South Carolina, three months later
"How much farther?" Caroline asked. Lincoln turned their car up the wooded dirt road toward a distant cabin by a shimmering lake.
"It's over there." Lincoln nodded at a small log cabin, his heart hammering. Ellie sat in the back seat in her car seat, making small random chirping noises that made him laugh most of the drive to his parents' cabin. Now he was too nervous to think beyond what lay in that cabin.
"Stay in the car. Kirby and I will take a look around. Odds are" His voice roughened suddenly.
Caroline reached over and covered his hand where he rested it on one of his thighs.