Chapter Twenty
Graduation day was only a few weeks away. Richie was hurrying to his next class when Miss Phillips’ voice on the P. A. system broke through the noisy student clutter and ordered him to her office. She was at her desk when he knocked on her door. The sight of her never failed to send a tremor through him.
She wasn’t much older than Emma, probably thirty, he guessed. He thought her more regal and handsome than beautiful. Her round black-framed granny glasses framed soft gray eyes and gave her an older and wise look that seemed to peer into the depths of his soul. She had drawn her long brunette hair back from the oval of her face and twisted it into a plump chignon at the back of her head. She had classic high cheekbones and a long slender neck. Her loose-fitting sweaters an
