Olivia Graham was twenty-two when she started a whirlwind romance with charismatic Jakob overseas.
By age twenty-five, Liv was back home and checking off the widowed box on paperwork. With zero plans, Olivia and beloved dog Snuggles find themselves...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Olivia is just escaping the room as I arrive. I stride after her, finding her crouched down on the pavement outside with her face in her hands. I squat next to her as she lifts her hands from her face to look at me, "What are you doing here all alone?" I inquire softly.
She sniffs, looking dead behind her usually luminous eyes. "Will just found out about mine and Jake's less-than-perfect marriage, and, as predicted, he didn't take it well."
I stand up, holding out my hand, simply suggesting, "Come with me. "Do you need me to protect you from Wilbur?"
She rises while laughing, shaking her head and covering her eyes, and I rest my palms on her back, my elbows by her hips. "Remember a few days ago when I said 'I know this sucks'?"
"Yeah."
"I also said 'let's get this over with and I'll take you back home,' yeah?"
"Yeah," she agrees, looking down.
I tuck a bit of hair behind her ear. "Well come on, let's get this over with, and I'll take you back home."
Her shoulders sag, and she rests her head on me, and my heart starts racing like a train. "It's going to be okay," I promise, before reminding myself I need to reel in all of my rampant thoughts. "I can be here for you if you need a friend."
Or we can pick up where we left off eight years ago. When she tightens her arms around me, my heart rate kicks up another notch. It would be wrong to comfort her by kissing her, I remind myself. It would be ferociously inappropriate.
I slap Will lightly on the back when we are inside, "Hear your sister shocked you to hell and back."
"Hey man," he says, giving me a hug before taking his sister away for a private chat. Will is the biggest marshmallow for his sister, and he is almost weeping along with her while they converse passionately in the corner. Joanie finally tugs him away to Olivia breathe and Lindsey takes over.
Near the end of the scheduled showing, Will finds me to talk. "Thank you for looking out for her this week."
"Happy to. I mean, it's been nice to spend time together again, you know, given the circumstances."
He gives me a fervent, puzzled look before straightening his face, "Well, thanks."
I've been close to the Graham family since I was a kid. They may have owned and operated a deli and other business developments, but we also all know there's a lot of nudge nudge wink wink going on we don't talk about.
