“Tommy,” Olivia said through gritted teeth. “That’s enough.”
“Wake up, Olivia. This is all anyone’s talking about.”
“You think I don’t know that?” she said. “It’s my life. I know everyone is talking about me.”
Tommy looked over at Jack as he held Olivia protectively. Olivia had made up her mind, and no matter what he said, he wasn’t going to change it. She didn’t have a clue what she was doing. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He speared Jack with a searing glance, but then remembered he was visually impaired. “I sure hope he’s worth it.”
***
“Are you okay?” Jack asked after leading Olivia back inside the house. The question and her answer were irrelevant; he felt her shaking.
“Yes. He’s just upset.”
“Obviously.”
“I’m sorry about the way he acted, Jack. He’s not usually such an ass.”
“He’s your brother. He loves you and he’s worried. I’m an easy target.” He turned her to face him and ran his hands up and down her arms. “I don’t mind deflecting for you, Olivia. If he hadn’t vented his anger at me, he would have vented at you. No matter how much I sympathize with him, I won’t let him take it out on you.”
Olivia stepped into his embrace. Jack lowered his cheek to rest on her head. He wasn’t used to the emotions she elicited. He couldn’t think about how powerful his anger had been when Erica had come to his office to tell him that Olivia’s brother was there and he’d heard yelling outside his door. Tommy Golden was lucky he walked away unscathed after treating Olivia the way he had. The only thing that stopped Jack from taking a swing was the uncertainty he felt at letting Olivia go when she started trembling in his arms.
“He’s upset about the—”
“Olivia, I know what he’s upset about. He made himself very clear. If you’re afraid to be around him, you don’t have to spend your days slaving away at his restaurant.”
Olivia pulled out of his embrace. “Jack, I’m not afraid of my brother and I need to work at his restaurant. I don’t think I’d find a job elsewhere, certainly not now.”
“You don’t need to work.”
“Since when? I may be staying here with you, but I have an apartment and a car and insurance. I’m sleeping with you because I want to be with you, not so you’ll fund my lifestyle.”
“I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. We never worked out the terms for your teaching services. You could spend more time here with Erica. She’s made so much progress. She could make even more if you were here full time.”
“Erica’s made progress because she’s motivated to learn on her own. If I’m here all day, she won’t have to take any initiative and the progress we’ve made will be lost.” She looked down and Jack knew whatever she had to say next wouldn’t be good. “As a matter of fact, I was thinking of cutting down her lessons to maybe every other night.”
Jack felt the stab, sharp and lethal, right to his heart. He didn’t like the feeling one bit. “Every other night? Are you talking about Erica or me?”
He could tell when her body stiffened he’d assumed correctly. “Maybe both. I don’t think it would hurt to give us a little breathing room.”
“Breathing room?”
“Just a night or two on my own.”
“I see,” he said. “You’re letting them win, you know, if you flee because you don’t like people talking. People will talk no matter what you do.”
“This isn’t about people talking. I haven’t been to my apartment for anything other than to change clothes in weeks. I have a life, Jack, that’s going to continue when you leave. I need to tend to it so I have something to go back to.”
He dropped his arms. “If you want to change the terms of our agreement, you just have to say so.”
“I don’t. Jack,” she reached up and cupped his jaw, “I don’t. You and I both know you won’t be here forever. I’m becoming too dependent on you.”
“I haven’t made any plans to leave.”
“But you will. I need to be able to stand on my own when you do.”
“Why would you deny both of us while I’m here? I can’t stay forever and I want to be with you now.”
“I want to be with you, too.”
He wouldn’t beg her to stay. No matter how panicked he felt at the thought of her leaving, he’d never beg. “Do what you need to do.” He turned and walked back to his office.
***
Olivia watched Jack disappear down the hallway and shut his door. She felt dangerously close to tears. Everything in her life was falling apart. The more she tried to protect herself and the ones she loved, the more she seemed to hurt everyone.
“We don’t have to do this now,” Erica said from where she sat at the kitchen table with their lesson spread out. They’d left it when Tommy knocked on the door.
“No,” Olivia turned around and put on a bright smile, “I’m fine.”
“Do you really think we should go every other night like you said? Sorry,” she ducked her head, “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
“It’s hard not to listen when we’re talking right in front of you.” Olivia returned to her seat. “Yes, I think it would be good for you to have more time to practice.” She looked down at the material. “Okay, where were we?”
Later, when Erica was tired, Olivia knew she couldn’t stall any longer. “I heard from the lawyer today. He wants me to have a character witness testify at the hearing.”
“What’s a character witness?” Erica asked.
“Someone who testifies about my character. What I’m like outside of school. What kind of person I am.” Olivia took a chance and reached out and laid her hand over Erica’s arm. “Will you consider being my character witness?”
“Me? Why me? I’ve only known you for a short time.”
“I know that, but I’ve been teaching you. The attorney said I should ask someone whose interaction would show favorably to my case. Everyone in town thinks I’m a slut, my brother is mad at me, my best friend moved to North Carolina, I’m sleeping with Jack, and I’m living with a male friend. Even if I wasn’t teaching you, you’d be my best option.”
“You want me to tell them you’re teaching me to read?”
When Olivia nodded, Erica popped out of her chair. “I can’t do that. I told you I didn’t want anyone to know.”
“I know. I figured you’d say no, but I had to ask.” Olivia stood up. “It’s okay, it was only a suggestion.”
“I want to help you, I really do, but…”
“I know you do. It’s not a big deal, really.” She scooped up her things. If she didn’t leave soon, she’d break down. No matter what she felt, she didn’t want Jack to know how close she was to the edge. “So I’ll be back the day after tomorrow. Study your chart and start on that book I brought.”
“You’re leaving?” Erica asked. “Don’t leave on my account.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re not telling Jack you’re going?”
“He knows. I’ll see you later.”
She closed the door, hurried to her car, and managed to back out and turn off the property before she had to pull over because she couldn’t see the road through her tears.
Chapter 43
Fresh from the shower, Lyle settled onto the couch with a sigh. He had a frozen pizza in the oven, a cold beer in his hand, and ESPN on the television. A man could hardly ask for more, other than a warm woman to fetch the pizza when the timer buzzed and the promise of after dinner sex. The problem was the only woman he wanted to share a meal and have sex with wasn’t speaking to him.
Lyle had barely seen or spoken to Erica in over a week. His mom’s advice to keep steady and not to push was damn near killing him. The only upside was that he’d gotten a lot of work done. His research was going well; Jack seemed as focused as ever and Lyle had managed not to let any of his feelings enter into their interview sessions. Just because he thought Jack complicit in Erica’s painful past didn’t mean Lyle had the right to judge him or accuse him of anything. The cabin had power, and he and Dodge had been working hard on finishing the punch out list.
When the timer buzzed, he set his beer on the coffee table and stood up. He shrieked like a girl when the apartment door flew open and he was caught standing in the den in his boxers.
“Oh my gosh,” Olivia squealed and turned her head. “What are you doing?”
Lyle looked down, made sure everything was tucked neatly away, and put his hands on his hips. “What are you doing here? You haven’t been here at this hour for weeks.”
“So this is what you do when I’m not home? Run around in your underwear?”
“They’re boxers, Olivia, not tighty whities. And yes, I get comfortable.”
“Actually,” she lifted her brows, “you’ve got more muscle than I expected.”
“Thank you.”
“But I don’t want to see you in your boxers. What is that noise?”
“The oven timer. With all your cooking lessons, I thought you might recognize the sound.”
He walked into the kitchen, pulled the pizza from the oven, and sauntered down the hall to his room. “Am I sharing my dinner?” he asked over his shoulder.
“If you don’t mind,” Olivia called. “I’m bunking here for the night.”
Lyle emerged wearing sweats and a T-shirt. So much for his perfect evening alone. “What’s the occasion? Did you and Jack have a fight?”
“No. We did not have a fight. I simply wanted to come home and catch my breath.”
Lyle grabbed her chin and lifted her face to the kitchen’s harsh overhead lights. “You’ve been crying.”
She jerked her head free. “So what? That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Okay.” He got two plates out of the cabinet and filled his with the biggest pieces. “If you don’t want all those toppings, give them to me.”
“That’s it?” Olivia followed him into the den and stood next to where he sprawled on the couch. “You know I’ve been crying and you’re not going to ask me why?”
“I figured if you wanted to tell me, you would.”
She went around the back of the couch and sat down with her hands tucked between her knees. Lyle worked hard not to roll his eyes. Olivia was so predictable.
“It’s Jack. Well, it’s Tommy and Jack, but mostly Jack.” She slapped him on the arm, causing him to miss his mouth as he lifted the second piece of pizza to his lips.
“Hey! What was that for? I didn’t make you cry.”
“Why did you have to tell Tommy about the wind study? He would have found out eventually, but it really stinks that he knows and thinks Jack’s up to no good.”
“Why does everyone think I told Tommy about the wind study? Has it ever occurred to anyone that we live in a small town, and when you apply for a tower permit, people are going to take notice and ask questions?”
“So you didn’t tell Tommy?”
“No. I didn’t tell Tommy, but I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
“I’m sorry. Erica said you told him and I just went with it. Since I haven’t seen you two locking lips recently, I suppose this caused a rift?”
Lyle snorted. “There’d have to be something going on for there to be a rift.”
“I thought you were made of tougher stuff, Lyle. Why are you sitting around here instead of trying to woo her?”
“Woo her? Please. She’s made it clear she doesn’t want to be wooed. I thought ignoring her would work, but I’m having as much success at that as I am watching ESPN.”
“The top stories will be on again in another thirty minutes,” she huffed. “So, you’ve been ignoring her in hopes she’d seek you out?”
“I’m not talking about this with you,” he said and stuffed a huge bite in his mouth. Had he really been feeling lonely moments ago?
Olivia poked his side. “She told me you’re a really good kisser.”
Lyle almost choked. “She said that?”
“Yes. She likes you, Lyle. Don’t write her off just yet. She’s working through some stuff. If you give her a little time but don’t disappear off the face of the earth, I think she’ll come around.”
Wasn’t that basically what his mom told him? “I’ve been giving her space.”
“Maybe you’ve been giving her too much space.”
Lyle slammed his plate on the coffee table. “She accused me of telling Tommy about the wind study! She owes me an apology.”
“True,” Olivia said. “But she doesn’t know you didn’t.”
“Wouldn’t make a difference.” Lyle was done talking about Erica with Olivia. He needed to distract her and fast. “Was Jack ignoring you? Is that why you’re here?”
Olivia fell back against the cushions. “Have you heard a bunch of talk about me around town? About Jack and the mess at school?”
Lyle took a bite and thought about how best to answer. He’d heard plenty, including stories about how she was sleeping with both him and Jack, but he knew better to let her in on that little nugget. “Yeah. People talk, Olivia. Nothing you can do to stop them.”
She plopped her face in her hands. “I can’t stand that people who’ve known me my whole life are calling me a slut and a child molester.”
“So what did Jack do?”
“He doesn’t understand how all this talk makes me feel. He thinks I should ignore it and move on, but I can’t. And staying out there night after night only fuels the gossip.”
“And coming back here at night is going to make it stop? Come on, Olivia, you’re smarter than that.”