Fool Me Once Read Online Free PDF Page B

forgive something like this?
    Was there a reason for his deception? Surely he had a reason. She wished she knew more about motherhood. All she knew was what she read in magazines and stories and what she’d observed as a child with her friends’ mothers. The bottom line in those magazines and stories was about mothers loving their children more than life itself. Why did her mother give her away? Maybe she hadn’t wanted to be pregnant. Maybe she hadn’t been mother material. Or maybe Olivia had been an ugly baby. Maybe something had been wrong with her when she was born that offended her mother. But then she snorted at such thoughts.
    Was she blaming the wrong person? It was possible, she supposed, that her father only did what her mother wanted. Since she didn’t know anything about her mother—not even what she’d looked like—she couldn’t really say. What she was sure of was that her father loved her with all his heart. She was certain in her own mind that he still loved her and that there had to be reasons why he’d done what he did. And now he was on his way to her to try to make all this right.
    Olivia felt like crying, but she bit down on her lower lip. Crying was for wimps. At least that’s what her father said. She leaned over and turned the radio on just to have some sound. Music filled the kitchen and lifted her spirits. Since her father was going to be there, maybe she should think about what she was going to make for dinner. She eyed the Crock-Pot sitting on the counter. With her busy schedule, it was a lifesaver. But today, even though she had the time, she didn’t feel like cooking. She’d just dump stuff in it from the freezer, and whatever it turned out to be, she and her dad would eat.
    It took her all of ten minutes to drop a package of chicken parts into the oversize pot, along with celery, carrots, frozen peas and corn, and a can of chicken broth. At the last minute she opened the cabinet over the stove and sprinkled every spice she had on the rack into the mess. She covered it, adjusted the cook time, then dusted her hands dramatically. Done.
    Olivia opened the freezer again, withdrew a Boston cream pie, and set it on the counter to thaw out. Her father loved Boston cream pie. These days, Lea made the pies from scratch.
    Just you and me, kid.

    Somehow Olivia managed to while away the hours by tidying up the studio, playing with the dogs, checking the Crock-Pot, and washing a load of towels. She looked at the time on her watch at least a hundred times until she heard the pinging sound of the doorbell. With the dogs at her heels, she ran to the foyer, where she skidded to a stop, opened the door, and stared at her father.
    He looked wonderful, tanned and fit, wearing heavy winter clothes that looked brand-new. But there was such sadness, such regret and weariness in his eyes that she knew he hadn’t slept. She burst into tears. He reached for her, and she fell into his arms. He held her so tightly she wanted to squeal with the pain, but she didn’t.
    â€œI have no words to tell you how very sorry I am, Ollie. This was never supposed to happen. Never! ” he said vehemently. “Let’s go into the kitchen and have something hot to drink.”
    In the kitchen, Olivia reached for a cup and poured coffee for her father. She’d been making pot after pot of coffee since ten o’clock, then throwing each one out because she wanted the coffee to be fresh when her father arrived.
    Olivia waited until her father had taken his first sip before she whispered, “Tell me everything.”
    He did.
    â€œI didn’t know what to do, Ollie. I was numb. All I could think of was that you were just a few hours old, and I was the only one who wanted you. I signed everything they put in front of me. I was full of fear and panic. I think the look on your mother’s face told me there was no hope that she would change her mind. She had some