Kissing in Kansas Read online

  "He seemed upset, but he stayed calm. You know how pastors are."

  "Oh, I do! He seems like a good man. How long has he been pastor of the church?"

  "Only about two years. He's still having issues with every mother of every single female in the city throwing their daughter at him. Makes him crazy, but he gets lots of free meals as young women try to show off their cooking skills by 'accidentally' cooking too much." He shook his head. "I'd feel bad for him if I didn't think it was so funny."

  Samara grinned. "Hey, a single pastor? And he's handsome too!"

  "I don't know about handsome." Henry glared at her. "Would you choose him over me?"

  She crossed the room to him, wrapping her arms around him. "Never. His voice doesn't make me go weak in the knees and want to drag him off to bed."

  Henry blushed. "You make me crazy with some of the things you say, woman."

  "You make me crazy with everything you say," she responded with a grin, pulling him down for a kiss.

  "Too bad the girls are awake," he said, looking at the clock. "Is it their naptime yet?"

  Samara nodded. "I'll bring them in and get them down. Meet me in the bedroom."

  He grinned. "I like the way you think."

  *****

  Samara spent the afternoon working on laundry while Henry and the girls napped. She read in between loads, thrilled to have the house quiet. Henry finally came downstairs over two hours later. "I can't believe I slept. I never nap!"

  She grinned. "You wore yourself out."

  He sighed. "You wore me out, and you know it. And stop looking so pleased with yourself!"

  She laughed. "I happen to enjoy wearing you out!"

  He helped her carry loads of laundry up the stairs to be put away, and then he grilled out for them. The rest of the day was passed with family activities, ending with some movies with the girls. After watching Frozen the girls argued over who got to be Elsa. Samara didn't understand it. She'd rather be Anna than Elsa any day. Anna was real and full of fun. Elsa was too rigid for her tastes.

  As she tucked the girls into bed that night, she explained the plan for her to teach their Sunday school class for a while, and both girls squealed with delight. "We want to share you with our friends, Aunt Sami!"

  Samara laughed. "I can't wait to meet them!"

  She was sitting on the edge of Avy's bed, and the little girl got to her knees and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're our aunt!"

  "Me too! I'd marry your uncle all over again knowing I'd get such special nieces." Samara didn't regret her marriage to Henry at all, despite all the extra work she was having to do as a result.

  Avy peered at her curiously. "Are you going to have babies now that you're married to Uncle Henry?"

  Samara considered that for a moment. "Do you want me to have babies?" She knew she wanted dozens, but she wanted to see how the little girl felt about it.

  "Yes."

  "Well, then maybe I'll have babies," Samara said with a grin.

  "Will they be our brothers and sisters?" Abby asked from the other bed. She was obviously more worried about the idea than Avy was.

  "No, they'll be your cousins. You could call them your brothers and sisters if you wanted."

  Avy nodded. "Just like we can call you 'Mama' if we decide we want to."

  "Just the same." Samara helped Avy get under her covers and tucked the blankets around her, kissing her forehead. "Sleep sweet, my love."

  "I love you, Aunt Sami."

  Samara felt tears prick her eyes. It was the first time one of the girls had said those words to her, and she'd had no idea how they would touch her heart. "I love you too, Avy."

  She walked to the other bed, repeating the process. "Are you going to still love us after you have babies of your own?" Abby asked softly, her voice full of sadness.

  "Oh, sweetie! Of course, I will. I'll love you even more. You know why?"

  Abby shook her head. "Why?"

  "Because you'll be big sister-cousins to my baby. They'll look up to you, and you'll be very important to them. But you'll always be the first kids in my heart. You were the two I got when I least expected it, so you'll be the two that I always love the best."

  Abby sniffled. "Okay. Then you can have babies."

  Samara nodded regally. "Thank you so much for your permission. I don't know what I would have done without it!" She leaned down and kissed the little girl on her forehead before shutting off the light and leaving the room.

  She was still shaking her head when she went to the bedroom she shared with Henry. "Why are you shaking your head?"

  "Abby thought that if we had children of our own, we wouldn't love her and Avy any longer."

  "Well, they don't need to worry about that for a long time. I don't want kids right now. Probably not for at least five years or so."

  Samara frowned. "What are we going to do if we have them?"

  "You're using birth control, right?" he asked, frowning at her.

  She shook her head. "No. I love kids. It never occurred to me you wouldn't want them right away."

  "Are you kidding? We already have two!"

  "I want twenty. I want to have children of my own."

  He sighed. "Maybe we can revisit that in five years or so. In the meantime, you should see a doctor and get on birth control. I don't want to risk an unplanned pregnancy."

  "Does everything in your life have to happen according to your time and plan?"

  "I prefer it to."

  Samara brushed her teeth, and when she came out of the restroom, Henry was lying on his side facing away from her. Apparently, sex was out of the question until she saw a doctor to get on birth control. She rolled her eyes. If God wanted her pregnant, she'd get pregnant whether she was on birth control or not, no matter what high and mighty Henry thought of it.

  She rolled to her side facing away from him. If he didn't even want to hold her, that was fine with her. Stupid man. Where did he think babies came from anyway?

  Chapter Eight

  Before leaving for work, Henry reminded Samara to get in to a doctor and start on birth control soon. Samara wanted to rage at him, but he had yet to see her stubborn streak. She should probably save that for after they'd been married a little longer.

  After walking the girls to Grandma Betty's house, she went to her office and spent a minute or two searching for nearby Ob-Gyns. It was time for her to go see one anyway, whether she wanted to or not.

  She couldn't get in until the following week, so she decided she'd text Henry and tell him he'd have to take care of the matter if he cared that much. Once that was done, she did a Skype call with Lachele to start her week.

  "Hey boss lady!"

  Lachele grinned. "How's my favorite employee? Is Henry treating you right?"

  "Most of the time, he's doing really well."

  "Well, you can't expect all of the time from a man who you've only been married to for a week. They take years to train. So much easier just buying a puppy."

  Samara laughed. "I'll keep that in mind." She updated Lachele on everything that had happened that week, finishing with, "I just adore those girls. I don't know that I would have agreed to the responsibility if I had known he had them, but I'd have been missing out."

  "I've never in my life met anyone who was more of a natural-born mother than you are, SamiSunflower." Lachele looked down at her desk. "Okay, I have a list of things for you to do this week, including four Skype interviews with potential clients. Have you checked your email?"

  "Not yet. I'll do that as soon as we're finished."

  "I scheduled two calls today and two tomorrow. Did you find that you could see what you needed to see when you did them over Skype last week? Or did you feel like they were limiting you?"

  Samara frowned. "I don't think I'll ever get quite as good of a read on someone over the computer as I would in person, but I think Skype is a really close second. Did you see my notes on the man I interviewed on Thursday? Hunter something-or-other?"
<
br />   Lachele leaned back in her chair and chuckled. "I did. 'This man should never be allowed in the company of women, let alone be set up to marry some poor unsuspecting female. His is not a risk a matchmaker who likes what she does should take.'"

  "He was awful, Lachele! He kept trying to talk me into going out with him. I told him I was a newlywed, and he told me that he didn't 'mind used goods.' No. That man is a reject from Rejectville."

  "He really does sound like a charmer. Maybe we could hook him up with Penny, Trey's sister."

  Samara laughed. "I don't think even Penny deserves him! Okay, I'll get on the interviews for the week and see how much I can get done." She felt good after taking all day Saturday to read, like she'd recharged her batteries.

  "How do you feel like the telecommuting is going? Is it working for you?"

  Samara grinned. "I actually kind of like it. I don't have to get dressed if I don't want to. It's nice. Well, I make sure my top half is dressed for Skype calls, but my bottom half? You'd be ashamed." Samara glanced down at the shorts she was wearing with her "business blouse." Her feet were bare.

  Lachele laughed. "I wish I didn't have to get dressed. Running two businesses is kind of wearing."

  "I can believe that. Matchrimony is a gift to the world, though, and you certainly can't close it down."

  "Oh, I know. I guess you consider it a gift now that you and Henry have quit fighting."

  Samara shrugged. "He's not so bad." Other than the not wanting babies thing of course, but she wasn't about to mention that to Lachele. Maybe eventually.

  "Well, I have an early counseling session, so I'm going to sign off. I'll be emailing. You know you can always Skype me if you need me."

  "I know. Thanks, Lachele."

  *****

  The second week of marriage was much easier for Samara than the first. She had gotten a routine down, and did everything she had to do quickly and efficiently. By the time the weekend rolled around, she was again desperate for books, but she knew that Henry would accommodate her. He was so thankful for her positive attitude with the girls that he made certain to let her read most of the day on Saturday.

  As they got ready for church Sunday morning, Samara was nervous. The idea of going into a church where she felt responsible for having a preschool teacher removed from her post when she'd only been there for a week was odd, even for her.

  She dressed the girls carefully, putting them in matching dresses. She'd even painted their nails to match each other. Finally she'd found the trick to telling them apart. Avy had a tiny freckle on her top lip, which made them seem more like individuals than two halves of a whole. Besides, Avy was a lot more outgoing, and Abby held a lot more of her emotions inside. Samara worried about Abby sometimes, because she seemed so sad on occasion.

  Once they were all ready, they met Henry downstairs. He was dressed in his suit for church, and Samara was in a blue maxi dress. She'd thought about wearing pants for her first day teaching preschool, but decided that she wanted to look nice as she met the parents.

  "You look beautiful today," he told her, seeming a little embarrassed at complimenting her.

  "Thank you." She nodded toward the girls.

  Henry's eyes widened and he nodded. "Avery and Abigail? You two look like princesses this morning. Why, I'm surprised all the boys at church don't ask to be your princes."

  Abby giggled. "Avy's prettier than me."

  Avy nodded. "I am. We looked in the mirror last night, and I'm much prettier."

  Samara rolled her eyes. "I'll be ready to go in a second. I want to grab a couple bottles of water."

  Henry nodded, glancing at his phone to check the time. "We need to leave in two minutes."

  She rushed into the kitchen, took two bottles of water from the fridge and stuffed them in her oversized purse. She'd put lesson plans and activity sheets in her purse. She had no idea if there would be a curriculum provided for her or what, so she decided to be prepared either way.

  Henry drove the van to church, the girls sitting happily in the backseat chattering away to each other.

  The woman she'd met the previous week, Gisela, hurried to her as soon as she arrived. "I heard you're going to be teaching for a while. I'll show you around your classroom and give you your curriculum."

  Samara followed Gisela down the narrow hallway to the children's area, the girls right behind her. "I think the curriculum is simple enough that you'll be able to just read over it and do it this morning. I'm glad you got here early."

  When they reached the classroom, Gisela took a big box off the shelf. "This is actually the first Sunday with the new curriculum. I like to order this box for the preschool teachers, because everything you could possibly need is already included. You pretty much have to show up and teach."

  "Sounds good to me!" Samara told her, opening the box and digging through it. There were odd items inside like a bag full of rubber bands and some huge flash cards. "I'm excited to see what all is in there."

  "There are usually eight children for this age group. One of the kids from youth will be here to be your assistant teacher. We never leave a teacher alone in a classroom with children, because of legal issues."

  "So someone observed what the girls told me about? And they didn't say anything?" Samara was disgusted that someone had been allowed to keep teaching after being so rude to the children.

  Gisela flushed. "The teen that told me has had problems, so I asked the teacher. When she denied it, I assumed the teen was lying." She shook her head. "I've called and apologized, and she's going to be assigned to you today."

  "I appreciate your honesty about it." Samara turned away, trying not to be angry with the other woman. If the teen had been troublesome, she understood the reasoning, but it was still difficult. Samara's hardest thing as a Christian was forgiveness. She said a quick, silent prayer that she could forgive the other woman.

  "How long do you think you can handle the class?" Gisela asked, obviously wanting to change the subject.

  "A month or two? I wish I could take it on forever, but I'm a newlywed and have a lot of responsibilities." She pulled the teacher's manual out of the box, so she could prepare her lesson for the day.

  "Okay. I'll check in with you after class to see how it goes for you."

  The girls played quietly with the wooden kitchen while Samara read quickly. At one point she looked up and both girls were wearing aprons and stirring some imaginary food.

  The lesson that week was about forgiveness. Samara closed her eyes and said a quick prayer that she would be able to explain the lesson as she should.

  The children came into the classroom one by one and Samara introduced herself to their parents. The church wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. She'd been told they usually had about five hundred in attendance for Sunday service.

  When the little boy Adam came into the room, Samara made a note of who he was, planning to make certain he knew he was anything but dumb. She was angry on the little boy's behalf.

  As soon as they spotted Adam, the twins took him over to the kitchen center with them. "I'm Samara Crider. I'm Avy and Abby's new aunt."

  Adam's mother smiled. "Oh the twins are so sweet to Adam. They're good girls. I'm Jennifer Henderson."

  "It's really nice to meet you. I'll be teaching this class for a short while until they find someone else."

  "Good. It was time. Mrs. Johnson obviously doesn't love teaching four year olds."

  "I'll take good care of Adam." Samara assumed Jennifer knew what had happened, but if she didn't, it wasn't her place to tell her.

  "I can't tell you how much I appreciate that." Jennifer raised a hand. "Have a good time, Adam." Adam didn't even look up, obviously engrossed in whatever he was doing with the twins. "I don't know why I bother. He doesn't notice anything when pretty girls are around."

  Samara laughed. "Just don't tell my husband that. He feels a bit overprotective of the girls already."

  Jennifer grinned and walked away, l
eaving Samara to meet her teen assistant. "I'm Samara Crider."

  The teen nodded. "I'm Madison. Are you going to be mean to the kids?"

  "I'm in here because I refuse to let Abby and Avy be treated poorly." Samara sized up the teen in front of her. She was a few pounds heavier than she should have been and had blond hair and pretty green eyes. "I'm glad you're here to help me, Madison."

  Madison shrugged. "I like playing with the little ones." She walked away from Samara, obviously knowing what she needed to do in the classroom. She went over to sit on the floor and the children all came to her, handing her books.

  While Samara watched the teenager read book after book, she became more and more impressed with the girl, and angrier on her behalf that no one had listened to her. Finally, Samara knew it was time to teach their short lesson on forgiveness. "Everyone come to the table please."

  Madison went to the cupboard behind Samara, while Samara taught the lesson, explaining about Christ's dying for the sins of everyone on the planet. "So if he died so we could be forgiven, don't you think it makes sense that we should forgive others as well?"

  "Even when they don't ask?" Abby asked without raising her hand.

  "Even then. When we don't forgive, it hurts us more than it hurts the people we're mad at," Samara explained softly.

  Adam raised his hand shyly. "Yes, Adam?"

  "Will God forgive me for thinking his name was Bob? Because that was really stupid."

  Samara took a seat in one of the tiny little chairs at the table, feeling as though her knees were about to go through her chest. "Yes, God will forgive you for that, but there's nothing to forgive. When you don't hear someone right, and you make a mistake, God doesn't hold that against you. He's a loving, caring God."

  Adam seemed to think about that for a minute. "I'm glad. I wouldn't want him to be mad at me for being stupid."

  "You're not stupid. I can see how smart you are just by looking at you."

  Adam blinked. "You can?"

  Samara nodded emphatically. "Of course, I can." She looked at Avy, knowing the girl would back her up. "Don't you think Adam looks smart?"