guessed he’d better make a final decision soon.
With all this on his mind, he was just about to approach Wylie Sheridan, an old family friend, when the loudspeakers dotted around the festival grounds crackled to life.
“This is an emergency message. May I have your attention, everyone?” boomed an authoritative male voice. “We have a missing child. Four-year-old Thea Britton has been separated from her family. Thea has curly blond hair and brown eyes. She’s wearing blue denim pants, red sneakers, and a red-and-white-striped long-sleeved T-shirt and has a red bow in her hair. If anyone sees her now or remembers seeing her recently, please come to the security tent next to the main pavilion or call this number.” He went on to give the number, then say that Thea had last been seen by the funnel cake booth. “She may have been chasing after a cat or kitten.”
Matt had his phone out and had pressed Olivia’s cell phone number before the announcement was finished. Thea was Matt’s godchild, and even if she hadn’t been the daughter of his late brother, Mark, Matt would have loved her. Thea was special—smart and sweet, loving and beautiful.
Just like her mother.
The thought, which had come more and more often lately, still had the power to make him feel guilty. He knew this emotion was ridiculous. Mark was gone. And he would have been the first to want Matt to take care of Olivia. Wouldn’t he?
“Olivia?” Matt said when she answered. “I just heard the announcement about Thea. Where are you?”
“I’m at the security tent. The police want me to st-stay here.” Her voice broke in a sob. “Oh, Matt, I’m so scared. She was right there, then she just disappeared!”
“I’m coming. I’ll be there in two minutes.” He was already running, his heart racing along with his feet. “It’ll be okay. We’ll find her.”
When he reached the security tent, Olivia was pacing outside the door. She looked so forlorn, and so beautiful. Without thinking whether he should or shouldn’t, he pulled her into his arms. Her slight body trembled, and more than anything, he wished he could tell her how he felt about her, how much he wanted to take care of her.
But this wasn’t the time...or the place. And even if it was, he had no idea how she would react to this kind of declaration. He refused to think what he’d do if he confessed his feelings and she shot him down. Once he’d put those feelings into words, he knew they could never go back to their present relationship of caring brother-in-law to his brother’s widow.
“Matt, oh, Matt,” she sobbed. “I’m so afraid. The woods, the river, the lake. Who knows how far she’s gone? You know how she is. How she always wants to investigate things. The questions she asks. What if...if someone...took her? But the police... I—I wanted to look for her, too, but they said I needed to stay here.” Her body shuddered.
Matt inhaled the subtle fragrance of her silky hair as he held her and said over and over, “They’ll find her. You’ve got everybody looking. They’ll find her.” But his mind was whirling as he imagined all the things that could have happened to Thea. He loved her as much as he had finally admitted—to himself if to no one else—he loved her mother.
Sometimes he wondered if he had always loved Olivia. Always wanted her. There was something about her that had touched him from the moment he was introduced to her when she and Mark were dating. Matt had always championed the underdog; it was simply part of his nature, and Olivia—in terms of how his parents viewed her, anyway—was definitely the underdog.
Matt’s mother, in particular, disliked her daughter-in-law intensely and criticized her constantly: she wasn’t raising their granddaughter to the standards of a Britton; she plopped the child in day care instead of allowing Vivienne to hire a nanny and have Thea raised in her grandparents’ home under proper guidance and supervision; and worst of all, Vivienne considered Olivia to be one of the major reasons Mark was killed—because, in Vivienne’s view—Olivia wasn’t the wife he needed and kept him distracted and worried about his family instead of focusing on his job as a Black Hawk pilot. Unsaid was her bitter disappointment that the son she had imagined doing great things after fulfilling his service to his country, the son she’d envisioned going up the political ladder to high office, possibly the highest office, was gone forever. Olivia had been, and still was, a convenient scapegoat.
Matt’s father was more tolerant than his wife and might have been okay with Olivia’s entrance into the Britton family, but Vivienne ruled in the elder Brittons’ home, and it was always easier for her husband to keep the peace and just go along. Actually, if Matt were being really honest with himself, he’d admit he’d long known his father was weak. That as long as he was able to live his privileged life, he didn’t seem to care how that life was obtained or maintained.
Olivia finally withdrew from Matt’s embrace and raised her tear-stained face to look at him. Her soft brown eyes met his. “I’m so glad you’re here. I—I thought about calling you, but in all the confu—”
“It’s okay. I know. C’mon, let’s go sit down.” He gestured to a nearby bench. When she hesitated, glancing back at the security tent, he said, “Don’t worry. I’ll let them know you’re right here. If they want you, they’ll come out and get you.”
For the next hour, both Matt and her cousin Eve tried to keep Olivia calm as people came and went, as the security team and the police department officers combined their efforts and the search parties combed the nearby grounds and questioned dozens of people.
Olivia eventually just looked numb. Her eyes clouded with worry and fear, she kept biting her bottom lip and twisting her hands. She couldn’t sit still, and every ten minutes or so she’d jump up and start pacing again. Or her phone would ring and she’d either talk or she’d say, “I can’t talk! I have to keep the line clear in case...” Then her voice would trail off and she’d have to sit down again.
Matt and Eve, whom he’d met several times—and liked very much—exchanged a lot of concerned looks. He knew what Eve was thinking, because he was thinking it, too. The longer it took the searchers to find Thea, the more likely it was the outcome of the searching wouldn’t be good. His own fear felt like a huge weight in his chest, and it was all he could do to keep that fear from showing.
Olivia needed him...and Eve...to be strong.
He thought about calling his parents, but he didn’t. The last thing Olivia needed was for his mother to come charging over to the festival with her accusations and criticisms.
But after more than two hours had gone by, and one by one the search teams reported in with no success, Matt knew he could no longer delay notifying his parents. He waited until Olivia was busy with Officer Nicholls, and then he walked a few feet away and placed the call.
His mother answered. “Hello, Matthew,” she said. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Matt gritted his teeth at this subtle dig. She never missed a chance to let him know he wasn’t living up to her expectations. “Listen, Mom. I need to tell you something. Now, don’t get hysterical, but I’m at the festival, and... Thea is missing. The police are here, and—”
“I see,” his mother said, interrupting. “And just how did that happen? Just exactly how did my granddaughter go missing?”
Matt blinked. What was wrong with his mother? She didn’t sound the least bit upset, just disdainful.
“What happened is,” he said in the most measured tone he could manage,
