e’d been constantly nervous, looking around for Ethan and dodging all the teasing comments from friends. Kelly had backed off as t

nd it almost seemed like he was looking f

t. ‘Of course he would be at a major festival

all day to do much daydreaming, and she was grateful. She managed to get her class back into learning m

head into the classroom, noticing Anna busy

done though,”

night?” As

bought at the festival that I think I’ll just heat

re’s nothing you want to chat about?” As usual,

don’t have the energ

all this week, so we’ll get togeth

tomorrow,” Anna called ou

you,

minutes before she went back to finishing up her work. Finally, s

ridge. ‘An easy dinner, and a good one, too,’ she thought, pulling out the Styrofoam packages and arrang

st prize!” Suddenly, her doorbell rang. “Well, who co

g delivery boy holding an oversized vas

?” Anna

y young person in town knew the woman

ng into her pocket to hand the

d, handing her the fl

d he know where I lived?’ she thought, instantly answering her own quest

erself so that she didn’t have to hold back her excitement. Sammy looked up at h

g a drink. I’d love to get together for dinner so we can talk mor

her ex-boyfriend Alan, and she was just starting to get to the point where she could go about her day without bad me

is house. It’s not just petting kittens, you know. It’s a business, and you need brains to run a business. You need to think things through before you start having crazy ideas, Anna.” Alan had said that to her after she had op

tiny hometown. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to teach. She loved her students and felt like her job was meaningful. She just

relationship had gone through many stages, and at one point, she had been convinced that she sho

s, always calling Anna crazy for any idea she would tell him about. She finally stopped telling him anything, and soon she felt like a robot, blindly o

could she ever go through all that again? Starting a new relationship could end i

lly,” she said aloud to Sammy,