Freedom's Kiss

by Sarah Monzon

  Olivia nodded and averted her gaze. Pressure from her emotions pushed down on her ribs and clogged her throat. She didn’t know what to think. How to process. But she still had questions, so she stared up at the ceiling and blinked, hoping the sting in her eyes would subside and she could gather enough courage to press on.

  Knowing her next question was bound to cause them pain, she worked hard to keep any accusation from her voice. “Did you know her? My birth mother? Do you know…do you know where I come from?”

  Her mom shook her head sadly. “It was a closed adoption. I’m sorry. We don’t know much.”

  “Is that something you want to pursue?” Her dad cleared his throat. “Would you like us to try and find her for you?”

  Did she? Olivia didn’t know. Didn’t know if it was even possible. And if it were possible and they did find her, what if her biological mother didn’t want to see her or have anything to do with her? Olivia wasn’t sure she could take it. “I don’t know.” Her legs trembled, exhaustion pulling her down.

  Seeing her weariness, her dad pulled out the stool beside him and guided her to it.

  “I don’t know what I want to do. It’s all so sudden, and I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it.”

  Eileen moved to stand behind her, placed her hands on Olivia’s shoulders, and kissed the top of her head. “I know you must be confused, but I want you to remember one thing and hold on to it as a guiding truth. Your dad and I love you, and love is what makes a family. More than blood. More than DNA. I grew you in my heart instead of the womb, and you are the greatest gift we have ever received.” She kissed Olivia’s crown again and sniffed. “You’ll always be our baby.”

  Olivia: In desperate need of ice cream therapy. Meet me for fro-yo in 20?

  Summer: See you there!

  Lily: Just finishing up at the lab. Might be a little late, but on my way.

  Chapter 19

  “I could really go for some frozen yogurt right about now.”

  Adam stared across the table at his brother’s relaxed frame. “You just inhaled a large pizza all by yourself. How could you possibly still be hungry?”

  Trent chuckled. “I didn’t say I was hungry. I said I wanted frozen yogurt. There’s always room for desert, man.”

  “Whatever you say.” He checked his watch. “It’s getting late, and I’m beat. We had a big crowd tonight, and I think I’ve finally wound down enough to get some sleep.” He slid out of the booth. “Thanks for meeting me for a late dinner.”

  Trent stood and clapped Adam on the back. “No problem, but you can’t head out yet. I’ve got something for you.”

  “For me?” He wasn’t sure if he was more curious or suspicious.

  “Yeah, and the frozen yogurt place is right next door. I’ll grab your gift from the truck and meet you over there.”

  Adam sighed. “Fine.” He left a tip on the table and followed Trent out the door. While his brother rummaged around the cab of his truck, Adam passed a cell phone store along the sidewalk of the strip mall and then pushed open the glass door to the frozen yogurt place. He walked up to the line of stainless-steel dispensers and perused the options. He really wasn’t hungry, so why did the Lemon Zang sound so tempting?

  “Look who it is.”

  Adam turned, surprised to see Summer, Olivia, and another woman he’d never met sitting around a small round table, cartons of cold treats in front of them. Tucking his hands in his front pockets, he walked over to them.

  Summer stood and gave him a hug. “Where’s my husband?”

  “Getting something from the truck.” He leaned back. “Why do I get the feeling you aren’t surprised to see us at all?”

  “Must be your untrusting lawyer nature.”

  “Must be.”

  She leaned over and snagged two chairs from another table, dragging them over. “Join us.”

  To make sure the invitation wasn’t presumptuous, Adam looked to Olivia and the other woman, who was dressed in scrubs and had her chestnut-colored hair pulled back in a ponytail. He didn’t want to insert himself into some type of girl time.

  Olivia rolled her eyes. “Sit, Adam.” She used her spoon filled with chocolate yogurt to point to the friend at her side. “This is Lily. Lily, Adam.”

  Adam extended his hand across the table, and Lily met him halfway, glancing back at Olivia. “You never told me he was so yummy.”

  “Food is yummy, Lil, not people.”

  Lily eyed him. “I beg to differ.”

  Heat crept up Adam’s neck.

  Summer leaned over conspiratorially toward Lily. “All the Carrington boys are delicious. Just wait until you meet my husband.”

  Interest flashed behind her plastic-rimmed glasses. “And the relationship status of said other brothers…”

  Summer glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, a devilish look on her face. “Adam’s single.”

  Lily’s eyes widened to owl proportions, and he felt like a mouse scurrying to find a place to hide. “Really?”

  “I’m not…” He cleared his throat as words lodged there. “I’m not on the market.”

  “Hmm…” The humming sounded like a cat purring. He didn’t know why, but he shot a look to Olivia, hoping she’d get the message to please help.

  Olivia laid her hand on Lily’s arm. “Down, girl.” She looked at him apologetically. “She doesn’t get out of the lab much. Talks to test tubes all day. Give her a few minutes, and she’ll remember how to interact with people.”

  Lily flicked her long ponytail over her shoulder and offered him a sheepish grin. “Yeah, sorry. I really haven’t been outside those four walls in…well, it feels like years. And Dr. Fitzsimmons isn’t exactly easy on the eyes or the conversationalist. I’m going to plead momentary insanity—although I still maintain my position on your yumminess—and beg your forgiveness if my actions made you feel like you were a side of prime steak at a meat market.”

  “Uh…” Words failed him. He couldn’t even think of a response, much less speak one.

  Olivia started giggling softly, then louder. Before long she was holding her side, gasping to draw in breath through her fits of laughter. “I’m sorry. It’s just…you should have seen your face…and Lily…what kind of apology was that?” She sighed loudly and pushed her carton of frozen yogurt away. “Oh man, I needed that. Worked even better than the ice cream therapy.”

  Adam reached over and tilted her container toward him. Chocolate yogurt, chocolate chips, brownie pieces, chocolate syrup, and strawberry slices. Wow. He usually went for the tart, fruity flavors himself, but a woman who thought she needed to consume that much chocolate? “I take it your talk with your parents didn’t go well?”

  One shoulder lifted and fell. “I wouldn’t say it went poorly. It was just hard, you know?”

  He moved his hand over and squeezed her fingers, his gaze snagging on an open notebook. Meeting Olivia’s gaze, he asked, “May I?”

  She waved her consent.

  Using his index finger, he spun it in front of him so it was right-side up. Two columns filled the page with a line drawn down the middle. One column titled Pros and the other Cons. He scanned the list.

  PRO

  -Accurate medical history

  -Know my cultural history

  -Answers to questions

  -Why did they put me up for adoption?

  -Do I have any siblings?

  -Do any of my quirks come from heredity?

  -Will I truly know who I am if I never learn where I come from?

  -What if they regret their decision and are looking for me?

  Obviously, she was weighing her options, deciding if she should start to look for her birth parents. If he could scoop Olivia up and shield her from this heartache, he would. His own chest ached just reading this list. He couldn’t imagine everything she was feeling and thinking right now. He needed to touch her, comfort her somehow. The hurt and adrift look in her eyes killed him.

  Pushing aside
the warning that his family would start to badger him with questions and conclusions, he scooted his chair to her side and wrapped an arm across her back. She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder, sighing in pure exhaustion. He lifted the pad of paper back up to read the Cons column.

  Cons

  -I was rejected once before. What makes me think I won’t be again?

  -It could possibly break my parents’ hearts

  -It could turn my birth family’s lives upside down

  -Costly?

  -Legal ramifications/roadblocks?

  -Real life rarely gets a happily ever after. This could be more like Pandora’s box

  The line about legality had him pausing. “I take it the adoption was closed?”

  Olivia nodded against his shoulder.

  “So…did the list help? Have you made your decision?” He wasn’t well versed in this type of law, but he knew his way around the courthouse and could help her file the necessary paperwork to get her birth certificate if that’s what she wanted to do. Once they had some names, it shouldn’t be too difficult tracking them down. One just needed to know where to look and whom to ask. Two things he’d been fairly good at before he’d walked away from that life.

  She shrugged her shoulders weakly. He got it. Something this big required a lot of consideration.

  The door to the place opened, and Adam lifted his gaze.

  Trent sauntered into the building. His smirk faded as he approached the table. “Why the long faces?”

  Summer did the silent, married-communication thing and then tugged him down to the seat beside her.

  Lily perked up. “Oh, I see what you mean, Summer.”

  Trent met his wife’s look. “What did you mean?”

  She gave him a peck on the lips. “Nothing I’m going to admit to you if I want your head to fit back through that door later.” She reached across him and snagged a gift bag, her smile growing as she peeked inside. “Perfect.”

  Olivia straightened and took the warmth of her body with her. Coolness soaked into Adam’s side, and he let his arm drop from around her back. His skin prickled, and he ran his hand down the opposite forearm. He blinked slowly, as if awakening from a deep sleep, his senses focusing.

  He glanced at Olivia, both surprised and not at the awareness that flushed his body. She was beautiful with her shiny straight hair and pronounced bone structure. Not to mention she could match him wit for wit. He wanted to pull her back toward him, not in a move of empathy and friendship but as a man interested in a woman.

  “Is that it?” Olivia’s voice hummed with excitement as she tried to peek over the gift bag’s rim.

  Adam leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, threading his fingers together so he couldn’t reach over and do the same to Olivia’s hand. While he’d have no compunction to the action if she was in need of his strength, she seemed to have moved past the low point, her spirits picking up at the sight of the sparkling gold bag sitting in the middle of the table.

  His suspicion about the contents of the bag had grown with Olivia’s interest. His suspicion and his dislike. That bag had caused her to pull away from him, the loss of her nearness triggering an awareness that was altogether pleasant and not. “I have a feeling I’m not going to like whatever that so-called present is.” For more reasons than one.

  Trent laughed. “Oh, I can guarantee that you’re going to hate it.”

  Lily held up a hand. “Okay, what am I missing here?”

  Olivia settled back in her chair, looking all too pleased with herself. “Adam and I made a little wager the other day. A bet, which I won, I might add.”

  Well, that explained his brother and sister-in-law’s smirkiness. Utter embarrassment of another tended to make for good entertainment. He could only imagine how much fun Trent had trying to pick out the most humiliating apron he could find.

  “And what was the final score again?” Trent asked, although Adam was sure his brother already knew.

  “Four to one.” Olivia gloated. Her nose scrunched along the bridge as she preened, and he found the action entirely too adorable. “While he did beat me in the batting cages, I wiped the floor with him at mini-golf, go-carts, air hockey, and pretty much all the arcade games, as my ticket total was more than twice his.”

  At first he hadn’t been playing the games to the best of his abilities, but once he’d realized he’d underestimated her talents, it was too late to recover his loses. “A gentleman always lets a lady win.”

  She patted his arm. “You keep telling yourself that.”

  “So what were the stakes?” Lily asked.

  Trent pulled the bag toward him and stood. “Why, I’m so glad you asked. For the next week, Adam has to wear—drum roll, please.”

  Summer used her fingers as drumsticks against the table as Trent reached in the bag and pulled out the most frilly pink apron in the world. It had at least five layers of ruffles, each layer with a different floral pattern, and a huge fluorescent pink flower pinned to the corner at the top.

  “This beauty!”

  Olivia slapped a hand over the giggles spilling out of her mouth. “It’s even worse than what I imagined. You’re simply wicked, Trent.”

  Adam turned her with a hand to her shoulder. “Oh no, you’re not getting out of this smelling like roses. You knew exactly the kind of apron my brother would choose. It’s why you made him pick it out instead of doing the deed yourself.”

  Trent reeled in the material and then chucked it over the table at Adam. “Model it for us, bro.”

  Adam stood and held out the apron by the strap that would circle his neck. The thing was simply hideous, but he swallowed down his disgust and pride and slipped it on over his head. A bet was a bet. He tied the strings at his back. Four pairs of eyes stared at him as he planted his hands on his hips.

  “Okay, is it wrong that I think he’s even hotter now?” Lily asked.

  “Yes!” Summer and Trent said in unison, while Olivia whispered a “no.”

  Trent sat back down and flung his arm across the back of Summer’s chair. “Well, I know where we’re eating every night this week.”

  Summer elbowed him in the ribs. “You really are horrible.” She turned to Adam. “It’s not that bad.”

  Trent coughed. “I beg to differ.”

  “You really don’t have to wear it for a week.” A smile played across Olivia’s lips as she took out her cell phone and snapped a picture. “There. Now I have the evidence that I bested you, and your business won’t have to suffer because of that sight. No telling what your customers will think if they see you in that thing.”

  He fluffed the flower at his collarbone with his fingers. “Well, now, I don’t know. I’m beginning to think that maybe we should get one for you too. It could be Southern Charm’s new uniform or something.” He struck a pose. “Lily thinks I look quite dashing in it. I’m not sure I want to give it up yet.”

  Mirth filled Olivia’s brown eyes and spilled over. When he’d first stepped into the building, he’d found her shoulders slumped and spirit heavy. Now she had an uncontainable smile, and her body shook with laughter. Making a fool of himself was a small price to pay—one he’d gladly dish out every day.

  Lily: First of all, I want to apologize. I realize now how embarrassing I acted. And second…

  * GIF of Ricky Ricardo standing behind a gaped-mouth Lucy shaking his finger with the words You’ve got some splainin’ to do dashed across the bottom*

  Olivia: LOL. I don’t know what you’re talking about.

  Lily: Really? REALLY? How about chef-so-hot-he-could-burn-his-own-kitchen-down and you cozying up together?

  Lily: You guys were really cute, by the way. But why didn’t you TELL ME that a) he is so cute and b) that you two had started dating?

  Olivia: Because we aren’t.

  Lily: Then what WAS that?

  Olivia: Adam being Adam. It’s how he is. Don’t read anything into it. He was just offering a sympathetic
shoulder to lean on.

  Lily: *GIF of Chandler from Friends being sarcastic, saying, “Oh oh! I’m convinced”*

  Olivia: You should be. I am.

  Lily: Or maybe you’re just trying to convince yourself…

  Olivia: *sigh* Maybe.

  Chapter 20

  Florida, 1823

  Life was like a river—always moving, never stagnant. Sometimes it flowed in a gentle current, one where a person could float on their back and look up at the blue sky and simply watch the puffy white clouds drift along at a pace of leisure. Sometimes it widened, allowing more water within its gates, welcoming all with open arms. But then there would be a bend, a turn in the direction of the flow, a fall of elevation where the river would be pulled down, its currents picking up speed, tumbling over craggy rocks—some smoothed over where no one cast along the ride could get a grip, and others sharpened to the point of cutting any who dared try. The river would narrow, thrusting water along at a death pace, only to spit its contents out the other side.

  Looking back, Winnie could recognize each bend, each white-water rapid, and each time life had slowed enough to allow her to catch her breath. Losing Temperance, the war they’d fought and lost against the whites—those were tempestuous channels so narrow she thought she’d never break free of them.

  She rubbed her swollen belly and looked down, but not even her toes peeked back at her anymore, and a smile tugged at her lips. Now, life was calm, if tension packed. Good, but with an ever-present darkness on the horizon, one she’d lived with her whole life. She wasn’t ignorant that another turn of the river was in her future, but if Nokosi and Martha had taught her anything, it was to enjoy every moment as it came and not to dwell on the past or future.