Page 82 of Cabin Fever

Carter began to shake, and I tightened my hold and looked up at him. His eyes were closed tightly and his features contorted in anger. He was reliving the moment, and I wanted to do everything I could to take that pain away.

"Everyone was taken to the hospital. I remember the look on my father's face when he walked into my hospital room. I was only eight, but I knew my mother was gone. I just knew . . . When he told me my sister, Clare, hadn't made it, I couldn't stop crying. My father spent the next few days arranging to leave DC and still, I cried. When I wasn't crying, I was like a zombie going through the motions."

"Oh, Carter."

I lifted my head and dotted kisses on his cheeks. Here I was only thinking of me. My fragile ego creating silly hoops to jump through.

"When we came here, everything changed. My father bought a few sheep and got me a puppy. Not Kitty . . . she wasn't born yet. It was my first dog, and I named her Doggie. If you hadn't guessed, I'm not that creative when coming up with names."

I smiled and as he opened his eyes; they held a sorrow I'd never seen in him. Something dark. As if he wore a thick chain wrapped around his body that dug into his flesh and he knew it would never be lifted.

"This farm and the solitude up here helped me heal. I began to feel like a real person again. My father never talked too much about it, but when memories would overwhelm me, he took me to the barn and would teach me something new. He was learning himself. It was a way for us to learn and adapt to the new life together. Tyler's father came up for a few months to teach us. He grew up on a sheep farm. But once my dad got the hang of farming, we didn't see Tyler's dad anymore. Dad and I kept to ourselves up here."

Together we stayed like that for a minute. His body started to relax, and I thought about how this place helped me grow and heal, too. I was about to mention that to him when we heard the door to the back open.

"Carter?"

"Oh no, Emily. I forgot about her." Carter sat up with a frown.

He got up and before he opened the bedroom door, he turned to me. "If you don't want me to hire her, I won't."

My chest bloomed in warmth.

"Hire her. She's too good to let go."

He walked back over and bent down. Brushing his lips over mine, he gave me a chaste kiss before leaving.

Carter was too good for me to ever let go.

TWENTY-SIX

Carter

"I'M RICH!" OLIVIA SAIDas she slammed the check on the linoleum table.

"I already knew that. I think most people who've met you could tell that you come from money." I glanced at her check and wondered what the good doctor paid my girlfriend.

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