Snowbound Read Online Free

voices drifting from the other bedrooms. Most of their parents are pretty well-to-do.
    He only nodded. That would be appreciated.
    Again her teeth closed briefly on her lower lip. I hate to ask, butWe ate at four oclock. I suspect the boys especially are starved.
    John had once been skinny like the one kid. He seemed to remember eating from morning to night and never feeling full.
    Sandwiches?
    Sandwiches would be great. She treated him to another smile, this time relieved.
    They met at the foot of the bed and had one of those awkward moments where they both hesitated, started forward, shuffled, until he finally waved toward the door. After you.
    It seemed to him that her cheeks were a little bit pink. Did she feel some of the pull that had him half-aroused and uncomfortable?
    He couldnt imagine. With his scarred face and obvious limp, he was more likely to be an object of pity than lust. His throat momentarily tightened. Had thatmoment been so clumsy because shed been trying to defer to him since he was disabled?
    Ill get started on food, he said shortly, and left her to the kids.
    Like a bunch of locusts, they showed up in the kitchen all too quickly and began filling plates. A couple of the smaller girls barely nibbledone was Asian, a tiny thing with glossy black hair down to her hips, the other thin and plain with braces that pushed her lips out. Those two, he remembered, had taken the room with one bed, and now were quieter than the others.
    Two girls were arguing loudly about some math question, while another flirted with the stocky boy who seemed more interested in piling food on his plate. The teacher looked dead on her feet.
    She swayed, and John stepped forward, but she rallied and said, Wow! This is great. Thank you.
    They took seats around the long, farmhouse table that occupied the middle of the enormous kitchen, John at her right side.
    Everyone, our host is John Fallon. She reeled off their names, most of which hed likely need to hear again.
    The tall, skinny boy whod stayed here before was Dieter Schoenecker, the stocky one had the unlikely name of Hopper Daniels, and the third boy was Troy Thorsen. Nordic last name, which didnt explain his racial heritage.
    The girls were a blur. Kelliwith an i, she made sure to tell him, last name he didnt catch, Amy Brooks, who seemed given to posing and flipping her hair,Tabitha, Erin andthat left someone out, but he couldnt remember who. Probably the plain, quiet one.
    Watching the speed with which the food disappeared, John took mental stock of his larder. Theyd be okay for a week, he figured; he kept an emergency supply of canned goods he could dip into if need be.
    Fiona took half a sandwich and ate it slowly, as if she had to remind herself to take a bite and swallow. Clearly theyd driven across the mountains that morning, and had probably made an early start to have had time for any kind of competition during the day. Driving for hours through the blizzard had to have wrung her out.
    Why dont you hit the sack? he said quietly. Theyre still wound up. I can sort them out later.
    Im responsible
    You look ready to collapse.
    Dieter Schoenecker, who sat on her other side, heard. Ms. Mac was Superwoman today.
    She managed a grin and pretended to flex a bicep. Thats me. Speaking of which she pitched her voice a little louder have I mentioned that I have X-ray vision? I see through walls.
    Ahh! Ms. Mac doesnt trust us. The Hopper kid clasped his hand to his chest and fell back in his chair.
    She just smiled. Bathroom on the right side upstairs is for girls, left side for boys.
    Toothbrushes. John pushed back his chair and stood. His bad leg chose to cave, and he had to brace his hand on the back of the chair until the spasm let up. Without looking to see if anyone had noticed, he left the kitchen.
    He grabbed a basket and piled it with toothbrushes,toothpaste in sample tubes, dental floss, the small bottles of shampoo and hand lotion he put out when readying a bathroom for