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She looked up at Seth. “In the light of day, how bad is it?”

“Sammy, take Lady and your tablet and go play in the bedroom for a little while,” Seth said.

As Sammy left the room, Seth eased down on the sofa next to her. “It isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Your room sustained the most damage. But the good thing is I can hang some plastic between the bedrooms and the living room, and I’ll buy a couple of air mattresses and we can all camp out there while the work is being done to fix the damage in the back side of the house.”

He leaned back and raked a hand through his hair. “Dallas said he’d keep a couple of guards on the place through tomorrow, so I’d like to spend the rest of today getting the place ready so we can be there. I don’t want looters taking advantage of the situation.”

“You do realize I won’t be camping out with you,” she replied. “The danger for me is finally over.”

“Thank God for that. How did your meeting go with Eva?” he asked.

“Okay. She’s a very troubled woman, and there are certainly no winners here.” She forced a smile. “But now you don’t have to be burdened by me any longer. I hereby release you from your bodyguard duties.”

He held her gaze for a long moment. “I’m glad you’re safe now, but I have to admit I’m going to miss some of my bodyguarding duties. Why don’t I take you to dinner tomorrow evening?”

Her heart jumped into the back of her throat at the softness she saw in his gaze. “No, Seth. I think it’s time I get back to being Sammy’s teacher and nothing more.”

He stared at her in obvious surprise. “Surely, we can still spend time together. After all we’ve been through, I don’t want to go back to you just being Sammy’s teacher.”

An edge of irritation welled up inside her. “Seth, have you forgotten that I’m in love with you? I can’t keep spending time with you. I’m not willing to settle for a relationship that will never be a marriage. Throughout all this I’ve realized that I want to be married again. I want to marry you and to build a family with you, but you’ve made it very clear to me that none of that is ever going to happen.”

Emotion caused her vision to blur with tears as she continued. “And the saddest part of all is I believe if you look deep in your heart, you’ll realize you’re in love with me, too. Your ex-wife sure did a number on you. Her betrayal left you so damaged you are incapable of really moving forward in your life.”

“That’s not true,” he replied stiffly. His gaze didn’t quite meet hers. “I’m sorry but I told you I’m not in love with you. I love you, but I’m not in love with you.”

“And I don’t believe you,” she replied fervently. “I believe you are in love with me.”

He finally met her gaze. “I’m so sorry, Suzanna.” He stood. “I think it’s best if Sammy and I leave here now.” He called to Sammy.

She wanted to stop him. More than anything she wanted him to love her enough to make a real commitment and marry her and make all of her dreams come true. But it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen.

Sammy and Lady came running into the room, and he stopped short and looked first at her and then at his father. It was as if he sensed the tension in the air between the two adults.

“We’re going to gather up our clothes, so come with me,” Seth said.

She watched as father and son went down the hallway and into the room where they had slept the night before. She swallowed hard against the tears that threatened to fall.

This was the end of it all. Her attacker was in jail, and the man she loved was walking away from that love and taking with him the little boy who had crawled so deep into her heart. She desperately tried to keep her emotions tamped down. The last thing she wanted was for Sammy to see her crying.

Minutes later they came back into the living room. Seth held both the duffel bag and the sack of dog food in his arms. “Why are we getting all our stuff?” Sammy asked.

“Because we’re going to a motel for the night,” Seth replied.

“Is Mrs. Michaels coming with us?” he asked, a bit of worry evident in his tone.

“No, honey, I’m not,” Suzanna replied.

“You’ll see her at school,” Seth added.

Sammy suddenly ran to her and wrapped his arms around her waist as he began to cry. “I don’t want to just see you at school,” he cried. “I want it to be the three of us all the time. I… I love you, Mrs. Michaels, and I w-want to see you all the time.” He continued to hug her and cry.

Suzanna couldn’t help the tears that fell from her eyes as she hugged the boy close to her. She quickly swiped at her cheeks and then stepped back from him.

She squatted down so she was at eye level with him. “I love you, too, Sammy.” She swept an errant strand of his hair off his forehead. “I will always love you, but sometimes adults know what’s best, and so it’s time you go with your father now and I’ll see you every day in school.”

“Come on, son. It’s time to go,” Seth said. Sammy picked up his dog, and, still crying, he walked over to his father’s side.

Seth gazed at her. “I guess then I’ll just see you around town.”