office. Then she lifted the paper off Kat's desk and hooked her head with a wicked grin. “No time like the present.” She winked and walked out the door, closing it behind her.

Kat grinned ear to ear. Not that she wanted to rub her good news in anyone's face.
Much
. She'd have to call and thank Mr. Todd for writing such a flattering article about the school and Friendship Club later.

Another knock sounded on her door. This one was softer than Val's had been. “Come in.”

The knob turned and Ben pushed his wheelchair inside. “Hi, Principal Chandler,” he said in a sullen voice.

“Ben.” Just seeing him made her heart squeeze. She loved that disheveled hair. And that large, toothy grin he usually wore, stretching through his freckled cheeks. He wasn't grinning today, however. “Everything okay?” she asked.

With his right arm, he rolled his wheelchair closer to her desk and stopped, keeping his head down.

“Are you sick? Do you need me to call your dad?”

He shook his head. “No. Miss Hadley sent me here.”

“To my office?” Kat straightened as she made the connection. Ben had been sent to the principal's office. “Oh. Well, what happened?”

He lifted one shoulder, keeping his eyes planted on the floor.

“Can you at least look at me?” She lowered her voice. “Please.” As he slowly lifted his head, she saw the tears shining in his eyes, and her heart nearly broke in half.

“I'm s-sorry. Please don't tell my dad.”

She quickly moved around her desk, grabbing some Kleenex and crouching beside him. “Tell him what? I don't even know why you're here yet.”

He sniffed, wiping quickly at his tears. “A girl in my class said that moms aren't Marines. She said my mom didn't really go to war, she just left me.”

Kat sucked in a breath. “You know that's not true, though. Your mom is a Marine.”

“And she left me, too.” His eyes flooded over. “So I called the girl a stupid idiot.”

“A stupid idiot? Ben, that's not very nice.” And it wasn't like him to call people names.

His lips quivered. “I didn't mean it. I was just…”

Large tears spilled down his cheeks. Kat dabbed them gently with a tissue in her hand.

“I just want my mom to want me,” he said. “And I don't want her to die. And I don't want you to leave me and my dad, either.”

She squeezed his hand. “I'm not leaving you, honey. Don't worry about that. Have you talked to your dad about how you feel?”

He nodded, but she was willing to venture that Micah hadn't heard all of it. “Listen, I have a friend. Mr. Blakely. I'd like you to talk to him, too. Would that be okay?”

“The school counselor?” Ben asked, looking up.

Kat nodded. “He's been dying to hear about how you got the kids to talk to their plants this year.”

This made the corners of Ben's mouth curve. “Okay.” He hesitantly met her eyes. “Are you going to tell my dad what I did?”

Kat pressed her lips together. “I might. But you're not in trouble. As long as you apologize to the stup—”

Ben's mouth fell open as she started to repeat the names that had gotten him sent to her office. And yeah, it was probably in bad principal form, but seeing his little eyes light up, she'd make the exception. “And promise me that you won't call anyone else names.”

He nodded slowly. “Promise.”

Then she watched as he wheeled out of her office. Why did that little boy have to struggle so hard, without a mother to tell him everything would be okay? It wasn't fair. Life wasn't always fair. That was a lesson she'd learned in spades, but she was tougher for it and Ben would be, too.

Another loud knock sounded on her door and then Val grinned as she pushed through.

“Dora about choked on the doughnut she was eating. Then she said how nice it was that someone was trying to throw you a bone.”

Kat's eyes narrowed. She just might land herself in her own Friendship Club by the day's end because she was going to walk down that hall and have a heart-to-heart with her dear assistant principal.

“What are you doing?” Val's smile was replaced with concern, and with good cause.

“I'm going to stand up for myself. Dora is a bully, and I'm going to teach her to be nice, damn it.” Kat marched down the hall toward Mrs. Burrough's door. It was open, so she waited in the doorway for her assistant to look up.

“Yes,” Dora finally said, with that plastic smile that Kat wanted to call her out on. This woman was supposed to support her. She was supposed to back up her efforts and help her make the school a better place.

“Why don't you like me?”

“Excuse me?” Dora's plastic smile grew wider.

“You don't like me. You've been pretending like you do, but it's all a big, fat lie and I want to hear the truth now.”

If at all possible, the color drained from the elder woman's already pale face. “Principal Chandler, what on earth are you talking about?” She released a shrill laugh.

“You told Mr. Todd that the Friendship Club wouldn't work. You've been against it from the beginning. Against me since I came on board as principal last year.”

Dora straightened and sighed dramatically. “All right. I don't believe you're doing a good job leading the school. You're too young, Katherine. Too inexperienced. Honestly, I feel it was a mistake to put you in this position. Don't get me wrong. I think one day, you might make a very good principal.”

“That day is now.” Val stepped up beside Kat.

Kat stopped her with a raised hand. This was her fight, and by golly, she was going to fight it. “I'm a damn good principal, Mrs. Burroughs. Do you want to know what I think?” Not waiting for an answer, Kat continued. “I think you're jealous. I think you wanted this position and you think you could do a better job than me. But you're wrong. Because a true leader would never undermine a member of her team. A true leader has the best interest of everyone in mind, not just her own interests.”