Return to You

recognized that he was at the end of his
mercy. If she pushed him anymore, she'd be out a job. Actually,
she'd probably have to go to a third world country to find work
because Everett would make sure no one in the modern world would
hire her again.
    "Enjoy your evening," she said, really
meaning she hoped he'd get indigestion. She backed out with as much
dignity as she had.
    Although if he got indigestion, she'd be the
one to suffer because he'd send her out in the middle of the night
to get him medicine.
    The jerk.
    She glared at him and whirled out of the
bathroom, closing the door. Marching to the kitchen, she sat down
at the table and began serving herself salad.
    She speared her fork into the lettuce and
had it halfway to her mouth when she noticed Mae's amused gaze on
her. "Mr. Parker won't be joining us for dinner."
    Mae's eyes twinkled. "Won't he?"
    "No." The jerk. She savagely bit into her
greens.
    "Then you and I will eat together." She set
the stew pot on the table and sat down.
    "Olivia's not back yet?"
    "I don't expect Olivia will be back for some
time."
    Lainie dropped her fork onto her plate with
a loud clack. "What's going on here?" Mae was obviously in on
whatever it was.
    "Elaine, when a person is as stubborn as
Olivia, or her father," she said distinctly, "sometimes she need a
little push to go where she needs to."
    Lainie stared at the older woman, who calmly
dished the food and began to eat as if the world wasn't completely
off kilter. "What if Olivia doesn't want a push?"
    "Olivia needs to get on with her life." Mae
turned her bright gaze on her. "Olivia needs to have a family. Not
because I want great-grandchildren or because I want her to
leave."
    "I don't understand."
    "Elaine, Olivia is a nurturer. She takes
people under her wing and mothers them until they can stand on
their own two feet, and then she finds someone else to put her
attention on. She did it with Eve, and Gwendolyn, and now you. And
after you're settled, she'll find someone else to take on."
    Lainie frowned. "Is that bad?"
    "The act itself isn't bad, the reasons
behind it are. She's doing it to avoid having a family of her own.
She fills herself by mothering other people. She doesn't let
herself feel the need to have her own children to nurture."
    "How do you know she wants children of her
own? This is the modern world. Women didn't need to have a family
to be fulfilled anymore."
    "She wants children. I know my girl. And
think of the children. Instead of getting a wonderful mother,
there's no telling who they'll wind up with. It's karmic
responsibility, love."
    Lainie fidgeted under Mae's not-so-subtle
gaze. That look was anything but subtle. She reminded herself they
were talking about Olivia. Maybe if she kept telling herself that,
she'd believe it eventually.

Chapter Sixteen
     
     
    Michael wasn't sure what surprised him
more—Olivia showing up in the shed after dark or the loud click of
what sounded like the lock falling into place. "Tell me that was
just the lock banging against the door."
    Olivia snorted. "Right."
    Dropping the tools he'd been riffling
through, he opened his mouth to make a retort, but seeing Olivia's
face lit by the indirect light of her flashlight captured his
director's imagination.
    She was stunning. He didn't think he'd
realized how gorgeous she was. His memories didn't do her justice.
The shadows sharpened her cheekbones and her eyes seemed a hundred
times more mysterious, like she'd wrapped herself in secrets. He'd
give anything to find out what they were.
    He straightened. He needed to get out of
there before he did something stupid. "There's no way we could be
locked in here."
    Skirting around her, holding his breath so
he wouldn't inhale her fragrance and careful not to come in contact
with her, he headed for the door. He pushed on it, certain to the
very last moment it was open.
    The door didn't budge.
    "Damn," he muttered under his breath. He
rattled the handle.
    "Breaking it isn't going to help."
    He turned around. She was leaning against a
bag of petrified cement, arms akimbo. "It's better than doing
nothing."
    "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were
genuinely upset by this."
    "What the hell is that supposed to
mean?"
    "Who did you have to bribe to lock us in
here?"
    He held his hand out. "Wait
a minute. You think I had something to do with this?"
    Even in the dim light he could see the
sardonic arching of her eyebrow. "If the padlock fits..."
    Michael shook his head, figuring it