Wicked Forest Read Online Free PDF Page A

situation. My parents put up a good facade, but my father especially is carrying a great burden on his shoulders.'
    "What burden, the supply of champagne?"
    "Ridicule if you want, but you're not the only one with a troubled past and present. My sister's marriage has been on the rocks for years. Her husband isn't as successful as he makes out to be. There's a lot you don't know, Willow. I saw no reason to add my dark shadows to your own house of dreads," he said, softening his lips. I had told him of Amou's sayings and ways. His using the expression did quell the flames of fury in my chest, if not put them out altogether.
    "And then, all of this, these revelations about you and Grace. and Linden's actions... all of it coming at us so fast and so furiously... it takes time to adjust, to accept, to understand." he continued in a voice of pleading. "Despite how it looks, there is a very orderly, disciplined life here, at least for me."
    I stared at him. How reasonable he sounded, how perfectly, damnably reasonable.
    "I keep forgetting what a good trial attorney you are. Thatcher Steven Eaton, even though it's usually a trial over bad kitty litter or something similar," I said, and he laughed.
    "Hey, don't knock it. It pays the bills and then some."
    I took a deep breath and looked away. Was he right about it all and the way he had behaved? I wanted him to be right. I needed him to be right. Did that make me weak? Was I willing to delude myself, accept lies so I could be happy, just like so many people here, so many people I knew, especially my adoptive mother? If there was anyone I didn't want to resemble, it was she.
    I hated how I continually analyzed myself, but I couldn't help thinking I would always be weak when it came to facing a strong, confident man. Analysts would tell me I was constantly searching for a father figure.
    Thatcher stepped closer, practically touching me. I turned away from him, afraid of looking into those beautiful eyes and weakening.
    "You've got to believe I suffered, knowing that you were alone out there, dealing with all your problems without me at your side." he said in a soft, low voice.
    I spun on him.
    "Then why didn't you just call... just call me once!"
    "I thought you would be on your way back sooner," he said. "Especially with Linden still in the hospital and all."
    'That's such a lot of... hooey, Thatcher," I snapped back at him.
    He stared at me.
    "You're just fishing for excuses to rationalize your inaction. Your objections are too flimsy, counselor. They're overruled."
    He nodded, then pressed his lips together and took on a different look, a darker look.
    "You're right," he said. "There's more.‖
    "What more?" I asked, taken back by his abrupt surrender. "Something else happened very soon after you left.‖
    "What?" I repeated with more demand.

    He looked away, and the expression on his face made my heart skip a beat. What else could have happened that was more difficult to accept or understand than all that had happened to me and to Linden and my mother?
    "My sister realized how serious I was getting with you," he began.
    "So? Why did that matter? You never let her opinions sway you before, did you?" I practically screamed at him.
    He glanced toward the house as if afraid we would be heard and took a few steps farther down the beach so our voices would definitely not carry back there. I walked a little behind him, now almost as neryous as I was angry.
    "No. You're right. Her opinions wouldn't matter. I don't adjust my life or change my plans to satisfy Whitney's view of the world. That's for sure."
    he said. "We're as different as a brother and a sister can be. but..."
    He turned to me quickly. "But what?"
    "But that's the point, or at least the point she was making in her revelations,"
    "What revelations? What are you talking about, Thatcher? You're not making any sense to me and—"

    "I was hoping not to have to tell you any of this yet, not until I investigated it for myself and