The Man She Should Have Married

“Natalie?” Eve said, eyeing her daughter.

Natalie looked stricken. “Mom, I—I don’t know where she is.”

“But you were holding her hand, honey. You and Nathan said you were going to watch her today.”

“I know, Mom, but Auntie Norma fainted and...and I must have let go of her hand. I—I don’t know where Thea went.” The last word was a wail, and Natalie’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, my God,” Olivia said. Her heart had begun to hammer, and full-blown panic had set in. Now she looked around frantically. “Thea! Thea! Where are you?”

By now, several people had stopped whatever they were doing and were staring at her. One of them said to Eve, “What’s wrong?”

Eve quickly explained. “She’s probably just wandered off, but–”

“But what if she hasn’t?” Olivia cried. “What if...” She couldn’t even finish the thought. Horrible images flashed through her mind in the space of seconds. Thea was so little. So sweet and innocent and trusting. And so very beautiful with her blond curly hair, the exact shade of her father’s, and her shining brown eyes, just like Olivia’s own. Olivia closed her eyes, also thinking how inquisitive her daughter was, how interested in things, the way she would talk to strangers. “Please, God,” she whispered. “Please, God, let her be okay.”

Her greatest fear was losing Thea. Losing Mark had been hard enough, but losing Thea was unthinkable.

“Liv, she’s okay, I know she is,” Eve said. “Let’s look methodically. Think, Natalie, did she say anything?”

Natalie’s tear-stained face screwed up in thought. “I—I think she said something about a kitty right before Auntie Norma said she didn’t feel good.”

“A kitten!” Olivia said. “Maybe...maybe she saw a kitten.” She looked at Eve. “You know how she loves cats. She...she’s been begging for one for months.” Olivia had been waiting, thinking she’d surprise Thea at Christmas.

“Let’s get some of these people looking. She can’t have gone far,” Eve said. She turned to one of the nearby groups. “Her little girl’s wandered off. We need help looking for her.”

“I’ll notify security,” a man said, taking out his cell phone. “I know the man in charge. What’s the little girl’s name?”

Within moments, Eve had organized a search party armed with Thea’s description and information, the head of security had arrived and been briefed, and 9-1-1 had also been called.

Olivia felt sick with fear. It was all she could do not to break down completely, but she knew if she did, she’d be useless. She forced herself to take deep breaths...and think. Thank God for Eve. And thank God, Olivia’s mother didn’t know what was happening, because Thea was her only grandchild, too, and totally adored.

But it wouldn’t be long before Norma would find out about Thea, because Olivia could see two police officers coming toward them, and the head of security here at the festival had just told her they were going to get an announcement on the loudspeaker so that everyone attending the festival would be on the lookout for Thea.

“Olivia?” The oldest police officer, a man Olivia recognized as Tom Nicholls, looked at her. His wife, Betty, was a nurse at the Crandall Lake Hospital where Olivia worked in Admitting and Registration. “It’s your daughter that’s missing?”

“Yes.” Olivia stepped forward, with Eve and Natalie right behind.

For the next five minutes they gave Tom Nicholls all the information he asked for. Natalie was also questioned, and then Nicholls got on the phone and fired off orders. A dozen more search parties were organized, and throughout, Olivia fought against the panic threatening to paralyze her. She very nearly gave in to it when she wanted to join one of the search parties and Nicholls wouldn’t let her.

“You need to be at the security tent,” he said. “That’s going to be our command post and where Thea will be brought when she’s found. And she’ll need you then. You can’t be off somewhere searching.” Without waiting for her to protest, he beckoned to another officer. “Officer Wilkins here will take you to the security tent.”

“I’ll go and tell your mom and the others what’s happening. Then I’ll find you,” Eve said, giving her a quick hug. “It’s going to be okay, sweetie. I love you.”

Olivia bit back her tears and allowed herself to be led off. She couldn’t help remembering how, the night before, her last thought before going to bed had been about how much fun today was going to be.

What a fool she was.

She had tempted fate.

And now fate was showing her, once again, that she had no control over anything.

Chapter Two (#ulink_6c4ff9a8-b1ed-5d18-9c16-cf6e544e348b)

Matthew Lawrence Britton wondered for about the thousandth time if he really did want to run for the US House of Representatives. He’d been greeting possible supporters at the festival for less than two hours, and he was already sick of it. And the election he was aiming for was more than two years away! He hated having to ask people for money, but without money—big money—no one, no matter what your name was, had a chance of winning an important election anymore.

Even more to the point, and the main thing that had been bothering him, was the fact he enjoyed his job as an assistant criminal district attorney for Hays County. And he was good at it. He might even have a shot at district attorney when his boss retired—something that was rumored to happen fairly soon.

But everyone, friends and family alike, seemed to think a more national stage was the road he should take. They had been pressuring him for a while now, ever since the idea had been floated by an influential former law professor of his. Even his sister-in-law, Olivia, had weighed in, saying he’d make a wonderful representative for their district. He 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.