Several hands shot up.

“Why don’t you sing it with me?”

He started to play the song. When he started singing, a few of the students joined in. Sally glared, but Tim was an enthusiastic participant. When he’d finished, Micah showed them all a few basic chords and how putting them together in a different way created different songs they knew, and then his time was up.

Dena asked everyone to clap for their guests. Sally left quickly, but Tim hung around for a few minutes before heading out. Micah answered some questions while packing up his guitar. He was about to duck out when a bell rang and all the students jumped to their feet.

Dena looked fondly at them as she opened the door. “Stay in line. I’ll see you in a bit.”

In a matter of seconds, the room was empty.

“Recess,” she said by way of explanation. “Their chance to burn off energy in the middle of the afternoon.” She smiled. “Thanks for coming. You did great, and the kids really loved—”

She went completely white and pressed her lips together even as she started frantically looking around the room. Micah had a feeling her morning sickness had just made an afternoon appearance. He rushed toward her, grabbed her arm, then applied pressure on her wrist.

“Take a breath and hold it for a count of four, then exhale slowly,” he told her.

Her eyes widened slightly, but she did as he requested, repeating the breathing cycle. About a minute later, he felt her relax and he released her wrist.

She stared at him. “What did you do?”

“Applied pressure to your pressure point. I’m not sure what it does—maybe triggers some nerves that calm your stomach. It can be effective.”

Question filled her brown eyes. “You saved me. I was about to throw up, and given what I had for lunch, that would not have been pretty.”

“You should be fine for the next few hours.”

“Pressure points, huh? I’ll have to check them out.”

“I can show you the most likely spots, if you want.”

An offer he meant in the spirit of one human helping another, he thought, noting how she took what he would guess was an involuntary step back.

“Thank you. I would appreciate any help with my morning sickness.”

The words and the body language didn’t line up, so which was one telling the truth? He told himself it didn’t matter—that Dena was simply his landlord for the month he was in town. Still, he found himself wanting to help her feel better. He liked being around her—there was something calming about her normally high-energy state. Inexplicable, but still true.

“You know where to find me,” he said, picking up his guitar.