Return to You

woman in her right
mind would.
    Right now, she qualified as certifiable. "Everett, I
can't believe you manipulated everyone like you did. Did you expect
to get away with it?"
    He didn't have to answer. She could see that he
did.
    She got right under his nose and glared. "You know
the worse part of it all? That you had someone spy on me. That's
just awful."
    She turned and walked out, the clicks of her heels
echoing in angry staccato.
    "Elaine." He grabbed her arm and spun her around.
She lost her balance and tripped into his chest.
    Beneath her hand, his heart pumped strong and fast.
She savored the rhythmic beating, knowing she'd never feel it
again.
    "Everett, I quit."
    He gaped at her.
    She smiled grimly. She'd finally caught him off
guard.
    She pulled back. "I'll head back to LA in the
morning to make necessary arrangements. Under the circumstances I'm
sure you'll agree it's best if I leave right away rather than
observe the typical two weeks notice."
    She got up on tiptoes and pressed her lips to his
cheek. She inhaled his scent one last time, deeply so she could
remember it when she lay in bed alone at night. "Goodbye,
Everett."
    She thought for sure the tears would fall as soon as
she walked away. But they didn't fall. Even later, curled under the
comforter in Mae's house, there wasn't a trace of moisture on her
cheeks.
    Her heart, on the other hand, felt like it was
bleeding dry.
     

Chapter Thirty-two
     
     
    First thing the next morning Olivia ran into the one
person she didn't want to see.
    Gran looked up from her cup of coffee. "You're up
early."
    "I'm going to the gym." She poured herself a cup.
While she added a generous amount of sugar, she debated sitting
down with her grandmother. Chances were the woman already had the
full scoop on what happened last night. Gran's gossiping network
was legendary.
    She'd have to face Gran sooner or later. Might as
well bite the bullet now. "You knew what was going on. You helped
him."
    Gran didn't bother to deny it. "The man loves you.
He only wants to set the past right."
    "Kind of a weird way to show love if you ask me."
She grimaced as she scalded her tongue.
    "He manipulated the situation to get to you, but how
is what you did any different? You manipulated things too."
    She frowned. "I did not."
    "What do you call the game you and Lainie have been
playing?"
    She struggled not to squirm under her grandmother's
too-knowing stare. "I was just helping Lainie."
    "And he was just helping you. You needed something
to help you break out of your rut. Isn't it time you let go of the
past and moved on?" Gran slowly pushed up from the table and rinsed
out her mug. She turned around before she walked out to tend her
gardens. "And, love, any attempt to win back your affection is
better than nothing, don't you think?"
    Olivia pouted into her cup. What if Gran were right
and Parker was trying to get back in her life?
    She shook her head. She couldn't think about it
right now. What she needed was a sweaty workout to help her
focus.
    For the first time in over a month, the gym was
fairly empty. She knew most of the movie crew was heading home
today.
    She glanced around furtively and sighed, satisfied
Michael wasn't there this morning. She hadn't really expected him
to be—he probably had a million things to do with the filming
wrapped up—but she'd wanted to be sure. She didn't think she could
handle another confrontation with him. She was still chafed from
last night.
    Olivia headed automatically for the elliptical
machines. She climbed onto the track, pushed the buttons to the
correct settings, and pumped her legs.
    Usually doing her cardio was a meditation. This
morning, she couldn't get her mind to still enough to get any
peace. Scenes from the night before played and replayed, one after
another, inside her head.
    She closed her eyes. God, it was a disaster. It
wasn't the way she'd envisioned ending things with Michael. This
time, they were supposed to make a clean break. Civilly shake hands
and wish each other well in their life.
    Even in the darkness behind her closed lids, she
could still see the stricken expression in his eyes when he heard
about their baby.
    She waited for the pang that followed any thoughts
of the little girl she'd lost. It came, but for the first time ever
it wasn't so sharp it pierced straight through.
    Olivia opened her eyes.
    She would have spared Michael the pain of finding
out, especially like that. Even if he deserved it. She remembered
the