Page 85 of Cabin Fever

Her cheeks blushed and her lips, in the most delicious way, bent into the slightest smile. I wanted to eat her up.

"I think we need to get back to the farm. Excuse us."

Both men moved, and we slid out. I couldn't help but look back and notice the surprise and irritation in Tyler's expression.

I grabbed her hand and we ran to the truck like children giggling the entire way. I slid into the driver's seat and buckled up, and she did the same in the passenger seat. Once we had pulled away, I held her hand and didn't let go until we were back home.

TWENTY-SEVEN

Olivia

"YOU NEVER READ YOURfather's will?"

I sat in the lobby of the bank next to Carter. After racing home from the diner yesterday and having the best raunchy sex, he explained what Austen told him at the diner.

It wasn't what was in the will that surprised me, but that Carter, who obviously loved his father very much, had never read the thing.

"I wasn't thinking straight back then. And, after a while, it became something else."

"What?"

He turned in the padded leather chair to face me. Despite the sadness I saw in his eyes, he held his head high. "I felt if I read the will then it meant he was truly gone. Somehow in the back of my brain, a part of me wanted him to still be alive. That at any moment, I would walk in the cabin and find him eating a can of beans."

My eyes widened.

"Was that a joke? About finding me eating the beans. I mean, I said I was sorry about eating your food, but it's just a can of beans."

His face softened, and he placed his hand on my shoulder. "No, not a joke. That was his can of beans you were eating. Think about it . . . Have you ever seen me cook with beans? Or when we were at the store, buy a replacement can?"

I never thought of it before, but he's right.

"No, I haven't. That was his can I ate?" I felt as if I disturbed a sacred tomb and gasped. "I'm so sorry, Carter."

"It's fine. Like you said, they're only beans. But the will was his voice. His ideas, his money, his words. If I read it, then that tiny part of my brain that was desperate for him to be alive would know he was dead."

It was a small gesture, but it was the best I could give him, sitting in this lobby. I took Carter's hand in mine and held it as long as he would let me.

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