Snowbound - Harlequin.com

216 SNOWBOUND
“You wanted her to be alone on Christmas Eve?” His
glance was quizzical, his voice gentle.
“No! Of course not!” Fiona laughed to hide her discomfiture.
“I just wanted her to miss the time when it
was enough for it just to be the two of us.”
John stopped. “Do you think she doesn’t?”
Fiona had to sniff, not sure if her nose was running
from the grief of something lost or just from the cold.
“Nope. I know she loves me, and that those were genuinely
happy times. But knowing and knowing…” She
touched a fist to her chest. “Those aren’t the same thing.”
He looked away. “No.” For a moment it seemed he
wouldn’t say any more, but then he continued, “The
voice of common sense sounds a lot like a parent telling
us what we should feel or think. Of course we don’t
listen to it.”
She blinked. Yes, it was exactly like that. She’d chew
herself out for being silly enough to feel something irrational,
and that voice was downright irritating. It made
her feel rebellious and childish.
“I never realized,” she said, nodding, “but you’re
right. I suppose we internalize everything our parents
and coaches and teachers say, and then spout it back at
ourselves.”
“And, unfortunately, at our kids.”
“Oh, ugh. And here I am, a teacher!”
“A good one.”
“But I say those kinds of things!”
He laughed at her, whatever had made him seem to
withdraw for a moment having passed. “Yeah, but the
thing is, it’s usually good advice.”