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Dillon is determined to speak with Amelia again, but will he be able to convince her that they belong together? Read Chapter Nineteen!

"Please sit down, Mr. Holden, and I'd be happy to discuss this with you," Amelia said, trying to pacify the annoyed parent standing beside her desk. Tammy Holden looked mortified that her father had interrupted their tutoring session that afternoon, instead of waiting out front for them to finish.

Chet Holden sat, not returning Amelia's encouraging smile.

"As I said yesterday," Amelia began again. "I have no way to guarantee that Tammy will be promoted to second grade. That decision is her teacher's, and it depends on a host of other requirements in addition to math. What I can tell you is—"

"That's a load of bull," the man blustered. Tammy winced at her father's raised voice. "My girl's doing fine in all her other subjects, and you're supposed to be the math expert in this school. You either know how Tammy's doing or you don't. If you can't tell me if all this extra, after-school work is paying off, then maybe they need to find themselves someone else to do your job?"

"Well, that's going to be pretty tough to do," a rough voice said from the open doorway. Dillon stepped into the classroom, glaring at the other man. When he turned his gaze toward Amelia, though, his deep brown eyes singed her with a wave of pride she'd never seen before. “Mrs. Reed is hands down the best teacher I've ever run across, so I don't see how the school board could possibly afford to replace her."

"Now look here, Sheriff," Chet said, as he fidgeted in his chair. "I wasn't meaning nothing personal—"

"Of course not." Dillon rested a hand on the back of Amelia's chair. Just the sight of him, after her almost unbearable need to talk with him all day, momentarily robbed her of the ability to speak for herself. "You were trying to do what was best for your child, Chet. And I admire that. But what you have to understand is that that's exactly what Mrs. Reed is doing. Helping Tammy is her number-one concern. You've got to trust that she's doing what's best."

Chet swallowed. Tammy buried her head in the arms she'd folded across her desk. Amelia wasn't sure exactly how to react. Hearing Dillon say she was irreplaceable at the school, hearing him say how much she should be trusted to do the right thing—it was like a dream come true, a dream she wasn't sure how to believe.

Chet sighed, then he stuck out his chin. "I still need an answer 'cause I can't keep taking time off work if this after-school business isn't doing any good."

"Oh, but it is," Amelia said, finding her voice for the sake of the embarrassed little girl who'd remained silent throughout her father's tirade. "Tammy, show your daddy your math test from class today."

Tammy's head poked up, and after a nod of encouragement from Amelia, she fished a rumpled paper from her knapsack. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and hesitantly passed the graded addition test to her father. Chet blinked. He looked up at Amelia and a grin split his face as he beamed at his daughter.

"A ninety-five!" he exclaimed. "Tammy, that's great. That's really great, darlin'."

Tammy fell into his open arms, smiling with pride at both her accomplishment and his praise. Tammy was going to be okay, Amelia assured herself. As long as the little girl had her parents' support and encouragement, she was going to be fine.

As Chet helped his daughter gather her things to leave, Amelia looked up into her soon-to-be-ex-husband's eyes and marveled at all he'd just said about her.

What was he doing here?

"I'll see you tomorrow, Tammy," Amelia said over the lump in her throat, as the father-and-daughter pair left.

She smiled in response to Chet's gruff thank you and waved a final goodbye to the little girl, and then found herself alone with her husband in the classroom. Dillon wedged himself into one of the small chairs set around the kid-sized tables. Staring at the tabletop, he seemed to be chewing on whatever he'd come to say.

"Dillon, thank you for—"

"Don't," he interrupted her, his tone so harsh she flinched. "Damn it, Ame, don't thank me. Slap me upside the head, yell at me some more, do anything but thank me. I didn't do anything just now but finally let myself see the truth about everything you do here, and why it's so important that you keep doing it. For kids like Tammy, and for yourself. I can't believe I asked you to give this up."

"I…thank you…I…I don't know what to say." She felt like crying and squealing with delight all at the same time. She was almost dizzy with the conflicting emotions.

"Say it's not too late," he demanded in a shaky voice she'd never heard her brave husband use before. "God, say you really haven't given up on us for good."

To be continued…

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