“Yeah. It’s fine.”
“You know,” he says, “now that the kids are older, you could go look for a better job. One in the city.”
I snort. “How am I supposed to do that when I end up having to drive them to school every other day?”
“Liam will have his license soon. He can drive Hannah.” Jason blinks his blue eyes at me. “You should think about it. I know you’re not happy at the Nutshell.”
I take a deep breath. “I’d like to. You know I would. But the kids… They just need me too much right now.”
His brow furrows. He doesn’t get it. I love my husband—he’s been an amazing partner for the last twenty years. But he isn’t around as much as I am. He commutes into the city every day and has to travel frequently for work, and that means he misses a lot. When something bad happens, he has to hear it secondhand from me. And he’s always certain I’m exaggerating.
He has no clue what our son is capable of.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand. I reach for it, noticing a text message has popped up on the screen. I see Frank’s name and the following text:
I spoke to her. It’s taken care of.
The tension drains out of my shoulders. Thank God. Disaster has been averted once again, if only temporarily. Olivia Reynolds has been spared, and she doesn’t even know it. I shudder to think of what might have happened if I were rushing into the city every day for a job. I might never have found out about this girl.
“I’ll think about the job,” I lie, as I reach for the remote control.
Chapter 19
Olivia
It’s an embarrassing fact that my bedroom isn’t much different than it was when I was a little kid. I still have posters all over my walls of cute cats and dogs—there’s nothing cuter than a kitten sleeping on a puppy. I still need a night light in order to go to sleep. And I still have to arrange all my stuffed animals just so on my bed every night.
Tonight I cuddle with Mr. Penguin as I try to fall asleep. I push my face into his soft black and white fur, squeezing my eyes shut. Sleep, dammit!
No, this is impossible. I can’t stop thinking about Liam.
I can’t believe I had to leave the diner early. The more I think about it, the more I think Liam would have definitely kissed me. But instead, he didn’t even ask to see me again.
The whole thing has left me feeling totally unsatisfied.
Liam is soooo cute. Everything about him makes me all tingly. Every time I close my eyes, I picture him smiling at me. Also, his teeth are nice. For some reason, I’m really into teeth. Perfect, straight teeth are really sexy to me. Is that weird? Maybe. But I just think Liam is really cute.
Liam seemed really disappointed when I had to run out to meet my mother. Maybe he decided I’m not worth the effort. After all, he knows plenty of other girls at school who are prettier than I am. I’m not even the prettiest Olivia he knows.
And the worst part is I can’t even talk to Madison about it. Usually, she texts me like a million times during the night, but tonight my phone was oddly silent. It feels like a part of me is missing without Madison.
I’ll have to talk to her tomorrow. Try to make this right.
I hear something tapping against my window. I first I think maybe it’s rain, but then I realize somebody is throwing pebbles against my window. I put down Mr. Penguin and get up to investigate.
Oh my God.
It’s Liam.
He’s standing below my window, wearing a light jacket and jeans. His dark hair is tousled by the wind, and he’s craning his neck to look up at my window. He waves to me and I open the window enough to stick my head out.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
He tosses a pebble in the air and catches it. “Target practice.”
I stare at him.
“I’m just kidding, Olivia. Could you… Can you come down?”
I glance behind me at the clock on my nightstand. It’s a quarter past one. My parents are surely asleep by now, as evidenced by the lack of light coming from underneath my door. They’ll never know if I slip out. And anyway, I’ll be right downstairs. “Okay, I’ll be right down.”
I’m wearing only an oversized T-shirt to sleep in, and there’s no way I’m going outside in that. Instead, I slip on a pair of jeans and a new tank top. And this time, I grab a light jacket because the temperature has dropped precipitously overnight.
Sure enough, my parents’ bedroom door is closed and the light seems to be off inside. I slip past the room, down the stairs, and into the dark kitchen. I unlock the back door and quietly slip outside, making sure not to let the door bang shut.