Deadly Bonds by Anne Marie Becker

Author:Anne Marie Becker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

“You busy?” Neil stood in her office doorway the next day.

“Not really. Come in.” Sara closed down the file she’d been composing—a list of all the reasons she wanted to stay at the Academy. All the reasons she would fight John’s campaign to have her fired. She’d received several concerned phone calls from the various board members since John’s threat. They would be visiting the school next Friday to see her in action for themselves. Her stomach ached, but more from anger than worry. “How are you?”

He took a seat. “Hanging in there. I just have to make it to my birthday in a few weeks and then I’m free, right?”

Tread carefully. The last thing Neil Rochard needed was another adult pushing or pulling him in a particular direction. “If by free, you mean you’ll be of legal age to make your own decisions, then yes.” But legal age didn’t always equal mental and emotional maturity. “And those decisions will be legally binding.”

“So you don’t think I should sign up for the military, either.” He narrowed his eyes, as if he searched her face for the answers to life.

“I didn’t say that. The military is a perfectly viable option. But it depends what you want. And nobody can make that decision but you.” She sighed and decided to tell him the truth, John and the board be damned. “I’m worried about you, Neil. You’re highly intelligent. You’ll be successful when you find something you’re passionate about. But is that the military? Or is the Army simply the closest emergency exit?”

Neil picked at an invisible thread on his jeans. “I don’t know.”

“Then don’t rush into any decisions. And for God’s sake, finish high school first.”

A smile played about his lips. “Yes, ma’am. The recruiter told me the same thing, anyway. I thought you weren’t trying to make my decisions for me.”

“Well, that one should be a no-brainer.”

He snorted. “That’s good...considering I have no brain.”

Her blood heated. “Is that what your dad’s been telling you?” She pressed her lips together to keep from calling John the names she’d been thinking all week. “You’ve got a fine brain and you’ll use it to figure out what you want.”

“Did you always want to be a director at a boys’ school?”

“Not always. But sometimes life takes you in different directions. I did know, however, that I enjoyed working with kids. The important thing is to follow a passion, and you’ll never regret it.” She knew then that she didn’t need any list. She would fight for her job. No matter what John thought, this was where she belonged.

Neil seemed to think over her comments. “I like sports. And when I hurt my knee last year, I thought some of the therapy stuff was pretty cool. I think I might like to be a physical therapist.”

The irony in that was that most parents would love it if their child were considering a health profession. “I know someone at Mercy Hospital. They could probably

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