Had to Be You (Pub 6)

36 - Shut out

Olivia walked around Dwyer Mitchell peering at computer screens, she was in a mood and catching an assistant shopping on Amazon might brighten her day.

Graham popped out of the staff room with a cup of coffee. "Olivia, how are you?"

Graham sounded like he cared, but how would he know Max shut her out? No one knew, and it took quick thinking to hide it.

When Zach called excited about Max's news, she had to pretend she knew as she pieced together his third response came through with an offer.

"Come in here. I'll make you a cup of tea."

Maybe she missed her chance. He was a sweet guy. "How's Mandy?"

His face lit up like a man in love. A look she would never see. "She's great, but she's worried about you."

"I'm fine." She hoped the more she said it the more she would convince herself, but it had been a month since her trip to New Haven and it hadn't worked yet. The chances it would soon were bleak.

"Mandy and Lindy have talked."

She put her hands on her hips. "Behind my back?"

His face turned red. "It's. It is just. It's that you've been ignoring them since your trip to Turkey."

"Cyprus isn't Turkey."

She had been ignoring them because they were very happy yings to another's yang.

"Sorry. And now. Well, since your father's passing. They're, um, worried even more."

Her father had died. When her grandmother called her, she hung up and wept. They had dinner the next night and made a toast to Charles. When she told her mother, she said she was sorry. Anita didn't look sad that her first husband was gone. Olivia felt sadness, but the real sting was the phone calls. Zach called and even Ian, who had been treated poorly by the man. The one call she waited for never came.

"I'm fine, mostly. I just have a lot to deal with."

Too much to deal with. More than she planned. She had met with lawyers about her father's will. The sums and figures put pressure on her. She would definitely need some of her inheritance to follow through with her plan. The rest she wanted to use for charity. If she created a foundation, she could create a job for herself. It was all very complicated.

"Do me a favor and answer Mandy's calls. She's been on my back to talk to you."

"I will." But might not tell her anything.

She dragged herself home feeling emotionally spent each day. Most nights she hid in her room. As promised, she placed a FaceTime call to Mandy.

"Livvy, how are you?"

"Fine. So you sent Graham after me."

"I love you and you shouldn't go through this tough time alone."

The one she needed was ignoring her. "I'm fine. Just busy. How are you? Did you finish your semester?"

"Yes, I'm on summer break. I plan to work on my research for my PhD and paint."

"Sounds perfect."

"Are you going back to Cyprus?"

"No, he didn't want me to. They will sell the house." She laughed. "Maybe I'll get the full tour online."

"Send me the link. I want to see it too."

"Hey Mandy, Dad's calling me to eat."

"Ok. Liv, I'm sorry. Maybe we should do a trivia night."