A Dash of Daring

She's afraid to open her
heart again. He's determined to show her God's love. But if he leaves the inner city, will it end things with her before they really have a chance to start?

Meet Amy Harris, a compassionate soul who has devoted her life to caring for the students at the very inner-city high school she once graduated
from.

Amy has always played it safe, steering clear of the complications that come
with dating outside her multi-ethnic heritage. That is until her heart begins to stir at the arrival of the enigmatic Zach.

Zach Wilson enters the scene through a student-loan forgiveness program, taking on the challenging world of a D.C. public school. Despite their differences, Amy and Zach find themselves drawn to each other.

As the seasons change, and the holiday spirit fills the air, Zach and Amy work together on the enchantment of their school's annual holiday program. Little do they know, it may hold the key to their shared destiny.

But Zach’s teaching commitment is nearing completion and a tempting offer to teach at a prestigious suburban magnet school emerges. The catch? The
potential departure could spell the end of a promising connection with Amy, just as their love story begins to unfold.

Amy and Zach learn to trust God's timing and to follow His lead, but God doesn’t always call us to do what’s easy. Will they be daring enough to risk their hearts and find their happily ever after?

“Got a minute?”

Zach looked up from the math test he was grading. Amy stood in the door of his classroom. His heart skipped a beat, as it always did, when she was near. “For you? Always.”

She grinned and crossed to one of the student desks, pulling it closer to his Zach’sbefore sitting. She crossed one long, slender, jeans-clad leg over the other.
“What are you working on?”

“Gave a test today in Algebra. If I can get them returned tomorrow, I’ll know how many make-up exams I have to put together over the weekend. It pushes off
grading the quiz I gave in geometry on Monday, but I can finish that at home tonight if I need to. The Algebra kids are struggling, so I try to get them
feedback faster. Give them a chance to see the problems worked through before they completely forget why they made the choices they did. And you have no interest in that. What’s up?”

Pink tinted her cheeks. “I’m not uninterested...just preoccupied. Sorry. Have you given any thought to the Christmas—pardon me, ‘holiday’—program?”

Zach closed his eyes. This wasn’t the conversation he wanted to have with her right now. Or, possibly, ever. “Not really. There’s time, isn’t there? It’s barely October.”

"Ten weeks. And one of those has Thanksgiving. Plus we have report cards and a workday in there. December eighteenth will be here before you can blink. Zach, please.” Amy leaned closer, her amber eyes locked with his. “I need your help. The kids need your help.”

His math students needed his help, too. Diving in to work on a holiday program was going to eat up any of his spare after school time. And it wasn’t like he had a lot to start with. And yet...it would earn him points with Amy. That counted. The principal would be pleased, too, but that meant considerably less. “Fine.”

Her whole face lit. “Really? You’re the best, Zach. I knew I could count on you.”

He forced a smile. “Sure. Just let me know what you need me to do. Or do you want to get together, maybe dinner tomorrow, and talk about it?”

“Dinner’s good. I’ll bring the notes I’ve made so far. Maybe Terri can join us? I’ll have
to ask her.”

“Wait, Terri’s helping? If you got the music teacher on board, why do you need me?”

“It’s a big job, Zach. We need all the help we can get.”

“Ah.” He cleared his throat. “I was kind of hoping dinner could be just the two of us. Like a date.”

She blinked, her mouth dropping open before one corner poked up. “In that case, why don’t we have a meeting with Terri after the final bell tomorrow? That way we don’t ruin a perfectly good date talking about something you don’t really want to do.”

Zach winced. “That obvious?”

“Yeah. But you’re doing it anyway, which means a lot to me. See you tomorrow.” Amy stood and pushed the desk back to its row on her way out of the classroom.

Zach watched her turn down the hall that would take her to her office. On the one hand, he’d finally worked up the courage to ask her out on a real date—one that couldn’t be construed as a friend outing. On the other...the holiday program?

What had he gotten himself into?