Chapter 19 Duke
DUKE
Olivia remained silent as we headed back to the house. With her head on my shoulder and the soft sound of her breathing, I would’ve thought she was fast asleep were it not for the occasional tightening of her grip on my shirt collar.
I wasn’t sure what made me follow after her as she stumbled off the porch steps of Lukas’s house and headed out into the middle of a field. It was like a gravitational pull I couldn’t ignore.
I would never forget the way her brown eyes widened when she saw all of us standing in the doorway. The moment her gaze snagged on Charlie, she was done for. Hell, I was, too.
When the girls had come running in through the back door to find us, I knew in my gut something was wrong. They had been playing out there for the past hour, but the mood had shifted. Something had happened.
That was when we turned the music down and heard Olivia’s raised voice and her mother’s pathetic attempts to bait her into an apology she wasn’t owed.
Growing up, I knew all I needed to know about Susan Hart.
When her husband was alive, she put on a good front at being the perfect, doting mother and wife.
As we got older, I couldn’t help but notice the way she’d excuse herself during dinner and come back a few minutes later, glassy-eyed with vodka on her breath.
When her husband died, her addiction had spiraled out of control.
I remember when Lukas got the call about his sister being left alone.
John had been out of town on business for the week, and he stopped by on his way home to find Olivia all by herself.
Her mother was gone. No note. No phone call.
She was barely fifteen. I’d never seen Lukas so angry in my life.
The guilt ate him alive for weeks to the point he nearly dropped out of school to come home and care for his sister, but John wouldn’t hear of it.
It’d taken time, but he had eventually mended the bridge with his mother. I couldn’t help but wonder if it had less to do with wanting a relationship and more to do with making sure he wasn’t burdened with guilt if she drank herself to death.
Though after the shit she pulled tonight, I wasn’t sure how much longer that would last.
Porch lights cut through the darkness as we neared the house. Olivia lifted her head, staring warily toward the house. Lukas, Harper, and Charlie sat outside on the swing. The girls laughed as he sang incredibly off-key to some old country music song on the radio.
“I can walk now,” she mumbled quietly, releasing her grip on my shirt. I nodded, letting her slip carefully down my body until her feet touched the ground. Even then, I kept my hands on her waist to keep her steady. I felt her absence, the lack of heat, and instantly wanted it back.
Unable to help myself, I intertwined our fingers and gently tugged her forward. “Come on. I’m sure there’s someone who’s been worried about you.”
“Honestly, we should be worried about them. Luke might have ruptured an eardrum.”
We walked hand in hand until we reached the bottom of the steps. Charlie leapt off the swing and ran towards her mom, nearly knocking her over in the process. Olivia placed a hand on top of her daughter’s head to steady them both. “Are you okay, Mommy?”
Olivia blinked, her smile faltering as she stared down at her daughter. “Yeah, baby. I’m feeling a little better now.” She glanced up at her brother. “I’m sorry you had to listen to your uncle’s horrible singing.”
“Hey now,” Lukas said, coming to stand by the porch railing. “It wouldn’t have been fair if I had a good voice. I already won the genetic lottery as it is.”
Olivia rolled her eyes, the tiniest smile playing at her lips. “Whatever you say, big brother.”
Lukas’s gaze snagged on our hands, which were still joined. At some point we’d have to talk about my sudden infatuation with his sister, but now wasn’t the time. I just hoped he could see that while I may have been just as confused as he was, my intentions were in the right place.
“Y’all want to come in?” Lukas asked, pointing behind him. “I was just about to make dinner.”
Olivia tensed beside me.
“She’s not here,” he added, softening his tone. “I wouldn’t do that to you, Livvy.”
“I know,” she said, glancing toward me. “But I think we’ll head home. I’m sure the girls are tired.”
We. We’ll head home. All of us.
Lukas nodded, rocking back on his heels. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Yeah, he would definitely have questions—sooner rather than later if his tight-lipped smile was any indication.
Hell, I didn’t even know what I was going to tell him.
But it didn’t matter because that was tomorrow’s problem, and I sure as fuck wasn’t going to borrow trouble by asking about it today.
“We will,” I said, placing one hand on Olivia’s back and waving goodbye with the other. I wondered if she knew how much that we meant to me and Harper. How long it had been since either of us had anyone but each other.
I led her to the truck, opened the door, and helped her into the passenger seat before doing the same with Charlie and Harper in the back. They were already deep in discussion about their sleepover plans by the time I climbed inside and headed down the short distance to the guest cottage.
The girls were out of the vehicle the moment I cut the engine, bursting through the door like a goddamn tornado. Olivia and I sat in silence for a moment, watching them go before slowly following suit.
I wasn’t sure who reached for who first, but our fingers found each other’s as I led her into the house. I flipped on the lights as I went, heading straight through the living room to the kitchen I was all too familiar with. The girls clambered onto the tall seats at the island.
Olivia paused, leaning forward onto the counter and resting her chin in her hand as she watched me rifle through the refrigerator and pantry until I found what I was looking for.
“What’re you doing?” she asked. “If you’re looking for food, you probably should have taken Lukas up on his offer. I don’t have much in there.”
I peered at her from around the freezer door, pulling out a pound of frozen Italian sausage. “But you have the essentials to make regular old spaghetti. That sound good?”
I could see the rebuttal forming as her stomach let out a loud rumble that had our girls breaking into a fit of giggles. She tried to hide her face in her hands, but I saw the smile there.
“Figured as much. So, here’s what we’re going to do. You girls,” I turned to Charlie and Harper, “are going to go take showers, put on your pajamas, and pick out a movie for us to watch.” They took off before I had the last words out. “Good talk!” I called after them.
Olivia watched me carefully. “You really don’t have to do this. It’s fine. I don’t think I’ll be able to eat much anyway.”
I knew what she was doing. Downplaying how much pain she was in so as not to seem weak. Hell, I’d been living the same way since Sarah left Harper and me to fend for ourselves.
I rounded the corner in four large strides. She turned around, giving me the perfect opportunity to cage her in against the marble countertop. Being this close to her was intoxicating. She pulled me in without even trying.
“What did I say earlier?” I asked, bringing one finger up beneath her chin so that she was staring directly at me.
“I told you to let me take care of you. Cooking dinner isn’t some big thing.
If I weren’t doing this here with you and Charlie, I’d be doing the same damn thing for Harper and me at home. It’s easy, Olivia.”
“Then let me help,” she said, attempting to break out of the cage I trapped her in.
“Listen to me… You’re going to go into your bathroom, run yourself a nice, hot bath in that oversized monstrosity Lukas calls a bathtub, and you’re going to relax. No kids. No worries. No obligations.”
“But—”
“I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready. Then, we’re all going to pile onto the couch and put on whatever agonizing movie the girls picked out while we enjoy the gourmet meal I’ve prepared. Got it?”
Olivia’s lip twitched. “Gourmet meal, huh? Aren’t you going to use sauce from a jar?”
I pushed off the counter, gently swatting her ass in the process. “Get out of here before I’m forced to do something drastic.”
“Oh yeah?” she asked, quirking a brow. “Like what?”
Smiling to myself, I took my time popping the microwave open and tossing the meat inside to thaw. Then I turned over my shoulder, letting her see all the heat and sexual frustration that’d been pent up for fucking weeks. “Like strip you down and throw you in the water myself.”
My gaze dipped to her delicate throat as she swallowed her rebuttal. Nothing could happen between us right now. Not with our daughters in the other room. But it was tempting. God, it was so fucking tempting to do it anyway.
“I’m not used to people telling me what to do,” she admitted.
“Well? What’s the verdict?” I asked.
She was silent for a minute, blowing out a long breath before saying, “I think I like it.” Her gaze met mine. “When you do it.”
The entire time I was making dinner, I was trying—and failing miserably, might I add—not to think about Olivia’s words and the fact that she was just down the hall in the bath. Naked. Wet. So goddamn perfect.
How the fuck she could drop a line like that and just walk away as though she hadn’t just completely fried my brain was beyond me.
I was used to being in control in all aspects of my life.
I wasn’t sure what that said about me, but it’d been true since I was a kid.
As I got older, I quickly realized my control didn’t just extend to my day-to-day, but to every part of my life.
It was the one aspect of Sarah’s and my relationship that we actually seemed compatible.