Return to You

sighed. "That's so romantic. I'm
jealous. I've never felt that way about anyone."
    Eve rolled her eyes. "You still have time.
What, you're all of thirty years old?"
    "I'm thirty-four."
    "You're hardly an old maid," Lainie said.
"I'm forty-seven."
    Olivia did the math in her head. Twelve
years younger than Parker. Would her father care? Did she care?
    The rest of the evening was clouded by her
thoughts. Good thing Eve had to work in the morning—they ended the
night early.
    Lainie must have sensed her mood because she
stayed quiet on the drive home. Until they were minutes from the
farm. Then Lainie turned to her and abruptly said, "You know, don't
you?"
    Olivia glanced at her. She didn't have the
energy to pretend she didn't know what Lainie was talking about. "I
think so."
    "You don't like it, do you?"
    "I don't know what to think." She pulled
into her usual parking spot and turned off the ignition. Opening
her door, she swung her legs out before she felt Lainie's hand
clutch her arm.
    "You don't know him."
    "And working with him has given you insight
into his complex psyche?" She shook off Lainie's hand.
    "He keeps a picture of you hidden in his
desk."
    Olivia stopped half in, half out of the car.
Sliding down into her seat again, she turned to face the woman.
"What?"
    Lainie nodded. "I found it accidentally a
few years ago. I think that's when I fell in love with him. He
keeps himself private, separate from everyone. But then I saw that
picture..."
    Olivia frowned. As if a picture meant
anything.
    Lainie turned to her and gripped Olivia's
hand in her cold one. "When I saw it, I recognized the loneliness.
He hides it away the same way he hides your picture, but it's there
just the same."
    Olivia rubbed the throbbing point at her
temples. "I don't see how this has anything to do with me."
    "It has everything to do with you."
    "No, it doesn't. This is about you and your
crush on Parker."
    "It's not a crush. I'm in love with
him."
    Olivia stared at her. The woman's cheeks
were flushed and her eyes snapped, and her hair was slipping from
the tight bun at the nape of her neck. Roused with passion, she
looked alive, like someone had breathed life into her.
    This wasn't the Elaine who'd walked into
Romantic Notions and longingly fingered a red lace bra she didn't
think she should own.
    Olivia wouldn't wish her cold bastard of a
father on her worse enemy much less someone she liked, but the hope
shining on Lainie's face made it impossible to say anything
negative. Besides, she knew better than anyone that what you wanted
wasn't always what was good for you. It didn't make wanting it any
less dire.
    She heaved a sigh. "Okay."
    Lainie frowned. "Okay?"
    "I'll help you."
    The joy that lit Lainie's eyes was painful
to witness. It made Olivia that much more determined to see that
Lainie achieved her goal.
    The devil help Everett Parker if he broke
Lainie's heart.

    "I need to learn to read lips," Rick
murmured, watching Olivia and Elaine Adams. That, or he could buy
the high tech listening devise he looked at last week.
    Olivia's door opened and she started to get
out, but Ms. Adams said something that caused her to get right back
in.
    With the interior light on, he could see
them clearly in the gloaming. Whatever the topic of their
conversation was, it wasn't a happy one. They weren't arguing, but
neither one looked like they wanted to be there. Especially
Olivia.
    He frowned, watching her rub her forehead.
He didn't like this. Not at all. Olivia was terrific. She didn't
deserve this hassle.
    When Everett Parker came to him with this
job, there wasn't a doubt in Rick's mind that it was bogus. His
instincts—which he trusted implicitly—screamed that there was more
to it than Parker was letting on.
    Now he wasn't sure.
    He remembered Ms. Adams from Olivia's store
the week before. He hadn't thought much of it at the time but,
looking back, she'd been entirely too interested in his
conversation with Olivia. And this evening, she accompanied Olivia
to Gwendolyn Pierce's house. Coincidence?
    He shook his head. There was no such thing
as coincidence. As far as he could see, Elaine Adams had no reason
to get close to Olivia. She was here to work, after all, not to
socialize.
    Unless she were after something.
    As standard procedure, he checked into
Parker's background, which meant he had to do some digging into
Olivia's as well, since she was irrevocably connected to him.
    Olivia wasn't going to be happy about him
nosing into her