“But we like seeing you. In fact, we all want to see more of you.”
“We do,” came a chorus behind her. Oliva looked over her shoulder to see the other women had crowded her in.
“But I lied to you all and to Heath.” Olivia was flabbergasted these women weren’t angry with her but supporting her.
“Who cares about him.” Cora waved away. “We want to be your friend, and if he doesn’t like it, then that’s his problem.”
“But I’m no one. I was just another woman to Heath. Why would you want to be friends with me?”
“You’re not just another woman.” Added Abigail. If Olivia remembered right, she used to be in the FBI. That frightened her. Royce had connections in the FBI. Could she be an informant for Royce? No, she got out a while ago, if memory served. Long before Olivia learned about Royce.
“I appreciate you saying that, but Heath made himself perfectly clear he was done with me and wanted nothing to do with a woman with a child.”
“Heath can be such an idiot at times.” Cora said, shaking her head in disgust. “Handsome, but still an idiot.”
“Be that as it may, I don’t want to come between friends, so while I’d love nothing more than to be friends, I don’t want to upset Heath and make him feel he has to avoid hanging out with you, just so he doesn’t see me.” Or she him. Hanging out with his friends, would be awkward enough, and to see him picking up other women in the bar. Using the same lines on them, as he did on her, would crush her. To where a fake smile, while he sat with the group, talking about his latest fling.
“I admire you for thinking of others, but we’d still like to hang out with you.” Abigail crossed her arms, looking like she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“And we won’t take no for an answer.” Cora announced, crossing her arms over her chest in a mirror image.
Olivia believed her. All the women had a look of pure determination. If Olivia kept resisting, they would keep pestering her, until she broke down. Olivia almost smiled. To have those kinds of friends was too hard to pass up. “I’d love to hang out with you.” She finally said.
All the women relaxed their stances and smiled for the first time, since walking in.
“Great, so this must be Ivy. I’ve seen her around, and know you had a kid, but never put two and two together that she was yours.” Cora said, turning to Ivy.
“You knew I had a kid?” Olivia asked shocked.
All the women nodded.
“And you knew Heath didn’t like children?”
They nodded again.
“Why didn’t you say anything last night to him or before?”
It was Abigail who answered. “We figured you would tell him on your own. Like we said, Heath can be stubborn and finding out you had a kid right away, would have frightened him away.”
Olivia cringed. “That’s why I didn’t say anything at first. I was hoping to warm him up by getting to know him first. Also, Ivy has been through enough, and I wanted to give her time to adjust to me seeing someone again.”
“Would you tell us about it?”
“I’d rather not.” The last thing she needed was someone trying to poke into her past. “Let’s just say, I left that part of my life behind, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“We understand.” Cora said, looking around at the other women, getting their nod of approval. “If you change your mind and like to share, we’ll listen.”
“Or kick someone’s ass if need be.” The woman with scars down her face and neck said. They looked painful, and Olivia didn’t want to embarrass her by staring at them. She would hate if someone stared at her scars for too long, too.
“That won’t be necessary but thank you.” Olivia couldn’t help but smile. She loved this group of women. She had from the moment she met them. As hard as Olivia had tried not to last night, she instantly clicked with them. The same as she had with Heath.
“So, what are you up to now? You don’t look like you’re working.” Cora asked, looking her over. Olivia had the urge to cover herself in her plain blue shirt and jeans. She hadn’t planned on doing interviews today, but just going around. These were some of the only clothes she had left that were dirty and frayed. She thought about wearing a dress, but a ten-mile hike in a dress was out of the question.
“No, I came to drop Ivy off at Kathy’s house. She hangs out with Kathy’s daughter Susan. I’m…” Olivia looked around to make sure she wasn’t being overheard. She’d rather tell Kathy face-to-face she was leaving, and her not hear it from someone else. She also didn’t want to upset Kathy and have her fire her, before she found another job. “Looking for more work.” It was a little embarrassing to admit to these women she was still getting to know.
“Oh, I love job hunting.” Abigail clapped her hands together excitedly. “What are you thinking about doing? Maybe, something on base.”
“No!” Olivia practically shouted. The women stared at her wide-eyed. “I mean, no, not on base.” She said gentler this time. “I’d prefer something here in town, but I enjoy working for Kathy, so I’m going to ask for more hours.” She just hoped Kathy could help her. Working two jobs would be hard, and she’d never see Ivy, but she couldn’t find a higher paying job without a fake resume, and Skip, an old contact of hers, to forge documents.
