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Once Sammy and Lady were outside, Seth turned his attention back to her. “Now, tell me, Mrs. Michaels, how do you like your eggs?”

“Any way is okay,” she replied. “I’m not really particular.”

He looked at her with mock frustration. “Let me put the question another way. If you make eggs for yourself at home, how do you make them?”

She grinned. “Over easy.”

“Then over easy it is.” He got a carton of eggs from the refrigerator and then moved back to the skillet. Sammy and Lady came back inside, bringing a burst of the cold air with them. Sammy hung the leash back on the hook by the door, and then he smiled. “I’m getting used to the routine,” he said. “But Lady still doesn’t exactly get it yet.”

“She will,” Seth assured his son. “You just have to give her more time.”

“Time, I got,” Sammy replied, making Seth and Suzanna laugh.

Within minutes breakfast was on the table. She had two eggs, perfectly cooked, along with bacon and toast. Sammy had two over easy eggs as well, and Seth had three eggs scrambled on his plate.

“Dad, are you going to marry Mrs. Michaels?” Sammy asked when they were halfway through the meal.

Both Seth and Suzanna looked at the boy in surprise. “No, why would you think that?” Seth asked.

“’Cause I got up to go to the bathroom, and I saw you kissing her last night in the hall, and I thought when you kissed a girl you had to marry her,” Sammy replied.

Seth laughed while Suzanna was appalled that the little boy had seen them kissing each other the night before. “Sammy, you don’t have to marry a girl if you kiss her,” Seth said. “Is there a particular girl in your class who you want to kiss?”

“Yuck, no,” Sammy replied with utter disgust. “Me and my buddies think kissing is totally gross.”

“Trust me, son, there will come a time when you won’t think it’s so gross,” Seth said in amusement. “I hope you kiss lots of girls before you get married.”

“Just so you know, it would be okay with me if you want to marry Mrs. Michaels.” Sammy shot her a shy smile and then looked back at his dad. “’Cause I love her.”

Suzanna reached over and patted Sammy’s hand as her heart expanded. “I care a lot about you, too, Sammy.”

While they finished eating, Seth talked about Lady, who he intended to barricade in the kitchen with puppy pads on the floor and plenty of toys for the dog to play with.

“There isn’t much she can get into and, in any case, I’ll be in and out throughout the day so I can check on her,” he said.

“Just make sure you give her lots of kisses and tell her how much I love her,” Sammy said.

They finished eating and Suzanna helped clean the kitchen, and by then it was time for them to leave for school. Within minutes they were in the car, and the closer they got to the school building the tighter Suzanna’s chest constricted with nerves.

It was too early for the students to be arriving, so Seth was able to pull up in the bus lane and park at the front door. “I hope you both have a great day,” he said. “Sammy, I’d like to see that necklace today when you get home from school.”

“I’ll do my very best,” he replied earnestly.

“And since you arrived here with me so early, you’ll need to sit quietly at your desk until the other students arrive,” Suzanna explained to Sammy.

The tension in her stomach twisted even tighter as moments later she and Sammy stepped into the school building. Thankfully they encountered nobody else as they made their way to her room. Sammy sat at his desk, and Suzanna settled in at hers.

She pulled from her work notebook the lesson plans for the day and was surprised when Tinsley Robard stepped into her room. It was very rare that the principal would enter her classroom.

“Mrs. Michaels, can I speak to you for a moment in my office?” Tinsley asked.

Suzanna shot a quick glance at Sammy who was reading one of the books she had bought him for his birthday. “Sammy, you sit quietly, and I’ll be right back,” she said to him.

As the two women walked to the office, Suzanna wondered if Tinsley wanted to talk to her about naming her fellow teachers as potential suspects in the attack on her. She couldn’t imagine what else it might be about.

When they got into the office, Tinsley gestured her to the chair in front of Tinsley’s desk. Suzanna sank down and eyed the woman worriedly. “Am I in some kind of trouble?” she asked.

Tinsley smiled at her. “I don’t know, should you be in trouble?”