that it’s me they look to for guidance.”
He patted the cat some more instead of running his eyes up and down her body. Even in bare feet she looked perfect, all tiny and delicate, her hair still pulled up into a high ponytail that fell halfway down her back.
“Are we talking about me or you right now?” she asked.
She was smarter than he’d given her credit for.
“I’m struggling with the whole teaching thing,” he admitted. “I guess I’d never really thought about being the teacher. I’ve never had a problem learning, pushing myself to do better, but being on the other side is…”
“Different, I know,” she finished for him.
“You do?”
Caitlin hopped some more and fell into the chair beside him. “Once you realize how important your job is, you’ll make peace with it.”
Tom doubted he would ever prefer teaching over being in the field, but right now he didn’t have much choice. “So you think I’ll like it better than the real thing one day?”
She shook her head, a gentle smile telling him no. “I doubt it. But without great teachers, no one succeeds, so whatever you’re teaching you have to make sure you’re the best leader your pupils can have.”
Tom laughed at her words of wisdom. “Are you sure you haven’t been attending some U.S. Navy training courses? Because you sure seem like you’re giving me a formal pep talk.”
Caitlin tucked her good foot up beneath her body and watched him. He liked that she was relaxed. Sometimes he got the feeling that he made her jumpy.
“Once you come to terms with it, I’ll put money down that you’ll love it.”
“How much?” he joked. “I’ll match you dollar for dollar on that bet.”
Caitlin waved her hand at him and hauled herself to her feet again, looking the least graceful he’d ever seen her as she tried to keep the weight off her sore ankle. “Come on, let’s go. I don’t want to make a bad first impression on your mom by being late.”
Tom leaped to attention, taking her by the elbow to help her walk. “Once she sees you, there’ll be no checking the time. She’ll get all flustered and flap about in the kitchen like she’s a bird about to take flight.”
Caitlin rolled her eyes. “Even more reason for you to have phoned ahead and told her,” she insisted.
Tom just grinned and opened the door before flicking the lock and pulling it behind them. But he couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said.
First impression. Jeez . Did that mean she wanted to make another impression on his family? That she was thinking about seeing him again?
Had he been too quick to ask her over? Tom stilled his fingers even though they were itching to tug through his hair, ignored the part of him that was freaked out.
When they’d lost a man in the field, when the ringing in his ears wouldn’t stop and when it had been replaced with almost silence, he’d thought his life was permanently dislodged onto the wrong track. Like a train veering off on the wrong line, with no hope of being pointed back in the right direction.
But he felt as if Caitlin was changing the rules, tugging at those invisible boundaries. As if she was testing him, pushing and pulling him in different directions, and he wasn’t disliking it. Wasn’t sure what the hell was happening, but not disliking it. He’d overreacted the other night, and he still felt bad about that. After so many months of everyone around him trying to pretend that they understood loss, as if they could comprehend how much he’d lost this last year, he’d snapped. He should have kept his feelings in check, but he hadn’t and Caitlin had borne the brunt of it.
But not again. She deserved to be treated better than that, he’d just had to figure out where exactly he was heading and what his intentions were.
There was a chance here that he could move on. That he could go back in time to when he was at peace with his life, when demons weren’t chasing him in the night. To have a
He patted the cat some more instead of running his eyes up and down her body. Even in bare feet she looked perfect, all tiny and delicate, her hair still pulled up into a high ponytail that fell halfway down her back.
“Are we talking about me or you right now?” she asked.
She was smarter than he’d given her credit for.
“I’m struggling with the whole teaching thing,” he admitted. “I guess I’d never really thought about being the teacher. I’ve never had a problem learning, pushing myself to do better, but being on the other side is…”
“Different, I know,” she finished for him.
“You do?”
Caitlin hopped some more and fell into the chair beside him. “Once you realize how important your job is, you’ll make peace with it.”
Tom doubted he would ever prefer teaching over being in the field, but right now he didn’t have much choice. “So you think I’ll like it better than the real thing one day?”
She shook her head, a gentle smile telling him no. “I doubt it. But without great teachers, no one succeeds, so whatever you’re teaching you have to make sure you’re the best leader your pupils can have.”
Tom laughed at her words of wisdom. “Are you sure you haven’t been attending some U.S. Navy training courses? Because you sure seem like you’re giving me a formal pep talk.”
Caitlin tucked her good foot up beneath her body and watched him. He liked that she was relaxed. Sometimes he got the feeling that he made her jumpy.
“Once you come to terms with it, I’ll put money down that you’ll love it.”
“How much?” he joked. “I’ll match you dollar for dollar on that bet.”
Caitlin waved her hand at him and hauled herself to her feet again, looking the least graceful he’d ever seen her as she tried to keep the weight off her sore ankle. “Come on, let’s go. I don’t want to make a bad first impression on your mom by being late.”
Tom leaped to attention, taking her by the elbow to help her walk. “Once she sees you, there’ll be no checking the time. She’ll get all flustered and flap about in the kitchen like she’s a bird about to take flight.”
Caitlin rolled her eyes. “Even more reason for you to have phoned ahead and told her,” she insisted.
Tom just grinned and opened the door before flicking the lock and pulling it behind them. But he couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said.
First impression. Jeez . Did that mean she wanted to make another impression on his family? That she was thinking about seeing him again?
Had he been too quick to ask her over? Tom stilled his fingers even though they were itching to tug through his hair, ignored the part of him that was freaked out.
When they’d lost a man in the field, when the ringing in his ears wouldn’t stop and when it had been replaced with almost silence, he’d thought his life was permanently dislodged onto the wrong track. Like a train veering off on the wrong line, with no hope of being pointed back in the right direction.
But he felt as if Caitlin was changing the rules, tugging at those invisible boundaries. As if she was testing him, pushing and pulling him in different directions, and he wasn’t disliking it. Wasn’t sure what the hell was happening, but not disliking it. He’d overreacted the other night, and he still felt bad about that. After so many months of everyone around him trying to pretend that they understood loss, as if they could comprehend how much he’d lost this last year, he’d snapped. He should have kept his feelings in check, but he hadn’t and Caitlin had borne the brunt of it.
But not again. She deserved to be treated better than that, he’d just had to figure out where exactly he was heading and what his intentions were.
There was a chance here that he could move on. That he could go back in time to when he was at peace with his life, when demons weren’t chasing him in the night. To have a
Similar Books
