~Part Three~


"Bella!"

Bella spun around to see Jake walking toward the garage.  "Hey, you got your leg cast off!" she stated, picking up the rag that had fallen to the ground and wiping the grease from her hands.

"Yeah, the doctor said the one on my arm can come off at the beginning of next week," she told her friend, finally reaching her and sitting down on a crate next to the truck Bella was working on.

"That's great!  Just in time for the beginning of Spring Semester then," Bella replied, smiling.

Jake returned her smile, handing Bella the wrench that she had pointed to from under the hood of the '78 pickup.  "Yeah, and I can't wait to get back to school.  Kate and Steve have been great and all, but after almost three entire months of bed rest I could really use the vacation."

Bella turned towards her with an amused expression on her face.  "I can't believe you just called going back to school a vacation."

Jakes smile grew wider as she replied, "Neither can I..."

.  .  .

"This can't be right..." Dean Fleming muttered to himself as he hit a few more keys on his office computer keyboard.  "Kate!"

A few seconds later Kate poked her head into the room, holding onto the door frame to keep herself from falling in her tilted position, "Yes?'

"How many female students do we have scheduled into late arrival in the dorms?" he asked, pulling up a few more screens.

Walking further into the small office she thought for a moment.  "Let's see...four if you count Mrs. Patterson's daughter," she stated, walking around the desk to look at the computer from over his shoulder.  "Why?"

Rubbing his hands over his chin the dean let out a frustrated breath.  "For some reason we only have three available beds in the dormitories," he said tapping lightly on a few more keys.  "It looks like we'll have to inform Mrs. Patterson so she has enough time to enroll Karen in another boarding school."

"I'm not so sure," Kate seemed a bit hesitant.  "Mrs. Patterson said that this was the first school in six others that Karen agreed to attend.  It might not be so easy to find another one," she countered, leaning over his shoulder and resting her hand on the desk.

"I don't know what other choice we have," Steven replied, pinching his eyes shut and resting his forehead against the palm of his right hand.

Sighing to herself Kate stood back up, trying her best to think of a solution to the problem.  "Wait," she said, placing a hand on her husband's shoulder.  "What if we were to have Jake stay and live with us during the school year?"

Steve's head perked up at this, looking at his wife.

"Of course, she'd have to be okay with it."

"That would certainly eliminate the problems with the rooms..." he was suddenly cut of by the sound of the front door closing.

"I'm back!"

Looking one more time at her husband for agreement, Kate made her way into the hall as she spotted Jake walking passed the foot of the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Jake, could you come here for a moment?" she asked, smiling as the girl peered around the corner.

"What's up?" Jake asked, making her way up the stairs.

"Well, Steven and I wanted to talk to you about something," she replied, leading them both back into the home office.  Coming to stand behind her husband, she looked down at him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Okay, what about?" Jake asked, picking up a stack of papers that was in a nearby chair and sitting down in it, resting the pile on her lap.

"Well," began Dean Fleming, "I was running through the dormitory assignments just a moment ago and came across some rather discouraging information.  It seemed that we'd overbooked the rooms in the girls dormitory and have come up short with the space for one student."

Jake shifted a little in her seat, hoping the dean wasn't heading the way he seemed with the conversation.

"Now, upon examination of this information," he continued, tapping his fingers together, "we came to the conclusion that we had to find a feasible arrangement for all involved."

"What he means to say, Jake," Kate stated, cutting in, "is that we hope you might consider staying with us for the school year, instead of in the dorms."

Both looked expectantly at the girl as she raised her eyebrows, while her lips turned up slowly into a full out grin.  "You want me to live with you?" she asked, almost misbelieving her ears.

Kate returned a warm smile, taking the hand her husband bent up towards her.

"The fact of the matter is, Jacqueline, that things simply wouldn't be the same around her without you," the dean confessed, producing the same crooked smile that always seemed to play on Hamilton's lips.

Jake could almost feel a blush creeping up the back of her neck.  Ever since Hamilton had left she really hadn't felt like anyone cared for her very much.  But now, here was the dean and his wife, asking her to stay.  The emotions that were running through her were practically overwhelming.  "I'd really like that," she told them, standing up and placing the papers back on the chair before walking over and giving Kate a big hug.

Squeezing Jake tight and running a hand over her back, Kate replied, "So would we."