The boy loped toward Julia. But rather than ease into the pond as the others had done, he splashed in, wetting down everyone standing nearby, then slipped and smacked into her.

Unprepared, she toppled over. Her wordless gasp wasn’t nearly as comical as her expression when she righted herself. Muddy water ran down her face and dripped off the point of her long ponytail. The children were silent until she smiled at the boy, whose mouth gaped in horror at what he’d done. "That’s all right, Bryce. It was an accident—and now I won’t have to take a bath tonight."

The kids laughed at Julia’s words, but Boone quickly sat down and rolled up his jeans. Although it was almost summer there in northeast Oklahoma, the afternoon air was cooling and the water cold—he could tell by the way her breasts snugged up against her t-shirt. Jerking off his boots, he stuffed his socks inside, then picked up the towel and waded out to Julia.

He wrapped the towel around her. "Why don’t you let me finish up here?"

When she tilted her head to look up at him, her face was unusually pale. She pulled away from his touch. "O-okay. Thank you."

While Julia waded out, Boone took the boy’s jar and dipped it full, then grinned at her over his shoulder. "Miss Findley and I can ride herd on this bunch while you go clean up."

"N-no, I couldn’t."

Julia waved the kids to her as the bus pulled to a stop. "Get your shoes on as fast as you can," Julia told the children, then stood by the bus as they piled on, counting heads as each one entered. There was no way that between three adults, they could have lost one, but she always made sure. After roll call, recesses and lunch. When one went to the office, the bathroom or to get a drink.

And each time she counted, her stomach clenched as she remembered Penny. If she’d counted then, she’d have noticed. And maybe she’d have been able to do something earlier. A step or two before desperate. The level before reckless. The turn before the final solution.   

Susan Shay

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