Page 54 of Cabin Fever

Bea shrugged as if expecting that answer—because of course, she did. I loved my sister, but I had a theory that in the womb, she sucked up all the confidence. Bea was the center of attention wherever she went. She once walked into the gift shop of a hotel to pick up some toothpaste she forgot. Beyoncé happened to walk in and before Bea left, Beyoncé was begging her to stop by her show. She even promised Bea she'd dedicate "Single Ladies" to her at the concert.

"Should I give him my number? I've decided this year will be the year I get serious with guys. No more flings. I'm a grown woman."

I was surprised. Bea knew she was rich, gorgeous, business savvy, and could get any guy she wanted with a flutter of her eye. If I had her confidence and drive, I wouldn't have ended up with Derrick.

But then I never would have met Carter.

"You never know. These mountain men can surprise you. It might be worth it giving him your digits."

She clasped my hands across the table as mischief lit up her face. "Yes. Your mountain man. And he's a farmer. You know what they say about farmers?"

"No. I don't."

Gnawing on her bottom lip, Bea shook her head. "Neither do I. But I'm sure there'ssomethingabout farmers. Anyway, spill the beans."

I tried to cover up the snort with my hand, but it was too late. Heads turned in our direction.

"It's funny you should say that."

I explained to Bea how I took shelter in Carter's cabin and threw the can of beans at him. I noticed in all the time I relayed my story of the past two weeks, that guy from the cash register never came over.

That was weird. Bea thought so, too. She would glimpse over there every so often as I caught her up on my life over the past few weeks. The door to the diner chimed, and I noticed it was the guy leaving.

"Are you okay?"

Bea's eyes were wide, staring at the door. She blinked and after a few seconds, sat up straight. "Yeah, I'm fine, Ollie. I guess mountain men are a little different than the guys we hang out with."

"That's true. I went to the bank once with Carter and he withdrew five hundred dollars. He thought that was enough money to last him weeks."

How he relied on bacon and potatoes, it probably would last him more than several weeks.

"But that's less than I spend on Julia."

It was odd discussing this with my sister. Not that money hadn't come up in the past with us, but the cost of things was never talked about. After a few weeks with Carter, I was finding it extravagant how normal Bea thought it was to spend that much on someone cutting her hair.

"I used to think everyone had a driver or at least, a maid, but I'm learning that is a rarefied lifestyle. We don't live a normal life, Bea."

Bea twirled her finger around the edge of her mug and glanced around the diner, taking in the people engrossed in their food and conversation.

"Perhaps we are the different ones. I never thought of it before. Even when you were with Derrick, I thought it was strange when he would ask to split the dinner bill after all our friends would go to dinner. Who does that?"

"Everyone. Well . . . everyone but us."

"You've changed. I don't know how your mountain man did it, but he's changed you."

I wanted to defend Carter. My sister met him for a total of fifteen minutes. She had no idea who he was or what life he's led.

"Carter hasn't done anything to me. If anything, I've learned a lot from him. I know how to cook now."

"That's what I'm talking about." Bea smiled. "It's like my baby sister has grown up. She's smarter than me now. I like Carter. I think when Dad finds out about him, he'll be overjoyed."

That surprised me. I thought running out on a wedding my father paid a lot of money for—to his new favorite at the company—would have made my father not want anything to do with me. He probably faked concern to his friends and business partners, but if I knew my father, at home he must have told people never to bring up my name.

"What happened to my things? I left everything behind in The Lodge when I ran from the wedding. I assumed people would come looking for me, but there was nothing."

Bea frowned. "I'm afraid that was my fault. I thought you got cold feet and finally took my advice and left. But when I saw you left your purse behind, I got a little concerned and made sure to leave the envelope in the one place I knew they had hot chocolate—the diner. I passed this place on my way to the airport."

"But if you were concerned, why didn't you come looking for me?"

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