Give Me a Reason Read Online Free PDF Page B

discussion the week before, Laura had built an
image of this woman in her mind. She believed that Toni Vaughn would appear
hard and much older than her age, downtrodden by her time in prison and the
brutalities inflicted upon her, but Laura couldn’t have been more wrong.
    Appearing to be nearly six feet in height, with short black
hair that had a style all its own, Toni Vaughn was an attractive woman.
Although gaunt, her features were striking and natural. Her jaw was strong and
her nose narrow, and while dark circles appeared under her eyes, they couldn’t
offset the whole. Even though John had explained that the years behind bars had
taken their toll on her psyche, as far as Laura could tell, they had done
little to affect Antoinette Vaughn’s beauty.
    “Toni, I’d like to introduce you to our new Education
Administrator, Laura MacLeod.”
    Laura watched as the woman dipped her head a millimeter, but
continued to stare at the floor.
    “Laura, this is Toni Vaughn, one of our most popular
teachers.”
    Extending her hand, Laura smiled. “Nice to meet you, Toni.”
    Taking a quick step backward, Toni shoved her hands in her
pockets. Refusing to look in Laura’s direction, instead she raised her eyes to
glare at John. Abruptly turning her back on both of them, she walked to the
window and stared out the glass, desperately trying to hold it together. They
needed to leave. They needed to leave now .
    With a frown, John motioned toward the corridor, and they
left the room without saying a word. As soon as John closed the door to Toni’s
classroom, Laura asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
    “No,” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But I
did.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I forgot to tell you. Toni doesn’t like to be touched.”

 
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
     
    Four weeks later, Laura MacLeod couldn’t have been happier
about her decision to work at Calloway House. Except for those taught by Toni
Vaughn, she had managed to monitor every class and found herself duly impressed
by the patience, intelligence and fortitude of her staff.
    Seeing Susan Grant heading outside for a smoke, Laura grabbed
her coat and followed her out the rear exit of the building.
    “Hard day?” Laura asked as she sat down next to Susan on the
step.
    Chuckling softly, Susan said, “I’ve got one woman who can’t
grasp addition sitting next to another who could do calculus in her sleep. You
tell me.”
    Laura knew all too well that while all the residents at
Calloway had spent time in prison, that’s where their similarities ended. A
melting pot of ethnic backgrounds, incomes, educations, religions and mental
aptitudes, they presented the teaching staff with a smorgasbord of challenges.
    “Sounds difficult,” Laura said.
    “You think?”
    “What can I do?”
    “Oh, Laura, there’s nothing you can do. There aren’t enough
hours in the day to have classes for each level, at least not until John can
scrounge up enough funding to hire a few more teachers. Until then, we just
have to muddle through.”
    “And make sure you don’t run
out of cigarettes,” Laura said, watching as Susan lit her second.
    “Yeah, that too,” Susan said with a laugh. “So, how about
you? How are you doing?”
    “Well, the paperwork was a little overwhelming at first, but
I’m getting the hang of it.”
    “I heard that John introduced you to Toni,” Susan said,
taking another drag of her smoke.
    “Yeah, last month.”
    “What do you think of her?”
    Tilting her head, Laura asked, “Are you asking me about her
teaching abilities or about her ?”
    “If you ask any of one of those women inside as to whom their
favorite teacher is, Toni would win hands down. We all know that. I’m talking
about the woman, not the teacher.”
    Thinking for a moment, Laura shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t
know what to say. When we met, she didn’t say a word, and then I tried to shake
her hand—”
    “Didn’t John tell you that she