Snowbound - Harlequin.com

JANICE KAY JOHNSON
77
“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
the topic when a debate gets passionate. The look on a
student’s face when he or she gets something—really
gets it—for the first time. Come on,” she challenged
him. “You must have liked school, too, or you wouldn’t
have stayed in it so long.”
Again, the smile touched mainly his eyes. “You
wouldn’t believe me if I told you I stuck it out so I could
make lots and lots of money?”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“Okay. I did like school. Most of the time. But I’m
not a teacher.”
“You found something else that excited you.” She
pretended not to see the flash of some intense emotion