Chapter Four
Four
Olivia
“There’s my girl!”
I glanced up from where I sat with Elizabeth on the floor of my parents’ living room as she bolted up from where we were playing to make a beeline toward my brother, who’d just arrived, his very pregnant wife and daughter in tow. They were in town to visit my parents for several days from their home in the hill country before the baby was born.
Camden shot me a smirk as he hoisted her up into the air, then snuggled her close, pressing several kisses to her cheeks.
She giggled and ate it up.
“Have you been good for your mama? Huh?”
She laughed some more and nodded, lost to my big brother’s charms as the doting uncle he was, so I rose and made my way over to say hello.
I bent over to smile at his daughter in her wheelchair. “Hey there, Isla. Aren’t you looking pretty today?”
She smiled up at me from behind her glasses. “Thank you.”
“And so do you...” I stood and hugged Vanessa, patting her belly. “When is this one gracing us with her presence?”
“Not soon enough.”
Cam turned to us. “What are you talking about? I thought she was just having too many of her brother Sam’s pancakes.”
She rolled her eyes and moved to the large bay windows that overlooked the lake, where our dad was manning the grill, along with our uncle Jack.
I joined her while Cam entertained the little girls.
“Where’s your mom?” she asked without glancing over.
“She ran to the grocery store to pick up some more drinks, and I’m pretty sure she’s getting a banana cream pie for Cam.”
She shot me a look. “You sure that’s not for me?”
“Maybe.”
She laughed and turned back to the view. “That’s sweet of her.”
“Wanna sit outside?” I tilted my head toward the picnic table not far from where the men stood talking.
Her gaze tracked to Cam, but I grabbed her hand.
“We’re gonna go out,” I said. “Bring the girls when you’re ready.” I tugged her behind me and led her out the back door toward the table before my brother could respond.
She sat heavily next to me, her hands on her belly.
At the window behind us, Camden stood with Elizabeth on his hip and Isla in her wheelchair next to him, all of them waving and making faces at us.
“He’s—” I started.
“The best,” Vanessa said, her eyes all gooey.
“I was going to say a nut, but I guess we can go with that since you’re still technically in the honeymoon phase.”
She smacked my arm. “He is, though, Olivia. The best. Truly. I’m lucky to have found him. He’s so good to us.”
I sobered, the smile dropping from my face. All kidding aside, I knew how awesome my brother was. Really, how awesome all of my brothers were, even though they were all incredibly different. Elias was quiet and reserved, focusing all his energy on serving his country in the Air Force. Titus was the polar opposite, boisterous and fun and making a name for himself acting in Hollywood. Then there was explosive and loyal Camden. The brother I was by far the closest to. Maybe because he was the closest in proximity or perhaps because he just seemed to get me and love me unconditionally and had my entire life—even when I was the bratty little sister.
I reached out and cupped my hand over Vanessa’s—the woman who had captured my brother’s heart. “We both know he was the lucky one.”
We shared a moment as I silently thanked her, as I had a thousand times before, for saving my brother. He’d been spiraling out of control, physically and emotionally, when she’d quite literally found him and turned his entire life around. I’m not sure I’d have him anymore if it wasn’t for Vanessa.
She let the moment go and sat back. “How are things at the studio?”
“Good. Busy, but good.”
She nodded and let her eyes drift closed to enjoy the breeze as my mind began to wander back to a call from Sofia that morning. It was so early, it was still dark, but the distress in her voice had me sitting straight up and my heart racing immediately.
“It’s my brother,” she’d said. Her voice was nearly choked off with tears and I got misty-eyed, thinking of my own brothers, as she told me he was missing.
She couldn’t tell me any more than that, not knowing more.
I’d told her we would cover her at the studio so she could go be with her family, but she’d thrown me for a loop when she flat-out refused. Said it was impossible, they were too far away, and mumbled something about things being tense between them.
I’d felt hopeless, not knowing how to console her as she sobbed. Her crying filled my ears even now.
I’d gotten Jamie to fill in for her at the studio for the day, but she wouldn’t hear of bailing on me for babysitting that night, which I could not understand. I told her we’d talk again but our call was cut off. If she did show up, I’d offer again to stay home and give her a night to herself. Girls’ night could wait, and I knew Vanessa and my cousins would understand.
I took a cue from Vanessa now and let my lungs fill with a deep breath as I tried to relax. My uncle Jack glanced over from where he stood with my father by the grill. His slow gaze caught on me, held as if he was startled, then softened with just a hint of melancholy before he offered me a gentle smile.
I was used to it.
My hair was a little bit lighter and my eyes darker, but everything else, from my height and build to the shape of my face, was an eerie resemblance to his lost daughter, Claire. I loved my uncle, and I hated that I couldn’t outrun my genetics that were like poking a never-ending bruise just to look at me.
I lifted my hand in a wave, and he waved back.
“Chicken’s almost done,” Dad said, cutting into the moment.
Just then, my mom’s car pulled up into the drive and Camden came out the side door with the girls to greet her.
Everyone was all smiles and the air suddenly smelled of barbecue chicken as well as my mom’s perfume as she came over with Elizabeth in her arms. I lived for these moments. I just knew they never lasted.
At six o’clockon the money, Sofia showed up at my front door, looking pale and exhausted, not a stitch of her customary makeup on, so she looked so young and fragile as she stared up at me with her big brown eyes.
“Hey,” she said, her voice tinier than her barely five-foot dancer’s frame.
“Hey.”
I closed the door and turned toward her as she set down her denim and leather bag and faced me. That’s when I took in more details. The dark circles under her eyes. The wrinkles in her oversized pink t-shirt. The messy bundle of hair that looked like it needed a wash. “You really don’t have to do this. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I know. I want to. It’s better than sitting around by myself, worrying about him when there’s literally nothing I can do but wait and hope he calls.”
“Have you heard anything from your family? Has he reached out to any of them?”
She shook her head sadly.
“Sofa!” Elizabeth barreled into the room, hollering for her with her version of Sofia’s name, making her smile, which was a relief to see.
Sofia scooped her up and they touched foreheads and noses. “Lizzy Bear!”
“Okay, well...” I moved toward the door, checking the time on my phone. I’d make it to the restaurant in time if I hustled. “I won’t be gone long.”
“No problem.”
“Call me if you need anything.”
But they were already heading toward the kitchen for snacks, so I let myself out, locking the door behind me and jogging to my car as fast as my heeled boots would allow.
I was the last one to arrive at La Hacienda, but I found my raucous group easily enough by following the sounds of cackling laughter to a large table near the bar. Whitney was sitting next to her little sister, Wendy, giggling at something Deanna said, while Jamie chatted it up with my cousins’ wives, Genevieve, Harper, and Eden. In between them all was already a huge plate of loaded nachos and two pitchers of margaritas.
“Start without me?” I said, sliding into the only free seat between Whitney and Vanessa, who was sitting quietly, taking it in with a smile, sipping her water.
Whitney whipped around at that and shoved an already full glass of margarita my way. “Took you long enough.”
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to come at all.” I sipped and let myself relax.
“What happened?” Whitney asked as she reached for a nacho.
I felt everyone lean in as I gave the most basic explanation I could of what happened with Sofia, knowing not everyone there knew her well.
“Shit,” Deanna said. “I didn’t even know she had a brother.” She glanced around at Whitney and Jamie. “Did y’all?” They shook their heads. “Goes to show how well we know our girl.”
“I know,” I murmured.
“Well, you let her know we’re here for her, whatever she needs,” she added. “And I’ll check on her tomorrow.”
I nodded just as our waiter showed up.
Harper took the bull by the horns and ordered another pitcher of drinks and another monster plate of nachos with extra jalapenos then, God bless her, steered the conversation elsewhere.
“So... I think I want to have another baby.”
Eden nearly choked on her chip but coughed through it before staring at her as wide-eyed as the rest of us. “Say what?”
Harper grinned wide. “I’ve been hitting on Levi like every night, asking him to knock me up. He’s all for the sex, not so sure on the baby part.”
“What if you have twins again?” Genevieve asked.
“Yeah,” I echoed. “That would be crazy.”
Whitney sipped her margarita and watched the interplay like it was the funniest tennis match she’d ever seen.
Harper shrugged. “I told him when we got married that I wanted a big family.”
Eden lifted her glass for a toast. “To getting a Creed man to—”
“His back?” Whitney piped up, a smirk in place.
“His knees?” Deanna suggested.
The rest of us stared in shocked silence a moment, then burst into more laughter.
“I was going to say, to do anything he doesn’t want to do, but those are better,” Eden said once she caught her breath.
“Much better!” Vanessa agreed.
“Yes!” Genevieve and Harper both spoke together.
As the mariachi band started up and we dug into our new plate of food and next pitcher of drinks, I could literally feel the tension leaving my body. I spent so much of my time being a business owner and single mom, it was incredibly nice to just be one of the girls for a little while as they talked about love, life, food, and what songs they were going to butcher during karaoke at the bar next door.
“What about you?” Genevieve asked, looking my way.
I swallowed the sip of margarita in my mouth and tuned back in. “What about me?” I glanced over at Whitney’s telling smirk as she scooped up another loaded chip and stuffed it in her mouth. “What am I going to sing?”
Genevieve grinned. “Well, yes, that too. But I was asking about dating. Men? Anything exciting to share?”
“Well, I can tell you her karaoke standby is Carrie Underwood’s ‘Before He Cheats,’” Whitney answered for me. “Always has been, probably always will be.”
“Really?” Genevieve and Harper said in unison as the rest of the women looked on with a mix of sympathy and curiosity.
“Yeah,” Whitney continued. “The bitch is my best friend and still won’t give me the backstory on that one.”
I shook my head and lifted my drink for another sip since my bestie was on such a roll, silently giving her the floor.
Genevieve just laughed, her hazel eyes sparkling in the light. “Okay. So, does that mean dating is a sensitive subject?”
I nodded, but my answer was cut off as my phone rang from my purse and we all heard it because I’d jacked up the volume all the way before I left home just in case Sofia needed anything.
I yanked it out and pressed it to my ear, plugging my other one to block out the loud mariachi music. “Hello?”
“Olivia?” Sofia’s voice was soft and nasal as if she’d been crying but tinged with panic.
“Yes. What’s wrong? Is everything alright?” Talk at the table silenced as I met Whitney’s concerned eyes.
“No.” Her voice was a whisper now.
The blood in my veins turned to ice. “What do you mean no?” My heart was pounding so hard, I could feel it in my temples. A door softly clicked in the background, and it was suddenly quieter on her end. “Where are you?”
“In your closet,” she whispered again.
Now I was sure I was going to vomit up everything I’d eaten. “Sofia. What’s going on?”
“Someone was trying to break in the house, and I think they might’ve gotten inside.”