Snowbound by Janice Kay Johnson

added it.
    You didnt even have to measure? she asked, sounding indignant.
    Practice. He stirred in thyme and basil and sniffed experimentally.
    Shall I cut up the tomatoes? Fiona asked, waving her knife at the row of large cans.
    We can both work on those.
    She used a fork to set several tomatoes from the first can onto her cutting board. Then her head came up. It occurs to me that its been awfully quiet out there.
    He remembered the incredible smells coming from the kitchen on holidays when he was a kid, and his remarkable ability to resist them. They dont want to be put to work.
    She laughed and resumed dicing. Youre right. Theyre not crazy about this whole KP thing.
    Are their families rich enough that they have housekeepers? He didnt care, but wanted to keep her talking.
    Oh, probably. Certainly someone to clean. I doubt any one of them has ever scrubbed a toilet bowl.
    Why did you choose the private school then?
    I started in a public school. Thats where I did my student teaching. But it can be frustrating. The classes are too big. Lots of the kids need help they dont get. The advanced placement classes go to teachers with seniority. I saw the ad, and was attracted to the idea of a smaller school and a closer relationship with the students. This is only my second year, but Ive been really happy at Willamette Prep.
    He nodded.
    Were done, she said in surprise, looking around. It smells fabulous already. Are we planning a vegetable?
    Maybe not tonight. I can heat some garlic bread. He kept loaves in one of the freezers.
    O-oh. That sounds good.
    Ill make a cobbler for dessert. I have blackberries, huckleberries
    Really? She looked at him as if hed offered her a sleigh ride behind white ponies with silver bells on their harnesses. I love huckleberries!
    This laugh came more easily. Youre easy to please.
    Thats not what my mom says. She thinks Im picky.
    He lifted his brows. About food, or men?
    Both. She set the cutting boards in the sink along with the paring knives, and began wiping the counter. Your turn. Ive bared my soul, and I dont know anything about you.
    You know I was in the National Guard and went to Iraq. And was wounded.
    Yes, but besides that. A wave of the sponge dismissed the transforming events of his life. Are your parents still married? What do they think about you buying the lodge?
    Yes. Theyre still married. I cant imagine them fighting. He thought about that. My mother, maybe. But Dad is the strong, silent type. He nods to whatever she says. She was always telling us kids, your father says Or, your father thinks We didnt believe her. We knew he must think something, but we were pretty sure he never told anyone what that was.
    Her laugh was a lovely cascade of notes. But he must have courted her, once upon a time.
    No, I think she courted him. She asked him to marry her, and he nodded.
    Fiona giggled. What does he do? For a living, I mean.
    Plumbing. Has his own business.
    Did he want you to go into it?
    Fallon and Son? Dont know.
    Solemnly she concluded, He never said.
    This time, they laughed together. John was astonished by the sound. No, not just the sound, but the feeling. It took him a minute to identify it. Happiness, or something close. He felt carefree.
    Shed opened the dishwasher and begun loading it. So what do they think of your taking up innkeeping?
    He tried to stay relaxed. Theyre puzzled.
    Youre not yourself, his mother had said. Johnny, what happened to you?
    He hadnt been able to tell her. I killed too many people. Some I didnt mean to kill.
    Mom wouldnt have understood. She wouldnt have had any words to put in Dads mouth.
    Your brother or sister? Fiona asked, as casually as if the conversation hadnt become emotionally loaded. Or do you have both?
    Two sisters. Theyre puzzled, too.
    That wasnt entirely true. Mary, much like his mother in personality, was. Liz, quieter and more thoughtful like John, had come to him and said, Ive been reading things. I know lots of soldiers have been