Page 4 of Snowed in With My Small Town Billionaire

He kicked the wall. “I’m bored. School is stupid.”

“Okay. Now, do you care to be honest with me and yourself? What’s the real issue here?”

“Just stuff. Dad got arrested again for drugs. He was at the apartment. Mom’s going to get into trouble because he wasn’t supposed to be there.”

“Honey, I’m so sorry. I hate it when bad things happen, especially when we feel helpless to do anything about it.”

Robert shrugged his shoulders.

“The best thing you can do is to be there for your little brother and sister. You can’t change things with your dad or mom, but you can help them feel more secure and not be so scared.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he growled.

“Anytime you need to talk, you know that I’m here for you. Mr. Oswald’s door in the counseling center is always open, too.”

“Yeah.”

“We don’t have much longer. Do you think you can go inside and work on the assignment or would you prefer to hang out in the resource center until class is over?”

“I’ll finish the assignment.”

They walked in together. Robert took his seat and opened the Chrome Book to get started on his assignment. She hoped that she could get through the rest of the day without too many more issues. She loved her students, especially the troubled ones, but some days they drained every bit of energy she had out of her.

Finally, after an eternity, the bell rang. They waited for her to tell them to dismiss them. Her rule was that she dismissed class, not the bell.

She smiled at them and said, “Enjoy the rest of your day.”

Abigail Williams, the media coordinator and Gwent’s best friend, popped her head in the door. “How’d it go?”

“Hey, Abby. Sometimes I feel like a dentist and I have to pull teeth to get them to do anything. Other times, I feel like a circus clown, entertaining them to get their attention. The rest of the time, I am a psychiatrist.”

Abby nodded. “I think teachers fill a million other roles, as well. You’re good, though. The kids respect you. They act like feral cats in other teachers’ classrooms.”

Gwen laughed. “I want to talk to the folks giving them catnip.”

“Me too.” Abby sat down in front of Gwen’s desk and propped her face up in her hands. “Do you have big plans for the break?”

Sighing heavily, Gwen groaned loudly. “I have a feeling that I’m going to be forced to go to the ski resort on Montagne Maudite. Brent wants to go there for his Christmas present.”

“Sounds like fun.”

Gwen shook her head. “You’ve not been around my father very much. I can only deal with him in short bursts. But Mom has called me every day for the last week. Soon, she’s going to get Brent on the phone to pull a guilt trip.”

Abby laughed. “Your nephew has you wrapped around his little finger.”

“Since he was a baby.”

“You’ll end up going. I know you.”

The women talked for a few more minutes and then Abby said she had to close the media center and go home. She was tired and her cat would be hungry.

“Say hello to Sergio for me,” Gwen said.

“I will. He’s the best roommate in the world. He never leaves the toilet seat up, loves me unconditionally, and rarely makes a mess.”

“Cats are like that,” Gwen said, slipping her computer into her bag.

She barely made it home before her phone rang. Closing her eyes, she almost didn’t answer it. However, she knew that her mother would just keep calling until she did.

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