Page 54 of Wife By Accident

She was back at Leo’s place within a few minutes. Upstairs, she threw her things (only her things, nothing Leo had given her) into her suitcase. On the way to the airport, via the subway and a bus instead of in a taxi, she booked a flight back to Seattle on her phone. The expense of a last-minute ticket cut deeply into her savings, but there was no other choice.

Olivia would never let Leo pay for anything again. Not now that she knew how he really felt about her.

No. She would go home. She would sign whatever divorce papers he sent her. And she would try to move on with her life.

It felt ridiculous that just an hour ago, she’d been hoping to have a mature conversation with Leo and tell him how she felt. An hour ago, she’d thought she loved him. Now, she was glad she’d at least managed to stop herself from telling him how much she cared. How he would have pitied her then. The thought made her sick.

She arrived at Newark a little over an hour later, went through security, and boarded her plane without looking back.

CHAPTER 23

OLIVIA

“Aunt Olivia! Aunt Olivia!” Lily flew into the room and launched herself onto Olivia’s bed. Olivia groaned and rubbed her eyes.

“What time is it?”

“Six!” Lily burrowed under the covers, pressing her cold feet against Olivia’s legs. “But I wanted to come say hi before I had to go to school.”

“Hi,” Olivia said. She hugged her niece, then rolled groggily over and looked at the time. Sure enough, it was just after six a.m. “Why are you up so early? I thought school started at seven thirty.”

“I just told you. I wanted to say hi to you before school!” Lily beamed at her with a gap-toothed smile. “I love having you stay with us.”

“Me too,” Olivia said, though it was more than a little bit of a lie. After flying back to Seattle two weeks ago, she’d crunched the numbers of her finances. Without a job in Seattle — and she’d given up even looking during the last few weeks with Leo, instead looking for jobs in New York — she couldn’t afford rent, groceries, or anything else. Not for long.

With a heavy heart, she’d given up her apartment lease, packed everything into her car, and driven back to Coeur d’Alene. It was the opposite of the optimistic journey she’d made years ago when heading to Seattle.

For the last week and a half, Olivia had been staying in Rachel’s guest bedroom. Rachel and her family were the most wonderful hosts. They’d invited Olivia to family dinners, taken her to the pool over the weekend, and made her a stack of drawings (that last one had been Lily’s contribution).

Numerous times, Rachel had invited Olivia to join her in the kitchen after the kids’ bedtime for a cup of chamomile and a conversation. She’d asked how Olivia felt about everything, but Olivia hadn’t been ready to talk yet.

She might never be.

Olivia had thought she was in love with Leo. She’d even begun to hope that she might be building a family with him, and that Rachel might be right. She’d felt like they were really married.

Meanwhile, Leo had been worrying that she was going to steal his money and thinking of her as a charity case.

She might never get over the sting of betrayal.

“Aunt Olivia?” Lily put her face very close to Olivia’s. “You look sad.”

“I’m okay, honey,” Olivia managed a smile. “How about we get up, get dressed, and have breakfast before you go to school?”

“Yay!” Lily leaped out of the bed just as quickly as she’d jumped in and scampered out of the room. Slightly more subdued, Olivia followed. She went into the bathroom, dressed, and brushed her teeth. Then she headed to the kitchen, where a sleepy Rachel in a bathrobe and an energetic Lily in her school clothes were already sitting. Lily had a bowl of cereal, and Rachel had a cup of coffee with cream and sugar (both sisters took their coffee the same way).

“You made it!” Lily said brightly.

“How are you?” Rachel asked. The question was casual enough, but there was a flicker of worry behind her blue eyes. Rachel knew that Olivia wasn’t doing well.

“I’m okay.”

“Any job leads?”

Olivia groaned and rubbed her eyes. “That’s a heavy question for first thing in the morning.”

“I take that as a no?”

“Actually, I have an interview this afternoon.”