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Lunch passed and she returned to her classroom. They were in the middle of math class when Holly began to whisper to her neighbors.

“Holly, you are doing a lot of chatting right now. Is there something you’d like to share with the class?” Suzanna asked.

Holly stood, completely unembarrassed by being singled out for chattering during lesson time. “I was just telling everyone that Sammy is a teacher’s pet,” she said.

“I am not,” Sammy immediately replied with an indignant upthrust of his chin.

“Yes, you are. My mommy says Mrs. Michaels is sleeping with your daddy,” Holly announced smugly. “And that makes you a teacher’s pet.”

“Mrs. Michaels is not sleeping with my daddy. She has her own room in my house, and my daddy has his own room. I’m not a teacher’s pet ’cause sometimes I don’t even get the necklace,” Sammy replied.

“Enough,” Suzanna said, once again appalled by the information Eva Dayton chose to share with her daughter. Was she trying to get Suzanna fired?

“Let me make one thing very clear to all of you. There are no teacher’s pets in this classroom. I love all of you the same,” Suzanna said, although that wasn’t exactly true. Still, she certainly wasn’t showing any favoritism toward Sammy during school hours.

Besides, there would always be students she connected with more than others. However, she worked hard to make sure she treated all the kids the same.

“Holly, sit down now, and there is no more talking during lesson time,” Suzanna said firmly.

The rest of the school day passed uneventfully, but by the time it was over, she was emotionally exhausted. She had somebody who wanted to kill her and a student’s mother trying to get her fired. And on top of all that was her love for a man who had no interest in having a long-term relationship.

“Good day?” that man asked her as she and Sammy got into the car to head home after school.

“Long day,” she replied.

“Daddy, I got the necklace again today,” Sammy said from the back seat.

“I’m so very proud of you, little man,” Seth replied.

“I’m glad, big man,” Sammy replied. Once again, she was reminded of how much she loved Sammy and Seth’s relationship with each other.

Seth pulled away from the school and then shot her a glance. “What made it a long day?”

“On a good note, Ray and Boone decided they’d punished me with their silent treatment long enough,” she said. “And I’ll tell you later what made it a not-so-great day.”

“Daddy, Holly Dayton called me a teacher’s pet today,” Sammy said, his indignation evident in his tone. “She said Mrs. Michaels was sleeping with you and that made me a teacher’s pet.”

“Well, we both know that all isn’t true,” Seth replied and then shot another glance at her. “And that would be what made it a not-so-great day.”

“Exactly,” she replied with a tired sigh. She could smell Seth’s familiar scent, that of spicy cologne and clean male. She wanted to fall into him and have his arms enfold her and hold her tight.

“Then it’s a good thing the day is over and now you can just relax,” he said.

“Since I got the necklace, I think we should all watch a movie together tonight,” Sammy said. “That’s what I’d like to do. And we can eat popcorn and be happy together.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Seth replied.

“I’d definitely be up for a movie and some popcorn,” she said. It would be a good time to relax and get her thoughts in order for school the next day.

“Since Sammy got the necklace, it’s a grilled cheese and soup night. Right, son?”

“That’s right,” Sammy replied. “That’s my favorite besides chicken nuggets and hot dogs.”

That started a conversation about favorite junky kinds of foods. “Pizza,” Suzanna said. “I love a good pepperoni pizza.”

“Breaded and fried mozzarella sticks,” Seth said.

“Tater tots,” Sammy added.