Love Me With Lies 03 Thief (10 page)

The plans were in motion. In six weeks I would ask Olivia — no — I would
tell
Olivia, to marry me. She would probably say no, but I’d just keep asking — or telling. That’s what happened when you were possessed by a woman. All of a sudden you stopped running from love and started breaking all of your own rules … making a fool of yourself. I was okay with that.

I called her cell, tried to keep my voice even.

“Hi,” she breathed.

“Hey, baby.”

There was always a brief pause after we said our hellos. I liked to think of it as the saturation. She told me once that every time she saw my name on her caller I.D. she got butterflies. I got this swelling ache in my chest. It was a good ache — like a heart orgasm.

“I’m making plans for a few weeks from now. I thought we could go away for a couple of days — Daytona maybe.”

She sounded excited. “I’ve never been there.”

“It’s more beach. Another corner of the same ol’ same ol’ Florida. I want to take you to Europe. But, for now, Daytona.”

“Caleb, yeah, I’d like that. Daytona and Europe.”

“Okay,” I said, smiling.

“Okay,” she repeated.

“Hey,” she said after a few seconds. “Don’t get separate rooms.”

I think I tripped over the curb.

“What?”

She laughed.

“Byyye, Caleb.”

“Bye, Duchess.”

I was grinning from ear to ear.

After we hung up, I stopped for an espresso at an outdoor café. I wiped sweat from my forehead as I called a hotel and made reservations. One room: king bed, Jacuzzi tub, view of the ocean. Then I called a florist and ordered three-dozen gardenias. They asked for the delivery address of the hotel and I had to hang up to find it before calling them back. I was laughing in between calls. Out loud. People kept staring, but I couldn’t help it. This was crazy and it made me so happy. I called Cammie, and then thinking better of it, I hung up. Cammie was the closest thing Olivia had to family, but her idea of secret keeping was … not to keep a secret. I wished there was a father to ask — no, I didn’t. I would have punched her father, probably on numerous occasions. My final call was to an old friend who could help me with the last part of my plan. The best part. I wasn’t just going to give her a ring; she needed more than that to see how serious I was.

I stood up and dropped money on the table. Then I headed to my mother’s house. Hopefully, there were plenty of sedatives at the Drake mansion. She was going to need them.

“Caleb, it’s a mistake.” My mother’s face was ashen. She was tugging on the locket she wore around her neck. A sure sign that she was about to crumble emotionally.

I laughed at her. I didn’t like to be disrespectful, but I didn’t like anyone telling me Olivia was a mistake either. I pulled the ring box from her fingers and snapped it closed.

“I’m not here for your opinion. I’m here because you’re my mother and I want to keep you involved in my life. However, that is subject to change if you insist on treating Olivia as if she isn’t good enough for me.”

“She-”

“-Is,” I said firmly. “In college I was the asshole that slept with everyone because I could. I’ve been with many women, and she is the only one who makes me want to be a better person … and a better person for her. I don’t even need to be good, I just need to be good for her.”

My mother stared at me blankly.

“Forget it,” I said, standing up. She grabbed my arm.

“Have you told your father?”

I felt myself flinch. “No, why would I do that?”

“Your brother?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“They’ll confirm what I’m saying. You’re young.”

“I wouldn’t be too young if I’d bought this ring for Sidney, would I?”

She bit her bottom lip and I pulled my arm from her grasp.

“My father is so against commitment he’s managed to date a new woman every month for the last ten years. Seth is so reclusive and neurotic; he’d rather be alone for the rest of his life than have someone leave a dish in the sink. I don’t think I’ll be going to either for relationship advice. And just for the record, it’s your job to be supportive of me. Everyone told you not to divorce my father and marry Steve. Had you listened to them, where would you be now?”

She was panting by the time I finished saying that. I glanced at the door. I needed out of here, fast. I wanted to be with Olivia. See her face, kiss her.

“Caleb.”

I glanced down at my mother. She had been a good mother to my brother and me. Good enough to leave my father when she saw how damaging his influence on us had been. To others she was not a particularly kind woman, but I understood that. She was verbally cutting and critical. It was common among the wealthy. I never expected her to embrace Olivia. But, I had hoped for a less trite reaction. Maybe even forced happiness for my sake. I was growing weary of her pronounced cattiness.

She placed her hand on my arm again, squeezing lightly. “I know you think I’m shallow. I probably am. Women in my generation were taught not to think too deeply about our feelings, and to do what needed to be done without dissecting it emotionally. But, I am more perceptive than you think. She will be your destruction. She’s not healthy.”

I gently removed her hand from my arm. “Then let her destroy me.”

I take Cammie home first. When she steps out of the car, she kisses my cheek and holds my eyes for a second longer than is normal. I know she’s sorry. After all these years of Olivia and me, how can she not be? I nod at her and she tucks her lips in and smiles. When I get back in, Olivia is watching me.

“Sometimes, I feel like you and Cammie speak without speaking,” she says.

“Maybe we do.”

The rest of the ride is quiet. It reminds me of our drive back from the camping trip, when there was so much to say and no courage to say it. We’re so much older now, so much has happened. It shouldn’t be this hard.

I carry her bag upstairs. She holds the front door open for me when we get to her floor, so I step past her and walk into the foyer. Once again I feel Noah’s absence. It feels like she’s been living here on her own. The air is warm. I can smell traces of her perfume in certain spots. She turns on the air conditioner and we move into the kitchen.

“Tea?” she asks.

“Please.”

I can pretend for a few minutes that this is our house and she’s making me tea like she does every morning. I watch her put the kettle on and get the tea bags. She rubs the back of her neck and tucks a foot behind her knee while she waits for the water to boil. Then she carries a glass jar of sugar cubes and a small milk jug to the table and sets them down in front of me. I turn away and pretend I wasn’t watching her. This pierces my heart a little bit. We always said we’d have sugar cubes instead of plain sugar. She fetches two teacups from the cabinet, stretching on her tiptoes to reach them. I watch her face as she drops four cubes into my cup. She stirs it for me and pours in the milk. I reach for the cup before she pulls her hand away, and our fingers touch. Her eyes dart to mine. Dart away. She drinks her tea with only one cube of sugar. We find the tabletop increasingly interesting as the minutes pass. Finally, I set my cup down. It clinks against the saucer. There is a storm brewing between us. Maybe that’s why we are savoring the calm. I stand up and take both of our cups to the sink. I wash them and set them in the dry rack.

“I still want you,” I say. I surprise myself by saying this out loud. I don’t know if she’s having the same reaction because my back is to her.

“Fuck you.”

Surprise, surprise.

She can’t hide from me with her dirty mouth. I see how she looks at me. I feel the sting of regret when our skin accidentally touches.

“I built you that house,” I say, turning around. “I kept it even after I got married. I hired a landscaper and a pool guy. I’ve had a cleaning service go in once every two months. Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re a nostalgic fool who only lets go of the past long enough to marry another woman.”

“You’re right. I am a fool. But, as you can see, I’m a fool who never quite let go.”

“Let go.”

I shake my head. “Uh-uh. This time you found
me
, remember?”

She turns a little red.

“Tell me why you called me.”

“Who else do I know?”

“Your husband, for one.”

She looks away.

“Fine,” she finally says. “I was scared. You were the first one I thought to call.”

“Because…”

“Goddammit, Caleb!” She slams her fist on the table and the fruit bowl wobbles.

“Because…” I say again. Does she think she scares me with her little temper tantrums? She does a little.

“You’re always wanting to overtalk everything.”

“There is no such thing as overtalking something. Lack of communication is the problem.”

“You should have been a shrink.”

“I know. Don’t change the subject.”

She bites on her thumbnail.

“Because you’re my hiding place. I go to you when I’m messed up.”

My tongue twists, knots, freezes. What am I supposed to say to that? I never expected that. Maybe more swearing. More denial.

Then I go nuts. Really crazy. It’s the tension of wanting her and wanting her to admit that she wants me.

My hands are behind my neck as I pace her small kitchen. I want to hit something. Throw a chair through the glass box that is her condo. I stop suddenly and face her.

“You leave him, Olivia. You leave him or this is the end.”

“The. End. Of. WHAT?” She leans over the counter; her fingers splayed out like her anger. Her words punch. “We’ve never had a beginning, or a middle, or a fucking
minute
to be in love. You think I want this? He hasn’t done anything wrong!”

“Bullshit! He married you and he knew you were in love with me.”

She draws back, looks unsure. I watch her walk the length of her kitchen, one hand on top of her head, the other on her hip. When she stops and faces me, her face is contorted.

“I love him.”

I cross the kitchen in two seconds. I grab her upper arm so she can’t get away and lean down until I’m right in her face. She has to see truth. My voice sounds more animal than human; a growl.

“More than me?”

The light drains from her eyes and she tries to look away.

I shake her. “More than me?”

“I don’t love anything more than I love you.”

My fingers tighten on her arm. “Then why are we playing these stupid games?”

She rips her arm away from me, her eyes flashing.

“You left me in Rome!” She shoves me and I stumble back. “You left me for that redheaded bitch. Do you know how much that hurt? I came to tell you how I felt, and you walked away from me.”

Olivia rarely shows her hurt. It’s so unusual I’m not sure how to deal with it.

“She was unstable. Her sister shot herself. She swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills, for God’s sake! I was trying to save her. You didn’t need me. Ever. You made a point of showing me that you didn’t need me.”

She wanders over to the sink, picks up a glass, fills it with water, takes a sip and throws it at my head. I duck and it hits the wall, shattering into a thousand pieces. I glance at the wall where the glass struck, then back at Olivia.

“Giving me a concussion is not going to solve our problems.”

“You were a fucking coward. If you had just talked to me that day in the record store, without the lies, we wouldn’t be here.”

Her shoulders — which a second ago had been tensed in battle stance — go limp. A single sob escapes her lips. She reaches a hand up to catch it, but it’s too late.

“You got married … you had a baby…” Her tears are flowing freely, mingling with her mascara and tracking black across her cheeks. “You were supposed to marry me. That was supposed to be my baby.” She drops to the sofa behind her and wraps her arms around herself.

Her tiny frame is racked with sobs. Her hair has cascaded over her face and she bends her head with the purpose of veiling her face.

I go to her. I scoop her up and carry her over to the counter, setting her down so we’re eye to eye. She is trying to hide behind her hair. It’s almost to her waist again, like it was when I met her. I pull the hair tie from her wrist and divide her hair into three pieces.