Chapter 4

Everett's grip tightened when Julia tried to pull away. He refused to release her and stared into her eyes. "Where are you going?"

"Let go. I need to..." She struggled, but the suitcase belonging to Lydia and Peter remained in Everett's other hand, and the truth nearly escaped her.

Lydia placed one hand over Everett's and pinched Julia's arm lightly with the other. At that small touch, Everett loosened his grip.

"Everett, don't hold Ms. Fenner so hard. She must be going to school. Don't worry. I'll replace whatever Peter broke."

"Don't bother," Julia said coldly.

She shook Lydia's hand away and left the house. She told herself again and again not to care, yet her mind kept replaying the intimate sight of Lydia's hand resting over Everett's.

The memory made acid rise in Julia's stomach.

Fighting the nausea, she organized her class's progress and recorded every detail in a notebook. She was leaving, but she still wanted to make the transition easy for her students.

That afternoon, she entered the classroom intending to tell them she had resigned. Before she could begin, Principal Harris knocked and interrupted.

"Ms. Fenner, this boy will sit in your class for several days. Colonel Warden said he's a distant relative. I assume he already told you."

The chalk snapped in Julia's fingers. The faint scrape against her nails seemed deafening after the principal's words.

Everett had told her nothing. Perhaps he believed his disguise was perfect. It was not enough to bring the boy into Julia's home; now he had placed him inside her classroom. Did he truly believe she was a fool?

Principal Harris led Peter to an empty desk at the back. Julia used every ounce of restraint she had left.

This was a school, and Peter was a student. Julia turned away, closed her eyes for one hard second, then faced the board and began the lesson as though nothing had happened.

Peter disrupted the class repeatedly. Julia limited herself to verbal warnings until, near dismissal, he cut a lock of hair from the girl sitting in front of him.

"Peter, come to my office."

School had ended, and the office was empty except for Julia and the boy.

For the first time, she studied him carefully. He had Everett's height and build. Even at six, he seemed older than the other children, and his eyes and brow were unmistakably Everett's.

Julia drew a deep breath and reminded herself that a child was not responsible for his father's betrayal.

"Tomorrow, ask your mother to move you to a lower grade. This is third grade, and at six you cannot keep up."

Peter stared at her. "You're the one who's six. I'm eight."

The pages beneath Julia's hand fluttered in the breeze. She thought she had misheard and asked again, "Eight?"

"I'm eight." Peter spotted Lydia entering the office and ran toward her happily.

Lydia examined him, then walked to Julia's desk. "Ms. Fenner, Peter has been difficult. I'll discipline him."

She picked up a wooden ruler and struck him several times. Peter howled, while Julia heard only the words I'm eight, repeating as old memories raced through her mind.

When Everett proposed, he knelt before her and said, "Jules, I will cherish you, love you, and respect you for the rest of my life. Marry me."

When she woke in the hospital after taking a knife meant for him, his eyes had been full of pain. "Even if you can never have children, I will never leave you."

Every time she asked to live near his post, he held her and promised, "I don't want you suffering there. Once I earn my transfer, we'll never be separated again."

The memories dissolved beneath Peter's cries. He was eight. Everett had lied from the beginning and continued lying for seven years.

Lydia shoved Peter hard enough that he knocked a chair and desk onto Julia's foot. Julia stood abruptly, and a fierce pain tore through her abdomen. She tried to lift the furniture, but Lydia hooked a foot in her path and sent her down.

"Ms. Fenner, however badly he behaved, you shouldn't beat him." Lydia helped Peter up while crying.

"What happened?" Everett rushed into the office. The moment he saw Peter's swelling ankle, he lifted him.

"Don't blame Ms. Fenner. Peter was unruly. He deserved to be corrected."

Julia had never seen anyone turn on a dime like that. She forced herself upright despite the abdominal pain. "Peter, tell him who hit you."

The boy's eyes shifted. Then he buried his face against Everett's chest. "Ms. Fenner did."

Julia stared at him. "That's a lie."

"Enough." Everett's voice cracked through the room. "He's a child. Why would he lie? Jules, I never imagined you'd treat a student this way. What happened to your integrity as a teacher?"

Julia swayed as the pain intensified and her face drained of color. "I never imagined you'd care this much about a dead man's child. Is he really one of your men's son, or is he—"

"Peter fainted from the pain. We have to get him to the hospital." Lydia screamed. Everett looked down at the boy's closed eyes and hurried away.

As Julia watched his back disappear, another wave of pain brought her to the floor.

A teacher entered at that moment, saw her collapsed, and ran to support her.

Pain pulsed through Julia's abdomen. She gripped her colleague's sleeve. "Everett...he just left. Please bring him back. I need the hospital."

The teacher ran after him. Time had never moved so slowly. When she returned, she was alone.

"Colonel Warden seemed to have an emergency. He left before I could finish speaking."

Julia could no longer remain conscious. Darkness swallowed the office.