Seven
Vivienne
He called me ‘Princess’ last night when he thanked me for the drink. For the first time, though, it didn’t sound condescending. It wasn’t nasty.
It made my heart jolt.
It made me think of times with him I shouldn’t. The nickname back then was different, but the tender way it sounded when it left his mouth was the same.
In order to keep my mind occupied, I spend my morning trying to set up an office in one of the back bedrooms. This is Davis’ area of expertise, though. After several frustrating bouts with FaceTime, I throw in the towel and decide to head to Annie’s for some much needed caffeine. My daily routine saddens me this morning, however. Maybe it’s because I’ve been in contact with Davis all morning, but I’m lonely here. Not that I had friends in New York, but I was constantly surrounded by people. Here, I’m an outsider. I thought people would have warmed up to the idea that I’m back, but they haven’t. Maybe the fact that Annie took up for me yesterday means that she’s ready to talk. I should apologize. What happened between me and Ollie had nothing to do with her, so I should have never let it drive a wedge between us. She used to be my best friend, and now we’re merely acquaintances.
I scan the parking lot for the red truck when I get to Annie’s, not sure if I’m relieved or disappointed when I don’t see it. He’s probably avoiding me so I can’t ask for any more help today.
“If it isn’t little Vivi Westbrook,” I hear from the back of the diner. I’d know that voice anywhere. It’s identical to Ollie’s. “Get over here and give me a hug.”
Relief sweeps over me. At least one member of the Bishop family has let the past go. Sam Bishop is just as happy to see me as he always was.
I stand by his table and wait for him to get up and get his hug. Instead, he wheels himself out and I let out a gasp.
“Mrs. Tallulah didn’t tell you I was in this piece of tin?”
Covering my shock, I lean over and kiss his cheek. A strange move, considering it’s like kissing his younger brother. Growing up, strangers often mistook them for twins, but they were a year apart. Now that they’re older, they look different. Sam stayed boyishly handsome, while whatever path life led Ollie down has hardened him.
“Lulu and I didn’t make it a habit of talking about Bellemere,” I tell Sam as I sit across him. She told me plenty about this place, but she knows I refused to listen to any news about Ollie, Sam, or Annie, but I keep that to myself.
Sam signals Ronnie for coffee. “Broke my back last year falling from that damn hayloft. It’s one of the reasons my brother came home.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, patting his hand, meaning my apology. I can’t imagine what the loss of mobility must have done to him.
“Don’t be. I wallowed for a few months and learned to let it go.”
Sammy, ever the optimist. “What was the other reason he came home?” Not my business, but I can’t help but ask. It also isn’t the part of the conversation I should be focusing on.
He shrugs. “He won’t say, but it ain’t pretty. And I won’t share how I know that, so don’t ask.” I nod, his answer making me feel sick. “Now, what the hell have you been up to the last sixteen years?”
Ronnie drops off my coffee and lingers a few feet away from the table. I can feel his eyes on me, but I keep mine on Sam.
“Working,” I answer. “Running one of the most successful marketing firms in New York.”
“Always knew you were too smart for this place, Vivi. Why’d you stick around after the services? Shouldn’t you be back in New York, running your empire?”
“Ollie hasn’t told you?”
He leans in close. “Don’t know if you noticed, but he doesn’t talk much. Our conversations revolve around rice prices and slaughter schedules.”
“I’m restoring Lulu’s house.”
“Why would my brother know about that?”
“Because he’s going to help me.”
A huge grin breaks out across Sammy’s face. “No shit?”
His smile is contagious. “No shit,” I repeat, unable to help myself.
“Sis,” he yells. “You know about Viv and Oliver fixin’ up Mrs. Tallulah’s place?”
She comes over to our table. “Yes, and now I suspect everyone in here and in the surrounding towns knows about it, too. You’re too loud,” she says, slapping him playfully on the shoulder before turning her attention to me. She smiles and it seems halfway genuine, not at all like the one I got when I first arrived. “Did you get everything you needed yesterday?”
“I did. Thanks for helping me out.”
“No problem.”
I pull in my bottom lip and release it with a pop. “Annie? I’m sorry.” She looks at me funny. “For leaving without saying goodbye,” I continue. “For not keeping in touch. I wasn’t in a good place.”
“None of us were after the accident. Let’s all just move past it.”
“I don’t think Ollie can.”
“Viv, I don’t think how my brother’s treating you has much to do with y’all’s past,” she says. “And everything to do with why he’s back.”
“He’s an asshole to everyone,” Sam interjects.
“He’s crazy to ever treat you wrong,” Ronnie pipes in. I had forgotten he was there. “You need help with the house, Vivienne, you let me know.”
“Thanks, but Lulu was very specific. He’s the only one that can help.”
“Well, then let me know if he’s bad to you.”
I just grin and listen as Annie asks him to get back to work. How Ronnie would handle it if Ollie mistreated me is hard to imagine. Ollie could probably snap his neck with one hand, but I keep that to myself. As soon as Ronnie clears the table next to us, we all jump as the empty plates crash to the floor. Annie shakes her head and rushes over to help since Ronnie just stands there, apologizing profusely.
“I don’t know why she doesn’t fire him,” Sam says. “All her profits go to paying for his mistakes.”
“Why does she keep him around?”
“If it wasn’t for Annie, he wouldn’t work. You remember how Ronnie was in school – awkward, clumsy, just strange. Nobody wants him hanging around. My sister’s the only one in town that’ll put up with him and his constant mistakes.”
“Annie’s always had a soft spot for anyone who needed help.”
He rolls his eyes. “That’s exactly why she’s working her ass off, paying legal fees for that messy divorce from a marriage that never should have happened in the first place.”
“Somebody from school?” This is the first time I’ve heard about her divorce, or her marriage for that matter.
“Nah. A transplant. He’s gone now, thank Christ.”
Before I can ask for any details, Ollie and Taylor are at the table. Neither look very happy to see me.
“Vivienne, we need to speak to you.”
Sam smiles at the pair. “She just got here and is already causing trouble?”
One look from his brother and the smile is gone from Sam’s face. Ollie’s in work mode, whatever that work actually is.
“Can you come outside with us?” Taylor asks, his tone not nearly as menacing as Ollie’s.
“Sure.” I turn back to Sammy before I get up from the table. “You’ll have to come by the house for a longer visit.”
“Count on it, Viv.”
Ollie takes me by the elbow as soon as I’m standing and steers me to the door. I can get there alone, so there’s no reason for this caveman act. His touch doesn’t hurt, but I know better than to say or do anything to egg him on. He’s clearly not in the mood.
“What’s going on?” I ask as soon as we hit the parking lot.
“What did you do last night after I left?”
“What?” Out of all the things I was guessing he would say, that was not it.
“She’s not a suspect, Bishop,” Taylor tells him.
“Excuse me?”
Ollie ignores us both. “Last night, after I left, what did you do?”
“I stayed on the porch until I finished my drink.”
“Then?”
“Then I locked up the house and went to bed.”
“Did you see or hear anything while you were out there?”
“No.” My answer comes out quickly, faster than it takes my brain to realize why they’re asking me these questions. I mutter the denial again, this time it comes out sounding completely different. My coffee threatens to come up and Ollie puts his hand around my waist to steady me. “Who was it?” I whisper.
“Not sure, but same method. Same sick fuck did this. I was walking our property lines this morning, checking for breaks in the fence like I do every morning, and I found her.”
I sag deeper into his side, the knowledge of him finding the body this morning making the news of it seem all the more real. “You’ve got to let people know. They need to be aware.”
Taylor and Ollie exchange a heated look. This is obviously something they’ve been arguing about.
“What are your plans today?” Ollie asks.
I’m confused at his question. Why is he even remotely interested in my day? “I, um, I don’t know.” I can’t think of anything right now. My mind is swimming, partly in fear, partly in sorrow.
“I’m installing an alarm at your place.”
“What? No. You can’t just come in and…” I start to protest, but he keeps talking.
“How do you feel about dogs?”
“What about Cat?”
He laughs. It’s a deep belly laugh. It’s a sound I haven’t heard since I was seventeen years old. For the second time today, my knees go weak. I’m not sure which is better – him ignoring me – or this.
“Cat wouldn’t guard you against anything, Princess,” he says, squeezing my waist a little tighter.
“That’s not what I meant. A dog might eat her.”
“We’ll train it not to.”
Warmth spreads through my limbs. Or maybe it’s a warning. But right now, I’m too freaked out to try and decipher my feelings. That’s something that’ll have to wait until later when I have a glass of whisky in hand.
“I’d be okay with a dog.”
“We’ll drop you off at home and I’ll be back to get you in a few hours.”
“I’m completely freaking out,” I tell him.
“Don’t be. I’ll make sure you’re safe. Nothin’ is gonna happen to you on my watch.”
There’s a fire in his eyes. Determination. I might be a fool to trust him, but right now, I believe him. He burned me once, so this might be his way of repenting. Of making up for the past. Or we could both end up in a smoldering pile of ashes.
We go to the police station first, where I wait in Ollie’s truck. My mind tries to sift through all the thoughts and questions racing through it, but they’re flying through at warp speed. Rather than trying to keep up, I pull my phone out of my purse and scroll through emails. Slipping into work mode when my life is in crisis is something I’m all too familiar with.
“We’re going public,” Ollie says when he opens the door and slides behind the wheel. “Reporters from all over will be sniffin’ around Bellemere. They catch wind of where the bodies were found, you’ll have some knockin’ on your door. Don’t talk to them.” I nod as he drives toward the house, but he never stops talking. “I have some things to take care of for Taylor. I’ll drop you off at home, but I’ll be back in a few to take you to look at some dogs. That okay with you?”
Again, I nod.
“You with me, Princess?”
One more nod and his warm hand is cupping my cheek. My breath hitches.
“I know this is a lot to deal with, but you’re not alone. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”
“Thank you.”
He slides his hand through my hair and says a quiet goodbye. Still in shock over the gentle touch, I don’t even notice the black truck in my driveway. It doesn’t dawn on me that I didn’t have to unlock my front door; I simply turned the knob and walked right in.
I walk in and bump into a huge man wearing all black and holding an alarm panel in his meaty hand. He doesn’t budge when my body hits his, nor does he react when I let out a high-pitched scream.
“Vivienne Westbrook?” he asks. His voice low, gravelly, and a little bit scary. “I’m Jet.”
The fact that he knows my name only makes this situation a tiny bit better. Coupled with the fact that Ollie wasn’t freaked when he saw the truck - which I’m sure he noticed - I’m not scared. I’m pissed.
“What are you doing in my house, Jet?”
Rather than answering, he holds up the control panel.
“Right,” I mutter. “How did you get in here?” He looks like a seasoned criminal, so my question is unnecessary. This house is two hundred years old. The locks can be picked with hairpins.
“Bishop let me in.”
His answer takes me off guard. “Could you say that again?”
“Bishop had a key. Let me in this morning.”
“I’ll be back,” I tell him as I leave my house, hoping it’s not the wrong decision.
Marching through the grass isn’t easy in six-inch Prada heels, so I slip them off and stop across my yard to Ollie’s house, screaming his name the entire time.
“Bishop!” I yell as I approach the main house, but I hear him coming behind me.
“Whoa, Princess, what’s wrong?” he asks as he turns me around.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong is that I walk into my house to find a giant named Jet putting in an alarm.”
His face relaxes and he has the audacity to grin. “Jet’s a security specialist. Best one around.”
“I’m not concerned about his credentials at the moment. You see, when I asked how he got into my house, he told me you opened it for him.”
“I did.”
“You have a key to my house?”
“Mrs. Tallulah gave it to me.”
“Give it back,” I demand. I hold out my hand, palm up, but he shakes his head.
“Not a chance, Princess.”
Feeling brave, I step closer. “I’ll change the locks then.”
It was a bad idea. He takes it as an invitation to do the same. Now he’s too close and I’m having a hard time breathing. “There’s not a lock in existence that I can’t pick. If I want to get to you, I will, key or no key.”
I look away but don’t dare take a step back. “What about my new alarm? You want the cops to come when you break in?”
He laughs again. It’s that deep belly laugh that does weird things to my insides. “Who do you think is monitorin’ that alarm, Princess? No offense to Taylor, but I don’t exactly trust those fucks workin’ for the Bellemere Sherriff’s office.”
“You’re not serious?”
“I am. I’m right next door in case there’s an emergency. Plus, I’ve got specialized skills those boys never even dreamed of.”
“I guess you’re not going to share any of those with me?”
“You guessed right.”
“I don’t like this.”
“Don’t have to like it, Princess. Some bastard is killin’ women and dumpin’ their bodies on your property. I’m keepin’ you safe, whether you like it or not.”
Arguing with him would be pointless. And strangely, despite everything that happened before I left Bellemere, I know he won’t let anything happen to me.
“He’s not putting in video cameras so you can spy on me, is he?”
Ollie just laughs as I walk back home.