River’s End

together, he’d worn her down.
    Unexpectedly he came up behind her and hugged her tight. “I love you, Celia.”
    She turned in his arms and gave him a quick kiss. “You’re still eating the black beans and squash. It’s good for you.”
    He figured he’d live through it—and he had mini-pizzas buried in the depths of the freezer. “I’ll eat it, and I’ll still love you. I’m a tough guy. Where’s Noah?”
    “Out shooting hoops with Mike. He’s got a date with Sarah later.”
    “Again?”
    Celia had to smile. “She’s a very nice girl, Frank. And with him going off to college in a few weeks, they want to spend as much time together as they can.”
    “I just wish he wasn’t so hung up on this one girl. He’s only eighteen.”
    “Frank, after a half term in college, Sarah won’t be more than a vague memory. Now, what’s really wrong?”
    He didn’t bother to sigh, but took the beer she held out to him. “Do you remember the MacBride case?”
    “Julie MacBride?” Celia’s eyebrows lifted. “Of course. It was the biggest high-profile case of your career, and you still get sad if one of her movies comes on TV. But what about the MacBride case? You closed it years ago. Sam Tanner’s in prison.”
    “The little girl.”
    “Yes, I remember. She broke your heart.” Celia rubbed his arm. “Softie.”
    “Her grandparents got custody, took her up to Washington State. They own a place up there, lodge, campground on the Olympic Peninsula. Attached to the national forest.”
    “The Olympic National Forest?” Celia’s eyes went bright. “Oh, that’s beautiful country. I hiked up that way the summer I graduated from high school. They’ve really kept the greedy bloodsuckers at bay.”
    To Celia greedy bloodsuckers were anyone who wanted to chop down a tree, demolish an old building, hunt rabbits or pour concrete over farmland.
    “Tree hugger.”
    “Ha ha. If you had any idea how much damage can be done by loggers who don’t have the foresight to—”
    “Don’t start, Cee, I’m already eating beans and squash.”
    She pouted a moment, then shrugged a shoulder and started to rise. Since putting her back up hadn’t been part of his strategy, he reached in his pocket for the letter. “
    Just read this, and tell me what you think.”
    “So now you’re interested in what I think.” But after reading the first couple lines, she sat again, and the light of battle in her eyes melted into compassion. “Poor little thing,” she murmured. “She’s so sad. And so brave.”
    She smoothed her fingers over the letter, then handed it back to Frank before she went back to stir her pot. “You know, Frank, a family vacation before Noah heads off to college would be good for all of us. And we haven’t been camping since he was three and you took an oath never to spend another night sleeping on the ground.”
    Half the weight the letter had put on his shoulders slid off. “I really do love you, Celia.”
    Olivia did her best to behave normally, to tuck the nerves and excitement away so her grandparents wouldn’t notice. Inside, she was breathless and jittery, and her head ached a little, but she did her morning chores and managed to eat a little lunch so no one would comment on her lack of appetite.
    The Bradys would be there soon.
    She’d been relieved when her grandfather had been called to the campground right after lunch to handle some little snag. It hadn’t been hard to make excuses to stay behind instead of going with him, though she’d felt guilty about being less than honest.
    The guilt had her working twice as hard as she might have on cleaning the terrace outside the lodge dining room and weeding the gardens that bordered it. It was also the perfect spot from which to watch arrivals and departures. Olivia weeded the nasturtiums that tumbled over the low stone wall in cheery yellows and oranges, deadheaded the bright white Shasta daisies behind them and kept one eye on the turn toward Reception.
    Her hands sweated inside her garden gloves, which she’d worn only because she wanted to be adult and shake hands with the Brady family without having grime on her fingers and under her fingernails. She wanted Frank to see that she was grown-up enough to understand about her mother, about her father.
    She didn’t want him to see a scared little girl who needed to be protected from monsters.
    She was going to learn to chase the monsters away herself, Olivia thought. Then, despite her