“Thank goodness.” She fell back against the seat.
“I heard you have a new development in your life. One you failed to mention to me last week.”
Olivia sighed. Everything had to have an objective. Would it be too much to ask of her mother to call “just because”? “What new development would that be?”
“Your boyfriend.”
Her temple started to throb. “Where did you hear that?” she asked faintly, suspecting the answer.
“Bea called me after church. She said you were dating Kingston Bedford. I guess you’re too busy to let your parents know such important news.”
She sat up in the seat. There was a hint of emotion in the way her mom phrased the words, but Olivia couldn’t define it. Was she offended? Hurt? Mad?
Even worse, she hadn’t anticipated her parents finding out. She should have, though, the minute she’d seen her aunt’s beaming face as she and Kingston sat next to each other in church. He’d been the one to reach for her hand, andalthough he’d startled her and made her nervous knowing so many eyes were watching them, she was glad he did. Like last night, his touch calmed her. They might not be a real couple, but they were in this mess together.
And it was turning into a big mess. Aunt Bea wasn’t the only one who had smiled at them—all the BBs had. And now her parents knew. Her aunt must be spreading the news everywhere.
She should just tell her mother the truth. But that would lead to more questions—and more lies. Ugh, she wanted to throw up. “I’m not sure he and I are going to work out.” There. A half-truth.
“Olivia, you can’t enter a relationship with that attitude. You’re sabotaging yourself and your partner before you’ve given things a chance. Bea reminded me that Kingston is a doctor. Is he a surgeon? A specialist? Or is he in the mental-health field?”
“Pediatrics.” She turned up the air-conditioning and aimed one of the vents straight at her face. Her parents had left Maple Falls after Olivia and Anita’s graduation, while Kingston was getting his bachelor’s.
“That’s an acceptable discipline,” her mother said. “However, your father and I had hoped you’d connect with a professor at one of the universities you attended.”
“Really? You never mentioned that.”
“We decided when you hit puberty not to interfere with your social life. Fortunately, you’ve always been a rule follower, so we didn’t have to worry about you doing something impulsive or stupid. If you did, however, we would have applied appropriate consequences.”
“How reassuring,” she muttered.
Anita knocked on her window. “Is everything all right?” she said through the glass.
Olivia gave her a feeble thumbs-up and pointed to the phone. Anita smiled and went back to the house.
“Mom, I have to go. I can call you later.” And she would, after she and Kingston broke up, something that should happen sooner rather than later before things really got out of hand. Then everything would go back to normal. She was craving some normalcy right now.
“Off to see your doctor?” Mom asked.
She opened her mouth to tell her no, that she was going to finish up her final. Then the stress of the last twenty-four hours hit her. Her friends, Aunt Bea, the BBs, and now her parents were involved in their deception. It wouldn’t be long before the entire town was talking about her and Kingston.
Then the image of Sunny and Kingston dancing together, him holding her close, popped into her mind. The unfortunately familiar stab of jealousy hit her again, along with the realization that if she didn’t go “claim her man” like her friends insisted she do, she would never hear the end of it. “Yes. I’m going to see Kingston,” she said, wanting to bang her head against the steering wheel. “He’s, uh, expecting me.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised you’re eager to see him.”
Olivia sounded anything but eager, but her mother was never good at reading emotions.
“Once I determined your father had genetic potential, we spent the requisite amount of time together to form a hormonal bond.”
“Dad was okay with you genetically assessing him?”
“He did the Punnett square on our first date.”
Now I know where I get it from.“Gotta go. I’ll call you later.”
“Goodbye, Olivia.”
Her mother hung up the phone, and Olivia tossed her own on top of the takeout bag. She still intended to finish her final this afternoon, but she could at least make an appearance at the dance studio. She’d drop by, say hi, make a googly eye or two at Kingston for good measure, then get back to coursework—something she should have been doing all along.
