Return to You (11 page)

She sighed. What was she thinking? Gran
always knew, and the signs had probably been there for her to piece
things together. "You know, don't you?" she whispered.

Gran walked over, pushed a lock of hair out
of Olivia's face, and cradled her chin. "When are you going to
learn that I know everything about you? That's why I know you have
to let it go and forgive him. He didn't know, love. You can't blame
him when he didn't even know."

"Yeah, but if I don't blame him, I'll blame
myself," she said, barely audible.

"It was no one's fault, love. It just wasn't
time." She dropped a kiss on Olivia's forehead, just like she had
when Olivia was a little girl and needed comfort. "You have to let
this go and move on. Think about it. Approach this with an open
mind."

Lainie cleared her throat again. "Maybe I
should go get Everett." She started for the back door like she
couldn't wait to escape.

"You stay here," Gran commanded. "Olivia
will go get her father. Since we're clearing the air, I have things
to say to you too."

Olivia cracked a grin at the worried look
that spread across Lainie's face. She jumped up, grabbed a
flashlight, and was out the door before Lainie could utter a
word.

The shed came into view, big and boxy. It'd
been ages since she'd had to come down to it. In the dark, it was
impossible to see, like the peeling paint or the roof that leaned
too severely on one side, but she could picture every detail like
she'd been there yesterday.

As a little girl, she and Michael used to
play there. Usually, they'd pretend it was a movie studio and that
all the tools in there were props for movies. Michael always wanted
to make a pirate movie. She smiled, remembering how she fought to
be a pirate when Michael wanted to cast her as the damsel in
distress.

She reached the shed and lifted her
flashlight to see. The padlock was, of course, hanging unlocked
from its place. The door creaked when she pushed it open.

She heard a rustling from the back and then
the clank of tools falling over. "Hello?" She moved cautiously,
waving the flashlight in front of her to avoid tripping on the
random stuff lying around on the floor.

"Damn it," a masculine voice said.

She swung the light toward the muffled
curse. She blinked, stunned to find a dust-covered Michael scowling
in the beam of light.

Then the door slammed shut
and she heard the unmistakable firm
snick
of the padlock being snapped
shut.

She frowned at Michael. "I've been set
up."

Chapter Fifteen

With a sense of trepidation, Lainie watched
Olivia walk into the night. She wasn't sure why Ms. Pembroke wanted
to talk to her but it couldn't be good.

"Sit down, love." Ms. Pembroke sat on a
chair at the table and patted the one next to her.

Lainie would have been more comfortable
sitting across from her but she sat where directed.

"Now," Ms. Pembroke began, "we need to talk
about Everett."

"We do?"

Ms. Pembroke didn't reply. She simply
waited.

Lainie knew this tactic. She'd seen Everett
employ it countless times in the boardroom. And still she was on
the verge of blurting out everything when Ms. Pembroke broke the
silence. "You know Everett was married to my daughter, Lily."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Call me Mae, love."

Lainie nodded, unsure where this was
going.

Ms. Pembroke—Mae—smiled. "Lily would've
liked you, Elaine."

She didn't have much experience in matters
like this, but she doubted any other mother-in-law would be so
gracious to the woman replacing her daughter.

"Lily and Everett loved each other so very
much. Everett was a different man back then. And then when Lily
died, he changed. Overnight." Mae sighed.

"It must have been a hard time for you," she
sympathized.

"It's devastating losing a child, but as
hard as it was for me, it was harder for Everett and Olivia. I
remember how lost Olivia looked when Everett brought her to me."
She turned her sharp gaze on Lainie. "Everett may appear
invincible, but he isn't. In fact, I always thought he was more
vulnerable than most men."

"Everett
Parker
?"

"Yes, love, he's sensitive, and I think you
know that."

"Mae, I don't know where—"

"I only wanted to tell you
not to give up." Mae patted her hand. "He's a good man, but he
doesn't see himself that way. He'll fight his attraction to you.
Oh, yes, love, he definitely
is
attracted. Be patient. Wear him down gently until
he has no arguments left." The twinkle sparked in her eyes again.
"Olivia can give you lessons on that."

"I don't know what to say."

Mae patted her hand again. "Take care of
him. That's all I ask." She got up and headed for the stove. "Lily
would be happy you love him. She never would've wanted him to be
lonely."

Lainie opened her mouth to say she found it
hard to believe Everett was lonely when the door opened and he
walked in.

"Ladies." He nodded at Mae but didn't spare
her a glance. "Dinner smells delicious. I'll go clean up."

He just ignored me.
She didn't like that. Not at all. Something inside
made her want to make him notice her instead of taking for granted
she'd be there at his beck and call. "Everett."

He stopped and turned to face her.

Lainie wondered if she looked as surprised
at her imperious tone as he did. Only now that she had his
attention, what did she say? "Where's Olivia?" It wasn't going to
make him fall to his knees and beg her for undying love, but at
least he'd have to talk to her.

Everett slowly raised his eyebrow at
her.

"Olivia went to call you for dinner. Where
is she?"

"I must have just missed her. I'm sure
she'll be along soon." He strode from the kitchen, apparently for
his bathroom.

Something was wrong. She had the distinct
impression he wanted to avoid her. Well, she wouldn't stand for
that. "Excuse me, Mae."

Mae's low chuckle followed her out as she
hurried after Everett. She needed to catch up to him before he
locked himself in the bathroom. She made it in time to slap her
hand on the closing door and wedge herself inside with him.

He goggled at her, something between horror
and fascination. She couldn't blame him—she wasn't sure what had
gotten into her either.

That wasn't true. She was here for Olivia.
"What's going on with Olivia?"

"I have no idea what you mean." His eyes
flickered down to the open buttons of her shirt.

"You're up to something."

"Elaine, you do realize you're in my
bathroom."

"It's where you are, so, yes." But she
hadn't noticed how small it was until that moment—or how close he
was to her.

Then he took a step closer. His restrained
energy beat at her like a tangible force. He smelled delicious, and
she wanted to burrow her nose in his neck.

She needed to get a grip.

She needed to throw herself at him and beg
him to love her.

If Olivia were here, she'd tell her to
assert herself. Everett needed someone strong enough to stand up to
him. Both Olivia and Mae thought that was her.

It
was
her.

She put her hand flat on his chest and
pushed. "Stop trying to intimidate me."

He froze, staring down at her incredulously
as if he couldn't believe a mere mortal dared to touch him. The
important thing was not to show weakness at this point. Any small
evidence of weakness and she'd be through.

She may have been through as it was.

The thought of being fired hurt. That alone
galvanized her into action. She ran her hand up over his shoulder
and down his arm, just like she'd imagined doing so many times.

He place his hand on hers, holding it still.
Her knees weakened at the touch. Looking up, she expected anger,
but he stared at her, rapt.

"This is a side of you I've never seen,
Elaine." He studied her palm before turning it over and running his
thumb over her knuckles.

She warmed all the way to her core.

Then as quickly as he took her hand he let
it go and stepped back. "If you'll remove yourself from my
bathroom, we'll discuss any concerns you have at our morning status
meeting."

Did she blink and miss something?

The change from hot fascination back to his
usual cool, distant regard was so abrupt, she floundered before she
figured out what to say. "What about dinner?"

"I'm having dinner in the city tonight."

Who was he having dinner with? "About
Olivia—"

"Olivia is my daughter. She's not your
concern," he said distinctly. He turned his back to her and turned
on the faucet.

She gazed at his reflection in the mirror.
What just happened?

He concentrated on folding the sleeves of
his crisp white shirt up his forearms.

The sight of the dark hair peppering his
arms mesmerized her. She shook her head to clear it. "But—"

"Elaine," he said, meeting her gaze in the
mirror, "this conversation has ended."

"This conversation
has
not
ended."
She'd never been on the receiving end of his anger. She'd imagined
she'd collapse into a whimpering heap and die on the spot if it
ever happened.

Not so. Oddly, she felt like shoving him
again. "Olivia's become my friend. I won't see her toyed with."

"You think I'd toy with my daughter?"

"I think you'd do whatever you had to in
order to get what you want."

He turned around again, his arms crossed,
one long finger tapping his chin as he contemplated her. "What I
want right now is my privacy."

She 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.