Page 59 of Promises We Meant to Keep
“Elia…” Kamryn whispered.
“Hmm?”
“Not to be a pain, but do you think we can still make the reservation?” Kamryn kissed Elia’s cheek and then along her jawline. “I promise that we’ll come back tonight and do more of this, but I’m really hungry.”
As if on cue, Kamryn’s stomach growled. Elia’s lips twitched upward into a smile. “We can call and see, but I’m going to need a few minutes to freshen up.”
“Perfect,” Kamryn bent down and kissed her again. “And I promise we’ll pick up right where we left off when we get back.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“Never,” Kamryn winked. She backed away from Elia and then helped her to sit up a bit.
Elia took a few extra breaths with her feet solidly on the ground before she managed to remember what she was supposed to be doing. Right, calling the restaurant. She stood up and rummaged through her purse to find her phone. When sheturned back around, Kamryn was staring at her with a hungry look in her eyes—and it definitely wasn’t for food this time.
“What?” Elia asked.
“You look damn good and fucked.” Kamryn’s smile turned bright and brilliant, gracing her entire face.
Elia couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up inside of her as she headed toward the bathroom. She’d deal with Kamryn in a minute.
twenty-one
Kamryn pushed back in the chair, her toe digging into the floor of the conference room. The all-staff meeting was just about done, and she’d had to work damn hard at not staring at Elia throughout the entire meeting.
Unfortunately, Elia had chosen not to sit next to her but almost directly across from her. Giving Kamryn the perfect view of the prim and proper English teacher that she most definitely had a massive crush on right now. Kamryn couldn’t stop the smile sliding over her lips from that thought.
Their dinner had been amazing.
And their night afterward had kept them both up into the wee hours of the morning before they’d crashed and crawled out of bed the next morning. The walk of shame had definitely been worth it. Kamryn couldn’t have asked for a better night, or a better first date. It’d been a while since she’d been on a date, since the last time she and Lauren had broken up. But this one had definitely been worth it.
Elia thought so too.
At least, she’d shared as much during the morning shower, which was perhaps becoming a bit of a routine for them. Kamryn could live with that. It felt good to take the down time where theycould be close but not sexually primed for whatever was coming next. It was simple and intimate.
“I think we’ll have a really good send-off for the winter break if we keep this up,” Kamryn added. They’d gone through just about everything that was coming up between now and then, and hell if she didn’t admit that time was passing quickly. “I did want to officially let you know that Dr. Waddy will not be returning to Windermere. He won’t be healthy enough to come back for at least a year while he’s in recovery, and he and Maria decided that it was time for him to retire.”
There was an audible gasp in the room. The faculty couldn’t have honestly thought that he’d be returning, right? Kamryn had hoped that he would be when she’d started, but after seeing how long it took for him to leave the ICU and then for him to be discharged from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility—which had only just happened last week—surely they couldn’t expect him to make a full recovery before then?
“I’m sure that Maria will be grateful for any help when she decides they’ll be moving. I’ll get more information about that when I can. But she’s going to need all of the support that we can give her during this time. We’re her family here, and we won’t let Miller or Maria forget that.”
“Will we have a sending-off party of sorts?” someone in the back of the room asked. Kamryn wasn’t quite sure who it was, but she would figure that out later.
“We’ll check with Maria and see what would be most useful for them. I don’t want to overburden them at this critical time. But I also know that the closure for us would be helpful.” Faculty nodded along in the room, agreeing with what Kamryn had said. “Right, so if that’s everything, I’ll see you all together in the same room in a couple of weeks for our next meeting.”
Kamryn started to pack up her satchel just like everyone else in the room as they started to file out to get back to theirregular routines. She glanced up to try and catch Elia before she walked out, but she didn’t manage to make it in time. Frowning, Kamryn finished packing up her stuff, talked with a few of the other faculty members who had stayed for some more personal conversation and then headed back to her office.
What was she supposed to do now? Because she did actually need to talk to Elia about some things with the Speech team, including who was going to replace her as Elia’s co-lead when Kamryn was no longer working at Windermere.
Kamryn quickly checked Elia’s class schedule, noting that she didn’t have any classes going on at the moment. That was pure dumb luck. Stepping toward her door, she glanced at Mrs. Caldera and nodded. “I’ll be out for an hour.”
“I’ll hold your calls,” Mrs. Caldera responded. “You really should think about putting together some sort of going-away gift for Maria and Miller. The faculty would appreciate it.”
“Right.” Kamryn slid her hands along her hips. “I’ll figure something out.”
Except she didn’t really know Miller Waddy that well, and what she did know of him didn’t exactly tell her what she should be getting him as gift. He was disorganized, could definitely use a calendar or three, and he really needed a new office chair. But that was the extent of her knowledge. He hadn’t been at the school when she was a student, and she hadn’t actually met him in person yet.
She’d have to ask Elia. Surely, she’d have more of an idea what thatsomethingcould be.
