Page 64 of Echoes of a Silent Song

Joy’s laughter burst into Blair’s thoughts, and she arched a brow.“What?”

“Oh, wow.You are gone.I just asked you a question.”

“Sorry.What did you ask?”She raised an index finger.“I do reserve the right not to answer.”

Joy made a face.“It’s not that kind of question.Ew.”She shuddered.“There are things I don’t need to know.I just asked what happens now?”

Blair pressed her badge to the sensor, and the door beeped and clicked open.“That is an excellent question.”She held the door open for Joy.“And I have no idea.”

Joy glanced around the empty hallway, then leaned in.“Are you open to further kissing with him?”

Yet again she replayed the kiss from last night.The fire in his eyes.The pressure of his hands on her back.The way she felt pulled under in the best possible way.

“Okay, you don’t need to answer that question.”Keys jangled as Joy pulled them from her bag and sorted through them.“It’s written all over your face.”

Blair’s cheeks flamed.“Crap.”Thank goodness there weren’t many students here yet.

“So you’re open to more kissing,” Joy said as she unlocked the door to her classroom.“And it seems he is too.So I’m not sure why there’s a problem.Unless there’s some kind of rule against interpersonal relationships among staff.”

“There isn’t.”

“You’ve already researched that?”Joy’s eyes gleamed.“Interesting.”

“It’s the opposite of interesting.”The classroom door swung shut with its typical loud bang.“He’s leaving after this year.He’s made that clear from day one.”

Joy shouldered open the door to her office.“That’s still seven months away.A lot can happen in seven months.”

“That’s not that long.”Blair followed Joy into her office.“And long distance didn’t exactly work out so great last time.”

“So you get seven months of incredible kissing, and then you go your separate ways.”

“And how is that not like last time?”

Joy set her coffee down on her desk.“Well, I’d assume Callum hasn’t proposed to you.And moving back to Boston is not the same as cheating on you with some opera singer.”

“No, this time I know it’s doomed going in.That’s supposed to make it better how?”

Joy gave a slight, exasperated sigh.“Like I said, seven months is a long time.Maybe he’ll decide he wants to stay.Maybe you’ll decide you want to move to Boston with him.Maybe a pair of jobs will pop open for you both someplace random.”

“Oh, but I can’t leave here.”

“Can’t?”Joy peered into Blair’s eyes.“Or won’t?”

“Both.”Blair flung her arms wide.“My life is here, my job is here, you’re here.”

“And as much as we all adore you, we could survive without you if we needed to.If you discover Callum is someone you can’t survive without, then you’re going to have to be willing to bend a little.Because it is entirely possible that God has a bigger, better, more amazing life for you than anything you could come up with on your own.And maybe that’s here ...but it might be somewhere else too.”

Blair folded her arms across her chest.“I thought Derek was his plan for me.We saw how well that turned out.”Her current maturity level was on par with the students’, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

“So you feel like God screwed up and you got hurt, and now you don’t trust him to drive the car anymore, so you’re yanking the steering wheel away and relegating him to the backseat?”Joy stared for a second, then pulled a couple of things out of her bag.“Yeah, let me know how that works out.”

Blair opened her mouth to argue but couldn’t.Joy was absolutely correct.

Her friend flashed a grin.“I always know I’ve won an argument with you when you can’t think of anything to say.”

Blair harrumphed and headed toward the door.“I suppose I can’t avoid Callum forever.”

“No, you cannot,” Joy replied cheerfully.“Have a wonderful day, dahling.Be open to possibilities.Lean not on your own understanding.All that jazz.”