“No, thank you, Helen.”
“Take a sandwich, Olivia. The only time you eat lately is when you have an appointment at night,” Carla said, a gleam of regret in her expression.
“I eat. I’m just not hungry now.” She told Carla and rushed out.
Before I knew what I was doing, I followed her out the front door.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I jogged to her car.
She sighed, throwing her purse into the back seat before she leaned against the passenger side door. “I know my mother is right. But when I stopped upstairs and saw her holding on to the counter and almost falling over, it scared the shit out of me.” She scrubbed a hand down her face, the zipper from her moto jacket sleeve dangling as she rubbed her eyes.
I fought to keep my eyes on her face and not let my eyes roam down her body. The way her legs were poured into those tight jeans made it a struggle.
“All I could think was,Not again.” She dropped her head back, exhaling a long gust of air. “I need to get over this. Other people lose parents and find a way to handle it. They don’t panic like this.”
“First of all, yes, other people lose parents, but not as sudden as you lost your father. Carla may be used to adjusting to dosages of insulin, but you’re not used to being there to see it. You’ll get over it in your own time, so stop being so hard on yourself.”
“You of all people know how extra I can be. Too much.” She shook her head, her wistful gaze landing on my mother’s front door. “I need to dial it back.”
“No, you don’t,” I whispered, easing closer. Her dark hair was wild and curly, and before I could stop myself, I tucked a loose lock behind her ear. “Extra is the best thing about you.” I let my thumb graze the delicate curve of her jaw. “Your mom is lucky to have you looking out for her.”
She reached up to grab my wrist as a slow smile spread across her mouth, the mouth that haunted my dreams and invaded almost every thought when I was awake. “You’re all right, Bennett.”
I laughed, bunching my shoulders in a shrug. “I have my moments. We both better get back to work.”
And one of us needed to make a move before I completely lost it.
“Getting my mind off things with work would help.” She nodded and walked around her car to get in.
“If you want me to put you to work, just say the word.”
“I will,” she said, opening her mouth as if she was about to say something else before she waved and drove off.
I waited until she turned at the end of the block, and I headed back inside.
“Is she okay?” Carla asked, a deep frown pulling at her mouth. “I shouldn’t snap at her like that.”
“No, you shouldn’t.”
I flinched when both Mom and Carla leveled me with a glare.
“I’m sorry, Carla. I meant no disrespect, but she’s struggling. I know you both are, but she worries about you. Maybe if you took her with you to the doctor sometimes so she doesn’t panic when she sees something you think of as normal, it may help.”
The anger running through me on her behalf almost cracked me up. The conversations I’d had about Olivia with our mothers usually involved them pleading with me to try to get along. The need to fight for her like she’d fought for me lately was as strange to me as it probably was to them.
“That’s a good point, Tyler. I’ll do that. And I know she’s struggling.” Carla’s chin dropped to her chest as she played with a napkin on the table. “Javier and Olivia were inseparable, you know that. I’m glad she has a… friend like you. One who knows her mother well enough to not be afraid to say when she’s being a jerk to her daughter.”
I met her gaze and laughed.
“I better get back.” I scooped up my sandwich with a napkin and bent to kiss my mother’s cheek. “Talk to you later.”
Mom stopped me, draping a hand over my cheek with a tiny smile, a smile that told me she knew everything I couldn’t admit.
Right after I started getting used to the idea that Olivia and I were friends, confirmation popped up everywhere that we weren’t—then or now.
TWENTY
OLIVIA
