“Maybe you should buy a new one,” she suggested.
“Maybe. Now please move. I’m exhausted, Olivia.”
“How bad was that accident today?” she asked.
She felt his mood darken. “It was bad.”
“What happened?”
He paused before asking, “You know the Highland curves out on the highway?”
“Yeah. There’s always an accident there. I hate those curves,” Olivia said.
“This time a Civic carrying a young couple and a baby pulled out in front of semi. Probably didn’t even see him coming. The semi hit them so hard their car was practically imbedded into the grill of the truck. Everyone in the car died, even the baby.”
“I’m sorry, Clete.” She gave him a hug and kissed his cheek, trying to comfort him. “Your job really sucks.”
“Yeah, sometimes it does,” he agreed.
“You want the rest of my beer?”
“No, you can have it. I’ve already had a few of my own.”
She finished the beer and set the empty bottle on the coffee table then looked at Clete. He looked like shit in the low light of the room, his face aged, his eyes weary. She reached out and hugged him again, and stroked his hair. This time he didn’t return the embrace. He stiffened in her arms and pulled away.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, confused by his change in body language.
“Go to bed, Olivia.” It was not a suggestion. It was an order.
“You don’t have to be a jerk all the time, you know.” She stood to put space between them. “I was just trying to be nice.”
“Try to be nice from afar from now on.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she demanded.
“You’re sitting here with me—in the dark—wearing nothing but a towel, hugging me in a way that feels more intimate than comforting in nature. If I were any other man, do you honestly think I wouldn’t have expected something more from you than that hug?”
Her mouth fell open in indignation.
“Shit, Olivia, you’ve been doing this since the night I met you,” Clete said.
“Doing what?” she snapped. What the fuck? He had hugged her not even an hour earlier! Well, excuuuse her for trying to be nice!
“Coming on to me! You’ve tried kissing me so many times I’ve lost count! You talk too close, touch too much, and touch inappropriately. And you’re in a relationship!”
He was angry, and anger directed at Olivia always bounced right back off her tenfold. She opened it up and let him have it.
“Just because I hug you doesn’t mean I want to fuck you! And jeez, I’m so sorry if I offended you because I thought you were cute and we had a connection that first night. Believe me, whatever I thought we had is long gone!”
“Good!”
“So, if I talk too close or touch you or—heaven forbid—look at you, keep in mind that it’s just who I am and I’m not coming on to you! Excuse me for feeling bad that you had a shitty night! It will never happen again.”
Clete glared at her in the dim light.
“And if I want to walk around in a towel, I will! And if I want to walk around butt-ass naked, I will!”
“Not in my house you won’t,” he growled through clinched teeth.
“What are you going to do about it?” She put her hand on the top of the towel where it was tucked. “Huh? What would you do if I took my towel off right now?”
“Get the fuck out of here,” he demanded and pointed to the hallway.
“What do you care if I walk around naked anyways?”
“I care,” he said.
“Why?” She moved so she stood directly in front of him, her body inches from his, trapping him on the sofa. “It’s not like I turn you on.”
“Back off,” Clete warned.
“You don’t like me. And I know you’re not attracted to me.”
“I never said that,” he said.
“You didn’t have to say it. I just know it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out!”
“You can’t possibly know anything about me,” he said. “You’re so wrapped up in yourself you don’t care enough to take the time to learn about anyone else.”
His words hit her straight in the heart. “Fuck you.”
“Fuck yourself.”
“You’re such an ass,” she said.
“And you’re an immature little bitch,” he said. “Now that we have that all figured out, go away!”
“Make me,” she threatened.
Clete lunged from the sofa, and flung her over his shoulder. Before she knew what was happening, she had been dumped unceremoniously onto the floor of Allie’s bedroom.
“Don’t come back out!” Clete slammed the door.
Olivia scrambled to her feet and ripped the door back open.
“Ooh! I’m out!” She hopped one step into the hallway. “What are you going to do about it?”
He spun back to her, his face painted in crimson hatred, and made a grab for her wrists. He shoved her back into the bedroom, slamming her against the wall, pinning her with her hands above her head. His mouth descended on hers so fast she didn’t see it coming before he completely claimed her.
His kiss was blazing hot and demanding, and nothing like she ever would have expected from him, leaving her completely breathless and wanting more. Her body arched into his as he let go of her wrists and parted her towel. His hands on her skin were fire as they raked down her body to cup her bare behind and jerk her closer to him. He was deliciously hard, and she let out a moan of wanton need as she grabbed his hips to pull him closer yet.
He ripped away from her as fast as he had taken her, the entire house quaking when he slammed the door on his way out of the room.
Olivia raked in one huge lungful of fresh air after another, hyperventilating as she struggled to right the tilting world. Her trembling legs gave way, her body sliding down the wall until she was sitting knees-to-chest in a tight little ball.
Holy shhhh…
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning, at the crack of dawn, Clete pounded on her bedroom door to wake her up. As she stumbled into the kitchen, he slammed a plate of eggs and toast on the table and barked, “Eat fast and get dressed. We’re leaving in five minutes.”
Without even looking at her, he stormed out of the house to wait for her in the front yard.
“Good morning to you, too,” Olivia grumbled under her breath. Apparently that connection they’d had the night before was long gone. Moody bastard.
She choked down her breakfast without tasting it then dressed in her usual track pants and t-shirt, added a sweatshirt for the chilly air, twisted her hair into something resembling a bun, shoved her stocking feet into her shoes and met him on the porch.
“Where are we going?”
Clete didn’t answer. He got in his cruiser and started the engine. She bit back a nasty remark and slid into the passenger seat.
“Don’t you own a real car?”
He glared at her out of the corner of his eye.
“Apparently not,” she muttered and slid further down in the seat with her arms crossed over her chest.
He drove a few blocks to the crappy South playground and parked under a long-dead cottonwood tree. Dozens of other cars were parked in the gravel lot and people were huddled around a picnic table set up with coffee and donuts and baked goods.
As Clete walked up to them, with Olivia close on his heels, everyone called out friendly greetings to the officer. He returned their hellos with genuine, warm smiles and handshakes. These people were her neighbors and fellow Southers, and Olivia felt kind of bad that even though she recognized quite a few faces, she didn’t know a single one of them. But Clete knew them all, and knew them well, and they bullshitted for a bit until the mayor of Juliette arrived in a shiny, black SUV, followed by an entourage of reporters and staff.
Everyone gathered around in a loose group as Mayor Tate said in his booming, Everyman voice, “On behalf
of the city of Juliette, I would like to thank each and every one of you for taking time off your busy lives to join us here this morning. I would also like to thank Officer Wade and his team of volunteers who spent hundreds of hours of their own time helping to organize and fundraise for this momentous event. Juliette is a small town, but it is a proud town, full of remarkable people like you who make this community a better place to live…”
The man kept talking and talking and Olivia tried to pay attention, but she got lost in his rhetoric. Fifteen minutes later, Olivia was shivering and shifting from foot-to-foot because she had to pee, and she still didn’t know why the hell they were there. She leaned into the old woman standing next to her and whispered, “Why are we here?”
The older woman looked at Olivia as though she were the dumbest person she had ever met and whispered back, “To put in the new playground equipment.”
“Oh,” Olivia said and looked around.
Sure enough, there was a huge pile of brightly colored metal and plastic where the old rusted swing set used to be. A mountain of mulch sat next to it. Well, duh, Olivia. Alrighty, then. If Clete had bothered to tell her that, she wouldn’t have had to ask. Jerk.
The day was long and physically exhausting, but a ton of fun. Olivia totally sucked at building stuff or cranking a wrench, but she could read instructions like no other, especially the men. She was put in charge of making sure everything got assembled in the proper order with the correct nuts and bolts. Everyone worked hard and they made fast work of the jungle gym. It was huge—bigger than the one in Northside—with slides and monkey bars and a bridge and a lookout tower. A section of it was handicap accessible, and another part of it was designed for toddling kids. Every single child in South would be able to play on it, and Olivia couldn’t wait for her turn.
Once they finished with the assembly, it was time for the mulch, and Olivia finally got a chance to get sweaty and dirty like the rest of them. She shed her sweatshirt and shoveled and wheel-barrowed and raked. She got mulch in her hair and under her nails and down her pants, just like everyone else, and she finally felt like she was contributing something of value.
When the last of the mulch was spread, she thought they were done, but Clete slapped a paint brush in her hand and pointed her in the direction of the scary, creepy concrete block restroom. Eww! She painted the outside while two, braver women painted the inside. Through teamwork and perspiration, they turned the drab green, gang-tagged building into a bright blue and yellow one free of markings. Olivia still wouldn’t set foot inside that bathroom, even if someone paid her a million dollars and triple-dog-dared her to do so, but at least it was pretty to look at.
As she washed up at the water pump, she smelled food, and when she returned to the picnic area she saw mountains of it—hamburgers and hotdogs and salads and brownies and beer—lots and lots of beer. Clete twisted the cap off an ice-cold bottle and handed it to her, and then grabbed one for himself and wandered off to bullshit some more. Everyone there was his friend, and everyone there loved him. The kids clambered around him and the women fussed over him and the men clapped him on the shoulder and shared man-style gossip with him. Here Olivia had been living with the hero of South for the past few days, and didn’t even know it. Huh. Will wonders never cease?
A woman not much older than Olivia handed her a plate of food. They sat at one of the new picnic tables with a few other women and their children. They were a rowdy bunch who seemed to know each other well, and they made Olivia feel as though she belonged. They peppered her with a few questions about herself, but she was amazed by what they already knew about her. But then again, everyone knew Eugene, and everyone knew George, and everyone knew Clete. So they knew her by association.
Kenny and his family showed up, as did Mel and her brood. Izzie and John walked by hand-in-hand and stopped to talk to Olivia for awhile. Carla came, as did Eugene and Chester, though Eugene parked his lawn chair on the perimeter of the hubbub and watched from a distance with Chester at his feet. Louise toted in a cooler full of half-melted popsicles for the children and handed them out. Within five minutes, every child’s chin was streaked in purple, orange, or red, or a combination thereof. Olivia stood back and watched it all, amazed in wonder. How had she missed out on all the community love and support flourishing in South? She had been living on the surface, desperate to break free, while everyone else there had been living on the inside, proud to be who they were, and where they were, living the life country songs are written about.
Clete came up behind her and said, “Thank you for helping today.”
She turned around and smiled at him. “You didn’t exactly give me much of a choice.”
“Would you have come if I had?”
“Probably not,” she admitted. “Thank you for knowing that and dragging me here.”
“Anytime.”
“So, you did all this, huh?” Olivia waved her hand, indicating the amazing park transformation. “Highly impressive.”
“Not by myself. There are some remarkable people in your community, Olivia. You should get out every once in awhile and meet them.”
She smiled. “I’m looking at one of those amazing people right now.”
“A long time ago, you asked me why you can’t hear the train whistle blow in Northside. Do you remember that?” he asked.
“I… yeah… what?” She remembered asking the question, definitely, but she had asked it in a vivid dream… Hadn’t she? As she looked into his eyes, and slipped into the omniscient blue pools, she realized the hallucination had been real. No wonder she had felt as though she knew him the first night they actually met. “Was that you?”
“It was.”
“What happened to the Walmart scooter?”
Clete ignored her question. Instead, he answered the one she had asked so long ago.
“Whether or not you hear the whistle has nothing to do with the trees or the buildings or how close or far from the tracks you are. If you’re looking to run, you’re going to hear the whistle blow. But, if you’re happy where you’re at…” He trailed off as he stepped closer to her to tuck a stray, wild curl of her hair behind her ear. His touch stole her breath. “I’ve never heard that train whistle blow… and I live three blocks from the tracks.”
“Daddy!”
Olivia turned at the sound of Allie’s voice and watched as the little girl flew into Clete’s arms. He scooped her up and covered her face in kisses and hugged her so tight it was as though father and daughter had been apart for a lifetime instead of only a few days.
“Ooh, I missed you so much, Monkey.” Clete squeezed his daughter tighter and kissed her cheeks again. Allie giggled and snuggled into him.
A tall, thin woman in breezy silk and low heels followed close behind. She brushed a cool kiss on Clete’s cheek. Ex-Wife up close and personal was even more beautiful than she had been in pictures. Olivia looked down at her own dirty track pants and stupid, retro Ms. PacMan t-shirt with the ketchup stain over her left boob, and felt like a total frump.
“Did you like my room?” Allie asked Olivia as soon as Clete set her down.
“Loved it,” Olivia said. “Better watch out, I may decide to live in it forever.”
“That would be awesome! Can Liv live with us?” Allie asked Clete, hopping up and down in excitement. “Please, Daddy! Please, please, please!”
“No,” Clete answered without even considering it.
“Aww.” Allie frowned. Olivia frowned, too. He didn’t have to be so rude about it.
“Allie’s bags are in the car. You are still taking her home tonight, right?” Snotty Ex-Wife asked. Her eyes swept over Olivia from head to toe in contempt, leaving Olivia to wonder if ‘taking her home’ meant bringing Allie home, or dumping Olivia off somewhere like a lost dog.
“Yeah,” Clete said with a glance at Olivia that didn’t make the lost-dog feeling go away. It grew more pronounced.
“We should go then,” said a man who had been standi
ng on the outside of their awkward group. Olivia glanced over at him for the first time, and her heart catapulted into her throat. Oh. My. God! He was the other officer in the pictures with Clete! And he was with… her?
But…
“What time’s your flight?” Clete asked him.
“Six in the morning,” Ex-Wife groaned.
“Well… drive carefully and have fun in Maui.” Clete gave Ex-Wife a stiff hug and shook Former-Partner’s hand. “Say good-bye, Allie.”
Allie hugged her mom and the man and ran off to play with her friends. Olivia and Clete stayed behind and watched his ex-wife and former best friend walk off hand-in-hand.
“Is that…?” Olivia asked.
“Yeah,” Clete answered.
“But I thought…” she trailed off.
“What?”
“Never mind.” She sighed. Now she was confused. “Why are they going to Maui?”
“Vacation. They go every year on their wedding anniversary.”
“Liv!”
Olivia whipped around, and her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. Clete and the rest of the world ceased to exist as she ran full-speed and jumped into his arms. He caught her with ease, and kissed her as though they had been apart for a lifetime.
“George,” she breathed on a heady exhale, and kissed him more.
He moaned in longing. “I’ve missed you, Baby Girl.”
“Take me home and show me how much,” she whispered hot into his neck. Oh, god, she needed him.
“I should say hello to everyone first. At least to Clete.”
“Boo.” Olivia pouted and slid out of his arms, back onto her feet.
George held her close as they walked and talked. He didn’t care that she was dirty and probably smelly and dressed like a thrift store junkie. He loved her and made her feel special and included her in every conversation. He kept her supplied in beer and snuck in nuzzles and kisses, and she tucked her hand into his back pocket and her head onto his shoulder as they walked side-by-side. Loving George was like coming home. He was her Jack and she was his Diane, and before long he snuck her away to do as he pleased.
Once they got back to his apartment, they slowly undressed each other and their bodies became reacquainted as they danced in the moonlight. She turned around in his arms with her back to his chest, and as his hands cupped her breasts and splayed across her stomach, a hot, tight tension coiled inside her. His lips kissed and played across the back of her neck and down her spine, and as the music controlled the rhythm of their hips they became one body.
Olivia Page 28
