Sunrise at Sunset by Jaz Primo Read Free Book Online Page B

able to contact Garett for me.
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    The last two weeks of the semester passed very quickly. And while Caleb felt a sense of accomplishment at having successfully taught his first semester for the college, he was somewhat remorseful that one particular evening history section was coming to an end. On the last class meeting, he passed out the final exams. He lingered at Katrina’s location for a moment longer than the others, smiling down at her with a hopeful, yet melancholy pause as he sat the exam before her.
    Katrina felt an emotional stab of pain reach to her heart as she took in his expression, and she returned a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, I studied,” she offered with a wink. He smiled genuinely, and it warmed her heart for a moment. She couldn’t read his thoughts, but she had accurately assessed his mood.
    As was customary, Katrina finished before anyone else. She brought the exam to the front of the room as more than one set of eyes in the classroom followed her. She placed it onto the podium in front of Caleb while her eyes never left his, and she offered him a generous smile. With her back to the class, it was discreet enough that nobody was the wiser.
    I’ll miss you , he silently declared as he stared into her beautiful green eyes, wishing that propriety didn’t prevent him from whispering his thoughts out loud to her.
    Her hand faltered as it hovered over the exam that she placed before him. Her smile faded as she read every emotion in his pale blue eyes, which seemed to call to her in an almost helpless manner. As she withdrew her hand with a quick, smooth motion, she managed to caress the tips of her fingers gracefully across the top of his hand as he gripped the side of the podium. She audibly heard his heartbeat skip in that instant, and she smiled slyly at him and nodded her head ever so slightly before turning to walk away.
    He watched her go with his eyes, even as his face was tilted towards the top of the podium, and his mind raced with the desire to call her name. However, he remained silent and turned his gaze to the remaining students with a sigh.
    Caleb spent the next week grading exams, meeting with students regarding their grades, and trying to bring order to the chaos often accompanying the end of a semester. It was the first time he had experienced the process completely from the opposite side of the podium, and he gained immediate sympathy for his previous college professors.
    He sighed. On top of the hectic pace at work, Melanie was annoyed with him. His responsibilities had ruined her plans for them to join some of her friends on a weekend getaway trip to Florida. He tried to explain that his evenings and upcoming weekend would be swamped with a litany of semester-ending activities, but she brokered no sympathy for him. Never mind that in October it’s too late to fully appreciate the beaches.
    On Thursday evening, he sat alone at his office desk wearing a pair of blue jeans and dark blue T-shirt with the college’s name emblazoned across the front of it in large white letters. He had just finished posting the grades for his evening history class, in which Katrina made a perfect “A.” Her accomplishment, while uncanny, somehow failed to surprise him. He found her to be quite a remarkable woman at many levels. Melanie would kill me just for thinking that, he realized.
    His cell phone rang, and he noticed it was Melanie’s number. Speak of the devil , he mused.
    “Hey, what’s up?” he absently asked as he filed away some graded essays in a small filing cabinet drawer for safekeeping.
    “Hi,” she replied in a surprisingly perky manner.
    Everything must be forgiven , he resolved.
    “So, I was wondering,” she tentatively ventured, “How would you feel if I went ahead and joined my friends on the Jacksonville trip this weekend? I mean, you’re just going to be distracted most of the time with school stuff anyway, right?”
    He considered her logic with a raised