“Of course,” I agreed immediately. “The foliage is just beautiful in the fall.”
His shoulders shook with a silent laugh, and I looked away quickly.
“When my sister and I were kids,” he said, “one of our chores was to rake leaves. She hated it, but I didn’t mind. It gave me a sense of order. It agitated me when they were strewn all over the lawn.”
I pictured David as a young man, his posture straight and his movements concentrated as he worked.
“I guess you didn’t really have that problem in Dallas,” he said.
I shook my head. “Not at my house, no.”
“Did you like growing up there?”
“It was all right.” I shrugged and took the last bite before sucking chocolate cookie off my fingers.
“How’s that ice cream, Olivia?” he asked.
I tried not to squirm at the way he drew out my name. “Delicious.”
“I like watching you eat it.”
I arched an eyebrow at him.
“I mean because you look like you’re enjoying it.”
I nodded and licked my lips.
“I would buy you an ice cream every day just to watch you eat it.”
I captured a deep breath. His low and manly voice made enjoying my ice cream sandwich sound sinful. And then I imagined dripping vanilla ice cream onto his abs and cleaning it off with a long, drawn-out lick.
“Besides, you could use the nourishment,” he said.
I jolted back to reality. “What do you mean by that?”
“You’re too skinny.”
“Oh, David,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Would you drop it?”
His voice deepened into a chastisement. “I meant what I said about your health. I don’t know why you’re not eating, but it stops now.”
“Of course I eat,” I replied cheerily. “If I didn’t, I’d be dead.”
His eyebrows met in the middle of his forehead as he studied me, seemingly not amused. “What does he say about this? And your friends?”
“They know that I’m an adult with the ability to gauge my level of hunger.” I crossed one arm over my stomach, and our steps slowed to a stop as we approached my office.
David turned so we were facing. “I overheard Gretchen say at breakfast yesterday that you’re depressed.”
I blinked up and pursed my lips. If I was depressed, why did the image of me punching Gretchen in the arm bring me so much joy in that moment?
Damn her and her concern for me.
I knew, though, that I was lucky to have her and Lucy still by my side when I’d treated them so poorly the past few months.
“I suppose maybe they think I am,” I admitted.
“Why?”
