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