Snowbound - Harlequin.com

JANICE KAY JOHNSON 259
“I think maybe to maintain a friendship you have to
see each other once in a while.”
She immediately regretted what she’d said when the
girl’s shoulders slumped.
“Yeah. My friends from my old school? It’s like, we
used to IM all the time. Not so much anymore.”
“It happens.” Fiona gave her a quick hug. “Important
friendships last, even over time and distance. And
fortunately, you make new ones at every phase of life.”
A quiet glow—and the removal of her braces, leaving
perfectly straight, white teeth and a far more natural
smile—made Willow considerably prettier than she’d
been in early November. “I have, thanks to Dieter and…
and to you.”
“Me?” Touched, Fiona hugged her again. “I’m glad
if I’ve helped.”
The kids who’d been on that trip had become important
to her, far beyond the fact that she coached them in
Knowledge Champs. It was a combination, she thought,
of having faced actual danger together, and of the intimacy
of the days that followed. She knew them, foibles,
joys and weaknesses, as she rarely knew her students.
What she couldn’t decide was whether it was an upside
or a downside that they felt they knew her, too.
Kelli and Tabitha together stopped at her desk after
class perhaps a month after Fiona’s date with Chad.
“You went out with Mr. Scammell, right?” Kelli asked.
Her mouth probably dropped open. “How did you…?”
“I heard him ask you. I was waiting in the hall,”
Tabitha said.
“I really don’t think my personal life…”