Chapter Sixteen ~ The finale

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Olivia let out a sigh as she saw Sandy's car approaching. She had been walking for what felt like forever and her feet were aching.

Louboutin pumps were just not built for walking on long, bumpy dirt roads.

She stood her suitcase upright and caught her breath.

Her eyes still burned from crying and she had no doubt that the tip of her nose would be a tell-tale shade of red, but she had no one else to turn to.

Sandy passed by and performed a u-turn then came to stop beside Olivia.

Olivia mustered a smile and opened the back to to place her suitcase on the back seat, then she climbed into the passenger seat and avoided facing Sandy.

She could feel Sandy's gaze on her, but she held her chin high and stared straight ahead.

"I suppose you want to know what happened?" Olivia asked.

"Only if you want to tell me." Sandy shifted the car into drive and they slowly ebbed forwards.

"There's not a lot to tell except that I made a mistake."

She saw Sandy frown.

"How big of a mistake? Almost every mistake can be fixed."

Olivia swallowed. "This kind of mistake is one of those mistakes that falls into the category that can'tbe fixed."

She lowered her eyes and stared at her finger nails. A few were broken, and all of them had dirt caked beneath them. Instead of being repulsed, Olivia found herself thinking of what had caused the dirt. Digging through the garden and finding random chicken eggs. Helping to bring life into the world as her and Travis had delivered Graham. Clambering up the rocky encove at the gorge.

After she had packed her suit case and written a note, Olivia had gone down to the stables and said goodbye to Vanessa and Graham. Giving Vanessa one last apple.

Olivia blinked back the tears that burned her eyes once again.

Sandy raised her head and checked the rear-view mirror and frowned.

"What in the world . . ."

"What?" Olivia stiffened.

Sandy slowed the car and Olivia stared at her blankly.

"You should probably get out," Sandy said.

"Huh?"

"Well I doubt he wants to speak to me."

Olivia frowned and followed Sandy's eye-line to the rear of the car. She could see Travis on the back of Kenneth riding hard and fast towards her.

She stepped out of the car and held her hand above her eyes to shield her sight from the rain.

Travis dismounted before Kenneth had even stopped. He kept his gaze locked on Olivia as he secured Kenneth to a nearby tree trunk.

Olivia stared at him with her heart in her throat.

"What are you doing here?" She hugged herself.

He strolled towards her and stood a little too close for comfort. His hair was damp and the rain trickled down his face as he breathed heavily.

"I couldn't let you go."

Olivia shrugged and struggled to control her emotions.

"I couldn't let you leave without telling you something."

She sniffed and squeezed herself tighter.

"When I first saw you that night, in the window, I was afraid. I was afraid because I thought you might have been the one Beth was talking about."

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