Finders Keepers

Chapter 14

Sloan had no idea what to expect when he entered. But the unknown man getting into a car in front of Olivia’s house, the partially opened door, and the tense conversation and raised voices from within between Olivia and another woman lent him license to take a professional stance and not a personal one, to make sure Olivia was all right. Sloan hoped this was not a come-to-the-rescue moment, which would not play well with her.

Conversation immediately ended when he pushed open the door and stepped into the entrance. He made eye contact with Olivia first but was aware that there was another woman in the room. Olivia’s expression and body language spoke volumes. There had been arguing between the two women. The other woman acknowledged him with her cold awareness on his gun, belted on his right hip. He always removed it once inside with Olivia, but there’d been no time for that. Now he took an observe-and-wait attitude, following Olivia’s lead and cues. The situation, as he read it, didn’t call for anything else.

Sloan could tell Olivia was glad, but cautious, to see him. It was clear that what he’d walked into was uneasy.

“Hey,” he said smoothly, holding Olivia’s gaze, but she transferred hers back to the other woman, who addressed her, no-holds-barred.

“Really? A white man?”

“Are you bothered by that?” Sloan responded at once. Better wisdom wouldn’t allow him to remain quiet. He felt Olivia’s gaze turn sharply to his, but she said nothing.

“Personally? Yes. But I can see it’s not my call.”

“Thank you,” Olivia said in a tight, strained voice.

“I was suspicious the first time I saw him,” Lynn said tartly. “I was just leaving,” she announced. “In any case, I’m too late.” She turned and gave him a slow once-over.

“Have we met before? Sorry, but I don’t remember that,” he said.

“I’m Lynn, one of Olivia’s good friends.”

“Okay. One of Olivia’s good friends,” Sloan recited. He didn’t mean it to be humorous, but he also didn’t want to escalate the already uncertain scene. He looked at Olivia. “Bad timing? Want me to leave?”

She hesitated for a bare second and slowly walked to stand in front of him. He could feel the heat of her agitation. He caught a whiff of lavender, Olivia’s soap of choice. Sloan resisted touching her but was encouraged when Olivia slipped her hand into his. And he knew that Lynn was fully aware of the move.

“I told Lynn I had company coming. We were just finishing our conversation.”

“Well, no, not really. We were just getting started. And it was important.”

“Lynn, I think you’ve said it all. The rest can…”

Sloan gently squeezed Olivia’s hand and then released it. He addressed Lynn. “If you’ll excuse us for a moment.” He didn’t wait for her answer but gently maneuvered Olivia into her living room. A very brief glance showed Sloan that everything was set up for the dinner they were to have together—that he’d been looking forward to. He stopped near the glass doors to the yard and positioned himself so that he blocked Lynn’s ability to eavesdrop…or read lips.

“I’ll make her leave. I’ll—”

“Don’t,” he insisted, his voice very low and rough and very firm. “Did she know I was coming tonight?”

Olivia shook her head. “No. I just said I had someone coming. I wasn’t keeping you hidden or anything like that, but it wasn’t any of her business. Lynn doesn’t know everything about me, even when she thinks she does or should. And I want—”

“Listen to me. If I stay right now, it’s not going to be a good thing. I realize that she’s screwing up our evening, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to get on her bad side. I think I’m already there anyway. I’ll leave.”

“Sloan.” Olivia strongly objected, her teeth clenched.

“If I stay, your friend is going to try and start something with me. I might forget myself and just square off with her. But she’s your friend. I don’t want it to get ugly.”

“You’re more important,” Olivia said, her voice a quiet plea.

He blinked at her, his gaze warm for a moment before he got control. “I’m glad to hear that. And that’s all I need to know.”

“Excuse me! I’m not invisible, you know,” Lynn declared, annoyed.

“I’m leaving,” Sloan announced calmly. “You and Olivia need to finish your talk. I’ll only be a distraction. And I might say something…inappropriate.”

Lynn looked vindicated—and victorious.

“A man came out just as I arrived. Is he waiting for you? He got into a car parked out front.”

Lynn sighed, briefly rolling her eyes. “I’ll speak to him. He’ll wait.” She looked sharply at Sloan, as if she wanted to say something just to him. Lynn glanced at his gun again and back to him, suspicious and hostile. He stared her down, waiting. She abruptly pulled the door open and stepped out. There was mumbled conversation, but Olivia and Sloan couldn’t really hear what was said. Suddenly, Lynn was back but only stood on the entrance.

“Jonathan and I have to go. He’s probably annoyed with me too. Why not? Everyone else is. You call me,” Lynn ordered.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Olivia said firmly.

“Call me,” Lynn repeated, just as stern. Then she left.

Sloan stood with Olivia, holding her hand, trying to see into her face, to read her expression. He could tell she was still angry. A car door slammed outside. The engine started, and the car pulled sharply away. He turned to face her.

“Look at me.”

She raised her face. He stared into her eyes.

“What’s going on?”

Olivia swallowed, blinked a few times, and only then did the tension seem to seep from her.

Sloan led her to the sofa. “Sit down.”

He waited her out. Olivia finally recovered her equilibrium and was now just bemused. She looked at him, and Sloan saw something soft and very thoughtful in the way she studied him. A very subtle smile began to play around her mouth.

“Lynn arrived with a new boyfriend for me.”

The announcement caught him off guard. “What?”

“She, more than my other friends, thinks it’s time to get back out there and meet eligible men.”

“Black men,” Sloan added, just to make sure he understood clearly.

“That’s right. I never added any qualifiers.”

“That’s good.”

Olivia stopped him from speaking, rushing on before he could betray himself, his feelings. “Just so you understand, Lynn was my attorney during my divorce. She was tough and brutal with my ex, not giving him an inch. She made sure I got what I deserved, and I think Lynn was fair. We became friends, and she’s been like a guardian angel.”

“With fangs and claws,” Sloan added caustically.

Olivia nodded. “Yes, over-the-top. I think it’s because she’s represented too many women who didn’t do as well as I did. I also had Jackson adding support. My brother introduced me and Marcus, so he felt somewhat responsible when the marriage went south. I told him that was stupid and I don’t blame him at all.”

“I’ll give him points for wanting to take the bullet for you. Sorry for the analogy.”

She shook her head, dismissing his comment. “I’m grateful Lynn’s my friend. She’s been good to me, but I want her to stop thinking of me as someone who needs watching out for, who needs to be fixed. I told her I’m seeing someone. I didn’t tell her it was you.”

“Now she knows,” he murmured.

“I don’t want anybody else.”

Sloan noted that Olivia’s voice dropped and she was barely audible. But he heard every word.

She now looked right into his eyes so there’d be no misunderstanding. Sloan needed that. His jaw tightened as he was overcome with a complex sweep of emotions. Not the least of which was relief. And profound gratitude. For those few moments he was speechless, unprepared for his own reactions to what Olivia was confessing.

“We found each other…all by ourselves.”

With that, Sloan pulled her into a half embrace, bending to first kiss her with a quick burst of emotion and then to just hold her. “Liv,” he murmured fervently.

“You got here just in time for me to tell you…not Lynn or anyone else…that I love you.”

“Liv…” Sloan said again, foolishly, unable to find his words. He stood, pulling her into his arms. He cupped her face, looking into her eyes, his thumbs lightly caressing her cheeks. The movement encouraged one of Olivia’s smiles.

But she studied him with some doubt clouding her gaze. “Maybe I overshot my intentions. Sloan, I was only talking about…well…how I…”

He kissed her lightly, gently. Then again. It stopped the flow of her excuses, since he didn’t see that any were needed. The kiss was a prelude to Sloan settling his mouth over hers with a certain reverence, capturing her lips in a deep kiss that claimed her as his own. That was all he wanted Olivia to know. They wrapped their arms around one another, and it was silently settled that they’d finally arrived at where they both belonged.

It had not taken that long after all.

Dinner was forgotten.

The chicken never got fried, and the potatoes sat in lightly salted water waiting to be boiled. Sloan had brought a ripe avocado that made Olivia laugh. It did not become guacamole. All was containered and refrigerated for another night, to be determined.

They did not follow their inclinations into the bedroom to make love. That was also postponed for the time being. The thing they most wanted to do was talk. Olivia hadn’t realized, when the evening began, that Lynn’s impromptu and unasked-for visit had inadvertently signaled to her and Sloan that it was the perfect time to reveal their feelings for each other. Lynn had forced them to stop beating around the bush. But she and Sloan were ready. Right?

Olivia couldn’t talk at all for a long time. Sloan was focused on kissing her with such deep need that she wasn’t about to stop him. If he was put off by her sudden confession, it wasn’t being conveyed through his actions or the sweet things he growled against her lips. Her habit of clasping onto his wrists when he held her a certain way Sloan seemed to understand was her way of not letting him go. It was possessive, and it was tender.

When her emotional eye-opener had fully sunk in, Sloan became thoughtful, as if considering how he wanted to respond. He suddenly stood up, taking her hand and heading for the enclosed yard. They stepped out into the still night, and he settled them on the love seat rocker that bordered a hand-laid stone path curving around the outer periphery of the space. Sloan sat with an arm stretched out along the back. He encouraged Olivia to hug close to his side, seated on an angle with one leg pulled up beneath her.

She was content to wait, realizing that Sloan was somehow processing the evening in a much different way than she had. She was angry enough with Lynn’s presumptions to have had it out with her, maybe even risking the end of a friendship. But Sloan’s appearance had put an immediate stop to things escalating. Instead, Olivia knew she’d perhaps forced her relationship with Sloan into the realm of open-air discovery that couldn’t be taken back. She wasn’t sure what to expect next, but she was no longer nervous.

She had spoken nothing but her truth.

Suddenly, from the very quiet of the night and her yard…

“That first time, when I saw you in the hallway of your school…I knew.”

Sloan spoke with a kind of finality and reverence that suggested he hadn’t expected what was going to happen that day. Olivia closed her eyes, remembering as well. And that memory caused a sudden wash of emotion to flow through her, very like what she’d felt when she first saw Sloan—the odd sensation of awareness that gripped her insides. Magical and very scary.

“From that very moment, I was all in.” He silently shook his head. “I didn’t understand what had happened. I thought…this is crazy. I didn’t even know who you were or anything about you.”

His voice was a barrel-hollow rumble from his chest, filled with wonder and awe. “It was the damnedest thing,” Sloan revealed in a deep, heavy murmur. He briefly brushed his chin against her forehead. “But for sure…it’s you. From the beginning. And I found you right there in the hallway.”

The caress made Olivia sigh. It was such a relief to know what he’d gone through mirrored her own bewildering and electric reaction. She splayed her hand across his chest. She could feel his inhalations and exhalations. She didn’t say a word. Sloan seemed to know now exactly what he wanted to say.

“Everything that’s happened since then only confirmed everything I felt, that I thought, that day.” He snorted. “Was it love at first sight? I don’t know what that’s supposed to feel like. I had no clue. But everything from that day changed for me because of you.

“I felt…hope. I felt peace. When I’m with you, I feel safe. Does that make any sense at all? Do you know that you smile all the time? Or maybe I only think you do. But I always think you’re smiling just for me. Did you know that?”

Olivia sighed. She was pretty sure she did not go around smiling all the time. She did know that she had a tendency to smile at Sloan. Like she wanted to give that to him. It was all she had to give at the start.

“You once asked, ‘Why me?’ I’ve been thinking a lot about that. I bet you know what the answer is.”

Olivia nodded against his chest. “Now I do: Why not?”

“Right. You’re not going to understand this yet, but you’re one of the bravest women I’ve ever met. And that’s including my ex who I always thought was strong and tough. A take-no-prisoners type. But you’re stronger, Olivia, because you’re still…soft. And loving. That’s what I want. That’s what you give me. Like…I’m worth being with. I could be a…a…keeper.”

She laughed. “You could be my…boo.”

He grunted. “I’m afraid to ask.”

“It…it’s a girlfriend term for the man in her life.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Oh. Black.”

“Don’t like it?”

“I’m thinking about it.” He stroked her hair, brushed a thumb across her cheek. “Does it make me special?”

“To me. Extra special. But you really don’t need a tagline, you know. I think you and I have got this figured out.” Her voice was a quiet, contented whisper.

“This is what I’ve been looking for,” Sloan said earnestly. “None of it came to me as a color, Liv. What I see in you is character. Heart. Honesty. Maybe I didn’t realize that until we met. I’m in love with you.”

Olivia stroked his cheek, felt the muscle in his jaw clench against her fingertips.

“I beat you,” she teased on a whisper. “I knew in about three seconds. After that, everything else was denial. I was afraid of what was happening to me. Too sudden. So sure. But it… it felt like love.”

Sloan sighed. “Yeah. That’s what I’m talking about.”

She felt something vibrating somewhere in their clothing. It was Sloan’s smartphone, and he released her to pull it free. Olivia moved again, a little light-headed and dazed. In love.

Sloan responded, his voice suddenly full in-charge-and-no-nonsense mode. He stood and paced in a small area while he took the call. Olivia watched him, a little dreamy-eyed at his ability to be so loving one minute and then quickly switching to all business. She stood and was about to step back into the house when Sloan called out to her. She turned to him as he reached her side and placed his hands on her waist. Olivia held on to his forearms as he studied her.

“I suppose you have to go?”

“Not until the morning, okay? I might be pulled into a local case. It might become federal as it develops. Maybe not.”

“It’s Saturday,” Olivia reminded him quietly.

“I know. Won’t matter, Olivia. I’m twenty-four seven. Look, we’ve been lucky ever since we met. No work interruptions that interfered with us getting to know each other.” He pulled her against him. “Thanks for that. For dealing with the program. I really needed to know.”

“This is…I mean…we’re really happening?” Olivia couldn’t help asking.

“Did you mean it when you said you loved me?” Sloan asked. His voice was deep, searching, quiet with emotion.

“Every word.”

He nodded, sighed. “I’ve been waiting a long time for you. So…yeah. We’re on.”

Sloan’s attention was split between waiting patiently as his hand was methodically cleaned, swabbed, disinfected, and wrapped with gauze to cover and protect the gash on the back. Then it was wrapped again with an Ace bandage. There was some dried blood on his forearm, a few smears on his khaki slacks and the left side of his shirt. It wasn’t serious.

His gaze was focused on a dazed and weeping woman seated in the back of a squad car being questioned by two detectives. They were preparing to transport her downtown for an official interview and statement. There were about a dozen officers taking notes and checking out the house where an attack on the woman had taken place. A hulking man with bowed head, his hands handcuffed behind him, was being held by two officers leading him to another waiting car. He was under arrest. When the woman caught a glimpse of the man, she cowered, withdrawing farther into the protective interior of the squad car.

The last part of Sloan’s awareness had to do with seeing Olivia later…and it was already late. He was prepared to continue his oversight role in the drama that had played out earlier that day. A tip from a friend of the female victim had suspected a distraught and angry boyfriend was plotting revenge and violence to his ex-girlfriend, who’d ended the relationship weeks before.

There was something about her no, she didn’t want to see him anymore that he, apparently, didn’t understand and would not accept.

Sloan and another agent from the field office had only served as adjunct to the LAPD, who had done an excellent job, but the unexpected had, nonetheless, happened. The ex-girlfriend had been taken hostage after the police had arrived hoping to ward off exactly what had happened. After several hours, an attempt by the desperate boyfriend to escape had created a rush by officers to take him down before gunfire came into play and anyone could be hurt. But Sloan and a police officer were hurt, fortunately only requiring on-site attention and care. He wasn’t going to make a thing out of being hurt. He knew about hurt, and the cut on his hand didn’t qualify. It was moments like this that he had a rapid flashback to a much more deadly encounter in Afghanistan that could have cost him his life. Then his injuries had been serious and painful.

Sloan glanced at his bandaged hand as the EMS worker said he was okay to leave, with brief instructions on care of his injury. He nodded…and was now trying to decide if he should beg off going to Olivia’s. He didn’t want to have to explain to her what had happened, either in the confrontation or to his hand. But he couldn’t deny that the pull was definitely toward going back to Baldwin Hills to her. He would not have had a problem months ago opting for a time-out, informing the lady of the moment that he couldn’t see her. That’s not how he wanted to treat Olivia.

Until her, Sloan would not have believed that love could make a difference.

He had reports to write up and file, a follow-up medical visit to check out his hand and report on that. Conferring with LAPD command since his department had been called in on their case. That could take days. He didn’t want to wait that long. Sloan called her as the squad cars, emergency vehicles and equipment, and the SWAT team dispersed and cleared the area. Only the forensics department photographer remained to finish up his work.

He sat half in and out of his driver’s seat, his door open as he called Olivia.

“Hello?”

Sloan sighed. She sounded so reassuringly normal, quietly curious. “Hey. Sorry to be calling so late.”

“It’s not late. How did… I guess you had a case after all.”

“No. Still LAPD, but it turned out I needed to be at the scene.”

“Okay.”

Sloan waited out the second or two of silence.

“I wanted to check in with you. I…”

“I was holding dinner for you if you like. It’s everything we didn’t have last night. I know it’s been a long day, and you probably want to go home.”

“Since you’re asking, I have no intentions of passing up a home-cooked meal. Want me to bring anything?”

“Just you.”

Sloan’s chortle of contentment was lost in his throat, and he knew that she would not have detected it.

“On my way,” he said, ending the call.

Sloan was standing at the glass doors to Olivia’s yard, staring out into the neat, small space, with its border of perennials near the fence line and her pillow and shawl for periodic meditation neatly stacked just outside the door to the left. He’d found Olivia in a silent sit several times and quietly made himself scarce until she was finished. He had his own practice but had become notoriously lazy about it. Sloan took that to mean he didn’t need it as much anymore and he’d learned how to use his breathing to ground himself when needed.

He felt her hand carefully laid against his back to announce her presence. They’d finished dinner, talking around what had happened in his day with distracting conversation about her school and one student who’d placed in the state science fair.

Sloan gazed silently at her. “Want to sit outside for a while?”

Olivia nodded and slid the glass door open so they could step out. The night was totally silent in the residential community. An occasional bark of a dog being walked. A plane or helicopter overhead in the sky. They sat together on the top step that led down into the yard proper. Olivia slipped her arm around his, and Sloan squeezed it against his side.

“Are we going hiking again? Up that staircase at the Overlook?”

“You still want to do that?”

“I don’t want one hike to be all of what I do. I really enjoyed it. I want to get better, do more.”

“Fine. Maybe before Thanksgiving. You can work up an appetite. I suppose you have plans for Thanksgiving,” he murmured.

She sighed, shrugged. “I don’t know. Jackson hasn’t said anything. Last year he and his partner, Brett, went to Brett’s family in New York. I made plans with Mallory, one of my girlfriends. She has a difficult family thing going on and doesn’t spend a lot of time with them if she can help it. It was nice.” She tilted her head to look at him. “What about you?”

“I’ll go to my dad’s. He’s in San Luis Obispo.”

“Really?”

“He moved there after my mom passed away. I was still in country when that happened, so… He got a job offer at the university’s math and science department.” Sloan suddenly became quiet, glancing at Olivia again thoughtfully. “And now he has a girlfriend. Nancy. A divorcee who owns a café. She used to be a librarian.”

Olivia met his gaze, frowned at the way he hesitated. “Okay,” she said, encouraging him to continue.

“I…eh…I never told you that my mom was a teacher. And…her name was Olivia.”

Olivia’s brows rose in surprise, and a ghost of her smile appeared. She remained silent.

Sloan changed his position, staring out into the shadowed yard but taking her hand. “I don’t believe in coincidence or chance but…after I met you and…”

Olivia chuckled, rubbing her chin against his arm. “Got spooked? No pun intended.”

Sloan frowned. “Frankly, it’s a lousy pun.”

“I’m glad to hear you say so. I guess I understand that you couldn’t believe the similarities. But there is something kind of…sweet and maybe magical about it, don’t you think?”

“Like maybe my mom was watching out for me? I don’t know…I don’t believe in…”

“You don’t have to, you know. That fact that it even crossed your mind, that you’re still wondering about it…maybe you, we, should just be believers. Sometimes it’s as simple as that.”

“You’re probably right.”

Olivia squeezed the hand holding hers. “Can I see?”

“What? My hand? There’s nothing to see.” Sloan pulled it loose, releasing hers. “It’s just a scratch, like I said.”

She turned a little to the side and regarded him calmly. “It’s not just a scratch. It’s probably a laceration. This is not a Band-Aid. The injury is wrapped in sterile gauze to protect against infection. You should have had stitches. Did the medic apply an antiseptic cream? Something? Did they give you a tetanus shot?”

Reluctantly, Sloan nodded.

“And don’t tell me you feel nothing.”

“It’s…sore,” he admitted.

“Okay, I’ll accept that. You should take a—”

“I already have. Tylenol. One and done.”

“I don’t want you to argue with me if I want to check it in the morning, clean and rewrap your hand.”

“Liv, I don’t want you to be my doctor.”

Olivia took his hand back. “I’m not the least interested in being your doctor…or nurse. I can’t help knowing what I know. The way I see it, Sloan, I’m committed to you in a way I haven’t known in some time, maybe ever. That means I am concerned about what happens to you. I want to care about you. That’s part of what love means. That’s what I believe. Let me.”

Sloan gave in. He put his arm around Olivia to pull her closer to his side, to kiss her cheek. “I’m not going to fight with you about it. The love part is…really nice,” he said in a low voice.

“Good,” she said decisively. “Do you want a lollipop?” Olivia added in a quiet, maternal tone.

Sloan held out for as long as he could and then burst into a barking laugh. He caught himself but gave Olivia a broad, surprised grin, his love for her shimmering in his clear eyes. “If it’s okay with you, there’s something else I’d like instead.”

She returned his grin, mirroring his expression of love. “Me too. I’ll let my brother know I have plans for Thanksgiving.”

Sloan studied her features, an interesting curve to his lips that suggested a smile. “Do you ever think about returning to medicine?”

“No, I don’t. You know, medicine is in my DNA. But I really love teaching.”

“Maybe you still have some of it in your bones.” Sloan looked at his bandaged hand, turning it over, slowly flexing the palm.

They returned to the house, closing and locking the sliding doors, drawing the curtains. Turning off all but the yard security light.

And finally retiring for the night, when they curled into each other’s embrace.

And nature took over.

“So what is going on with you and Lynn? I called her to see if she wanted me to pick her up and bring her tonight. She was very…very…” Tessa tried to articulate about Lynn.

Mallory humphed. “Righteous. We all know Lynn can be that way. The woman is brilliant, and I don’t ever want to get on her hissy side. It spills over, especially if it’s about a man.”

“What man is she mad at now? Was she dating someone I didn’t hear about?” Tessa asked.

Olivia was silent, trying to decide how she was going to respond to the questions and her girlfriends’ curiosity about their other friend. Everyone agreed that Lynn was, in many ways, a valued fourth in their group. But there was no denying Lynn’s toughness and take-no-prisoners attitude on many issues, while insightful and helpful when needed, left room for her to believe she was always right. And pissing folks off.

Olivia was a few steps ahead of Tessa and Mallory as they shuffled out of the movie theater with a few hundred other moviegoers. They had no idea what had happened between her and Lynn. And apparently, Lynn hadn’t said anything to Tessa and Mallory.

“I think Lynn’s radio silence has to do with me. We had a falling out over someone I met…know…someone I’m interested in.”

Tessa and Mallory exchanged covert glances. “The FBI guy,” they murmured simultaneously.

Olivia wasn’t sure there was no judgment in their observation.

“His name is—”

“Sloan,” Mallory said with satisfaction. “He introduced himself that night at your house. I thought that was classy. And I liked his name.”

“Mmmmm. Yeah. He was kind of…hot,” Tessa mused.

“Maybe it was his scratchy voice…and the gun,” Mallory conjectured. Tessa chuckled.

Olivia calmly humored their teasing. It was complimentary, actually. And mostly true.

“So how did Lynn get herself mixed up in your affair? It is an affair, right?” Tessa asked.

Olivia gave the two women a decidedly suggestive grin, arching a brow. “I think it’s much more than that,” she responded. Straightforward. True.

“Ohh. A secret. I want to know what Lynn did that caused you two to go into separate corners of the ring,” Mallory said.

She was casting a sideways glance at her, and Olivia knew both Mallory and Tessa were expecting all the details…sordid and otherwise.

As they meandered through the mall parking lot, with the repetitive sound of slamming of car doors and engines turning on, Olivia gave her friends the short version of the night Lynn showed up, unasked and unexpected, trying to hook her up with, admittedly, a very attractive Black man with whom it was impossible to even think of developing an interest. Olivia knew that she and Sloan had not yet declared themselves to one another, but it was that crazy encounter with Lynn that had solidified what they felt for one another, admitting to being in love.

Tessa and Mallory were riveted by her tale, adding murmurs, gasps, grunts of affront for what Lynn had presumed in the most annoying and thoughtless way.

“Girrrrl…maybe we need to cut her loose. How could she?” Mallory said.

“We all know Lynn’s hot buttons. We, maybe, need to use them more often. Push back and don’t let her get away with being…”

“A bossy bitch,” Mallory snorted in glee. “Love her to death, but…”

“Before we kick her to the curb, and I’m not saying I even want to do that, I, at least, need to draw the line in the sand and tell Lynn she has to stop being angry on my behalf. First of all, she was totally wrong. Second, I don’t need a bodyguard. Third, she needs to put her own house in order.”

“Amen,” Mallory muttered.

“And I’m prepared to tell her that. I can take care of my own business. But that’s coming from me. I think each of us has to decide how valuable, or not, Lynn’s friendship is.”

Tessa sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. But…I have to know. Forget Lynn for now.” They were stopped by Tessa’s car, and she held her keys in her hand and gave Olivia a probing, pensive gaze. “Are you serious about this guy?”

Olivia considered all that she might say, how she would explain not only her feelings but how she’d arrived at them. She also knew that her girlfriends were certainly going to question the speed at which the connection had happened. But it all came down to the moment she and Sloan crossed paths and their eyes met and she smiled at him. So her answer was simple.

“Yes.”

They said their good nights and separated, each to her own car, exit from the mall parking lot, and heading home. Olivia’s drive was distracted as she considered the excitement and passion she knew being with Sloan. Along with the bliss was an undeniable concern that she had fallen too hard, too fast. What if it wasn’t real and couldn’t last?

Olivia believed that Sloan gave off all the signals of sincerity, and he was very loving and attentive. She’d also believed that Marcus was it in every way as a partner, a husband. Until he wasn’t. In the end, he had been reckless with her heart. It had hurt, badly. Shaken her confidence in herself as a wife, a woman. In an instant, Olivia felt a wave of hot doubt wash over her, making her mouth dry. She swallowed.

Her cell, placed in the dashboard cradle, vibrated. It was Sloan.

“Hi,” Olivia said. She sounded a little breathless. Her heart pumped past the momentary fear she’d manufactured in her head.

“How was the movie?”

“It was fun. A rom-com. You know.”

“Actually I don’t. Was it as good as the movie we watched together?”

Olivia slowly smiled because Sloan actually remembered. It was very reassuring. “Different kind of movie, so, no. Tonight was just a girls’ night out.”

“You’re fortunate to have such good friends,” Sloan murmured.

“I am. I’m on my way home now.”

“Are you using your traffic alert system?”

“To be honest, I mostly forget to turn it on.”

“You have to get better about that. There’s an accident on 10, and there’re only three lanes open out of six. It’s a mess for miles. Get off, if you can, and take the surface roads.”

“I’m coming up on an exit now. I’ll get off.”

“Good.”

“Did you call just to warn me? That was very thoughtful of you.”

“It wasn’t the only reason.”

She waited, and when he spoke again, Sloan’s voice had changed. Lower, quiet, craggy.

“I wanted to say I love you.”

It was a whisper. Olivia swallowed again. The relief and gladness that came over her was palpable. Sloan’s admission could not have come at a more important time.

“ Oooh…Sloan. I feel the same,” she responded with equal fervor.

Olivia didn’t underestimate the enormous safety net that Sloan’s words provided her. But she was taken by surprise, and bewildered, by what awaited her the next morning that had nothing to do with love but the vagaries of life.

Her car was gone.