Page 19 of Off-Limits to the Grizzly

“Yup.”

We both fall silent again.

“A lot to take in,” he says after a while. “And…” I follow his gaze to the window. Snowflakes are falling out of the pale sky. Slowly now, but I’ve lived here long enough to know this is just the beginning.

“We’d better get back to the cabin,” he says.

6

Blair

The snow is falling fast by the time we pull up in front of the cabin. Mr Johnson lights the fire right away, then he brings a bunch of logs inside and stacks them up by the front door. “Might be a real blizzard,” he says. “Don’t want you to have to dig your way outside to get wood.”

He straightens up and dusts off his hands. “There’s a ton of food in the fridge. You should be nice and cozy in here. You need anything, just holler.” He grabs a pad of sticky notes from the side table by the door and scribbles his number down.

My stomach drops.

“You’re not going?” I blurt out, as a wave of loss washes over me.

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “I’d better get out of your hair.”

I frown. “But this is your place and I want you to stay.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why are you like this?” My voice is loud and a little shrill. There are so many emotions charging through me right now, I hardly feel in control of myself.

He goes still. “Like what?”

“Hot and cold. You were the same when I was a kid. You used to be so kind, then suddenly you hated me—”Oh, god.I’m close to tears. I break off until the burn behind my eyes passes.

His face kind of crumples. “I never hated you, Blair. Not at all. I pushed you away to protect you.”

“From what?”

“I was scared my daughter would be a bad influence on you. And you were turning into a woman…” he trails off.

What does he mean by that?

I swallow, trying to process everything. “And now?”

“Now?”

“Why are you pushing me away?”

I see his Adam’s apple bob up and down, but he shoves his hands in his pockets and doesn’t answer.

“I don’t want to be here alone,” I say.

At last, he lets out a huge sigh. “It’s not a good idea for me to stay here with you.”

“Why not? Just tell me, please!” I cringe at the wail of desperation in my voice.

He sighs. “Because I’ve got feelings. Inappropriate feelings.”

“Toward me?” I whisper because I don’t dare say the words aloud.

He nods.

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