Page 76 of Cabin Fever

I made my way through the parking lot until I reached the truck. As I started the ignition, I smiled. To think, a month ago I wouldn't have been able to drive this vehicle, or any vehicle, for that matter. My life had changed so much in a short amount of time. I felt happy but there was something nudging me. It was small, just a tickle really.

While I finally believed that Carter could be Senator Lorne Fitzwilliam's son, he never wanted to discuss anything about his family or his past. I knew in time he would but what worried me was that there might be more to the story than anyone knew. His father would have had to go to great lengths to stay hidden for so long.

The person who killed his wife and daughter was captured and thrown in jail. So why did the senator stay hidden all this time?

TWENTY-FOUR

Carter

"MORE COFFEE?"

I glanced over from staring out the window to find the waitress holding up a half-filled coffee pot.

"Yes. And can I get a mug of hot chocolate, too? The woman who's going to join me will want it." I smiled imagining Olivia's face when she sees the cocoa. She had agreed to meet me at Fire and Ice after work.

The waitress nodded. She's new. I had never seen her before, not even in town. She's cute with straight black hair that brushed her shoulders and bangs that needed a trim.

"No problem." She refilled my cup, never looking me in the eye.

"Thanks, uh, Emily." I glanced at the pin above the pocket on her yellow blouse.

Her dark brown eyes flickered up to meet mine with a twinge of uncertainty. "I never told you my name. Who are you?" She took a step back, her body rigid.

"Um . . . your name tag did." I pointed.

Looking down at where I pointed, she relaxed her hand and the coffee pot tipped, spilling some coffee onto the ground.

"Shoot. I'm such a klutz. I'll be right back."

Emily shuffled off to the back. The way she reacted to me just now reminded me of my father. When we first came to this town, he trusted no one. Except, for some reason, Tyler Ferguson's father.

The clock over the register read four fifteen, and I wondered where Olivia could be. The vet was only a five-minute walk from here and she got off at four o'clock. Emily came back out with a rag and bucket. When she set down the bucket of soapy water, it tipped and spilled everywhere.

"It's only my second day. I'msogoing to be fired," I heard her mumble to herself.

I stood and walked over to the spill. "I'll start with the rag while you go in the back to get a mop."

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