Happy Book Birthday Love Lights the Way!

 I cannot believe it's finally here! Love Lights the Way is released! Woohoo! Happy Book Birthday! I hope you all love it as much as I do. I thought it might be fun to celebrate and share the first chapter with you! Yay!

Love Lights the Way

Copyright 2024 Julie Coulter Bellon

Chapter One

Karissa looked out over the tables and desks, a buzz of energy going through the classroom—something was up. Even though it was almost the weekend and the second to last class period of the day, this particular buzz was something more than that. What was going on? Her students were all heads down, working on their assignment, with no conversation at all. That in itself was strange. In her eight years of teaching tenth and eleventh grades in high school, that rarely happened. This particular class was one of Karissa’s favorites, though. Her students were curious and funny and she was enjoying teaching them this semester. But right now, even the table with four students that normally had to be told to settle down several times a class was bent over their papers, silently working away. Yep, something was definitely up.

Karissa stood and started her circuit around the classroom. Usually at least a couple of students had their phones balanced on their legs, trying to reply to a text or watch a video, but everyone seemed completely focused on the assignment---and the room was so quiet she could hear the wind blowing through the leafless trees outside. Even though it was almost February, the relentlessly cold and snowy weather had made everything more dreary than normal. She sighed, looking over her shoulder as a few students whispered to each other as she passed. This was getting stranger by the minute. Karissa started back to her desk and just as she rounded the dented corner of it, Michael, stood up and walked toward her. “Ms. Mead?”

She stopped and leaned her hip on the worn edge of the desk. This was more normal. “Do you need some help, Michael?”

His best friend Logan jumped up to stand beside him, putting his hand on his shoulder. “I’ll handle this, Ms. Mead.”

Her eyebrows drew together, but she kept a smile pasted on her face. Where were they going with this? Every eye in the classroom was on them now. Michael knelt down with Logan standing in front of him, but he popped back up with aviator sunglasses on and a wireless microphone in his hand.  A girl at their table, Camille, held up a portable speaker and Michael extended his arm and pointed at her while he belted out the words to, “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling,” while dancing like Tom Cruise had in Top Gun.  The rest of the class joined in on singing the chorus and Karissa couldn’t keep the grin off her face as they all got into it.

When they quieted down, she shook her head and said with mock severity. “Have you guys been watching Top Gun on repeat again?” They all laughed.

“Maverick’s too old for me, but Rooster’s hot,” someone shouted from the back. “I’d watch him every day if I could.”

“Wouldn’t we all,” Karissa agreed. “What’s this all about?”

Michael and Logan still had their sunglasses on. Camille put down the speaker and joined them at Karissa’s desk.

“Ms. Mead,” Michael began. “I heard my mom talking to Logan’s mom that you had your heart broken once and even though you’ve been trying to date, nothing is working out. You might never find someone and we’re about three weeks away from Valentine’s Day.”

Karissa resisted the urge to roll her eyes at how casually her students mentioned their moms were talking about her. That’s how life was in Lincoln. The town was just small enough that everyone knew everyone’s business and weren’t afraid to talk about it. “Well, that’s nice of your mother to be concerned, but everything is just fine. I’m doing fine.” And how would Michael’s mom know anything about her dating life anyway? Karissa was a pretty private person.

Camille stepped toward her, holding out a small wooden carving. “My family is originally from New Orleans and everyone said my great-grandma was a witch. This talisman has been passed down through our family for generations because it draws true love to the person who holds it. So, I brought it for you.” She lifted it higher. It was a carving of a person with a very long face, the eyes squished nearly closed and its mouth opened wide like it was screaming. Karissa stared at it for a moment. That’s definitely what dating felt like sometimes.

“It looks weird, but if you get true love out of it, that won’t matter.” Camille glanced around at her classmates. “I know it’ll work.”

Logan slung his arm around Camille. “That’s why we did all this for you. With Valentine’s Day coming up and dating not going great, we wanted to help you out. You’re our favorite teacher.”

Karissa smiled and took the carving. “You’re all so sweet! Thank you so much for all of this. I don’t even know what to say, but I probably shouldn’t take such a valuable gift from your family.” She started to hand it back to Camille, but she backed up a step and didn’t take it.

“We’ll just say you’re borrowing it. And you can’t just carry it around with you. In order to bring out the spell that casts true love on you, there are a few things you have to do while you’re holding it. We could do it right now. Get things started.” Camille took a breath and put a pleading look on her face. “It won’t take long, I promise.”

Karissa glanced at the clock. They still had ten minutes of class. “What kinds of things do I have to do?” Karissa asked. She could only imagine what Camille was going to say.

Camille bit her lip. “You have to hold it up in front of you, take a deep breath in and hold it for eight seconds, then release it and say, “If it is to be, send true love to me,” three times while you’re jumping backwards eight steps. Then you hold it up as high as you can and say, “so be it, so be it, and so it is, while you shimmy and shake your booty.” Her wide eyes implored Karissa to do it. “It won’t be hard at all.”

Well, that didn’t sound too hard. A little weird maybe. She rolled her neck. It meant so much to the kids, how could she not do it? “Okay.” Karissa held up the carving, wondering how old it really was. “Are you sure this is going to work?”

“The spell’s been passed down in my family for generations,” Camille said with all the confidence she could muster. “My mom says it worked for her when she met my dad. My older sister used it and she’s married now. Maybe you’ll at least get a valentine out of it.”

“All right, let’s do this.” What could it hurt? The dates Karissa had been on lately had been dismal. She raised the talisman and took a deep breath and held it in for the requisite eight seconds. Letting it out she chanted three times, “if it is to be, send true love to me,” and jumped backward eight steps---which wasn’t as easy as she’d thought since she was in heels. Karissa was right by the door when she held the talisman up as high as she could and chanted, “so be it, so be it, and so it is.” Then she shimmied and shook her booty, laughing as the kids cheered her on.

A throat cleared right behind her, startling Karissa. “Oh!” she yelped.

Whirling on the man standing there, she nearly tripped over her own feet, but at the last second grabbed onto the doorway for support. Untangling herself, she tried not to stare at the gorgeous man in uniform that was standing in her doorway with his hand out as if he might catch her. A red flush crept up her neck. No doubt he’d had a front row seat to her booty-shaking. Not the first impression she usually made. Who was he? What was he doing here? Could the love spell have worked so quickly?

“Can I help you?” The question came out a little breathless and Karissa inhaled. Pull it together, she told herself.

“I’m here for Ms. Mead.” His deep voice rumbled through her and she took a step back as her class erupted, talking over each other.

“The love spell worked! Hey, Camille, can I try it? He’s hotter than Rooster,” filtered through to Karissa.

She squeezed the wood carving in her hand. “You’ve found me. I’m Ms. Mead.” Inwardly, she cringed at her high-pitched voice. He was not here because of Camille’s love spell. There was a logical explanation, she was sure.

“I’m sorry for interrupting . . . whatever it is you were demonstrating.” He shifted on his feet as if he were uncomfortable and she cringed again, knowing he was probably remembering the booty-shaking she’d been “demonstrating” when he came in. “I’m Officer Wright, a new addition to the Lincoln Police Department. I’ll be the new school liaison and Principal Larsen said I should come and introduce myself when the bell rang. I guess I was a little early.” His gaze scanned the classroom and he didn’t meet her eyes. The embarrassment she was already feeling amped up and her cheeks were on fire with mortification.

“Yes, well, we were just demonstrating ancient practices from early American New Orleans.” Karissa moved back toward her desk. Camille, Logan, and Michael hustled to theirs as well, looking back at their new school liaison with grins on their faces.  

Before she could sit down a teenager appeared in the doorway, so she turned and walked closer to the door. “Hi, I’m Ms. Mead. Can I help you?”

He was wearing a navy-blue button-down shirt and brand-new jeans. He shuffled his feet in his obviously new Nike shoes, but looked her in the eye. “I’m Roman Price, I’m new at Lincoln.”

“Welcome, Roman. The bell is about to ring, but I can get you a textbook and a packet of what we’ve been working on.” She glanced at Officer Wright who was still standing near the door, just watching her. She resisted the urge to bite her lip and looked away. Hurrying to the bookshelf in the corner, she pulled out a textbook and brought it back to Roman. “We’re in Chapter 14, the Civil War. If you read the first ten pages over the weekend, I can help you with any questions you have. You’ll need to bring a binder, pen, and paper to every class. And hopefully a smile.”

He met her eyes, but didn’t smile. Not even a hint of one. She tried again, making her own smile a bit wider. Maybe he hadn’t heard her and this wasn’t as awkward as it felt.

Nothing.

She didn’t dare look at Officer Wright, but could feel his gaze on her watching this whole exchange. Could this moment get any worse? “Okay, well, let me know if you have any questions. I know it’s hard starting a new school more than halfway through the year, but I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

He nodded and the bell rang. Everyone stood up and gathered their things. Roman took the textbook carefully in his hand and pulled a paper out of his pocket. Michael walked up. “What class do you have next?”

“English,” Roman said, his voice low.

Michael looked at Roman’s slip of paper. “You’ve got Mr. Dalton. I can show you where his class is if you want.”

Relief flickered over Roman’s face. “That’d be great.”

They walked out together and Karissa was glad. She really did have great kids in her class. Even when they were giving her love spells to help with her dating life. Which reminded her. She turned to Officer Wright. “Sorry about the wait.”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry for being early. I just wanted to say hello and let you know that we’ll be doing a safety assembly in a couple of weeks. I’m happy to cover any topics you think need to be addressed.” His tone was professional and polite, which is what she needed to be going forward, especially after the first impression she’d made.

“Okay, I’ll let you know if I think of anything.” She turned away and walked over to her desk, but didn’t sit down. “Thanks for coming down to my classroom.” She wasn’t going to be embarrassed or apologize, she decided. She’d been having fun with her class and hadn’t expected a witness.

He nodded and turned to go, but before he opened the door he leaned back slightly. “You know, I wish my teachers in high school had demonstrated New Orleans spells like you were doing. That would have made class a lot more interesting.” He gave her a half-smile.  

She raised her eyebrows and a little laugh escaped. “Thanks. You didn’t exactly catch me at my best teaching moment.”

His mouth tipped up into a full smile, revealing a small dimple in his left cheek. “I beg to differ. The kids were completely engaged.” He tapped the doorframe with his hand. “It was nice to meet you. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”

He walked out and Karissa stared at the empty doorway. Uncurling her fingers, she set the carving on her desk and stared at the strange little face on the talisman. What had just happened? But there was no time to think any more about Officer Wright or his dimple as her next class started to file in.

Thankfully the last class period of the day flew by and before she knew it, the bell rang. With no teacher meetings today, she could go home. Thank goodness it was the weekend.

She slowly walked down the halls of Lincoln High School, passing the English classrooms. She thought about popping her head in to Drew Dalton’s classroom to ask how it had gone with Roman, but before she could, she saw Drew just inside the doorway with Tori. He had his arm around her and was listening closely to something she’d said, then both of them laughed.

Karissa pulled her coat tighter around herself and turned away, a little tendril of loneliness creeping in on her. She’d had a crush on Drew for years and it had taken her a long time to truly get over him. She’d been happy he’d found Tori and their little family was growing, but it still stung a little bit that she’d never found anyone. She wouldn’t be going home to someone who’d want to hear about her day. The only living thing waiting for her at home was a plant she was barely keeping alive. Thoughts of Officer Wright popped into her head and she imagined coming home to that dimpled smile. She wouldn’t mind that at all. Shaking her head, she tried to clear the image from her mind. She’d just met the man!

Picking up the pace she made it through the snowy slush to the parking lot and unlocked her car. Before she could get in, Mick, the school’s woodshop teacher, waved from a few cars over, “Hey Karissa!”

She turned and pasted a smile on her face. “Hey.” Mick had helped her through a lot of tough times and was a good friend. But he’d also found love recently. Everyone she knew seemed to have found their person and that point was being driven home today for some reason.

Mick leaned over the top of his car, his keys jangling in his hand. “I’m headed to Salt Lake to pick up Olivia from work. Sounds like she had a rough day in court. Do you have any big plans tonight?”

“Nope. Just going to make myself some dinner and turn on Netflix.” She tried to keep her tone light, but she just wanted to get home and forget today happened. “See you Monday.” She gave another little wave and got in her car. Mick was still standing there, as if he’d wanted to say more, but Karissa couldn’t talk about his plans with his fiancée. Not today when her students were trying to “help” her with her dating life because their moms were gossiping about her lack of one. It was still a bit humiliating, even though her students’ hearts were in the right place.

It didn’t take long to drive from the high school to her house. She drove up the driveway, a bit of pride working its way up inside her. She’d bought the home last year. It was older, but had so much character. She’d been restoring it a little at a time and loved bringing it to life again. And it gave her an outlet for when she needed to feel like there was more to her life than teaching and Netflix.

Parking the car, she grabbed her workbag and picked her way up the snow-dusted front porch steps. I should probably shovel those before it freezes or something, she reminded herself. She unlocked the door and went inside. Weak sunlight shone through the drapes and she put her bag on the couch and sat down, taking off her heels and flexing her feet. She lay back against the pillows and let the smallest bit of sun shine down on her face for a moment. The warmth felt good, like the hug she needed, washing away any last bits of humiliation from being gossiped about or embarrassment at dancing in front of the new school officer. He definitely had bad timing. Or maybe the spell worked and his timing was perfect, a little voice inside her whispered. She didn’t dare think too hard about that. She didn’t even know if Officer Wright was single.

Her phone dinged, and she looked at the notification. It was the new dating app she’d signed up for yesterday. She opened it to see who she’d matched with, a tiny spark of hope in her chest. Maybe this day wouldn’t end badly after all. Maybe this match could be the one and she wouldn’t be thinking about Officer Wright like that anymore. She pressed on the heart to open up the man’s profile and just stared for a moment.

It was a shirtless and very hairy man cradling a frozen ham in his arms like a baby.

She set the phone down and closed her eyes. There was nothing wrong with a hairy man who obviously loved ham, but he just wasn’t for her. She let out a deep, frustrated sigh. Apparently, no one was, at this point. Leaving her phone on the couch, she walked back to her bedroom, but stopped at the mirror in the hall. Maybe it was her. She wasn’t as thin as she used to be. A few more curves here and there. But she still worked out regularly, went for runs on good weather days. Her hair could use a trim, though she liked how there was a little natural wave in it. But the dark circles under her eyes and the smudged lipstick showed the day she’d had. With a sigh, she ran her fingers through her hair, pulling out some tangles. Maybe after some dinner, she’d feel better.

She changed into some comfy sweats and one of her oldest t-shirts, then made her way into the kitchen. Despite the house being nearly a hundred years old, the kitchen had been updated with new appliances. Karissa got out her lasagna pan. After a day like today, she wanted gooey, filled-with-carbs lasagna like her grandma used to make.

Once the lasagna was in the oven, she used the time to grade the papers she’d brought home with her. The house smelled wonderful, and she felt cozy wrapped up in her favorite soft blanket on the couch. It wasn’t a bad life, really. Just one she wanted to share with someone.

The buzzer on the oven went off and Karissa took the lasagna out of the oven. It was one of her best with all the melted cheese layered over soft noodles. Deciding she didn’t want to eat alone, she put four large portions on a plate, in case anyone wanted seconds, grabbed the Caesar salad from her fridge and threw on her coat, heading next door. Mary Nelson was an older woman who also lived alone and they’d shared meals before. Maybe she was in the mood for some company, too.

Juggling the plate and salad over her now somewhat icy steps, Karissa managed to walk across her yard and knock on her neighbor’s door. “Mary, it’s Karissa. I’ve brought you something.”

There was silence in answer to her call, and Karissa started to get worried. Had she fallen? Was everything okay? Mary rarely left the house. Trying to peek in the front window, Karissa nearly dropped the dishes in her hand. “Mary?”

Heavy footsteps sounded and the front door swung open. She looked up into the face of Officer Wright. He still had the same look on his face that he’d first had when she met him in her classroom doorway---his jaw set in granite and no smile on his face. She missed the dimple already. “Can I help you?” he asked.

Had she come to the wrong house? No, she was definitely next door to her own. “I’m looking for Mary.” Her voice sounded breathless.

        Mary came up from behind the man and peeked out at her. “Oh, Karissa, you’ve brought dinner!

 Thank you. I see you’ve already met my grandson, Benson.”

Get your copy HERE