Page 97 of Cabin Fever

I won't make the same mistake I made with Olivia. My grandmother was family and that was important.

We hugged for a minute and it didn't feel like enough. I thought I wanted to be alone after Dad passed away. It took a beautiful woman in a wedding dress that passed out on my kitchen floor for me to realize all I ever wanted was to be found.

"Come back with me to Washington, DC. I have a son, your uncle. I want you to meet him and his family. He'll be thrilled to see you again." My grandmother pulled back, looking up at me.

"But I live here. My place is here, at the farm."

Reaching up to cup my cheek, she smiled. "Yes, I understand. I'd never take that away from you. But I would like you to visit. Even if all you can afford are a few days in the city."

Thinking of what visiting my family in DC would entail, I wondered if it was even possible. That, after all these years, the fears of my father would be no more. It was over two decades ago, surely the men who were out to get him for what he overheard would be dead. Maybe not all dead, but had at least moved on from that time.

"Yes. I'll go for a visit."

THIRTY-ONE

Olivia

"I'M SORRY, DAD," Isaid to his back as he lifted the tumbler of sparkling water to his lips.

His brown eyes flicked to me. Lowering his glass, he took a moment to assess me. He was debating whether to attack or forgive. I was rarely on my dad's bad side but when I was, it usually ended in an attack.

But something happened as he turned to set his drink on the silver tray held by the passing waiter. His eyes softened and he smiled. "All is forgiven. Your mother informed me what Derrick did." I let out a breath I'd been holding and ran into his arms like I had when I was little.

"I wish you had come to me and not some cabin in the woods. Your mother told me about that, too." He pulled me back to gaze down at me. "You're my little girl. I'd do anything to protect you."

I nodded. I should have done a lot of things different than run into the woods with nothing but a coat to protect me. But then I never would have met Carter. As much as it hurt me to think about him, I was glad he had entered my life. I'd learned so much from him.

"I met someone while I was in Maine."

His brow raised. "Oh. Would this be the English gentleman with the estate in Kent? I met him at The Lodge when we arrived before the wedding. He seemed like a nice guy."

"No. He's not English, and he doesn't own an estate. His name's Carter and he's a sheep farmer."

I held my breath again and refused to blink as I waited for my father's reaction. I couldn't tell him who Carter really was, but that didn't matter. I wanted my father to be happy for me because I found a good guy, not for his family or money. Not that Carter had money anymore. Since he never signed the paperwork, he was officially a poor sheep farmer.

My father twisted his lips savoring what I had told him. "And this Carter, he knows who you are?" He waved his hand around the room filled with party guests as diverse as politicians to foreign investors to celebrities.

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