Snowbound

away so he could have some peace. Although he could

have hidden in his own room if he’d wanted to be left

entirely alone.

“No,” Fiona continued, “it just occurred to me that

dinner also isn’t that far away and I should figure out

how much help you need and who to assign to you.”

His mouth quirked, although whether with a smile

or a grimace she wasn’t sure. “I keep expecting one of

them to chop a finger off when I give them knives.”

“They need to learn,” she said firmly. “I’ll help, too.”

He appeared to ruminate. “Why don’t you and I

make dinner, and let them clean up?”

Inexplicably her pulse speeded up. “We can do that.

If you’re sure you don’t want a whole crew?”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay. Well, then.” Her feet seemed to be rooted to

the floor. “I’ll have to think about whose turn it is to

have KP duty.”

“You sound like a sergeant.” His tone was gentle and

almost, well, affectionate. As if he were teasing her.

“Did you have to peel potatoes when you were in

the Guard?”

“Oh, yeah.” He shrugged. “Came in handy, though.

Taught me how to cook for big groups.”

Fiona nodded. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your

book.”

He didn’t reach for it. “Why don’t you get yourself

a cup of coffee and sit down? Unless you’re playing

Monopoly, too.”

“Chinese checkers I could have been talked into. But

not Monopoly. It tends to go on forever. When I was,

oh, ten or eleven, a couple of friends and I used to start

games that went on for weeks. We’d play after school.

We got truly vicious.”

He was definitely smiling now, although it was more

a matter of that hard mouth softening than actually

curling up at the corners. “Now that I can’t imagine.”

“Really.” She got a mug down from the cupboard.

“We had ever shifting alliances trying to put each other

out of the hotel business. Half the time, one of us would

go home mad.”

“Yet you didn’t grow up to be a real estate tycoon.”

Pouring herself coffee, Fiona laughed. “I invariably

lost in the end. One of my friends was more ruthless.”

“And she’s now a real estate tycoon.”

“Something like that.” She splashed milk in the

coffee, then returned the carton to the refrigerator.

“Carol is a mid-level executive with some division of

Procter & Gamble.”

Behind her, John’s grunt might have been a laugh.

“And did you let your friends visit your Monopoly properties free when they were too broke to pay the rent?”

“I told you,” Fiona said with dignity, as she set down

her mug on the table and pulled up a chair, “I was way

tougher than that. I’m no pushover.”

“Aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question, although his

brown eyes studied her thoughtfully.

“I have a reputation as a tough teacher, I’ll have

you know. I’ve heard kids telling freshmen that Ms.

MacPherson is nice, but you really have to work in

her classes.”

“The ultimate compliment.”

“I thought so.”

“Why teaching?”

Something in the way he still scrutinized her made

Fiona feel like a lab rat exhibiting puzzling behavior.

She sensed that he really wanted to know.

“Because I loved school,” she said simply. “I had a

bunch of teachers along the way who really inspired me.

I remember one day when I was in high school, I looked

around the classroom and thought, Why would anyone

want to be anywhere else?”

“You loved the smell of chalk?”

“You’re making fun of me. But actually, I did. I do.

My elementary school was ancient. Dry erase boards

just aren’t the same.” She brooded. “Really, it’s the

atmosphere in a classroom I like. The quiet when

everyone is fiercely concentrating…”

“Trying desperately to remember stuff they meant to

study the night before,” he murmured.

Fiona ignored him. “The complete engagement in