Kiera’s POV

From that night on, I always left the gate open just enough for Emile to sneak onto my parents’ property. That and a crack in my bedroom window so he could climb through. Luckily, my bedroom was on the first floor. when my parents would ask about the gate, I always just told them the wind kept blowing it open during the night. It was a good thing they always believed me!

Since Emile already knew the alphabet, his first reading lessons began with me helping him to read short, simple story books I’d kept since I was a little girl.

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“The sky is…blue…and…th-the bird’s…fea…fea-thers are r-red…”, Emile whispered.

“Very good”, I told him. “Keep going.”

“The…bird’s nest…is in…the apple tree…”, he continued. Then suddenly, he paused, looking up at me.

“Wow, I really can do it”, he said.

“See? Just like I knew you could”, I replied.

Several months passed and as I continued to teach Emile, his reading improved more and more. It wasn't long before he was also learning to write and spell too. However, during one of his lessons, it was obvious that things were changing between us in a very special way.