Take Me Home (9781455552078) Read Online Free PDF Page A

her father said, “What brings you by? I would’ve thought you’d be home by now.”
    â€œActually,” Olivia replied, “I was wondering if we could talk.”
    â€œOf course.”
    Realizing that her father meant that they should have their conversation right there , she said, “I was hoping we might have some privacy.”
    John nodded. Looking over his shoulder at his deputy, he said, “Olivia and I are going to head outside for a bit, Huck. You think you can hold down the fort?”
    Glancing over the top of his newspaper, Huck grinned. “Long as those troublemakers keep quiet, I reckon I can handle it.”
    Â Â 
    The spring sun was beginning to set in the west when Olivia and her father stepped out behind the police station. The early evening still held a bit of the day’s meager heat, but a light breeze carried with it the promise of a chilly night. John didn’t seem at all uncomfortable, but Olivia shivered as she placed her hands in her armpits, both for the warmth and to keep her ring hidden.
    â€œYou want to go somewhere warmer?” her father asked, noticing her discomfort.
    â€œThis is fine,” she answered.
    John nodded as he pulled a pack of cigarettes from the breast pocket of his shirt. Once he’d wrangled one free, he struck a match and lit it, taking a drag and blowing a plume of smoke toward the sky. He looked over at his daughter a bit sheepishly and asked, “Can we keep this a secret?”
    â€œMy lips are sealed.”
    For years, Olivia’s mother had scolded her husband about his smoking habit. Whenever he came home from work, his clothes smelling like tobacco, Elizabeth had turned up her nose and walked from the room. For his part, John had tried everything to cut back, but he still craved one from time to time.
    â€œSo what’s on your mind?” he asked.
    Olivia noticed how her father had phrased his question. Instead of asking what was wrong, about what had bothered her enough to come by the station to talk to him, he remained neutral; she knew that it was the lawman in him, not wanting to make any assumptions before he had the whole story.
    All day, Olivia had tried to come up with a way to talk about the proposal that had changed her life. She’d considered just blurting it out, but her heart was pounding so hard that she settled on easing her way into it. “What do you think about Billy?” she finally asked, unable to meet her father’s eyes.
    â€œHe’s a good young man,” John answered evenly. “Polite. Well-mannered. Comes from a good family.”
    â€œBut do you like him?” Olivia pressed.
    Her father’s gaze narrowed inquisitively. “I do,” he said. “I’ve always thought he’s been a good friend to you.”
    â€œWell…now he wants to be much more than that…”
    John had been bringing his cigarette up to take another drag, but listening to his daughter’s words, he paused, the butt a few inches short of his mouth. “Did Billy ask you out on a date?” he asked.
    â€œYes…no…” Olivia stammered; she wondered if this was how Billy felt trying to find the words to ask for her hand.
    â€œWhich is it?”
    Unable to hold the truth back any longer, she took a deep breath and answered, “He asked me to marry him…”
    Even though Olivia knew that her father’s success as a sheriff came from remaining unfazed by the most unexpected of occurrences, she saw that her revelation had stunned him, even if he didn’t let it show for long. He nodded as he puffed on his cigarette, the drag undoubtedly deeper than he’d originally intended.
    Now that Olivia had begun, the story tumbled quickly out of her. “He was so wound up, pacing out in front of the hardware store, that I started to worry,” she explained. “I thought something bad must have happened, but the next thing I knew,