Page 37 of Snowed In With the Grizzly

There’s Jaxton, standing in the middle of the dining room, thumbs tucked into the waistband of his jeans. So much bigger than the rest of them, and perfectly at ease in our McMansion.

His eyes turn on to me, and the love and regard in them almost makes my heart stop beating.

Then he winks at me. I get it.

He holds out a hand. Instinctively, I run over and squeeze it with my own.

My father raises his head. There’s a flicker of hope in his eyes. “I could still do that instead?” he asks.

Jaxton lets out a roar. “No, you piece of shit. Of course, you can’t sell your own daughter! I was being facetious.”

The three men turn to me. “Rowan Anderson?” One of them asks.

“Yes, that’s me,” I say. “Where’s Charlie?”

“She’s in her room,” Jaxton replies.

“What the hell’s going on here?”

“It turns out that your father’s creditor, DiMarco, is a very dangerous man,” Jaxton says. “In an interesting turn of events, the FBI has been wanting to get their hands on him for a long time. And if your father is willing to testify against him, he can go into witness protection. His debts will be cancelled, and he’ll be free.”

“Free? Like hell I will!” my father snarls.

“Your choice, buddy,” one of the FBI agents says. “You can either be free in the little town of West Buttfuck, Oklahoma, or you can be dead.”

My father grumbles and scrubs at his face.

Jaxton takes my other hand and turns me, so I’m looking at him directly. “The bad news is that you and Charlie are going to have to disappear for a while, too.”

My mouth falls open. “Not with Dad. No way!”

Jaxton shakes his head slowly. “Of course not. Considering your father’s, uh,parenting skills, the FBI has offered to find you a separate safehouse. But,”—a smile tugs at the corners of his lips—“I volunteered to take care of you both. Take you someplace where DiMarco’s henchmen aren’t going to find you.”

I cast a glance at the three agents for confirmation. The closest one nods his assent. Jaxton is in charge, I realize. These three federal agents are letting him do all the talking. I’m starting to understand that there’s more to his military past than he made out.

I turn back to Jaxton. “You’re saying we can be together?”

“Yes, honey. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

My heart leaps. “Oh, my god—” I whisper.

“You might have to change your names, et cetera,” he cuts in with a frown. “Your life will be real different from how it was before—”

“Sounds great to me,” says an upbeat, sassy voice. I turn and watch as Charlie enters the room. Her eyes are bright, and she looks lighter than I’ve seen in a long, long time. Well, ever since she realized what a prime asshole my father is, really. She’s carrying a large holdall.

“Ready when you are,” she says.

“We need to get going right now,” Jaxton cuts in. “Your father has confirmed that DiMarco knows nothing about the cabin and we need to make sure it stays that way. I’m sorry about this. I wish you had more time to pack your stuff.”

“Not a problem,” I say. “Let me just grab one thing.”

I dash upstairs, lift up a rug, two loose floorboards, and take out a wooden box—the home of all my most precious keepsakes. Cards, notes, photos, things my mom made for me over the years. I shove it under my arm and sprint back down the stairs.

Then I pause and take one last look at my father. He’s been in my life for twenty years, and it’s weird how little I feel for this broken man, sobbing over the table.

“Goodbye, father,” I say to him. “Not that you deserve to be called a father. You’ve dishonored the promise you made to our mom to take care of us. And you’ll carry that shame with you for the rest of your life. But now I’m going to forget that I ever had a father.”

“We’ll be in touch,” one of the agents tells us, and Jaxton sweeps us out of the house. His big truck is waiting in the garage, and he makes us duck down low in the back seats until we are out of the city limits.

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