9. Olivia
CHAPTER 9
OLIVIA
“B ut why didn’t you tell me you were getting married?” Izzy asked. “I thought we always said that we would be each other’s maid of honor. Didn’t you want me to be? You didn’t ask someone else, did you?”
The two of them were sitting on the front porch of Olivia’s mother’s house. Her mother wasn’t home, thankfully — she was working her night job. Olivia hadn’t decided whether or not to share this news with her mother. Izzy was one thing — the two of them had always been closer than close, and keeping a secret from her sister had felt simply wrong. But if Olivia were to tell her mother, it would give rise to a family scandal. Olivia wasn’t ready to face that sort of thing.
“Of course I didn’t ask someone else,” she assured Izzy. “I’d never do that. And I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret from you specifically, Iz. We went down to the courthouse and signed a marriage license. We didn’t tell anybody.”
“Well, that’s romantic.”
For a moment, Olivia thought her sister was being sarcastic, but then she looked over and saw the shine in Izzy’s eyes. “Are you serious?”
“Oh my God, are you kidding? You were so desperate to be married to him that you couldn’t even wait and do it the normal way — you had to sign papers and make it official right away. You must be crazy in love.”
Olivia laughed. “It’s not exactly like that,” she said. “Although you weave quite a tale.”
“It wasn’t because you were madly in love?”
“No.” We’re not in love at all . But she didn’t want to say that to Izzy. She didn’t want her sister to see just how jaded and opportunistic she was. Suddenly, she felt ashamed of it. To Izzy, marriage was a beautiful, romantic thing. What would she say if she knew that Olivia had married for money?
“I don’t get it,” Izzy said. “Did he need a green card or something?”
“Did Charlie Coldwell need a green card? He’s about as American as they come.”
“Oh yeah, I guess that doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Izzy realized. “Were you trying to get on his health insurance? You’re not sick, are you?” Izzy frowned. She knew that as an independent realtor, Olivia purchased her own marketplace health insurance. Olivia had complained to her family plenty of times about the cost and the difficulty of doing that.
But now Izzy looked worried. “You’re not sick, are you, Liv? You didn’t need better insurance than you could afford or something?”
“No, no,” Olivia said. “It wasn’t anything like that.” She hadn’t anticipated these difficult questions, and at the same time, she was grateful. The way Izzy was reacting was so different from the way Charlie’s siblings had reacted, and it was so much kinder. Olivia had always known how special her bond with her sister was, but right now she was really seeing it in a way she hadn’t before, and it meant the world to her.
“I don’t get it,” Izzy said. “Why would you get married out of nowhere like that? It doesn’t make any sense, Olivia. If you didn’t need insurance, and he didn’t need a green card, and you weren’t just so wildly in love that you couldn’t wait another minute… why not do things a more traditional way? It’s not as if you’re opposed to normal marriage conventions. I know you’re not. You would have told me.”
“You’re right. I’m not.”
“Is he? Did he not want to have a normal wedding?”
Olivia sighed. She should have seen this coming. There was no good way to conceal their true reason for getting married. Izzy was too smart to just accept the story and not ask any questions.
“Charlie and I decided together that we wanted to handle things quickly,” she said. “I know that’s hard to understand. I wish I could give you a better explanation, but all I can say is that it’s what we decided to do. Maybe someday I’ll be able to explain more thoroughly.”
“What do you mean, maybe someday ? Like you think I’m too young to hear whatever it is?” Izzy folded her arms. “Is this a sex thing, Olivia? Because I’m seventeen, not twelve. I’ve had sex before.”
“You have?”
“Well, no, but I’ve done some stuff. Anyway, it’s not like I don’t know about it, and I didn’t think you were one of those not-before-marriage types.”
“I’m not one of those types.”
“Is Charlie?”
“I really wouldn’t know, Izzy.”
“Hang on. You’re married to the guy and you don’t know if he’s slept with anyone else before you?” Izzy’s lips pursed. “Didn’t you always tell me that was an important question to ask every boyfriend?”
Olivia winced at her mistake — Izzy was right, of course, and if this had been a real marriage there was no way she would have gone into it unsure about something like that. “You’re right, she said. “I just — I don’t want to talk about Charlie like that. Those things are personal.”
“That makes sense,” Izzy conceded.
Olivia felt horrible. She had always been honest with Izzy, and she knew that Izzy had always been honest with her. They had a great relationship, and it felt very wrong to be lying to her sister right now.
For a moment, she considered just telling the truth.
But she couldn’t do it. What if something went wrong? What if she failed to get the money somehow?
Izzy was only seventeen years old, and her dreams were so big and so pure. She wanted to go off to college in California. That was something that would be possible if Olivia were to sell this house and get the share of the profits that Charlie had promised her. It would be enough to send Izzy anywhere she wanted to go. If she didn’t manage it, though, Izzy would probably have to start thinking about state schools, probably right here in Massachusetts. And that was if they could even manage that. She would have to apply for scholarships, which it was certainly possible she would get, but it was far from guaranteed. She would probably have to take out a loan to pay for her schooling, and it would take years to pay that back.
Olivia couldn’t tell her right now that there was a possibility none of that would be necessary. She couldn’t get her sister’s hopes up. Not right now. Not until she was absolutely sure that she was right to do so.
“I know you’re old enough to understand things,” she told Izzy. “There are just things that I’m not quite ready to talk about. Please trust me when I tell you that a day will come when I will be ready to explain everything, and you’ll know exactly why I did this. But that day isn’t today.”
“Well, I don’t know,” Izzy said. “It sounds shady to me, Olivia. Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”
“There’s nothing wrong.”
“Because I think you would be freaking the hell out if I came home tomorrow and told you that I was suddenly married.”
“Well, yeah, I would. You’re seventeen. If you randomly got married, I would assume you were pregnant.”
“Wait. Are you pregnant?”
“No, Izzy.”
“You can tell me. In fact, if that’s what it is, you should tell me, because I’m going to be an aunt.”
“I’m not pregnant.”
“You’re not just saying that because you don’t want to be a bad influence?”
Olivia laughed. “If I was pregnant, you would know in a few months anyway, so there would be no point in lying to you about it now,” she said. “And if that happens, you can give me a hard time and say I told you so. But I promise you, I’m not pregnant.”
“Okay,” Izzy sighed. “I get it. You’re not going to answer any questions.”
“I’m not, no. And I’m sorry. You know how I hate not telling you things. I’m just not ready to talk about this.”
“He’s a good guy,” Izzy said. “I liked him.”
“I like him too,” Olivia said with a smile. “I’m glad you do. Iz, I have to ask you for a favor.”
“You’re going to ask me not to tell Mom.”
“How did you know that?”
“Because I know everything. Honestly, it’s weird that I didn’t guess you were married. I can’t even remember the last time you kept a secret from me.”
“Will you be able to do that? Keep it from Mom, I mean? I know it’s an unfair thing to ask you.”
“I’ve never told Mom your secrets. Remember when you were my age and you used to sneak out of the house, and then you would text me to come unlock the door so you could sneak back in? I never told her about that.”
“You’re an amazing sister. Have I ever told you that?”
“I don’t get why you don’t want her to know. Mom would be excited that you’re married. She worries about you, you know.”
“She does?”
“She says you work too hard and that you haven’t been on a date in years.”
“Well, I have been on dates. I just don’t tell you guys about them because there doesn’t seem to be any point unless they lead somewhere. If I came home and told mom every time I got coffee with a guy, she would get all excited and think I was about to get married. Most of those guys I never see again.”
“Okay, but then you did get married and you didn’t tell her that either.”
“Yeah.” Olivia stared off into the distance. “I know this is weird, Iz.”
“Olivia… are you sure you’re okay? I mean, if you’re not, you could tell me. Is there something about this marriage that you don’t want people to know about?”
It would never stop being annoying how perceptive Izzy could be. “Everything’s fine,” Olivia said. “Truly, Izzy. You can trust me. I have everything under control.”
“Okay,” Izzy said. “But if you ever did need to talk about anything… I know I’m a lot younger than you, but I’m not that young, you know. I’ll be twenty soon.”
“Not that soon,” Olivia said with a smile. “Don’t grow up too fast. And don’t worry, Izzy. I’ll talk to you if I need to, but I promise you, everything is fine.” She glanced at her phone. “I’d better text Charlie to come pick me up.”
“So if you two are married, does that mean you live with him in that big mansion?”
“I do,” Olivia admitted, allowing herself a grin.
“I bet it’s pretty sweet.”
“It’s honestly the nicest house I’ve ever been in.”
“I think you have to let me come see it. I’m being really cool about not telling Mom any of this stuff, so I think it’s the least you could do.”
“You’re right,” Olivia admitted. “Okay, Izzy. I’ll arrange a time for you to come over. Maybe we can even do a slumber party or something.”
“Charlie wouldn’t mind that?”
“It’s not up to him.”
“I just meant, with you two being newlyweds and all. Maybe he doesn’t want your annoying little sister hanging around.”
“I don’t have an annoying little sister,” Olivia said. “And if Charlie has a problem with you — which he doesn’t, by the way; he thought you were great — but if he did, then he would have a problem with me. You know perfectly well that I wouldn’t give the time of day to any guy who wasn’t willing to take you as part of the package.”
Izzy grinned. “Slumber party sounds great.”
Olivia fired off a text to Charlie. “I think he’s just around the block.”
“Wow. He was waiting for you right here? He is a good guy.”
“Don’t let Mom know.”
“I won’t,” Izzy said. “But I think you should tell her soon, Olivia. I promise you she’d be happy about it — even though she’ll be upset that you didn’t have her at the wedding.”
“I’ll tell her soon,” Olivia agreed. “And I’ll see you tomorrow when I pick you up for school.”
The sisters stood up, and Izzy flung her arms around Olivia. “Congratulations,” she said. “I’m glad you’re married, even if it is super weird.”
“Love you,” Olivia murmured, grateful for the fact that she had finally been able to tell someone some of the truth — and wishing painfully that she could tell her family everything.