Chapter Twenty-One Fireworks
July 2022
Olivia found that barbecues, picnics, and fireworks helped her more than ice cream to overcome heartbreak on the Fourth of July weekend.
Janice had voluntold Olivia to help with the festivities, although they had enough volunteers from the Highland Beach Citizens Association. Olivia served as liaison to the sponsors, making sure they had plenty of food and were enjoying the activities. She also reviewed the sponsored event request forms and made sure everyone who set up storefronts had correctly entered the details.
Though Olivia stayed busy, occasionally a wave of grief would crest and crash over her. When the feelings swelled, she skipped to another activity, giving it her full attention until the pain subsided.
“You’re a natural at this,” Janice complimented her, while setting up food on the picnic tables.
Olivia shrugged. “This time last year I helped organize a neighborhood block party.”
Janice counted the cups and asked, “How are things different between here and Sag Harbor?”
“You all definitely have more civic-focused activities.”
Olivia loved how Highland Beach not only embraced wildlife but fiercely protected the land. She was also impressed with how CJ showed people how to plant trees, perennials, and rain gardens on their own properties.
“This place is special.” Janice surveyed the land around them, a small smile on her face. “So yes, we volunteer... a lot. Government, social activities, environmental... if you want to live in Highland Beach, you’ve got to roll up your sleeves and give it all you have.”
Olivia nodded. That was the spirit of this place.
“Well, the picnic starts in an hour. You’ve got time to go home and get dressed. Mayor CJ is still meeting with some constituents, so I assume you’ll meet him later during the festivities.”
“Yes, that’s the plan. Thanks for allowing me to help,” Olivia joked. The woman would not have taken no for an answer when she asked for help the day Olivia stopped by to visit her father at work.
“Oh no... thank you!” Janice responded in kind, and with a smile.
Olivia walked back to CJ’s place. When she opened the door, she found Cindy curled on the couch, a remote in hand.
“Hey. Why aren’t you ready?”
Cindy shook her head. “I’ve been thinking...”
“Hmm?”
“And I think it’s best I stay here.”
Olivia shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Don’t tell your father.” She sat up from her prone position. “But I heard him working late last night. His reputation is still in tatters and, well... I think it’s best that I don’t attend. It’ll just add more fodder to the rumor mill.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then I shouldn’t attend either.”
Cindy shook her head. “No, people are genuinely curious about you. And you’ve got this way of deflecting and diverting conversations. You’re a charmer.”
Olivia chuckled. “My charming personality didn’t seem to do a bit of good on you growing up.”
“You never showed me that side of you.” Cindy paused, nibbling her lips. “Or rather, I didn’t encourage it. I was a mess back then.” She sighed. “Honestly, I’m a mess now.”
“You did the best you could. But we can’t move forward if you keep putting yourself down.”
“My therapist says I have to apologize and acknowledge what I’ve done.”
“You’ve done that,” Olivia said. She sat down beside her mother. “Over and over. But now we move on.”
Cindy frowned. “Aren’t you mad? Aren’t you bitter?”
Olivia leaned back. “I was... initially. I didn’t understand you. No matter how many times I’d reached out, you just slapped my hand away. But last summer helped. Not just with CJ’s arrival, but I’ve changed. I’ve done things I thought I would never do. Hurt people, lied, cheated.” Olivia swallowed. “And all of that taught me to forgive myself, to accept forgiveness and to forgive others.”
“So you really have forgiven me?”
Olivia leaned closer and squeezed her mother’s hand. “Now, I’m no saint, and sometimes memories will surface, but yes. I forgive you.” It was the truth. Holding on to all that pain was too heavy.
Tears leaked from Cindy’s eyes. Olivia dashed them away. “I’d really like to get to know you, and for you to get to know me. Well, the adult Olivia.”
Cindy sniffed. “I’d like that.”
“How about we skip the picnic and stay in?”
A smile spread across her mother’s face.
The fireworks started as soon as the sun set.
“Why don’t we go outside and watch the fireworks on the porch?” Cindy suggested.
“Yes! Let me grab my shoes.”
Her mother smiled. “I’ll pour us some wine and meet you outside.”
While Cindy got the drinks, Olivia put on her sandals and changed into a fresh shirt. She paused when the doorbell rang, but resumed when she heard her mother open the door.
“Get out!” she heard her mother yell.
Olivia quickly shuffled on her shirt and hurried to the door.
Christine stood just inside, near the cracked door. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, Olivia, hello.” Christine’s eyes were clear. She wore a simple mint green romper paired with pink bangles, halo pink diamond earrings, and a small pink clutch. If anyone else saw her, they wouldn’t guess she’d had a breakdown a few weeks ago.
Olivia moved to her mother’s side. “Hi. What do you need? Are you okay?”
Christine narrowed her eyes. “CJ mentioned that Cindy was under the weather. I wanted to check in—”
“No. You wanted to ambush me.” Cindy’s voice shook with rage. “And here I was thinking about you... feeling sorry for you.”
“Why would you feel sorry for someone like me? I have money, class, and I’ve traveled to places you’ve only dreamed of.” Arrogance seeped from her pores like perfume.
Christine shoved her way into the house and sat on the couch, perching on the edge as if she were Queen Bee.
“There’s been a lot of buzz about Charles. People want to forgive him, though he has nothing to apologize about.” She stared at Cindy as if she were a small insect.
“But if he can mend fences with our town, he has a really strong chance at running for Congress.” Christine smiled, her stare seeming to come from millions of miles away. “Can you imagine my Charles, a senator?”
“Yes,” Cindy whispered. “I can imagine it. He would be amazing.”
Christine gave her a brittle smile. “On that, we can agree. He’s done a lot for Highland Beach, from protecting our ecosystem to staving off commercial business in our area to keeping our place the best-kept secret.”
“What are you getting at, Christine?” Olivia crossed her arms.
“I need you... the both of you,” her attention drifted from Cindy to Olivia, “to back off.”
Olivia laughed. “You think you can stuff us into the back of the closet, like we’re some pair of unwanted shoes?” She shook her head. “CJ wants us here.”
“Yes, he does. And now he’s entirely unfocused. It’s his dream to—”
“It’s your dream. Not CJ’s, not Alan’s, yours.” Cindy licked her lips. “I keep wishing... I keep hoping against hope that you’ll change. That you’ll see that you can’t control a damn thing about CJ, let alone life. That one day someone could pierce through that selfishness you wear like a fur coat.”
“Be reasonable, Cindy.” Christine pretended to flick an invisible piece of lint from her romper. “He’s going places. And you... you’re going back to Tremont Middle School in New Jersey. You can’t afford to leave your employer, or you’ll lose your pension. Things won’t work out with you and CJ. I’m just not sure why you’d put yourself through the uncertainty and pain.”
“Please don’t pretend you care about my feelings... or Olivia’s.”
Christine sighed and turned to face her granddaughter. “I adore you, Olivia. I want to build a relationship with you, and maybe once the dust settles from the reelection, we can figure out how to best address this situation.”
Olivia’s blood boiled. “Is that what you think I am? A scandal?”
Christine stood. “No. You’re... special. And kind and gorgeous, and there is no getting around that you are a Jones. I’d just like for us to solidify the mayoral election, let the town settle their nerves without seeing...”
“Seeing what?”
“You just...” Christine’s voice grew thick. “It’s not just the fact that you’re CJ’s daughter. You remind people of Indigo.” Christine lifted the corner of her lips, but pain seemed to weigh down her smile. “That’s all people can talk about.”
Olivia could only imagine how it would feel to look someone in the face who resembled a lost daughter. Olivia lowered the electrified fence around her heart. “Is that resemblance triggering for you, too?”
Christine balled her fist. “I loved my daughter very much. B-but...”
“Yes?” Olivia raised an eyebrow.
“There are things... that happened when she died. Things that are best left in the past. Even people you yearn to get to know.” Her expression hardened. “Even people you love.”
“I’m not in the past.” Olivia walked backward to the door and pulled it wide open. The sky was lit in bright pinks, reds, and blues from the fireworks.
“You know,” she said, “everyone warned me about you. But I gave you a chance. I tried to forgive what many would feel was unforgivable. And you proved them all right. You truly only care about yourself and your reputation. So...” Olivia waved her grandmother toward the door. “Please leave. And don’t call. Don’t secretly send Alan over to ask me out for lunch or dinner.”
Christine’s lips tightened. A flash of sorrow softened her glittering brown eyes. “You don’t understand. You don’t have children. Your life, your legacy, is just starting. But mine is crashing, and if I don’t hold on tight...” Christine looked as if she wanted to say more, but she tightened her stance and strode outside.
Olivia slammed the door behind her. She leaned against it, her heart floundering in her chest, fighting against grief.
She had desperately needed... no, wanted... a relationship with her grandmother.
As in past tense.Now she knew she would never allow that woman into her heart.
Resting her forehead against the door, she pulled in painful breaths.
One. Two. Three.
“Olivia?”
She waved away her mother’s concern. “Just taking a breath.”
Just saying goodbye to the woman who doesn’t deserve my love.
“She really is terrible,” Olivia whispered to herself. She pushed away from the door.
Thinking back to her conversations with Ama, Olivia felt like a fool, defending that woman to her godmother.
Cindy patted the sofa cushion beside her. Her eyebrows furrowed as she took in Olivia’s distress.
“I’m sorry for what just happened.”
“Why are you sorry?” Olivia asked her mother.
“It’s disappointing when people let you down. Christine made you feel special, because you are, but she’s always perceived us as threats since before you were born.”
Olivia shook her head. “I want to be done with her, but I know that deep down she’s struggling with her children’s deaths. I know this has nothing to do with us.”
Cindy sighed. “You’re right. What are we going to tell your father?”
“The truth,” Olivia immediately responded.
“The truth isn’t so simple.”
“Yes, it is. He needs to know what she did today. Maybe he can encourage her to get help. Otherwise, she’ll never feel motivated to try.”
Cindy lifted her hand in a defensive stance. “Trust me, I know. But your father... he loves his mother. She works his nerves, but she is his only living relative. It would be unfair to make him choose.”
Olivia shook her head. Reining in her anger seemed like an impossible task. “We aren’t making him choose. Christine is.”
“CJ needs to draw his own conclusions.”
Olivia refused to be abused while her father processed the realization that Christine did not have his best interest at heart. Christine wanted “first lady” status and wouldn’t stop until CJ was the next Black president.
Cindy was rocking, hugging herself. She seemed years away. Her words echoed in Olivia’s head.
CJ needs to draw his own conclusions. Those words blared in her mind as if they were on speaker.
“You’re afraid he won’t choose us.”
Cindy stopped her rocking. “What’s that?”
“Because he didn’t choose us last time.” Olivia sighed. For the past few months, her father had shown them in word and deed that he viewed Olivia and Cindy as his top priority. But her mother didn’t see it that way. She still reeled from his earlier rejection.
“You still love CJ, don’t you?”
Cindy looked around as if there were a secret camera. “I’m tired.”
“Mom...”
“I think it’s time I go to bed.” She patted Olivia’s knee and ran away from Olivia’s question.
The next morning, Olivia ran around the small beach town, sticking to the sidewalks and road instead of the sandy beach. She spotted Aneesa in a hybrid Lexus.
Her mother’s best friend gave her an exaggerated wave, signaling Olivia to stop and speak.
“Aneesa, hi.” Olivia greeted her through deep breaths.
“Hey, so...” Aneesa closed her eyes, as if bracing for impact. “I haven’t been able to get in contact with Cindy or your father.”
Olivia nodded. It made sense. “CJ didn’t come in until late. He’s going to stay in for the morning and then go into the office. Why? What’s happened?” Olivia leaned in.
“Someone else is entering the mayoral race, and I’m told this person plans to fight dirty.”
“Who is it?”
“Lauren Miles. And she claims she’s got all the dirt on your family.”
“Like what?” A low thud started at the base of Olivia’s neck. It was too damn early for bad news.
“I don’t know. But she promised my colleague it’s the scoop of the century.”