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.”
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