Daffodils in Spring Read Online Free PDF Page A

principal?”
    He nodded.
    The seats were filling up fast and someone wanted the one where Landry was standing.
    â€œPerhaps I’ll see you later,” he said.
    Calla didn’t have time to answer, but she would have told him no. She had plans to spend the evening with her son. This was a big night for Nathan.
    The evening was long as each student was allowed his or her moment in the sun. The teenagers thanked their parents, their teachers, their school counselors, their brothers and sisters and friends.
    One young woman caught Calla’s attention because she was from Landry Sinclair’s Cavitz Alternative.
    â€œI want to thank my teachers, who never gave up on me,” she said. “My baby boy, Keeton, whose sweet smile helps me stick to my priorities. And I want to thank my book group. It’s so cool that you came to see me tonight. But then, that’s what you’re good at, being there for me. Sharing your lives and your hearts with me. Without you, I wouldn’t be standing here.”
    As the audience politely applauded, a cluster of teenage girls rose to their feet whistling and cheering. Their enthusiasm rejuvenated the crowd.
    Calla’s long wait was worth it when it was finally Nathan’s turn.
    He looked so tall and so handsome in his suit. And so grown up.
    When had that happened? Calla wondered to herself. When had her gangly teenage boy turned into such a young man? She had seen him every day, but now, looking up at him behind the podium, it was as if he were irrevocably changed.
    She watched as his eyes scanned the crowd. When their gazes met, Nathan smiled.
    â€œI stand here, happy and grateful for the future I see before me,” he said. “And like my fellow students, I realize I didn’t get here alone. I’ve worked hard. But the journey to this day didn’t begin with me. It began with my mom and dad. Before I could speak my first word, they read to me and dreamed for me and planned for me to have opportunities that they never had. My father didn’t live to see this night. But my mother is here and I dedicate this award to her as I say, ‘Thanks, Mom, I won’t let you down.’”
    The crowd applauded as he stepped off the stage. Calla felt such a lift in her heart. She glanced toward Jazleen beside her. The girl was applauding, but what caught Calla’s attention was the evidence of a tear in her eye. Somehow Calla couldn’t imagine this angry, stubborn young woman to have a sentimental side. Then she realized that the emotion on the girl’s face was not pride, but fear.
    At the end of the long evening, Nathan caught up with the two of them in the crowded foyer. He was happy, excited. He offered Calla a dutiful kiss on the cheek. Then he whirled Jazleen in the air. Laughing, smiling, the girl was absolutely radiant. She bore no resemblance to the slouching, sullen young woman Calla had spent the evening beside. Nathan’s presence had somehow transformed Jazleen. And when he clasped her in his arms and kissed her, it seemed as natural as if he’d done it a million times.
    â€œMom, some of the kids are going to make a party of it at Grace Church Coffee House,” he said. “We won’t be late.”
    He wasn’t asking permission and it wasn’t at all what Calla had planned. But somehow she found herself smiling.
    â€œHave a good time,” she told them.
    The two scampered off like the children they almost were. Calla headed to the door herself.
    â€œMrs. Middleton!” she heard a low-pitched voice call out behind her. She knew who it was before she turned. She took a deep breath and schooled her expression into casual unconcern.
    â€œMr. Sinclair,” she said.
    He was smiling. “Call me Landry,” he suggested. “I get Mr. Sinclair all day long, and to be completely honest, I get tired of hearing it.”
    â€œAll right…Landry,” she agreed. “I’m