Country Mile

WITH YOU

Breakfast was eaten in comfortable silence as any hard feelings were finally put aside. Adam's eyes closely surveyed each of the beautiful faces that graced his table. Though each one seemed to be having a moment of inward reflection, it was Anne who sat rigid in her seat. Her hazel eyes unfocused from a mind deep in thought...

— ANNE'S POV —

Stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

How could I have been so damn stupid?!

I'm a teacher for Christ's sake! I know exactly how I should have handled things. I should have done just as he said.

Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a mom. Which is fine, because I'm not supposed to be mothering.

I can't help but to glance at Adam as his words echoed in my mind for the hundredth time. As soon as I look up, his sights are already set upon me. Those intense blue eyes send shivers down my spine and the heat radiating from all different places in my body has my head swirling.

Adam breaks eye contact with me and looks around the table. "Is everyone finished?"

Soft yeses are given in reply and I nod my head. His eyes fall right back onto me and his brows furrow expectantly.

I clear my throat. "Yes," I answer aloud.

"Alright then. Delilah, Genevieve, you girls clean up." His voice is gruff, and he surprises me when he adds, "Anne and I are goin' for a little walk."

"We are?" I ask.

"We are."

I rise from my seat and give the girls a small smile as they watch with wide eyes as we put on our coats and boots. I grab the handle to the back door when Adam's hand suddenly wraps around my arm and tugs me to a halt. I look up at him just as he places my hat on me.

I can't stop the blush that I know heats up my face. "Thank you," I whisper.

He gives a stiff nod and opens the door for me, following me outside and down the steps.

"So where are we going?" I ask, my tone light as if I'm not about to get an earful.

"Just down the driveway and back."

His tone is still gritty and I look up at him with a sigh.

"Adam, what is it? I thought things were okay, since you.. you.. ya know."

Adam smiles at my inability to put a name to what had just happened. I felt my face flush hotter and I look away from his dimpled grin.

"Everything's fine, I just figured we needed to talk about some things. Set some rules down so somethin' like this don't happen again."

"Oh, okay."

He let out a breath, and I listen as the sound of frozen earth crunches beneath our boots.

"I know your heart was in the right place when you made that call."

I nodded. It was. I may not be a mom, and I wasn't necessarily 'mothering', but I am by nature a nurturer. I nurture the minds of students every day and I've always yearned to do more. To have someone like Adam, and be more than just a teacher to a child one day. Of course I've never discussed this with him so he wouldn't know, but somehow he still understood my intentions were good.

"That bein' said," Adam continues, "I think we, as a couple, need to know exactly what's expected of each other."

"Okay. I'm sure you have a laundry list already tucked away in your mind so, have at it." The words came out sharper than I had intended, but then again I wasn't used to being told what to do. Telling others what to do was my job.