Chapter Five #3
had lost a couple of teeth. And that dog had the crazy eyes. Like real crazy
eyes. He would bet the canine had bitten many an ankle in its youth. And it was
wearing a sweater. And still shaking like it was the dead of winter.
Actually, that dog was a lot like the car.
“It happens, though I didn’t see it at the time,” Olivia
said. “Scott is excellent at deflecting and gaslighting. I think they taught it
at whichever party school he graduated from. And unfortunately, my papa is used
to it.”
“Oh, the people around this town can be terrible. They’re
all scared of Jack, but they can treat Sam like he’s dirt on their boots,” Gwen
said as someone honked because she was straying into the lane next to them. She
moved back into the proper lane, swerving in a way that made Keane hold on.
“Same with Abby, although no one would ever do it while Jack’s around. I’ve
often said if Abby and Sam weren’t so kind, there would be a lot of corpses
buried out on the ranch, if you know what I mean.”
He did. And he approved. “Sam is one of the nicest people
I’ve ever met, and so is Abigail. I take it this is about their lifestyle.”
He also knew small towns. Some were quirky and fun and
welcoming. Some were rigid and unforgiving of even the smallest problems. Like
everything else, small towns came in all varieties. Good. Bad. Indifferent. And
in town there would be pockets of people who disagreed with the majority.
“My mother has a long history with Willow Fork. She grew up
here, and in high school she fell in love with the richest boy in town. He was
going to marry her against his parents’ wishes, but he got into a car accident
and died,” Olivia explained.
“This is Lexi’s father,” Garrett clarified.
Olivia nodded.
“Oh, Adam and Abby were the most beautiful couple. I
remember them well, and how his momma acted after he died brought shame to her
family. Or it would have if they had an ounce of it,” Gwen said as a car passed
them by. And then a runner. Just a white-haired dude who wasn’t even running
particularly fast. “Old Ruby Echols ran Abby out of town, and she didn’t care
that Abby was pregnant. She made sure no one would serve her at any of the
shops and told her she would take her momma’s job.”
Yeah, he could believe that. It was how some powerful
families worked. But they were getting off topic. “How would he treat Sam
differently?”
“It was snide remarks. Nothing I heard about until after we
broke up,” Olivia explained. “As to the engagement he was talking about, he
never got around to it. We dated for a couple of years, but it wasn’t like he
lived in town. He worked at the office in Dallas most of the time. That was how
I missed the whole he-had-a-girl-on-the-side thing.”
“But you were serious about him?” Keane asked, trying to get
a feel for the situation. This guy looked like the kind of man a wealthy woman
from a good family would pick. He was well dressed, looked rich, and had some
charm to him.
Of course, Keane learned long ago that charm could cover a
lot of darkness.
Olivia sighed and sat back. “I want to say no. I want to
tell you that it was a flirtation that made me feel better. I kept it from my
parents for a long time. The last thing I needed was them to know I was dating
a coworker. When I couldn’t hide it anymore, I described it as a way to take my
mind off the fact that Bobby was in Massachusetts and we were taking a break.”
“Is that the gay boy you’ve been protecting for years?” Gwen
asked.
Olivia turned her head, her jaw slightly open. “How did you
know that? I mean I know I brought him to town a couple of times, but we were
good at the act.”
Gwen’s silver helmet of hair shook in the negative. “Sweet
girl, I’ve lived a lot of years. I married a man who was gay. I can clock that
from a mile away.”
Olivia sounded shocked. “Are you talking about Darren?”
“No, honey. Darren was a gambler, but he liked the ladies.
No, I’m talking about Harvey.”
Keane held on as an eighteen-wheeler blew by them, making
the car shake and the Chihuahua go crazy. She leapt onto his lap, tiny paws on
the window as she barked like mad.
No one seemed to notice.
“But you were married to him for twenty years,” Olivia
remarked. “You didn’t divorce him. He died.”
Gwen nodded and raised her voice slightly because the dog
was still letting its rage be known. “Yes. Best husband I ever had, and I had a
few. Four, now that I think about it. But Harvey was the best. Oh, he thought I
didn’t know, but I caught him with the pastor several times. He also had a
wife. Nice lady. I think we would have been good friends if she hadn’t run off
with the pool boy. I’m sorry. Pool man. I’ve been told it’s sexist to call him
a boy, but he was twenty-two. That’s a boy to me.”
“I’m getting confused,” Keane admitted. “And is there
anything I can do to help your dog calm down?”
“Don’t you worry about Muffin. She’s very protective,” Gwen
said, grinning in the mirror. “I think she likes you. And don’t worry about the
family stuff. It can be confusing.”
“That happens a lot around here,” Olivia agreed. “All the
family trees are weird and slightly contorted in this town. Everyone knows
everyone else’s business, even when you think you’re doing a great job of
covering it up. I’m still shocked about Harvey. I can’t believe you stayed
married.”
Someone needed to protect him from his protector, who was
jumping up and down and getting way too close to a place he didn’t want a dog’s
claws in.
“Well, he was meticulous with the house chores. He loved to
cook, and he always looked nice. He used to watch my soaps with me, and we
could laugh forever. And he didn’t bother me about sex. It was my best
marriage. I miss him. I thought you were making an excellent choice,” Gwen
admitted. “So, no, I didn’t mention it, but I did mention to your momma that I
thought the city boy wasn’t a good match.”
“Ah, so that’s how she found out,” Olivia said with a sigh.
Gwen turned Olivia’s way. “I don’t know why you try to keep
these things from your parents. They’re the kindest people in the world.”
And she drifted into the other lane. So they swerved again
to avoid hitting a truck with a horse trailer behind it.
“Well, they are also insanely protective.” If Olivia was
feeling worried about the state of their travel, she didn’t show it. “The truth
is the only time I remember my parents fighting over anything real was about me
and the men I dated. It was worse after I found out my high school boyfriend
was dating me because of my family’s money. I cried to my mom, who told my
dads, and that’s how Jason Hart’s beloved Mustang got cubed. No one knows how
that happened.”
“Cubed?” Garrett asked.
Olivia nodded. “My dad likes to cube vehicles that offend
him. It’s a family tradition. My mom has a cube, and so does Papa. He uses his
as a footrest.”
He was genuinely happy he hadn’t brought his beat-up truck
now. It seemed like Muffin was finally chilling out. Or maybe dying. The
Chihuahua flopped down on his lap, her belly up to the world. “He had your
ex-boyfriend’s muscle car crushed into a cube? And he didn’t get sued?”
“Oh, he paid Jason’s family for the car,” Olivia admitted.
“They were so happy about having the cash they signed all the documents my
uncle put in front of them. It’s one of the only times I’ve seen Uncle Lucas
really go at my dad. They joke around a lot, but Lucas read him the riot act
that day, and Momma cried and Papa told Dad he went too far. It was a lot of
drama. Josh and Grim were complete assholes who ate popcorn and watched the
whole thing. So no, I don’t bring up my love life a lot. I hate it when they
fight.”
“That’s why you were okay pretending to be Bobby’s
girlfriend?” Garrett asked.
“I think we call that his beard,” Gwen cut in.
Olivia huffed. “That is a little on the offensive side, and
I did it because I love him and his parents were being difficult. They kept
trying to set him up with young women.”
“It helped you to have a long-distance boyfriend, too.”
Keane could see the advantages for Olivia. “It kept your parents off your
back.”
“Well, apparently Mom knew most of the time. But as to the
problem of Scott.” She was silent for a moment. “I should have told him to fuck
off.”
He was surprised she didn’t. Olivia Barnes-Fleetwood was a
confident woman. She knew what she wanted and asked for it. So why didn’t she simply
tell the guy off? Why had she hidden behind them?