Chapter 14 - Olivia
E ach year when Independence Day rolled around, Gresham briefly redirected all of its energy to the four-day weekend celebration. After spending the morning with her family and trying to subtly search for Aiden in every crowd they passed, Olivia and Grace had gone their separate ways with a plan to meet up at the street dance after Olivia finished taking care of Ms. Darcy.
Making her way through the growing crowd of people ready for dinner, drinks and dancing, Olivia searched for Grace while also hoping to spot Aiden.
“Hey, sister,” Grace called from the picnic table she and Abesh had claimed.
“Hi, Olivia.” Abesh gave her a friendly smile.
Olivia’s eyes locked with Grace’s, and a broad smile rearranged her features. She approached, stepping over the long bench attached to the green picnic table.
“Hey, you two. How was the rest of your afternoon? ”
“Good, we taught Abesh how to play Nut,” Grace said. Nut was a classic, fast-paced card game their family played, especially during snowstorms. It had a tendency to turn their mom, otherwise relatively calm and composed, into a cutthroat competitor, willing to slap someone’s hand away from her card piles if they encroached.
“Oooh, how’d that go? Did Mom get mean?” Olivia asked conspiratorially.
“Abesh only cried twice, so it wasn’t too bad,” Grace teased.
“Her fingernails are sharp,” Abesh said, laughing along with them good-naturedly.
“Hey,” Grace said abruptly, “let’s get food and beer before the lines get too long. Abesh, you stay here and guard our table. I’ll get food, and Olivia, you go buy us some beer.”
Olivia lifted her hand in a salute and stood. “Aye, aye, captain.”
The beer trailer’s line was long but not unbearable. She played on her phone while she waited, wondering why she hadn’t yet seen Aiden and trying not to feel disappointed. She repeatedly reminded herself they hadn’t made actual plans to meet up. They had kept it casual. Then she would wonder once again why he had kept it open-ended. Maybe he was less interested than she thought. Had she been reading the energy between them all wrong? She really hoped she’d see him to get a better sense of things.
But what if we don’t , a whiny voice in Olivia’s head asked.
She mentally smacked herself in the butt, telling herself to get it together. Nothing was going on between them. She had misjudged his texts entirely because if he’d wanted to see her, he would have made it happen .
Maybe he’s just not that into you. She hoped that telling herself this would ground her, but instead, it made her feel sad and a little pathetic.
She collected three red cups filled with locally brewed IPAs, balanced them in a triangle between her two hands, and turned to walk back to Grace and Abesh.
Someone to her left called her name. “Olivia! I thought that was you.”
She turned to see Aiden, hand raised in a greeting. She couldn’t stop her mouth from breaking out into a happy smile. He was standing near a woman who looked a lot like him and a stocky man who had his arm casually draped across the woman’s shoulders.
“Ah, hello!” Olivia said. She wove through the crowd, trying not to spill beer on anyone. “I didn’t know if I’d see you.”
She hoped it sounded more nonchalant than she felt, given how tingly her toes felt.
“I made it up for the weekend, but I have to work on the Fourth.”
The couple smiled politely at Olivia.
Aiden quickly added, “This is my sister, Ellen, by the way, and her fiancé, Tommy.”
They gave friendly Midwestern waves in place of a handshake.
“This is an old friend, Olivia Olsen,” Aiden explained.
Olivia nodded her head over the beers. “Nice to meet you.”
“You all went to high school together?” Ellen asked.
“Yup,” Aiden and Olivia replied in unison.
After an awkward beat, Olivia excused herself. “Well, it was nice to meet you both. I should get back.” She nodded toward the picnic table where Grace and Abesh were waiting with burgers and fries. “We were just about to eat.”
“Oh right, er," Aiden said. His eyes darted to Grace and Abesh and then back to Olivia. “Um, can I buy a drink later? After you've had some time to catch up with your sister?”
Olivia heartbeat picked up, but she tried to keep her smile and voice casual. “Sure, that would be great. I'll catch you a little later.”
She nodded once more to Ellen and Tommy. “It was nice meeting you.”
She wove through the festive crowds, who were ready for beer, food, and music. Grace helped her as she set down the beers.
“Was that Aiden Wescott?” Grace asked, sounding surprised. “What did he want?”
“Oh, um, he was just saying hi,” Olivia said as casually as she could.
“Why?”
“What do you mean, 'why'?”
Grace looked at Olivia incredulously. “Wasn't he an ass in high school? I thought you hated him.”
“What? No.” Olivia paused to consider. “Did I?”
“You definitely complained about him.”
Olivia shrugged. “Well, I guess we grew up.”
“Interesting.” Grace grinned.
“What do you mean interesting ?” Olivia retorted. Apparently she needed a lot of clarification.
“You like him.” Grace’s grin broadened to a knowing smile.
“Do not!” Olivia said, sounding like a defensive teenager.
Grace’s raised eyebrows told Olivia that Grace wasn’t convinced.
“Whatever,” Olivia said in a huff .
Grace’s grin expanded to all-out howling laughter.
“I hate you.” Olivia laughed. She threw a French fry in Grace’s beer for emphasis.
“Hey! Party foul!” Grace yelled. She fished the soggy fry out of her beer and dropped it back onto Olivia's plate.
"Okay, okay. Tell me about the best fries in Austin," Olivia said, trying to change the subject.
As they ate, Grace and Abesh told Olivia about their life in Austin and the friends they hung out with. She enjoyed seeing how obviously smitten they were, finishing each other's sentences, and finding excuses to touch. It was all pretty adorable, even for someone who had recently ended a six-year relationship.
“The next time you visit,” Grace said, “there's this chips and queso place…”