“ I’m happy to say that I’m going to fight back.I should have when you told me to a long time ago.But I thought they’d come around to loving me.I can see now that that’s not going to happen.Why they had me…well, it matters little now.But I’m going to take action against them as soon as tomorrow.I’m sick of being their whipping dog.”She looked at him.“ I told you that you’d not want to date me anymore, and I was right.It’s all right.I understand.You have a good life, and there is no point in fucking it up by hanging around with me.”
“ I love having fun with you.And I’m not worried about them.You should, however.They’re out to get you, and I worry for your safety.”She told him about how her mother had some goons who would find her.“ Goons?You actually call them that to her face?”
“ She said they were just people that she hires to do what she wants.I know the definition of goon and that’s more or less what it says.People that you hire to do your dirty work.And I guess keeping me in line is considered that.I wish I had the resources to make sure that they went to prison.I’d be thrilled to death to have them behind bars.My luck, they’ll get out and terrorize me anyway.”She looked away, but not before he saw the tears in her eyes.“ You should date someone else.This has been fun, but I’m afraid of getting you hurt, and they will simply because you told them no.Even though they don’t have anything close to being wealthy, they still act like they have unlimited resources.I wonder what power they have over people to get them to do what they want.”
“ It could be anything.Or the promise of something that the other people might think they have.I would, if I were you, call the bank in the morning and tell them that you will not tolerate them allowing anyone into your account.”She said she’d done that in the bathroom.“ Good for you.See?I told you that you were brilliant.I wish that I could help you out with them, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
“ Lock them up and throw away the key?”Caroline ordered for the table, and he was fine with that.He worried that Olivia wouldn’t eat, and she had only just told him that she was starving before they came to tell her aunt happy birthday.A lot had changed in the few minutes since then.“ I’m going to enjoy myself.So far, this has turned out to be a shitty birthday, but it’s getting better.Young man, you have to tell me about your family.I’ve read all about you six, and I’m wondering where you’ve been all your life.”
He told her about them moving to Tennessee from Ohio and how they’d broken down right in front of Martha Garbles home.Then how they had stayed with her for a time in order to learn all they could from her.
“ She was the best thing that happened to us.Not only did she help us out when we needed it, but she made sure that we were good men too.When she died, it was the saddest day of our lives.But she’d been sickly, and her dying ended her suffering.But I miss her every day and wish she were still around.”Mae said that she knew Martha from meetings that they used to go to together.“ She didn’t go too much after we moved in.We were busy getting the house set up for her.My oldest brother went to nursing school while she was getting around because we knew she wasn’t going to be around forever.And it helped her die at home like she wanted.She was the best person in the world.”
“ That she was.And I miss her as well.”They were served their salads, and he noticed that Olivia played with hers more than eating it.He understood why, but he didn’t like it.He worried about her.“ Olivia, my child, eat up.You’re going to need your strength if you’re going to be tangling with your mother’s goons.I so love that word.I wonder if Caroline has any idea how stupid she sounds when she spouts off things like she did tonight.”
They mostly talked about Mae’s upcoming vacation.She was going on a month-long cruise around Europe and have some fun.She told him that she did something like this yearly, but this was her favorite thing to do.Get on a ship and not worry about anything but having fun.
“ You should go with your aunt, Olivia.You’d be safer, and I’d not have to worry about you.Also, out on the seas, you might be able to get that tan you were telling me about.”She snorted at himand told him that she was going to quit doing that.She’d not realized that her parents did the same thing.“ Let’s not talk about them.Let’s have a nice dinner and then go get an ice cream at the shop down the way from here.”
“ I love ice cream, as you well know.”He did know that about Olivia and loved the fact that, like him, she preferred vanilla over any other flavor.“ I’ve had a rough day today.I want a double scoop.”
Without talking about her parents, dinner ended on a good note.He was still worried about her and wanted her to live with him until her parents’ trial.But he didn’t want her to tell him no when he was just getting to know her.Zander thought that he was getting in over his head and worried about that, too.He wasn’t ready to fall in love with the woman just yet, and he could feel himself slipping in that direction.Falling in love with Olivia could be a good thing or a bad thing, and he hadn’t decided on which yet.
After dinner, they had ice cream.As she requested, Olivia had a double scoop of vanilla, as did her aunt.They could pass as daughter and mother; they were so much alike.The same sense of humor, too, was there.He wondered how much time Olivia had spent with her aunt while growing up and thought it must have been a good amount.They even finished each other’s sentences; they were so close.
After dropping Olivia off at her apartment, she still wouldn’t hear of him walking her to the door.He made sure she got in before he went to his own home.He had plenty of work to do still, as it was only nine in the evening.Pulling up his computer to see what he could get into, he got a notification that his presents would be delivered tomorrow.He decided that instead of working, he was going to put up his tree.It would make the house more festive anyway.
It took him until nearly three in the morning to get it set up and decorated.It looked great if he did say so himself.Zander knew that his other brothers had put theirs up the day after Thanksgiving, and he was happy that he’d gotten his done in plenty of time.Now, if one of them came over, they wouldn’t tease him about not being in the mood.It probably would take him longer to take the tree down, but for now, he was thrilled that he’d gotten it done.
Dragging himself up to bed, he nearly got in without changing.Not that he wore anything to bed, but he didn’t want to sleep in his clothes either.As he realized that he had glitter all over him, he decided to take a shower.After getting out, he was so tired that he didn’t think he was going to make it to bed.Just as he was setting his alarm on his phone to get up by nine, he realized that most of his evening had been spent thinking about Olivia.Tomorrow, he was going to make sure that he hired a couple of people to follow her around.He didn’t want anything to happen to her, not on his watch.
Rolling to his back, he gave himself a good talking to about falling in love.He really wasn’t ready for it and hoped that Olivia felt the same.Laughing, he thought to himself if she was feeling herself falling in love with him, she’d tell him.She wasn’t shy about telling him how things were going.That was one of the many things that he liked about her.Her ability to tell him straight up how she was feeling.
Chapter 4
Today was no different than any other day at work.Olivia had more customers than she’d had on the first day.Of course, she’d lost them all because her boss had assigned her to Zander all day, but she was willing to forgive him for that.He was fun to be around, and she thought that he was about as nice to her as her parents were mean.
She’d heard from the bank that someone was trying to get into her accounts.Her mother was demanding that she turn it all over to her, and that wasn’t going to happen.The bank manager said that she’d told them that she had permission, but they still had to check.She’d heard that her mother had thrown a fit because they didn’t believe her, and that nearly got her arrested.She wished that it had.That would have made her day.
Her dad had left her two messages last night.Olivia hadn’t listened to them until this morning, but it was more of the same.He wanted her to hand over her money so that they could eat.They were sick of having cereal, all they knew how to fix, and it was her responsibility to make sure that they were getting enough to eat.She wasn’t sure how that was her responsibility, but she didn’t get back with him anyway.
“ Miss, I’d like to see what you have in kitchenware.My wife was telling me that she needs a new juicer.I didn’t know that we had one, but she insisted that she’s had it for some time now.What do you have?”Taking the man to the kitchen department, she showed him all the items that they had there.
The layout of kitchen items matched one another, and when she tried to get him to get something else, other than a juicer.He said he knew what she wanted and was going to stick with that.Some people didn’t have much in the way of imagination.
As she went through her day, she encountered several people like the man from this morning.They knew just what they wanted to get their wives, and her suggestions were not useful.She wanted to ask them why they were coming to her if they were so certain, but she didn’t.At least she wasn’t running a cash register right now, and that looked to be a good thing.They were busy out the ass, and she wanted no part of it.
After lunch, missing talking to Zander, she finished off her sandwich and was headed to the bathroom when her cell phone rang.She wasn’t allowed to have it on the floor, but she could take it on break with her.Playing a game would relax her while she helped with shopping, and she was getting good at matching all the little gems.She saw that the number was Zander’s and almost didn’t answer.But in the end, she did.
“ I thought that you’d have enough of me and my family and wouldn’t call anymore.”He said that he wasn’t dating her family.“ You shouldn’t be dating me.Haven’t I proved to you that I’m more trouble than I’m worth?”
“ I enjoy our time together.I have a request.My brother is having us over for dinner tonight, and I was wondering if you’d go with me.It’s not like I’m introducing you to my family or anything, but I thought you’d enjoy it.”She told him she had a date with her aunt.“ Well, that’s even better.You should spend as much time with her as you can.I’ve learned that people you love aren’t going to be around forever, and you should take every opportunity to spend time with them as you can.”
“ Are you telling me to do that because she’s old?”He laughed and said basically that’s what he was saying, but in a nicer way.“ Nice or not, that’s what I’m doing it for.When she called me this morning, she said that she didn’t have that many years left, so I should spend her waning years with her.I told her that I’d be happy to be there with her.She and I are going to talk business.I’m not sure what that means to me from her, but I do love spending time with her.”
“ I’ll be at my brother’s if you need anything.You have my cell phone number, right?”She told him that she had it underpain in the ass.“ I don’t know why you’re so mean to me.I’m the best thing that has happened to you in a while.”
“ You’re very full of yourself this afternoon.What’s gotten into you?”He told her that he got his tree up.“ Wonderful.I’m sure that it’ll look great with all your gifts under it.When is your stuff coming?”
