Chapter Three #3
If they spent the night with Maia Brighton, then they did,
though that woman never aged. She was gorgeous and kind of predatory, both in
and out of the courtroom.
“I don’t know their names and I don’t want to,” Olivia
explained. “I want to keep it a fantasy. It was one night. One amazing night,
and that’s how it’s going to stay.”
Josh moved in and held his arms open. When she moved in and
hugged him, he whispered to her. “Were they good to you?”
That was the only thing her brothers would be concerned
about. “They were wonderful, but it was only one night.”
“Wait, Livie did the deed with two dudes?” Grim asked. “She
joined the club?”
Of course they could also be obnoxious. “Do not mention that
to Momma.”
“Don’t mention what to Momma?”
She froze and closed her eyes. “Please tell me our mother
didn’t walk in the room.”
“Olivia, what is…”
Yep, there was her mom. She stood in the foyer that led to
the door and took in Olivia’s state and then moved. She placed the bottle of
champagne she was carrying on a table and took Olivia’s elbow and started
walking.
“If you don’t want to answer a million questions, we need to
get you dressed properly,” her mother declared, moving to the bedroom she’d
been using.
Bobby followed right along. “Uhm, Mrs. Barnes-Fleetwood,
Olivia spent the night in my room. I’m sorry. We got carried away.”
Her mother stopped. “Your room? The one that is across from
hers? She wouldn’t have redressed if all she was doing was walking across the
hall. Also, I seriously doubt you gave her that hickey on her shoulder since
she is not your type, Bobby Farley.”
Her mother started walking again even as the whole room
behind her erupted in talk.
She was too surprised to hear what they were saying. “Mom,
you knew?”
Her mother opened the door and led her in. Bobby closed it
afterward. “Of course I knew. I always know. Although I will admit I don’t know
who you shared the night with. Would you like to enlighten me?”
“How did you know?” Bobby sat on the bed while her mom
started unzipping her dress. “When did you know?”
“Since you were sixteen and you looked at my husbands like
they were candy and you hadn’t had a sweet in a long time,” her mom replied.
“You did not look at my daughter that way. Oh, your face lit up when she walked
in a room, but it was because she was your friend. Sweet boy, there has never
been any sexual tension between the two of you.”
“But I tried so hard.” Bobby laid back as though exhausted.
Which he probably was since he sat outside the Masters’ door half the night.
Her mom turned to him. “Bobby, I have known many a teenaged
boy. They always look at the girls.”
Olivia groaned. Her mom still called her breasts the girls.
And damn it, she had left her shapewear in their room. She’d been trying to get
out quickly and totally forgotten about her underwear. “I need to get dressed.”
“We’ve seen it,” they managed to say at the same time.
Bobby sat back up. “The girls are spectacular, but you’re
right. I only appreciate them on an aesthetic level. But if you’ve known, why
have you kept pretending we’re boyfriend girlfriend? Livie, where the hell are
your bra and panties?”
She reached for her robe and slipped it on. “It wasn’t that
kind of night.”
“Olivia, did you forget your shapewear when you left your
man for the night?” Her mom seemed to be putting things together all too well.
“Did you sneak out? Did you not even wait to tell the man thank you? I raised
you better than that.”
“Momma, I left a thank you note. It was all very polite.”
She did not want to have this conversation with her mother, but it was better
than having it with her dad.
“Which one did you address it to?” Bobby asked.
Her mother stopped.
So did Olivia, and she sent her best friend a stare that
could have cut him in half if she had laser eyes. Which she wanted right now.
Bobby had the grace to wince. “I mean that was nice of you.”
“I was being sarcastic,” she said between gritted teeth.
Her mom stared at her like she was glowing or something.
“Olivia, did you spend the night with two men?”
“Momma, please. I had a lot of stress, and I haven’t exactly
had a wild sex life lately,” Olivia began.
“Because your boyfriend is gay,” her mom said.
Bobby held up a hand. “It’s not like I haven’t tried, Mrs.
Barnes-Fleetwood. I have attempted to get her laid every time we’re together.
Unfortunately, most of the guys I know are total nerds, and not the hot kind.
But she’s been stubborn when we’re in Bliss. I also know there are some guys at
The Hideout who would love to get into her thong.”
Olivia groaned. This was everything she feared. “Mom, it was
one night. I don’t even know their names.”
“I can find out their names,” her momma said.
Olivia held up a hand. “No. Momma, I wanted this night, but
that’s all I want right now. I’m not ready to get into a relationship. I have
work to do and a lot of things to figure out.”
“Bobby, sweetie, can I have a moment alone with my
daughter?” her mom asked.
Bobby stood up and sent Olivia a sad smile. “Yes, I’ll go
and make sure the buffet is right. I’m sorry, Liv.”
She rolled her eyes. “You better make sure my brothers don’t
eat all the Danishes.” When the door closed behind him, she turned to her
mother. “Momma, do not make more of this than there is.”
Her mother’s expression softened, and she moved in close.
“Baby, we can finally talk about this. You loved that boy. You’ve loved him
since you were a kid.”
“I still do. I love him so much, but he’s a friend and that
means something, too.”
“It does. It means everything. But Livie, I need you to know
how sorry I am that couldn’t work out the way you wanted.”
She had dealt with this. She really had, but her mother’s
arms around her felt good.
“I wish you would have told me. I wish you would have let me
help you through this,” her mother said.
Olivia moved back, brushing away tears. “It wasn’t my story
to tell, and I know you wouldn’t have said anything, but I needed to do this
for him. Honestly, I needed to do this for me. I suppose in the early days I
wanted to see if it was a phase, which is horrible, but I was very young. And
then I realized I simply love him and I don’t need to have sex with him to be a
part of his life. He never lied to me. I was the one he told the truth to. Way
before he was ready to, but he didn’t want to lead me on.”
“He’s a good man,” her momma said, stepping back and drying
her eyes, too. “Like I said, I’ve known for a long time.”
Olivia huffed out a laugh as she moved to the closet where
her suitcase was. She was eternally organized, so her outfit for the day was
laid out. “Now that I think about it, I can see where you tried to talk to me.
A few times.”
“I did, but when you didn’t want to talk, I couldn’t force
you. Are you okay, baby?”
She loved her mom so much. “I’m fine. The wedding made me
think a lot about the future, and I’m tired of worrying about it. I can’t force
the universe to send me my soul mates, so I’m planning to concentrate on work,
but I’m going to stop neglecting my own needs. I will start coming into Dallas
a couple of weekends a month. I’ll reestablish myself at The Hideout and
experiment without thinking about the future.”
“You’re not going to date?”
“Who would I date? I pretty much know everyone in Willow
Fork. Most of the people my age left for the city. I don’t see the possibility
of a man on the run showing up and needing my help.” It was how Josh and Grim
had met Nicole. It wasn’t happening to her. “So I accept the fact that I might
be alone for a while. The truth of the matter is I’ve been using Bobby to hold
the world at bay.”
“You think I didn’t figure that out?” Her mom sat on the end
of the bed. “Your sister did, too, by the way, but your dads still think you’re
probably going to marry Bobby and the two of you are waiting for Will to get
his head out of his ass.”
She winced. She needed to be careful about what she said
next. “Will’s perfectly happy with a mathematician. He met her at MIT. And
Bobby has a boyfriend he met there. They’re happy, Mom. It’s time for me to