Chasing Olivia (Trace + Olivia #2) (7 page)

“Marcy,” I approached hesitantly, not wanting to disturb her. She looked up at me, raising a brow in question. “You should really go home,” I continued. “You look tired.”

“I’m old,” she laughed, “I always look tired.”

“You’re not old, Marcy,” I shook my head. “But you do deserve a break every now and then. You’re going to drive yourself into the ground if you keep staying here so late. Go home, have a good dinner, and take a hot bath. Please?”

“Fine,” she flicked her desk light off, “but only because my eyes are tired and I’d hate to mess up this piece and have to start over.”

“Thank you,” I hugged her. “I worry about you.”

“Don’t waste your time worrying about me, child,” she patted my cheek.

“I don’t consider worrying about you as wasting my time.” I moved towards the cubbies where we kept our personal stuff and grabbed my purse, slinging it onto my shoulder.

“You’re too sweet, Olivia,” she smiled, grabbing her own bag. I swear her purse was as big as a house. I didn’t know how she lugged that thing around. I’d seen her pull an umbrella out of it before…and not one of those small ones that folded up.

We walked outside and I waited as she locked the door before we both headed towards our cars. It was seven o’ clock and the sun was still bright in the sky.

“Bye, Olivia,” she waved, climbing into her yellow Fiat. The bright colored car suited her bubbly personality.

I waved back, slipping into my own car. I immediately locked the doors. After what happened with Aaron I’d become a nervous wreck, anticipating danger everywhere. I wasn’t afraid to admit that I was now the proud owner of a can of pepper spray…three cans actually. I
might’ve
gone a bit overboard.

I pulled my phone out and sent Avery a text, asking if she was available for a girl’s night.

Her text was immediate, saying she’d meet me at the apartment.

I was actually a bit surprised. I was expecting a half-ass excuse from her. I guess she was as much in need of some girl time as I was.

I called my favorite Chinese restaurant and ordered our takeout, swinging by to pick it up.

When I pulled into the parking lot of Pete’s Garage, Avery’s red Volkswagen Beetle was already there.

“Do I smell chicken fried rice?” She asked me when I got out of the car with the large takeout bag.

I nodded.

“Gimme!” She grabbed the bag from me, not giving me a chance to relinquish it.

“Geez, manners, Avery,” I scolded lightly, grabbing my keys and trudging up the steps to our apartment over the garage.

“Bitch, I’m hungry,” she glared. “Oooh,” she exclaimed, peering into the bag, “they gave us extra egg rolls!”

“I figured if I only got two, you’d end up eating mine,” I laughed, opening the door and waving her inside first. She set the bag down in the kitchen. “Come on, Ace!” I called.

The large black lab came running out of the bedroom and to the door.

“Hey buddy, mommy missed you,” I scratched the top of his head, grabbing his leash off the coatrack, and attaching it to his collar. “Don’t eat my sweet and sour chicken,” I warned Avery.

She ceased pulling the boxes out of the bag. “Just one?” She pouted.

“The last time I told you that you could have one piece, I ended up starving because you ate it all, the answer’s no.”

“Fine,” she grumbled.

I walked Ace around the block, letting him stretch his long legs. I would’ve walked him longer, but I was starving, and afraid that despite my warning Avery would eat my food.

Ace bound into the apartment and over to his cushion, grabbing his favorite toy, a yellow duck, and proceeding to sling it around in his mouth.

Avery was sitting on the couch, the food spread out on the coffee table, and flipping through channels on the TV.

“Don’t even think about snagging one of Trace’s skittles,” I warned her, pointing to the bowl of skittles on top of the two crates that were flipped upside down and served as our coffee table. “I think he must have cameras in here somewhere. I ate…like three one time while he was working, and when he came in he
knew
I’d eaten some.”

“Maybe he counts them before he puts them in there,” she giggled before taking a huge bite out of her egg roll.

“I have no clue, but since then I haven’t touched them,” I shook my head, grabbing a water bottle, and sat down beside her on the couch. “Anything good on?” I pointed at the TV.

“Say Yes to the Dress is on,” she shrugged.

“That’s not too bad,” I grabbed my container of sweet and sour chicken.

“So, where’s Trace at?” She asked, looking around like he was about to magically appear.

“He’s having dinner with his grandpa tonight,” I shrugged.

“Aw, that’s sweet. It’s really cute how close he is with his family.”

“Yeah, it really is. It’s one of my favorite things about him,” I admitted.

“Ugh,” she groaned, “you guys are so in love it’s not fair. Wait! You didn’t tell me about the proposal!” She managed to stop shoving food in her mouth for five seconds in order to grab my hand and inspect my ring. “Oh, Tracey-poo did goooood. He wouldn’t show it to me when he told me his plan. I told him that as your best friend it needed my stamp of approval, but the little fucker just laughed at me. Doesn’t he understand the laws of the universe?”

I laughed. “You probably would’ve told him it needed to be bigger.” The diamond ring was already plenty big, but I knew Avery.

“Guilty,” she winked.  “The bigger the better when it comes to
everything
.”

“How did I end up friends with you?” I groaned.

“You couldn’t resist my fabulousness. No one can,” she grabbed another egg roll. I decided to snag one before she ate them all. Avery
loved
Chinese food.

A lot of people didn’t like Avery. She was crazy smart and never afraid to speak her mind. But she had her wild side and had no problem jumping from one guy’s bed to the next. We were polar opposites, but we clicked, and she was honestly the best friend anyone could hope to have. She had my back and I had hers…even if she did drive me crazy a lot of the time, I wouldn’t have her any other way.

“So,” I ventured, hesitant of her reaction, “what’s up with you and Luca?”

She sighed, running her fingers through her red hair. “I don’t know, Livie.”

“I don’t believe that,” I pushed.

“It’s complicated,” she shrugged, frowning.

“Avery,” I reached for her hand, “I’m your best friend, you can tell me.” I’d said basically the same thing yesterday at graduation and it hadn’t done any good. But today was a new day.

She shook her head. “Livie, it’s not a big deal. Really. Sometimes people drift apart. I know you’ve only had Trace and you two are perfect for each other so you don’t understand, but this is normal, I promise.”

I knew she was evading telling me the truth by trying to make me feel like I was stupid when it came to relationships. Trace may have been my only boyfriend, but I wasn’t dumb.

“Alright,” I sighed, grabbing a packet of sauce. I was done pestering her. If she didn’t want to tell me, then I didn’t want to know. I wasn’t going to get into a fight with my best friend over nosiness. It wasn’t worth it. “Want to watch a movie On-Demand?”

She grinned. “As long as I get to see Channing Tatum’s butt.”

I cringed. “Fine,” I reluctantly agreed, because I knew she needed some cheering up.

Magic Mike began to play and it wasn’t long until I’d completely lost my appetite and was hiding my face behind a pillow with Chewbacca on it. Trace had a Star Wars obsession, it was one of his cute quirks like his love of ketchup that was too adorable to complain about. Although, he’d probably be pissed if I told him I thought it was adorable. I’d just have to keep that tidbit of information to myself.

The movie ended and I hugged Avery goodbye, watching to make sure she got in her car and left the parking lot in one piece. My paranoia extended to everyone, not just myself.

I locked the door and grabbed some pajamas, heading into the bathroom to take a shower.

I pulled my wet hair back into a bun and called Ace into the bedroom. He jumped up in the middle of the bed, stretching out.

I rubbed his belly as I climbed under the covers. “Night buddy, daddy will be home soon,” I yawned.

He wagged his tail at the mention of Trace. While getting a dog—any pet really—had been something I wanted to do, Ace had become Trace’s dog. Their bond was special.

I turned the light off and snuggled under the blankets. The bed seemed too large and too cold without Trace in it.

As if sensing my distress, Ace curled against my side, his long pink tongue flicking out to lick my cheek.

I giggled.

I was beginning to drift off to sleep when I heard the door open. Seconds later Trace strode into the bedroom, tearing off his clothes. His shoulders were taught and his jaw clenched.

I sat up, tilting my head.

“What’s wrong?”

He sat down on the edge of his side of the bed with his back to me. I reached out, placing my hand on the smooth skin of his shoulder. The muscles in his back jumped at my touch. I had never seen him wound so tight before.

“Trace? Talk to me, please. What’s wrong?” I begged.

There was a thickness in the air, like what he was about to say was going to change everything.

After a minute, he turned to me. The light from the moon filtered into the room, shining on his face, and making the tears in his glimmer. My heart broke and my chest clenched. What was going on?

He reached out and cupped my cheek, gazing at me. “You know how Gramps has been grooming me to take over the company?”

I nodded.

Warren had taken him under his wing about a year ago. Trace still worked at Pete’s when he had the chance. He loved working on cars and didn’t want to miss out on that. But with his dad dead and Gramps fast approaching his seventy-fifth birthday, it left Trace to run the business. I knew Trace struggled daily with what was right. Did he tell Gramps he didn’t want the business? Or did he trudge on out of a sense of family duty and obligation? I hated that he had to choose. It wasn’t fair. I knew Trace was much happier living simply, not as some big CEO. But this
was
his family business, and he didn’t know if he was willing to hand it over to a stranger.

“I thought,” he swallowed, “I thought it was just because he’s getting older and wanted to retire, you know?” He pulled at his hair.

“But it’s not?”

He shook his head, sniffling. “Gramps has cancer.”

“What?!” I shrieked, sitting straight up in bed. I hadn’t expected those words to come out of his mouth.

“He didn’t want me to tell you,” he reached for my hand holding onto it tightly, “he hasn’t told anyone, except me. But I had to tell you, Olivia. I couldn’t keep this to myself. It hurts too much,” he admitted, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth and looking away from me, ashamed of showing weakness.

“Cancer?” I squeaked. Tears clogged my throat and one cascaded down my cheek. Trace turned back to me, wiping it away with his thumb, his eyes full of sadness.

“It’s lung cancer,” he whispered, bowing his head. “The doctor’s given him anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to live.”

“No,” I shook my head, a sob crawling my throat. I grasped his forearm, needing something to hold me up. “No. That can’t be true.” I didn’t want to believe what he was telling me. I loved Trace’s grandpa like he was my own. The thought that he might not be with us much longer tore me up inside. A few weeks or even months was
nothing.
How could you make yourself say goodbye to someone you loved so dearly? Goodbyes were never easy, especially when they marked the end.

Trace wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me against him.

Ace grunted and jumped off the bed, unhappy at having his sleep disturbed.

I was angry with myself. I should’ve been the one comforting
him
, not the other way around. He rubbed his hand soothingly up and down my arm. A tear fell from his chin onto my cheek.

“No,” I said again, as if just by saying that word it would make what he’d told me not true.

But nothing could undo this.

He lowered himself until we were lying on the bed and I pressed my face against his bare chest, smearing my wet tears along his skin.

He wasn’t okay.

I wasn’t okay.

And I wondered if we’d ever be okay again.

I woke up still in Trace’s arms. He was sound asleep, so I slipped from the bed carefully so I didn’t wake him. He needed his rest after the news Gramps dropped on him last night.

My chest clenched.

I couldn’t imagine a world without Warren Wentworth. There were some people that made the world brighter, and Gramps was one of them. Despite the amount of wealth he’d garnered he was still one of the most down to earth people I’d ever had the pleasure of meeting. He was
special
for so many reasons.

Tears sprung to my eyes.

Not again.

Nope.

No more crying.

With a shake of my head I padded out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, determined to make Trace a delicious breakfast. While I could cook well, Trace usually made all our meals because he loved it. The man was perfect…except for his dancing.