Lynnia (34 page)

“Lynnie came out of that stronger and surer of herself than ever, but she also became guarded. She changed on me. Suddenly, she wasn’t as open to me as she had been. I was put into this position of a ‘good friend’ that she sometimes slept with. I know I messed up with our initial set up. I liked her, but punked out at the last minute and couldn’t tell her. When she became my friend, I just figured maybe that was what she wanted. I would see times when she looked at me that I believed she wanted more from me, but she would only give me an opening to try to spark something. Instead, we did the opposite of getting together by attempting to find someone outside of ‘us’ to fit into those shoes. If that makes any sense. I wanted to have her right after she was done with therapy, but she wasn’t ready for anything. By the time I realized she was ready, I was dating Celia.”

“Oooh, I hated that cow. She irritated my ass hairs.”

Dario looked at Chyra heated, hazel brown eyes and shook his head as he laughed.

“What the fuck? Irritated your ass hairs? That is an irritating bitch right there. I don’t even know how to respond to that so I’m going to move on.”

“Understandable.”

“Lynnie has never liked any of my girlfriends. Initially, I just chalked it up to them not being her. That was until I started to really listen to the girls or watch their behaviors and realize that she had every right to hate them. Most of them were hateful, cruel bitches. Whatever attracted me to them died the instant they realized they had me. Lynnie laughed her ass off every time I came to her and let her know that I was done with another one. That’s been our relationship. It’s been who we are to one another. I didn’t know what else to do. I tried to admit to her how I felt once and she shut that shit down, hard. She was dating that guy Trevor at the time and I hadn’t known because she hadn’t shared it with me. It was a first for me.”

“I thought the two of y’all shared just about everything. I know for a fact there are things she told you that she hasn’t told me. The only reason I know is because I was the nosey, baby sister that hated being excluded. Don’t judge me. I did what I felt was necessary at the time.”

Chyra’s face was priceless. She didn’t look like she had a care in the world, even though she just openly admitted listening in to her sister’s secret confabs with one of her closest friends. Dario knew, if she did it to Lynnia, then she did it to all of her other sisters.

“I’m not saying a word, but nice to know Lynnie was right all this time. You used to play that innocent role with your mom every time Lynnie accused you of eavesdropping. It’s good to know the truth after years of Lynnie fussing that she was right and you were lying. Anyway, Trevor was one of the first that she didn’t tell me about. He seemed decent enough, so I backed off.”

Chyra made the sound of a buzzer and shook her head, “Wrong move, especially since Trevor turned out to be a world class jerk that did nothing, but take advantage of my sister’s kindness.”

“Look Quinnie. Thanks for taking me down painful memory lane, but I have things I need to take care of.”

“Like calling off a fake engagement?”

“What are you talking about? What engagement?”

“Are you kidding me right now? Yours? Lynnia saw you at the famed jewelers. Two of my sisters caught you all cozy at dinner one day then the movies another day. The waitress, Lindsay, called us about hosting the bridal party. You and Vic were off being measured or whatever guys do for tuxedos. Why are you acting like you have no knowledge about what’s going on?”

“Maybe because I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about Quinnie. What is all of this shit y’all have doctored up to make me seem like I’m in some relationship that I’m not. Lindsay and I are friends and nothing more. I face fucked that freaky ass once and that was it. The last time I even saw her she was working her way into my boy, Neal’,s lap. Does Lynnie believe all of this shit, Quinnie?”

Chyra wasn’t looking at him. She was hunched over. One hand was gripping the table. The other was gripping the chair back. She moaned a little then tried to scoot forward. The next time she moaned it came out like a painful sob.

“Quinnie, I’m sorry for yelling. I didn’t mean to yell. I’m just confused as hell.”

“D’Olliver … something’s wrong. Oh my … call 9-1-1 or get me … to the hospital.”

She screamed and that scream tore through him. It sounded as if someone was attacking her and doing their best to kill her in the process. He called the hospital and hobbled his way to the truck with a screaming Chyra in his arms. As he drove, he sent out a mass text to the sisters and Zachary, Chyra’s husband, to let them know he was taking her to the hospital.

Four hours and one death scare later, Zachary and Chyra Olsen welcomed a healthy, but premature, baby girl to the world. Lara Grace Olsen had made herself known. That beautiful occasion overshadowed anything that any of them had been dealing with prior to that precious girl making her way into the world. The matter between him and Chyra was pushed to the side to be dealt with at a later date. It wasn’t something he planned on forgetting, especially if that was the reason he was being bulldozed by one, Ms. Lynnia Norton. He would soon find out the truth of it all.

Chapter 19