Bonnie Dee A Hearing Heart

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Kinney. I ll see you tomorrow.
Folding his arms and leaning in the doorway, Jim watched as she walked down the
street. She glanced back, and he raised a hand in farewell, continuing to gaze after her
until she turned the corner.
Suddenly Rasmussen s hand settled heavily on his shoulder.
Jim started. He d been so focused on Catherine he hadn t been aware of his
approach.
Rasmussen s broad, red face was puckered in a frown. He shook his head. Sorry,
boy. She s not for you.
Chapter Four
Catherine thought about Jim the rest of the evening and throughout school the
following day. His valiant struggle to make sounds that mimicked hers and his amazing
demonstration of memorization proved he was an apt pupil. She would be careful not to
patronize him again. The problem wasn t going to be teaching him, but maintaining a
respectable detachment. That suspended moment of time in the loft with the air as thick
as honey, she d been certain something was about to happen. The look in Jim s eyes as he
leaned toward her was the same dark, hungry look Howard used to have just before he
kissed her.
Thinking about that look and the pressure of his hands on her waist when he helped
her off the ladder made her shiver. Her breasts felt tender and they pressed against her
corset. It was not an appropriate reaction to have when thinking about a student.
Miss Johnson. Ned Hildebrandt s voice made her jump. From the questioning look
on the boy s face, he must have tried to get her attention several times.
Yes, Ned?
He showed her the algebra problem he was having trouble with. She had to
concentrate hard to lead him through it. Mathematics was not her forte, and she worked
to keep ahead of some of her students in the textbook.
Finally the long day ended and she dismissed school. Little Minnie Davis threw her
arms around Catherine s legs and hugged them, looking up with an adoring smile. Love
you, teacher!
Well, I love you too, Minnie. Catherine s heart clenched as she leaned over and
hugged her. See you tomorrow.
Touching gestures like this made her appreciate her job here. Teaching had never
been so personal in White Plains, and half grown children certainly weren t as
demonstrative as little ones.
Catherine explained to Marlene and Caleb McPherson that she wouldn t be walking
home with them again today, but didn t say why she was staying behind at the
schoolhouse. The news about her teaching Jim would get around town soon enough.
Sitting at her desk to grade papers, she anxiously checked her watch to find only five
minutes had passed since she d dismissed the class. She was as impatient as a child
waiting for Christmas morning, and when the door of the schoolhouse opened, she
tingled with excitement.
Jim stood silhouetted against the golden afternoon sun. He wore a collarless, long-
sleeved shirt with a tan vest over it, and black pants. He wore no hat, and his hair was
brushed haphazardly from the crown, the bangs falling across his forehead. She preferred
his tousled look to the current men s style, parted in the center and slicked flat with
pomade. He carried the slate and books she d given him under one arm and he looked
around the room, but didn t enter.
She beckoned him in, pointing to one of the larger desks in the back of the
classroom. Come in. Sit down. She felt like a nervous hostess trying to make a good
impression, as though she d invited him for tea instead of a lesson.
The seating in the schoolhouse was in the old style, two pupils sharing a wooden
bench and desk with cast iron legs bolted to the floor. Jim took the seat where Jennie
Albright usually sat. Catherine sat beside him in Sarah Jalkanen s regular spot. She was
so near she could smell the hay and horse scent of the stables mingled with soap and
sweat. The aroma raised her heart rate even more. What was it about the earthy smell that
stirred her so much more than the sweet cologne Charles Van Hausen exuded?
After placing his books on the desk, Jim looked at her with raised eyebrows.
Let s start with arithmetic. She opened the text. Do you know your numbers?
Jim smiled and nodded, flipping the pages to the back of the book where there were
introductory lessons for long division. Copying down a problem with several digits on his
slate, he solved it quickly and correctly.
Catherine was stunned. How could he know so little about words and be completely
competent with numbers?
Who taught you? she asked, tapping the slate.
He hunched his shoulders and mimed pushing glasses up his nose.
Mr. Rasmussen. His imitation was spot on, and she couldn t help but smile.
Erasing the division problem, he jotted down a column of numbers with dollar signs
beside them, added them and wrote the total, also with a dollar sign. He drew a crude
image of the livery stable beside the numbers. Looking at her, he pushed the invisible
glasses up his nose again. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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