And I surrendered to him, completely.
When I didn’t think I could take any more, when my body was so strung tight and my bliss danced just out of reach, he slipped one hand under my back and tilted my hips just so. And then he hit me exactly where I was most desperate for him.
I came apart with fireworks behind my closed eyelids and his name on my lips. He followed me in a pounding, stretching, reverent sort of way. And when it was over, he touched his forehead to mine and with closed eyes stayed like that for a long, awed moment.
When at last he lay down next to me, it was only so he could pull me into the crook of his arm and hold me there.
Eventually, hours later, we got out of bed to clean up, hunt for food, only to climb back into bed again. We laughed and talked about all the things that had happened over the last six years, the memories we shared from before and the plans we had for the future. He listened attentively and made me laugh in ways I couldn’t remember ever laughing so hard.
And when I fell asleep in his arms much too late for a girl who had to wrangle first graders in the morning, I searched my memory for when I’d ever been this happy.
I fell asleep knowing the answer clearly. I’d never been this content, this overjoyed, this . . . settled.
Sam Autry had been the man of my dreams once upon a time. And now he was the man I hoped would be my real future.
CHAPTER 14
Elf on a Shelf
“Ms. Haden! Ms. Haden!” Polly ran over to my desk, tears streaming down her face.
“Polly, oh kiddo, what’s wrong?” I reached for my tissue box and immediately got to work dabbing her wet cheeks.
“Brody said my Elf on the Shelf isn’t real. He said she’s dead! A-a-and—” She shuddered with a big, heaving sob. “He said she can’t have babies!” Another wailing, heartbroken cry. “A-a-and he says the class Elf isn’t real either. He said it’s just your way of making us listen.”
I nodded along, my lips pressed together to hide both my smile and my frown. The thing was . . . Brody wasn’t wrong. Her Elf on the Shelf was not only not real, but the whole concept was also becoming the bane of my existence.
As a long-term sub who hadn’t worked all school year, I’d come into the job a little more gung-ho than normal. When I’d found an Elf on the Shelf thrifting in Denver, I’d grabbed it, thinking it would be a great way to endear this class to me quickly.
It had worked. A little too well.
Now, every day, the kids demanded a more extreme Elf trick than the day before. Last night, I’d dragged Sam up here after hours so he could string lights catty-corner across the room. Then he’d rigged the elf to look like he was ziplining. He’d dangled over our heads all day, which had worked doubly to impress the kids and keep their grubby hands off him since none of them could jump that high.
Not that they hadn’t tried. They had. I’d even had to yell at Brody multiple times because he kept trying to stack chairs on top of each other in a dangerous, makeshift ladder to get to him. Every time I turned my back, he’d found a different chair to add to his pile.
He was giving me an ulcer.
Actually, at this point, on the last day of school before break, they were all wild, Christmas-drunk savages. It was obvious they were cooped up inside because of the cold weather. It was also clear the rules at home had gotten a little loosey-goosey. But too bad this long-term sub job didn’t come with a mental health plan.
“Brody,” I growled, searching for him in the classroom. He was across the room, trying to climb a bookshelf. His short arms were barely long enough to hoist his body up the first shelf, yet somehow, he managed, only for the whole structure to wobble precariously. “Get down from there.”
He turned his head, surprised to be called out. His eyes were huge, his eyebrows lost in his hairline. “How’d ya see me?”
The bookshelf wobbled again.
“Brody, get down.” There was a knock at the door behind me. It was probably the principal, Dr. Hobbs, coming to fire my ass. I took a tentative step toward Brody, hoping he wasn’t about to get crushed beneath a full shelf of Dr. Seuss books. “I’m serious. You’re going to get hurt if you don’t listen to me.”
He blinked at me, deciding if he cared.
“Brody Perkins, get down right this second.” The door opened behind me, but my attention was glued to the six-year-old menace trying to scale the wall.
He rolled his eyes and jumped back from the bookshelf. “It’s glued to the wall, Ms. Haden. It can’t go anywhere!” Then he skipped back to his desk. “Hi, Bam Bam!” he called out merrily as he went.
Glancing over my shoulder, I confirmed that Sam Autry was indeed standing in the middle of my classroom, neon orange visitor lanyard hanging proudly around his neck. But Polly was still sniffling next to me.
“Class, class?” I waited until they repeated “Yes, yes,” in unison. “We need to talk about our elf friend, Bertram.”
“Your elf’s name is Bertram?” Sam asked quietly.
