Chapter Nineteen
Eric
I hated going into the office on Saturday mornings, but I didn't like the idea of sitting down and trying to figure out the Nana situation from home. Anyway, Emma treated it like it was a special event, to come into my office and doodle on the whiteboard for a couple of hours. At least one of us was happy, I thought, looking over at her.
I was upset to hear how bad Helen's condition really was. As a doctor, I knew that dementia was a gradual disease, and there wasn't much that could be done about it. Helen was certainly old enough that it wasn't as though she hadn't enjoyed a long, healthy, issue-free life already. And I knew that it would feel worse if it was my parent that I was dealing with.
That said, Helen and I had become close since Emily's illness and death, so the idea of losing her as well hurt.
I started by making arrangements for in-home care until I could set up a place for her in an assisted living facility. I didn't know how long it would be before I found the perfect place for her, but I was going to do everything I could to ensure that wherever it was, it would be comfortable, with friendly staff and as much independence as Helen could handle. I expected we were going to have to have a long conversation to convince her that she did need to move into a care facility, rather than living at home.
And the home. I didn't even know what to do about that. At some point, I would need to go through Helen's things and figure out what was still useful and what was just trash. Imagine, going through a person's whole life of stuff. I was sure there would be boxes of photographs of people I couldn't even identify since I had never met all of Emily's cousins and other relatives.
I had already alerted the rest of the family to the situation, but they were content with leaving most of the logistics to me since Helen wasn't really close to the rest of the family.
I sighed and put my head in my hands, beginning to feel a headache coming on. I knew that I should focus on one thing at a time, but unfortunately, all the different issues seemed to be tied up together, so that I couldn't just focus on one of them.
“Daddy?” Emma asked, climbing up into my lap. She wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her face into my chest. “I'm hungry.”
I glanced at the clock and saw, to my surprise, that it was already almost 1 o'clock. Emma had been drawing so patiently, so well-behaved, that I hadn't even noticed it was getting that late. I felt a stab of guilt as I stood up, keeping her in my arms.
“Why don't we go to Ernie's?” I suggested. “I'm craving a burger, and I bet you could do with some pizza.”
“Nuh huh,” Emma said, shaking her head. “I want mac 'n cheese.”
I hummed in response. “Ernie does a great mac 'n cheese, doesn't he?”
Emma nodded vigorously, and I had to smile.
We headed over to the diner and took a seat at one of the empty tables. Ernie came over after a moment, carrying two glasses of water. “Hey Eric,” he said. From the sly look on his face, I had to wonder what he was up to. “Did Olivia already dump you?”
I gaped at him. “What do you mean?” I asked.
Ernie shrugged nonchalantly. “It's just that Olivia was seen heading out of town with Buck yesterday morning, and they didn't come back until just a little while ago.”
I felt a stab of hurt, but I tried not to let it show. “I know Olivia had a wedding to get to yesterday,” I said. “Maybe her car broke down.”
“Maybe,” Ernie agreed, but he was still smirking. “Girl must get around. But then, you know those city girls.”
I shrugged. “It's none of my business if she and Buck are together,” I told him. “She and I weren't dating or anything. Like I said, I was just over at her place that one night so that I could get Emma's dolly.”
Ernie rolled his eyes. “That's not the only time you and Olivia hung out, though, is it?” he persisted.
“Ernie, I suggest that you shut your mouth if you don't know what you're talking about,” I snapped. I gave a pointed look at Emma, who was looking back and forth between the two of us, looking upset. I knew I shouldn't bicker with Ernie, especially not in front of the young girl, but I couldn't help but be offended by what Ernie was saying.
Ernie held up both hands. “All right, man,” he said. “Whatever you say.” He flipped open his notepad and pulled a pencil from behind his ear. “What can I get the two of you to eat?”
I spent the rest of the day stewing, even though I knew I should let it go. Ernie didn't know what he was talking about; there was no point being upset with him. Even if Olivia was doing something with Buck, that was her decision. Anyway, I shouldn't be this upset about it; Georgia had already warned me that Olivia and Buck had kissed.
But it bothered me, and I was angrier than I should have been. That night, I hired a high-schooler to come over and babysit Emma for a few hours. Then, I went over to Olivia's place, pounding on the front door until she answered. I knew I shouldn't be there, but I couldn't help myself.
When she opened the door, she looked surprised. She was also mostly naked, clad only in an oversized T-shirt. There was nothing beneath the shirt, either, if the way her perky nipples showed through the fabric was any indication. I swallowed hard and dragged my eyes back up to hers. It wouldn't do to be caught ogling her now; I wanted to have a serious talk with her.
“Hey, what's up?” she asked. “Is everything okay with Helen?”
“Am I interrupting something?” I asked bitterly, wondering if Buck might be there in the house, even now.
“No,” Olivia said, sounding surprised. “I was just baking some cookies. It's a new recipe, and I wanted to test it out before I try it with Emma next week. That is, if Emma is still going to be coming to daycare.”
“Look, I understand if you've decided not to pursue a relationship with me, but I'd appreciate a little discretion in your future affairs. The whole town is talking right now.”
Olivia blinked, looking confused. “What the heck are you talking about?” she asked.
“I know that you took Buck to the wedding yesterday and that you spent the night together.”
Olivia narrowed her eyes at me, looking frustrated. And hurt, my mind pointed out, but I didn't want to deal with the hurt right now. “If I did choose to stay with Buck last night, that's my prerogative,” she said icily. “We are both consenting adults, you realize.”
I rolled my eyes. “We live in a small town, Olivia. I know that you and I were never anything, really, but you realize that everyone in town had leaped to conclusions after seeing my car parked in your driveway. Now, they all think that you've dumped me to move on to Buck.”
“We were never anything?” Olivia asked, her anger faltering.
“If we were something, you have a funny way of showing it,” I bit out. “I think I would have at least deserved the courtesy of being told that our affair was over. But instead, I had to find out from Ernie that you spent the night with Buck.”
Olivia shook her head. “We stayed in a hotel,” she said, her tone incredulous like she couldn't believe I was upset.
“I don't care where you stayed,” I said exasperatedly. “I still heard about it!”
Olivia shook her head. “Buck drank at the wedding,” she said. “Open bar. He wasn't in fit shape to drive home last night, and I couldn't drive his truck since it's a manual and I've only ever driven automatic cars before. So our options were either take an expensive cab ride home or else stay in a hotel and wait until he sobered up. We chose to stay in a hotel. But nothing happened. We were in separate rooms, for crying out loud!”
“You expect me to believe that?” I asked bitterly. “I'm upset enough about this without you lying about it.”
“Without me lying about it?” Olivia asked, sounding incensed now. “I'm not lying. What do you want me to do? Provide the credit card receipts from the hotel? Should I call Buck and ask him to come over here and clarify things?”
“Of course that's your answer,” I sneered. “Call Buck, see what his solution is.”
“That's not what I'm saying!” Olivia cried. “Look, I don't know why you don't believe me, but this lack of trust is an even better sign that our relationship, whatever it was, is over. If you can't even trust me with something like this, how could you trust me with anything really important?”
I scowled at her. “We were never in a relationship,” I reminded her. “You made that very clear. What we were doing was just casual. You didn't even bother to stay exclusive.”
“What are you talking about?” Olivia asked.
“Georgia Witherspoon told me Harlan saw you kissing Buck right here in the daycare,” I snapped, folding my arms over my chest.
To my surprise, Olivia folded her arms over her chest. “Oh, Georgia Witherspoon told you that, did she? Was that when she came over to your place? You weren't exclusive either, were you?”
I snarled wordlessly. “I have zero interest in Georgia,” I spat. “She told me about what Harlan said over at Ernie's one evening. You can ask Ernie himself; I'm sure he overheard.”
“Right, the whole town is on your side,” Olivia said, sounding surprisingly bitter. For a moment, I wondered if she was about to cry. But she took a deep breath, folding her arms over her chest and composing herself. “The only person that I've ever kissed at this house is you. Out in the backyard, the kiss that you initiated. If you don't believe that, you can go fuck yourself.”
I stared at her, realizing suddenly that I was intensely aroused by her angry passion. Before I could help myself, I backed her into her hallway, cupping her check in my palm, tilting her head up, and kissing her soundly. The anger played in our favor, making the kiss steamy. Our teeth clashed, and our tongues fought for dominance. It was nothing like the tame kisses that we had shared in the past; this was something else entirely. And it shook me right to the core.
I pulled back, staring heatedly at Olivia, daring her to say something. My hand was still cupping her cheek, and my eyes darted toward her lips as she licked them. I leaned back in, kissing her again, this time gentler but more insistent.
She struggled against me, her hands pushing ineffectually at my chest, but from the way her mouth opened to me, the way her tongue twisted against mine, I could tell that she didn't want me to stop. Maybe neither of us knew what we were doing at the moment. If that was the case, maybe I could forgive her.
I took a step forward, closing the small gap between us, really leaning into her. Her body stiffened against mine, and our kiss became impossibly more heated, more lustful. At least, until she turned her head to the side, away from me.
I nibbled on her earlobe and then pressed sloppy kisses to her jawline and her neck, listening carefully to the little whimpers that she made. “Eric,” she whispered. “I didn't sleep with Buck. I don't want anyone except you right now.”
I smirked against her skin. “You want me, do you?” I asked her.
When I pulled back, she was biting her lip. I rubbed it with my thumb, and kissed her again, sucking the abused flesh into my mouth, licking at the marks she'd made in her skin. I could feel her responding to me, her mouth opening up, and her body relaxing against my weight, where I pinned her to the wall. She sighed softly as I pulled away, and it took a moment for her eyes to slide back open again.
“Oh, Eric,” she said quietly, drawing us both out of the spell of the kiss.