Seventeen
Vivienne
I walk into Annie’s and feel the heat hitting my cheeks as she pins me with one of her looks. I haven’t seen her since me and Davis came in last week. She’s spending all her free time with my best friend because I’ve been in bed with her brother.
Doing very bad things.
Sinfully delicious things that make me blush even more just thinking about them.
“He finally let you come up for air?” she asks as she takes the box of pastries from me. We both just laugh and she pulls me into her office. There are too many nosy people out here to talk freely, and I’m sure she wants to hear it all. That part of our relationship hasn’t changed.
“So?”
All I can do is smile. This past week has been glorious. It’s not just the sex, either. I mean, that’s been amazing, earth shattering, but getting to know Ollie all over again has been one of the best experiences of my life.
“That good, huh?”
“I never thought this would happen. Never dreamed we’d end up together again.”
“You’re good for my brother, Vivi. Always have been.”
I feel my smile slip a bit when she says that. I’m not good enough to fix him. I can’t battle his demons for him. I can’t keep him in my bed at night. The nightmares are stronger than me. I didn’t realize what was happening until one night when he thought I was sleeping I felt him kiss my scar, whisper in my ear that he was sorry, and take his pillow and move to the floor. He tossed and turned all night. I didn’t sleep either; it took all the strength I had to remain still as the tears ran silently down my cheeks. Once the sun rose, he greeted me with another kiss and a cup of coffee, never speaking of the fact that he slept on the floor. It’s become his nightly routine, and it breaks my heart every time I feel his lips touch my scar, every time his whispered ‘Sorry’ brushes across my skin, and every time the warmth of his body leaves mine.
“What’s wrong?” she prompts.
“He’s changed, Annie.”
“We all have, honey.”
“Not like this,” I whisper, catching a tear from the corner of my eye before it can fall. “He’s battling something I can’t help him fight.”
“We all see it. He came back a different person, but if anyone can help him get better, get him to the place he needs to be, you can. Be there for him. It might not be easy, but if you want this, you’ve got to fight for it.”
“I’ve never wanted anything more in my life. I just got him back, there’s no way I’m letting him go again.” Just the thought of losing him makes it hard to breathe.
She squeezes my hand. “Have you eaten yet?”
“No, and I’m starving.”
We walk out hand in hand, both glad the heaviness of the conversation is behind us. When we round the corner of the office and can see the dining room, she stops moving. There’s a man sitting on Ollie’s stool, something I’ve never seen since I’ve been back in town. Either Ollie’s in the seat, or it’s empty. Annie pulls me to her side, whispering in my ear, “Call my brother.”
I can hear the edge of desperation in her voice, so I don’t ask any questions, I just turn back around and hit the office again, slipping my cell out of my pocket.
“Missin’ me already, Princess?” he asks.
“I don’t have any details, but Annie asked me to call you.”
“Be there in five.”
He must know what’s going on because he doesn’t press me for any information.
When I go back into the dining area, Annie is visibly upset, and she’s pleading for the man in Ollie’s seat to leave. “Oliver’s on his way. I need you gone before he gets here.”
“I need to talk to you. Give me ten minutes. Please, Annie.”
“There’s nothing left to say. We’re over. I’ve got divorce papers to prove it.”
“There’s a lot left to say.” He stands up and wraps his hand around Annie’s arm, which is the exact second Ollie walks through the door.
“If you don’t get your hand off my sister, I’ll rip your fuckin’ arm off,” he growls from behind the man I now know is Annie’s ex-husband.
He releases her and puts his hands up in a defensive stance but doesn’t back away from her. “I’m just here to talk to my wife.”
“Outside.” He makes no move to walk, which doesn’t sit well with Ollie. “NOW.”
The two of them head outside and I look at Annie, who is visibly shaken from the incident. “I told him not to show up here,” she whispers.
“Come on.” I guide her back into the office, bringing the pot of coffee with me. She’s trembling, and I wish I knew what was going on so I could help her. We’ve had plenty of talks since I’ve been home, and we’ve grown closer, but none of those talks over coffee revolved around her failed marriage.
She sits in her desk chair and I wrap a blanket around her shoulders to try and stop the shivering. It’s a typical Louisiana day, hot and humid, but she takes comfort in the blanket.
“We can talk, or we can just sit here. Your call.”
“That was Daniel, my ex-husband.”
“I figured as much.”
“He was charming and perfect when we first met. God, he knew just the right things to do and say to make me fall in love with him.” Her jaw starts to tremble as her mind wanders through the past.
“You don’t have to do this, honey.”
“I think he loved me, but he loved to drink, which led him to love other women, too.” She pulls the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “He hated that I knew about it, that I would call him out on it. That’s when he started smacking me around.”
“Annie.” I don’t know if I call her name out of sympathy, or because I don’t want her to relive what happened to her, but she keeps talking. I’m not even sure she remembers that I’m in that office with her.
“First it was just a shove against the wall or pushing me against the bed, and he was always so sorry after. The apologies were always so dramatic. He’d get down on his knees, cling to me, crying for my forgiveness, always promising to never so much as even look at another woman again. After a while, the drinking got heavier and he didn’t even try to hide his women. I’d call him out on it and he got more forceful and more deliberate with each hit. The apologies stopped altogether.”
“I hope Ollie kills the bastard.”
She finally looks at me and actually laughs. “No, you don’t. Then he’ll be in jail and you won’t get your happy ending.”
“Why’s he back?”
“I’m not sure.” The laughter from seconds ago is gone. “He’s been calling for a few weeks, full of pathetic apologies and excuses, claiming he’s a changed man. I’m not interested, of course. I’ve been ignoring all his messages, and he threatened to come here. I guess he wasn’t bluffing.”
“Did your brother know about the calls? He’s not going to be happy if you hid any of this from him.” It’s really not my business, but some things don’t change. There was a girl messing with Annie when we were in high school. A real bitch. Annie tried to keep it from Ollie and Sam as best she could. When they found out, I’m not sure who they were more pissed at – the girl that was treating her so horribly or Annie for hiding what was going on.
“I told him about it.” She gives me a look that doesn’t need an explanation, but she goes on with one anyway. “That doesn’t mean I wanted him involved, though.”
“He just wants to protect you.”
“He’s a caveman.”
“I can’t argue with that.”
“You still have your restraining order on that piece of shit?” Ollie’s in the doorway, angrier than I’ve ever seen him before. The good news is his clothes and fists are blood-free and he’s asking about paperwork to keep Daniel away from Annie, so he didn’t kill him.
“Um, I’m not sure if those things expire, but I still have the papers in the safe at home.”
“I want them in my hands tonight. I’ll call Taylor and see what he can tell me about them.”
“Is he gone?” I ask.
“For now. If you see that fucker walking around this town, I want you to call me.”
“The restraining order says he can’t be within—” Annie starts to say, but her brother cuts her off.
“Don’t really give a flyin’ fuck what the papers say, Annie. I’m tellin’ you that if you see him, call me. Same goes for you,” he says in my direction.
“I didn’t even get a good look at him.”
He cocks his head my way and smiles. “Stranger in town, black eye, busted lip. You’ll know him if you see him. Think I made myself clear that he needs to go away, but he’s always had trouble listenin’.”
“You need to let me handle this,” Annie tells him, poking him in the chest. “I don’t want you getting in trouble over things I’m more than capable of taking care of.”
He gently takes her hand, kisses her fingertips, and holds her hand back to his chest. “Didn’t do such a hot job takin’ care of him the first time around. Just lookin’ out for you. Can you let me do that?”
Annie’s look softens and I see her fighting tears. This is such a rare side of Ollie. It’s like the sweet Ollie from high school whose only worry in life was to make sure me and Annie were safe and happy. “I’ll let you do that.”
Letting go of his sister, he tugs me to his chest and kisses my temple, just on the side of my scar. “Come on, Princess. Let me get you home.”
Annie whispers a tearful ‘thank you’ as we leave the office. My first thought is that she’s thanking me for listening to her while Ollie was taking care of the situation with her ex-husband, but when I realize that I’m walking out of her café with her brother, who’s actually smiling, there’s no doubt in my mind that the thanks is for bringing him back to life.