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parents straighten in their seats. But she couldn’t let him believe, not for one minute, that his father wouldn’t love him, wouldn’t want him, if he knew about him. She’d told him before that his daddy lived somewhere else and that he’d see him one day. That’d been enough to satisfy his mind, before he was nearly six, and before he’d grown up so much.
    That wasn’t enough anymore.
    â€œIt hasn’t worked out yet for your daddy to meet you and love you and be a part of your life,” she said. “But God has a plan, and one day, He will work it out for you to meet your daddy, and it’s going to be a great day.” She hoped. And prayed.
    Please, God, let it be a great day.
    Nathan turned in the seat and his face split into the snaggletoothed grin that she loved and the sweet little dimple in his left cheek reminded her of Chad.
    â€œWill he play baseball with me?”
    Jessica blinked through the new moisture around her eyes. “Definitely.”
    â€œAnd take me to eat ice cream?” The gold flecks in those deep green eyes sparkled with excitement.
    â€œOf course.”
    Nathan nodded again, satisfied, then he twisted back toward the window and whispered, “I’m gonna love him.”

Chapter Four
    J essica changed her clothes three times Tuesday afternoon before finally deciding on a green cable sweater, blue jeans and short boots. Not too dressy but nice enough for coffee, she thought. And when Nathan had claimed she looked “very pretty,” that was a sign she’d hit the mark. Of course, Nathan always said she looked pretty, even when she’d just woken up, her hair was a mess and she had mascara smears under her eyes. But that was part of his little boy charm, the fact that he believed his mommy was perfect.
    She walked across the quad toward her second class and glanced toward the Math and Science building, the building where Chad was most likely teaching his courses. She hadn’t thought to ask him what classes he taught, and she’d realized earlier today that she hadn’t thought to ask how she would find him after her class. Nor had they exchanged cell numbers in case their plans changed.
    She laughed softly. She was way out of practice with the whole guy-girl thing. Then again, the only guy she’dever had any type of relationship with was Chad. Which was probably why she’d been a bundle of nerves all day.
    Thankfully, the fact that it was her first day at the day care center kept her busy enough throughout the morning that she didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on the fact that she would be meeting Chad tonight. She’d worked at a church day care center in Tennessee, but it was a much smaller facility than the one in Claremont.
    Today she’d assisted in the classroom for four-year-olds, and there had been eighteen kids in the class. Eighteen children, one teacher, one assistant. The ratio of students to teachers was higher than the day care in Tennessee, but she thought that she’d handled the challenge well. In fact, she’d had fun and had ended the day excited about the future when hopefully she’d be the primary teacher in a room full of five-year-old kindergartners like Nathan. Little boys and girls alive with anticipation about learning as much as they could about the world around them, with tons of questions and minds like sponges, eager to soak it all in.
    She couldn’t wait.
    Entering her English Comp class, she took the same seat she’d had last week, in the middle of the front row. Why hide in the back when she really wanted to be up front and center, where it was easier to hear every word without the distractions of other students around her? She was the only one who seemed interested in the front seat anyway, which made her stand out as a bit odd, she supposed.
    She also stood out by being early to the class, which didn’t seem to be a priority to the majority of