Two
After work, her boss’s words sent Olivia to her best friend’s house. A friend who just happened to be Brady’s sister. Now she sat on Maggie Potter’s comfortable sofa in the cozy, spacious log cabin home where Maggie lived with her infant daughter, Danielle, after her husband was tragically killed in Afghanistan. Danny had built this place for her and it was where they’d planned to spend the rest of their lives and raise their family. That was before his Army National Guard unit had been called up and deployed to Afghanistan, where he was killed by a roadside bomb, leaving his pregnant wife a heartbroken widow.
Maggie was a petite brunette with big brown eyes that now always seemed a little sad. After Danny’s death Olivia had tried to be there for her friend as much as possible and had insisted on a weekly girls’ night out. After baby Danielle was born, Olivia brought dinner to the house so the little girl wasn’t left out of the female ritual. But tonight the toddler had gone to bed early, worn out from a play date.
Olivia scooted forward and took her glass of Merlot from the coffee table where it sat by the pizza box. “I have something to tell you,” she said.
“Gossip?” Maggie’s brown eyes gleamed with undisguised feminine interest. “Please tell me it’s juicy. There hasn’t been any good buzz since Emma Robbins came to town, got a job as nanny to Justin Flint’s little boy, then announced she was the long-lost daughter of Michelle and Alan Crawford.”
Olivia grinned, remembering the sensational events. “Don’t forget the part where she and Justin fell in love and are now engaged to be married.”
“I couldn’t have said it better.” Maggie put her paper plate with the half-eaten slice of pizza on the ottoman in front of her. “So, what’s the scoop?”
“This isn’t gossip or even buzz. If you haven’t heard about it already, you will soon and this news should come from me.”
“You’re not sick, are you?”
“No.” She hadn’t meant to be so melodramatic. This woman had lost the love of her life and didn’t need another scare. “I’ve never felt better. Have you talked to your brother?”
“Not for a few days.” The frown eased, but only a little. “Just spit it out. What’s going on and how is Brady involved?”
“I gave him my notice. I’m quitting and moving away from Blackwater Lake.”
Maggie looked shocked, but not alarmed. “Where are you going?”
“California. A friend from college is going to start a tech business and offered me an upper management job.”
“I see.” Maggie smiled sadly. “So you’re really going to quit this time?”
“Third time is the charm.” Olivia wasn’t sure she could pull off a this-is-good-news face, so she took a sip of wine instead.
“What makes you think Brady can’t talk you into staying? Just saying...past history and all.”
Cradling her wineglass in her hands, Olivia said, “That’s the thing. I didn’t plan to say it. The words just slipped out.”
“What words?”
“He was so smug. So confident that I didn’t mean what I said.”
Maggie’s full lips curved up. “So, my brother’s management style remains exactly the same and he’s taking you for granted.”
Maybe it was guilt about the lie, but Olivia felt compelled to defend him. “He’s a really good boss. Generous compensation and a comprehensive benefits package for his employees. Bonuses. Working conditions are good.”
“And yet you’re determined to leave,” her friend pointed out, looking puzzled.
“I have to.”
Olivia shared everything with Maggie—except about Brady. Once after a night out with Sydney McKnight she’d had her friend drop her at Brady’s house and had every intention of confessing that she cared for him. Two glasses of wine later, she’d fallen asleep on his couch without spilling the beans. Later, she’d realized that was for the best. If he couldn’t return her feelings honestly, she didn’t want him to know how she felt.
Maggie sat forward in the chair. “So, what were the words that just slipped out?”
Olivia met the other woman’s gaze. “I told Brady I met a man, fell in love and I’m quitting. That I have to move away to be with him.”
“Wow, that’s a pretty big lie. I hope it wasn’t National Honesty Day or anything.”
“Me, too. That would probably send me deeper into the pit of hell than I already am.” Olivia took another sip of wine. “I feel awful about it, Mags, but like you said, he has this way about him. Some kind of powerful charisma that completely obliterates a person’s will even when they’d made up their mind about the best thing to do.”
“A person.” Maggie slid back and tucked her legs up beside her in the chair. “Hmm...”
“What does that mean?”
Instead of answering the question, Maggie said, “Did you notice that I never asked why you’re leaving Brady?”
It must be a sibling thing, she thought, remembering his all-about-me response to her two weeks’ notice. “I’m not leaving him. I just won’t be working for his company any more.”
“Okay.” Maggie used her exaggeratedly patient voice. “I didn’t ask before, but I am now. Why did you quit?”
“It’s time. This job offer came up...” She shrugged.
“Maybe it’s because you have feelings for him.”
“Of course I do,” she said, trying to make light of it. “He’s a terrific boss. And sort of like an honorary brother, through my association with you.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Maggie scolded. “You think I don’t see the way you look at him when you think no one’s watching? A woman who’s known that feeling can easily see it in someone else.”
Olivia recognized the knowing expression in her friend’s eyes. “You never said a word.”
She lifted a shoulder. “It’s your business. As your good friend, I stood ready to help if and when you wanted to talk about it.”
“I wanted to tell you.” She reached over and squeezed her friend’s hand. “But I was afraid it would put you in the middle and didn’t want to chance that Brady would find out. You wouldn’t mean to say anything, but stuff has a way of slipping out. Then things get awkward. If you didn’t know, everyone is protected.”
“Everyone but you, Liv.”
“So you and I are okay?”
“Of course. Pinkie swear.”
Olivia held up the correct finger and hooked her friend’s. “Thanks, Mags.”
“Don’t
