River’s End

and been to her, that if it comes down to a choice between your peace of mind and her own happiness, she’ll choose you.”
    “That’s not fair,” Olivia began, and Val cut her off with a lifted hand. The wound inside her might have broken open again, might have been raw and viciously painful. But her eyes were still clear, they were still sharp. She wanted to dislike his face, to find it cold and hard and ruthless. She wanted to see self-interest, perhaps coated with a thin sheen of polish.
    Instead she saw the glint of anger that hadn’t faded since it had flashed into his eyes when she’d snapped at Olivia. And she saw the strength she’d once seen in his father’s face.
    “That book will not be discussed in this house.”
    Noah nodded. “Understood.”
    “There’re perishables in those bags,” Val said as she turned away. “I have to get them put away.”
    “Just give them to me,” Olivia began, then hissed in frustration when he simply walked past her and into the house behind her grandmother.
    Left with no choice, Olivia dragged off her pack, dumped it on the porch and hurried in after them.
    Already unloading bags, Val glanced toward the door as Olivia came in. She saw nerves, ripe and jittery, in her granddaughter’s eyes. It made her feel ashamed.
    “You might as well take that pack off,” she said to Noah. “I imagine you’re sick of carrying it by now.”
    “If I admitted that, Liv would smirk at me. She wants me to think she thinks I’m a shallow urbanite who can’t tell east from west.”
    “You can’t,” Olivia murmured and had Noah grinning at her.
    “I was just testing you.”
    “And are you?” Val asked. If she’d been blind, she would have seen the bond in the look that passed between them. “A shallow urbanite.”
    “No, ma’am, I’m not. The fact is I’ve fallen in love, not just with Liv—though that came as a jolt to both of us—but with Washington. At least your part of it. I’ve already picked some spots where we could build our house, but Liv says we’d run into trouble because it’s a national park.”
    “He’s just babbling,” Olivia managed when she had untangled her tongue. “There isn’t—”
    “Spending a few days at the lodge or camping isn’t like living here,” Val interrupted.
    “I don’t guess it is.” Noah leaned back comfortably against the counter. “But I’m a pretty flexible guy about some things. And this is where she’s happy. This is home for her. As soon as I saw this place, I thought she’d like to get married right here in the yard, between the flowers and the forest. That would suit her, wouldn’t it?”
    “Oh, stop it!” Olivia burst out. “There isn’t—”
    “I wasn’t talking to you,” Noah said mildly, then offered Val an easy smile. “She’s crazy about me, but she’s having a little trouble, you know, settling into it.”
    Val nearly smiled. It broke her heart, then filled it again to see the amused exasperation on her little girl’s face. “You’re a clever young man, aren’t you?”
    “I like to think so.”
    She sighed a little as she neatly folded the last brown bag. “You might as well go get the rest of your things. You can stay in the guest room.”
    “Thanks. I’ll just leave the pack here.” He turned, caught Olivia by the chin while she was still trying to catch up and kissed her, warmly, deeply. “I won’t be long.”
    “I—” The screen door slapped smartly behind him, and Olivia threw up her hands. “You didn’t have to do that. He’ll be fine at the campground. You’ll just be uncomfortable if he stays here.”
    Val walked over to tuck the bags away in the broom closet. “Are you in love with him?”
    “I—it’s just...” She trailed off helplessly as Val turned back to look at her.
    “Are you in love with him, Livvy?”
    She could only nod as tears swam into her eyes.
    “And if I said I don’t want him around here, I don’t want you to have anything to do with him? That you owe me the loyalty to respect my feelings on this?”
    “But—”
    “I’ll never have peace if you let that man into your life.”
    She went white, white and rigid with the lance of pain. This was the woman who had given her everything, who had opened her arms, her heart, her home. She had to grip the edge of the counter to steady herself. “I’ll go ... I’ll go tell him he has to leave.”
    “Oh. Oh. Livvy.” Val dropped into a chair, covering her face as she burst into