Page 22 of Cabin Fever

"No. It's just, uh . . . my dad was Mr. Fitzwilliam. I was always Carter. It reminded me of him. That's all."

"Oh. Did something happen to your father?"

He had mentioned his dad many times since I'd been here, so I knew his father had a powerful impact on Carter. I had no idea if his father was dead or just elsewhere.

"He died two years ago."

"I'm sorry. I bet you two were close. And from what you've told me about him, he taught you well."

There were several minutes of silence while Carter was lost in thought.

I got up to clear the plates so I could go into the bedroom and give him some alone time. If there was one thing I'd learned from him, it was that the man loved to be by himself. He needed that time now.

When he spoke, it surprised me.

"If you want to be a farmer, Olivia, then I can write down some tips for you before you leave."

I wanted to hug him. Run over and wrap my arms around his big burly chest, but he wasn't a hugger. The man didn't seem to enjoy touch all that much.

This mountain man was a strange one.

"That would be nice. Thank you."

Carter stood abruptly, causing the chair to fall back. Kitty, who had been waiting patiently in her bed for bacon, yelped. I threw two extra crispy pieces of bacon at her, which quieted her instantly.

"I think I can take you home today. It was warmer yesterday and it has been several days since the storm, the roads should be clear enough to take you back. I'll go install the spark plugs to see if that does the trick."

He took off to throw on his coat and boots before leaving through the front door. He knew I wanted to watch how he fixed the truck but was trying to race out of here so I wouldn't have time to follow. What he didn't know was that I had already washed my face with his amazing country soap that did wonders for my skin. When I got back to DC, I was so telling all my friends to come here to buy coffee and soap.

I scurried to the door and leaned over to pull on my boots. That gave Kitty the perfect opportunity to commence face licking. Once I was done, had wiped off my face, and shoved on my coat, I was out the door.

"You thought you could get away, but you can't outsmart Olivia the cat!" I joked as I trekked over to him.

"This is something that doesn't require your help. Wait inside where it's warm. Or better yet, get your things ready so we can take off once I've fixed the truck." Carter shifted his body, blocking my view of what he was doing under the hood.

"Not so fast, Mr. Grumpington . . . uh, I mean, Fitzwilliam."

Carter turned and cocked his head at me. "Grumpington?"

"You heard that? Darn. I meant it in an affectionate way. Like, look at you, Mr. Grumpington, you're so adorable when you get mad."

"Adorable? You think I'm adorable."

No. Not at all. Sexy, yes. Adorable, no.

"Yes! Like a puppy. A cute little puppy working hard on his chew toy." I reached up and pinched his cheek.

I was fully aware that my excuses were only making things worse, but I couldn't help myself. The man caused my brain to malfunction. I tried not to talk so much around him because of that, but when there was silence my eyes did the talking for me. And they couldn't be trusted to keep things dignified.

"This puppy needs to concentrate. If you must watch, don't interrupt me and stand over there." He pointed to the other side of where he was working.

I did as I was told and looked on with great interest. It took some time for him to undo parts and put other parts in place. I nibbled on my lips to stop myself from asking what he was doing. It was hard, but I've upset him enough while I had been here. I've disrupted his hermit life long enough.

I was surprised when he handed me the keys and told me to start up the truck. He showed me when we first tried to get the engine going how to start it. I had only started a car a few times in my life—one of them being for my driving test when I was sixteen.

My parents spent a lot of money to get an instructor to teach me how to drive the easiest car they could find. It took a few months and two failed attempts at passing the driver's test before I got my license. And I haven't driven since.

Now I felt like a natural putting my foot on the brake and turning the key. Perhaps driving might be on my list of hidden talents.

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