Heart on Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

between us.”
    Now she did frown. “Look, I really need to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    “If you don’t run into me before then,” he teased.
    Her head dipped in a nod as she opened the door. “Right. Enjoy your run. We’ve got to go. I don’t want Cherish to be late.”
    “Don’t work too hard,” he called as he backed toward the sidewalk.
    A smile lifted her lips as she waved.
     
    * * * *
     
    End of the day, and Cherish was staying the night at Auntie Dee’s, leaving Mila alone. She was preparing to grade papers, the only part of her job she didn’t love, when her phone rang as she arranged her laptop and work on the porch.
    Her mother’s number came up on the screen and she felt a smidge guilty for not calling more often, but she didn’t want to hear any more pleading to come back home.
    Forcing a smile, hoping it would cheer her tone, Mila answered, “Hi, Mom. How are you doing?”
    “I miss you, and Cherish. I want you both to come back. It’s not the same with you so far away.”
    Here we go again.
    Mila took a slow breath, shaking her head. “Mom, I can’t come back. I love my new job. The school is fantastic. Cherish has friends already. Everything is going great. I needed this change.” She needed her independence, and her mother was trying to stifle it.
    “You’ll never look for a man out there. You need a decent man in your life.”
    She groaned. “No, Mom. I don’t. But think about it this way. I might find one out here without you constantly intervening and thrusting potential candidates at me. One who actually cares about my little girl as much as I do. Every man you send my way bails the second he figures out I have Cherish.”
    “I’ll find you the right man.”
    “No. You don’t get it. I don’t want one. Cherish and I have a great life. And you know how most people only find love once they stop looking for it? Didn’t you and Dad fall in that category?”
    “You need someone to take care of you, Mila. I don’t want you to be lonely like your aunt.”
    Aunt Dee wasn’t lonely. Sure, she was divorced and raised two kids mostly on her own, but she was happy, and made it work. Dee understood Mila better than her mother ever did.
    “Hey, I enjoy taking care of myself. Why can’t you accept that? Cherish and I are doing really well out here.”
    Mom sighed. “All right. What are you doing?”
    She couldn’t help a laugh. “Grading papers. Cherish is at Dee’s so I can get this done tonight and have the weekend free to spend time with my girl.”
    “I’ll let you get back to work then, as long as you promise to at least try to meet a man.”
    “I am meeting men, but I’m not trying to date right now. The school year started this week. Give me some time to settle in.”
    “Fine, go back to work. Love you, Mila.”
    “Love you too.” Hanging up, she set the phone, and her mother’s worries, aside. Mila had long since given up on the concept of a man in her life.
    She had only let one man that close, and he destroyed her faith in men and finding a happily ever after. She had everything she wanted. Her little girl, and a job she loved.
    Thanks to her mother’s call, her mind kept drifting back to the day Paul trampled her dreams of marriage.
    Paul took her into his arms with a smile that always unsettled her. It generally meant he was about to suggest something he knew she wasn’t interested in. Their relationship had been on thin ice for weeks.
    He placed a kiss on her lips. “You’re going to marry me, Mila.” It wasn’t a question, but an expectation.
    “Excuse me?”
    He didn’t pause, “You’re going to give up your student teaching program at the end of the semester, and move with me to New York. You’ll be my wife. You won’t need to teach.”
    She pushed him away. “No. That’s not happening. I’ve worked too hard to give up my dream.”
    He laughed out loud, an ugly smirk on his face. “You will. You’ll never get anywhere as a teacher. Why