Along Came Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

Jo.
    Ignoring the dreary-eyed smiles from the
young girls he passed in the hallway, Jake headed for what looked
like the office. He opened the door and found several women staring
up at him with the same kind of smiles.
    "Can we help you?" the voice came from the
receptionist desk.
    "Yes, I'm here to speak with my niece's
counselor, about her work."
    "Of course and what is the student's name?"
The principal asked coming towards him. "I'm Ms. Hughes, the
principal here at Marshall Junior High. I'm so glad to meet
you."
    "Thank you, it's Sammie Jo Travers."
    "Oh, then you must be Mr. Travers, her
father?"
    "Yes, but no, actually, I'm her Uncle, I'm
sort of filling in for them as they are out of town." Jake smoothed
his hair back as the wind and his helmet had played havoc with
it.
    The principal watched, her eyes lingering on
the action, and then she cleared her throat and smiled, "Oh I see.
Well, then, which counselor were you suppose to speak with?"
    Jake smiled, "To tell the truth, I'm not
sure," Jake turned his head.
    "Well, that's perfectly alright; I'll look
that up and be right with you, then." She went back into her office
and Jake switched his stance as the receptionist continued to stare
at him with an engaging smile.
    Young girls staring didn't bother him, but
women his own age should have known better. Uncomfortable with her
blatant glances, Jake looked out the plate glass window of the
hallway office and spotted Sammie Jo and a couple of her friends
heading down the hallway.
    Dear God, he murmured to himself, Sammie Jo
had nearly grown up, could it really be that she was almost
fourteen? Where had the time gone? He could remember cradling her
in his arms and whistling a tune in her ear as she went to sleep in
her crib.
    "Yes, I have it now," The Principal was
saying as she scribbled a name on a piece of paper for him. "That
would be Samantha Courtland."
    The principal smiled and extended a badge
like object to Jake. Jake took it and pinned it to his chest, aware
that it was a security measure in all schools now when strangers
wandered the hallways. He liked the fact that the school observed
the rules. He appreciated her thoroughness to detail. At least his
niece was safe here.
    Ms. Hughes picked up the phone and was
talking before Jake could grasp the name. She was speaking to the
counselor and then she looked at him again, "She'll be right
here."
    "Thank you, ma'am", Jake cleared his throat.
He felt uncomfortable standing there in the middle of the office
with all the women gawking at him.
    His thoughts were cut short though, when a
well-dressed woman with long golden brown hair and the most
engaging green eyes walked into the room. She was fairly tall, and
it took him by surprise not to have to look down into her face. He
liked that. But this was the woman that had looked at the house.
This is the woman he'd taken to dinner and she acted as though he
were a stranger. But she wasn't!
    Barely glancing at him, she smiled demurely
and directed him to an inner office.
    Jake watched the interesting sway of her hips
as he followed her. But as a student passed them in the hallway, he
suddenly felt guilty watching the counselor's cute little tush
twist.
    Jake didn't have that much time to size the
woman up, but there was a definite air of familiarity about this
lady and not just from the other day. He couldn't put his finger on
it. And he aimed to find out.
    As she took her place behind the big desk,
she avoided direct eye contact with him, unlike all the other women
in the office. She barely gave him a second look. That was what was
familiar, the put down she gave him. She'd done this before. He
suddenly racked his brain trying to remember and then it hit him
like a sledge hammer, this was Samantha Wilson, the girl that had
snubbed him so much in school. The girl he doubly tormented because
of her snubbing. How could he not know her? So she'd trimmed down,
gotten about as beautiful as a woman could get why hadn't