Finding Olivia (Trace + Olivia #1) (23 page)

I looked around at all the cabinets and grumbled, “Where do I even start looking?”

Ten minutes later, I gave up on locating a vase
, and stuck the flower arrangements in regular drinking glasses. Problem solved.

Trace was helping my mom set the table
, when I placed the flowers in their makeshift vases, at the center of the table.

“Nice,” Trace snorted, looking at the drinking glass vases.

“Sometimes, you have to be resourceful,” I laughed.

Once all the food was on the table
, we sat down to eat. My mom sat across from Trace and me.

My mom had made a batch of her cheesy potatoes, my favorite, among several other side dishes, and she had grilled
steaks since the Callahan’s had one of those fancy indoor grills.

“This is fantastic,” Trace told her.

“Thank you,” she smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Do you cook?”

“I love to cook,” he grinned.

“Really?” Her eyes widened. “That’s nice to hear.” Turning to me, she whispered under her breath, “He’s a keeper.”

“Mom,” I grumbled.

Trace chuckled, eyeing me over his glass of ice water, and I knew he had heard her.

“So,” she continued, “what do you like to cook, Trace?”

He shrugged. “All kinds of things. My mom made sure that my brother and I could cook for ourselves, do laundry, and all kinds of domestic things. She didn’t want us to be clueless.”

“Your mom sounds like a wonderful person,” she commented.

Trace beamed. “She’s the greatest. I don’t know what I would do without her and my grandparents. Family is everything.”

My heart soared at his words.

That was one of my favorite things about Trace, he cared deeply for his family, and wasn’t afraid to express that.

“Maybe I’ll get to meet them one day,” she looked between the two of us.

“Mom, please,” I hissed. If I didn’t watch her, she’d be asking Trace to propose before he left.

“Sorry,” she chuckled, “I’m getting a bit carried away.”

“Yeah, you are,” I agreed.

“Olivia,” Trace reached for my hand under the table, “it’s fine. I would love for my family to meet you,” he looked at my mom, turning back to me, he added, “but I would like for Olivia to meet them first.”

Oh, crap.

The color drained from my face.

Me, meet Trace’s family?

Trace chuckled huskily and whispered in my ear, “It’s payback time…not really though, they’ll love you.”

His words did nothing to comfort me. I had never met a guy’s family before.

My chest felt tight and I idly wondered if this was what a heart attack felt like.

He laughed again before pulling away.

“I think it would be nice for Liv to meet your parent’s,” my mom spoke to Trace. “After all, you’ve met me, it only seems fair,” she smirked at me.

Who was this woman? She certainly wasn’t the meek mother I was used to.

I cleared my throat and forced a bite of potato into my mouth. Swallowing, I asked, “When exactly would this be?”

Trace stretched an arm across the back of my chair, his early nerves about meeting my mom, completely gone. Now,
I
was the nervous one.

“Hmmm,” he tapped his stubbled chin and pretended to think. “Soon, I think. They live in the area.”

“That sounds…wonderful,” I swallowed a gulp of water. Actually, a lobotomy sounded less frightening than meeting Trace’s family. I was beginning to regret caving to my mom and inviting him to meet her. This was causing
me
nothing but trouble.

“Don’t be worried,” he winked and gave my shoulder a squeeze.

“I’m not,” I squeaked.

“You should know by now,” he murmured, brushing a strand of hair from my shoulder, “that you can’t lie to me.”

I completely forgot that my mom was sitting at the table with us and blurted, “You were nervous to meet my
mom!
Now, you want me to meet your whole family!”

He chuckled. “It would only be my mom, brother, and my grandparents.”

“And I only asked you to meet my mom! One person, not four!” I cried.

My mom laughed and scolded, “Stop freaking out, Liv. Your shyness will only get you in trouble.”

I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly.

“It’s not that I have anything against meeting your family,” I explained. “I just know how I am and I’ll end up doing something stupid. Like…falling in a hole.”

Trace threw his head back and laughed. “I’ll call beforehand and make sure all the holes are filled.”

“You know how clumsy I am,” I defended.

“I don’t think you’re that clumsy. I think you just get,” his fingers skidded down my neck and my pulse jumped, “nervous around me.”

“It’s kind of hard not to get nervous when you do things like that!” I hissed and flicked my gaze in my mother’s direction.

“I can’t help it that you’re so affected by me, Olivia,” he crooned.

I covered my face with my hands. “Can we not talk about this right now
, with my mom sitting right
there
?” I nodded my head in her direction for emphasis.

“Whatever you want, sweetheart,” he smirked, sitting back casually in his seat
, like as if he hadn’t just made my stomach do somersaults from his touch. “But you
will
be meeting my family
very
soon.”

My temperature rose and I grabbed my glass of water, downing it.

“Liv always did get worked up over the littlest things,” my mom explained.

“I’ve noticed that,” Trace grinned at me. “It doesn’t take much to get her…excited.”

My closed fist connected with his thigh, but he laughed it off, his green eyes glowing with mirth.

My mom moved the conversation to less…
stomach-churning topics, asking me about school, and Trace about being mechanic.

At the end of dinner
, I volunteered to clean the dishes, and Trace offered to stay and help me so that my mom could go on up to bed.

“Are you sure?” She asked, eyeing us.

“Absolutely positive,” I assured her, already stacking the dirty plates.

“Alright,” she stood, “thank you.” She hugged me and then Trace.
“I hope I get to see you again soon. You’re a nice young man, perfect for Liv.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’d like to see you again too, Nora. Maybe you and Olivia can come for dinner at my place,” he suggested.

“That would be lovely,” she beamed. “Night you two. Don’t get into trouble now,” she looked between us.

I waved her off and then picked up the heavy stack of dishes to carry to the sink but Trace snatched them from me.

Grinning, he said, “Can’t have you dropping these, Olivia.”

“Oh no, that would be tragic,” I laughed, following him to the sink.

I
turned the water on and added soap.

The Callahan’s had a fancy dishwasher but I was scared to work it. It had way too many buttons and I was afraid I might break it.

Trace and I worked in silence. He cleaned the dishes and I dried them before putting them away.

“We make a good team,” I joked, bumping his hip with mine.

“We do,” he grinned down at me. “I hated saying goodbye to you the other morning,” he whispered, staring into my eyes. “I wanted to keep you in my bed all day.”

My body hummed at his words and the promise behind them.

“I didn’t want to leave,” I confessed.

He hooked his fingers into the belt loops on my jeans
, and pushed me into the edge of the counter, staring down at me.

“And why would you
want to leave?” He smirked. Pushing his hips into mine, he added, “I’m
spectacular
.”

“You’re so full of yourself,” I groaned but couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

He lifted me up onto the counter so that we were closer in height. “When you’re as wonderful as I am,” he grinned, “there’s no point in sugar coating it.”

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to retort, but he covered my reply with his lips. I hummed in satisfaction. His fingers edged under my shirt, rubbing across my stomach,
and then venturing up my back, stopping on the clasp of my bra

He pulled away and smiled crookedly. “I better stop before I take you right here.”

I paled at his words, imagining my mom walking in on us. That would be beyond embarrassing.

He chuckled at my reaction. “I love embarrassing you.”

“You’re mean,” I groaned, leaning my forehead against his hard chest.

He cupped my cheeks, pulling my head back so that I was forced to look at him. “I really do want you to meet my family,” he whispered huskily, “and it has absolutely nothing to do with getting back at you.”

“What if they hate me?” I pouted.

“They won’t,” he assured me, “and even if they did, it wouldn’t change the way I feel about you.” He leaned forward, taking
one of my earlobes between his teeth, and giving it a light nip.

I swallowed thickly. “When do you want me to meet them?”

“I’m supposed to have lunch with them in two days. Is that too soon?” He questioned.

“It’s perfect,” I squeaked.

c h a p t e r

Nineteen

I knocked lightly on Avery’s closed bedroom door. I was supposed to be meeting Trace’s family today, but at the rate I was going, it would be the next century before I was ready. I had tried on everything in my suitcase and wasn’t happy with any of my clothes. I wanted to look nice
, and make a good impression, but everything I owned fell flat.

“Come in,” Avery replied to my knock.

I pushed her door open, and found her lying on the floor of her room, flipping through a magazine, while the TV blared in the background.

“What’s up?” She asked,
turning a page of the magazine.

“I’m supposed to be meeting Trace’s mom, brother, and grandparents,” I replied, nervously biting on my lower lip.

“Whoa, lover boy is bringing out the big guns. Grandparents, huh?” She smirked, sitting up.

“I know, right? I’m super nervous,” I admitted.

“I bet you are,” she looked at me sympathetically.

“I was hoping,” I kicked a spot on the floor, “that you would help me get ready. I can’t find anything to wear.”

Avery grinned. “Of course I’ll help you,” she hopped up from the floor, and opened her closet doors, motioning for me to follow her.

“Geez, Avery,” I remarked, looking around her spacious closet, “
it looks like a mall in here.”

Everything was perfectly organized with shelves, draw
ers, and racks lining the space. It was exceptionally neat; nothing at all like her closet in our dorm room, which consistently looked like a bomb had went off.

“I have a lot of stuff,” she shrugged, rifling through one of the color coded racks of dresses.

“It’s very—uh—organized,” I mumbled.

Avery glanced at me and rolled her eyes. “My mom is a control freak and makes the maid keep it neat. If it was left up to me…” She drifted off with a small shrug of her shoulders.

“It would be a hot mess?” I supplied.

“Yeah, that about sums it up,” she smirked.
“What do you think of this?” She held out a flowered print wrap dress.

“I think I’d be cold,” I muttered.

She sighed. “Do you want to make a good impression or not?”

“Of course I do,” I glared at her.

“Then you’ll wear the dress, with black tights—” she rummaged through the drawer, and pulled out a pair, “—and this blazer,” she added, pulling it off of its hanger.

I took the clothes from her and mumbled, “I don’t want to look
too
dressed up.”

“Trust me, Olivia. You want to make a good impression on them and a dress says that you’re a good girl,” she explained.

“As per usual,” I muttered, “your logic is whack.”

“You’ll be thanking me later,” she placed a hand on her hip. “And stop pouting, you’re the one that asked for my help.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m really-”

“Nervous,” she finished. “I know. Change into that and I’ll do your hair and makeup.”

My eyes widened.

“I promise not to make you look like hooker,” she flounced out of the closet. “I’ll keep the red lipstick
far away.”

I sighed as she closed the closet door.

If I was this nervous now, what would I be like by the time Trace picked me up?

★★★

“I told you I wouldn’t make you look like a hooker.” Avery spun me around to face my reflection.

She had managed to keep my hair and makeup simple. My eyes were shadowed in different shades of light grays and my lips were slick with a pale pink gloss. She had added a light amount of blush
and bronzer to my cheeks. My hair was pulled back in a messy, but stylish, side-bun.

“Avery, you’re a life-saver,” I breathed. “Thank you.”

“I try,” she smiled and did a little curtsy.

I turned away from my reflection and hugged her. “I seriously don’t know what I would do without you as my best friend.”

“You wouldn’t have nearly as much fun,” she laughed.

“That’s true,”
I pulled away.

“What time is Trace supposed to get here?” She asked.

I picked up my cellphone, which I had placed on her bathroom counter, and read the time. “Any minute,” I groaned as my nerves shot through the roof and straight to outer space. “I’m going to go say goodbye to my mom.” I knew it was silly, but since we had escaped my dad…Aaron…I kept checking on her to make sure she was still here. I was afraid that she’d disappear.

Avery winced.

“What?” I questioned from the doorway of her bathroom.

“Your mom isn’t here,” she muttered quietly.

“What? Where did she go? Why isn’t she here?” I went into panic mode, assuming the worst, which was that Aaron had found her.

She eyed me sheepishly. “My brother took her to lunch.”

“What?!” I shrieked.

“Apparently my brother has the hots for your mom,” she giggled
, but quickly sobered when she saw that I didn’t find it funny.

“Your brother’s like
—” I quickly did the math. “—twenty-two. That’s disgusting.”

“I told ya Nick liked them older. Besides, your mom is really pretty,” she shrugged.

Even though we had only been here a week, my mom looked like a whole new person. Her eyes were bright and she smiled more. She had bought new clothes that weren’t so frumpy and she’d even gotten her hair cut and styled. She looked nothing like the woman I’d called mom in New Hampshire.

I shuddered. “My mom and your brother. I can’t even,” I shook my head rapidly back and forth.

Avery made a face like she had sucked on a sour grape. “That was not a pleasant visual I just got in my head.”

“Ew! Avery!” I shrieked.

She giggled. “Sorry, I’m a visual person.”

“Stop,” I covered my eyes, “please, stop. I
can not
be thinking about this right now.”

At that moment my phone beeped, saving me from the nasty seed Avery had planted in my head.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite saved.

I’m here. U ready
?
Trace asked.

I’ll be down in a minute
.
I texted back.

“Wish me luck,” I told Avery.

“You don’t need any,” Avery tsked. “They’ll love you. You’re every parent’s dream for their son. You’re pretty, smart, and nice,” she ticked each attribute off on her fingers.

“Thanks,” I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry to run out and leave you here-”

“It’s no big deal. I’m going to Luca’s,” she grinned.

“I should’ve known,” I sighed.

“You better get out of here,” she smacked my butt, “before Tracey-poo comes in here after you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Can you please stop calling him by that ridiculous name?” I asked, striding out of her room.

“Nope!” She called after me.

I sighed and
grabbed my purse from the guestroom before making my way downstairs and out through the garage.

It was snowing
again; a good inch already coated the ground. Growing up in New Hampshire I was used to heavy snows but people in this area flipped out if there was even a dusting of snow on the ground.

“Hey,” I smiled lightly, climbing into the car.

“You look nice,” he grinned. “Who are you trying to impress? It’s certainly not me,” he joked with a small chuckle.

I tugged on the end of the dress and buckled my seatbelt. “Hmm, who could I want to impress?”

“They’re going to love you,” he reached for my hand and gave it a small squeeze before letting go to back out of the driveway. “Don’t worry. I was nervous to meet your mom, and she liked me,
right?
”

“That’s because you’re extremely likable,” I groaned. “I’m the qui
et shy girl that everybody overlooks because they think she’s standoffish. I don’t want your family to think I’m rude.”

“They would never think that,” Trace sighed, glancing both ways before turning out of the neighborhood.

“How do you know?” I sulked. My nerves were getting the best of me. I had
never ever
met a guy’s parents, because I had never dated before. This was completely new for me. I didn’t know what to do or what to say.

“Because, I know everything,” he winked.

I fanned my face. “It’s really hot in here.” I wiggled in my seat. “I think my butt’s on fire.”

Trace chuckled and pushed a button. “Sorry, the seat warmers
are
kinda hot.”

“How far away does your mom live?” I asked, chewing nervously on my fingernail.

Trace grabbed my hand and pulled it away from my mouth. “Not that far.”

“That’s vague,” I frowned.

“About fifteen to twenty minutes from here,” he shrugged.

“And your grandparents will be there too? Are they your mom’s parent’s or your dad’s?” I rattled.

“They’re my dad’s parents and they—uh—live with my mom and brother. Or my mom and brother live with them. Whichever way you prefer to look at it,” he ran a hand through his hair.

“Um-okay, because that’s not confusing at all,” I muttered.

He chuckled. “It used to be my grandparents’ house but they gave it to my dad. They continued to live there though.”

“Gotcha,” I mumbled, staring out the window at the snow falling.

We both grew quiet and I silently coached myself that everything would be okay, and I wouldn’t make a complete and total fool out of myself.

I never did well with
meeting new people and I knew my anxiety would be ten times worse with meeting Trace’s family.

I chewed nervously on my bottom lip
, and it began to bleed, but I didn’t care. It distracted me and that’s exactly what I wanted. I’d chew right through it if I had to.

We drove deep into a thickly wooded area with large houses every few acres or so.

Finally, Trace came to a plain black mailbox, and turned in the driveway, but I still couldn’t see the house. The forest surrounded us and I was afraid the craggily branches on the nearby trees would scratch the shiny black finish of the car.

The driveway, or maybe it was a road
, went on
forever
. We still hadn’t come to an end five minutes later.

“Are you really taking me to your mom’s house or did you just drive me out here to murder me where no one can hear
me scream?” I gulped.

Trace’s laughter filled the car. “You’re funny.”

Actually, I was being serious. We were in the middle of nowhere and the snow was coming down in thick white flakes that blanketed the ground like a fluffy blanket. At this rate, it would snow six or eight inches. In this area, that was rare, and akin to the zombie apocalypse.

But seriously, if Trace wanted to off me, al
l he’d have to do—

“Oh my God,” I gasped as the trees finally opened up.

High up on the peak of the hill, we were currently driving up to, was the biggest house—no, mansion—I had ever seen. Avery’s house was huge but could have easily fit inside this one
twice
.

It was
huge…gymungo…gargantuan...imposing. And I was all out of words to describe it. It was all brick with tall windows. A high fence hid the backyard but I was sure there was a massive pool back there and whatever else rich people put in their yards.

My mouth was hanging open and I was pressed as close to the glass of the
windshield as possible.

“This isn’t real,” I muttered.

I couldn’t get over the sheer size of the place. I had seen big houses before but never anything like this. It looked like something that should belong to a celebrity not a normal person.

“
This
is where you grew up?” I squeaked.

“Yeah,” Trace replied, chuckling at my reaction.

“People live here?” I gasped.

He snorted. “That’s typically what people do, you know, live in houses.”

“But it’s so
big!
” I exclaimed, squinting my eyes, as if that alone would make the mansion smaller.

Trace scratched the back of his head and muttered, “I know.”

“I thought you said your dad was a mechanic?” I accused.

“He was…but it wasn’t his job, just a hobby,” he parked the car in front of a four-car garage attached to the mansion. There was another four-car garage detached from the house with what looked like an apartment overhead.

“
Who are you?
” I glared at him. I felt like he had lied to me. I thought Trace was just a normal guy, with normal parents, a normal childhood, and
this
was anything but normal.

He ground his teeth together
, and yanked the keys out of the ignition, fiddling with them. “I knew you would react like this and that’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.”