LITMIR.BIZ

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he said. “This way.” Grabbing Olivia’s hand, he led her through the crowd and together, they hurried to where his BMW was parked. He hit his remote, the doors unlocked, and Olivia was in the passenger seat before he could even think of helping her. In minutes, they were on their way.

      As he drove, he quickly told her a sanitized version of his conversation with his mother. From the way Olivia’s throat worked, he knew what she must be feeling, yet all she said was, “I don’t really care why your mother did what she did...or what she said. I’m just thankful Thea is okay. And I just want to get her and take her home.”

      “I know.” But he also knew when she’d had time to really think about this, Olivia would feel differently. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up forbidding his mother to see Thea again. Hell, if he was in Olivia’s shoes, he might consider moving away from Crandall Lake to put as much distance between her and his mother as she could.

      Even the thought that Olivia might move away made him want to do something terrible to his mother.

      Barely twelve minutes had elapsed since his phone conversation with Vivienne before Matt and Olivia were pulling into the long drive leading to his parents’ stately home. Matt parked in the front turnaround, and again Olivia was out of the car and dashing up the shallow front steps before he managed to get out himself.

      Olivia jabbed at the doorbell, but Matt, who had a key to the house, shoved it into the lock and opened the door himself. The first thing he saw was his mother, looking coolly elegant in tailored black pants paired with a black-and-white geometric top, her expertly colored blond hair in a chin-length style she’d recently adopted. Vivienne was halfway down the curving staircase that led to the second floor. She stopped at their entrance and lifted her head defiantly. Her blue eyes met Matt’s. She ignored Olivia.

      “I’ve come for my daughter,” Olivia said, her voice only betraying a tiny tremor.

      Vivienne turned her icy glare to Olivia. “You’re wasting your time, because I won’t allow you to take her. It’s quite obvious she’s not safe with you, and I can’t have you putting her in danger again.”

      Matt attempted to interrupt her, but she ignored him and kept going. “I’m not surprised, though. I’ve always known you weren’t a fit mother. You’re just lucky I’m the one who found her. That some crazy person didn’t abduct her.”

      “Mother—” Matt stopped, took a deep breath to keep his voice calm in case they could be heard upstairs. “You can’t keep Thea here. Olivia is her mother, and she has every right to take Thea home with her. Now before—”

      “Before what?” his mother said, her voice rising a notch. “Are you going to physically manhandle me? Threaten me? Your own mother? You’d better be careful, Matthew, or I will—”

      Before Vivienne could finish her sentence, Olivia ran to the stairway and pushed past his mother, nearly causing Vivienne to lose her balance, but she managed to grab the banister in time. Matt didn’t hesitate. He, too, went up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He didn’t look at his mother as he passed her. He didn’t trust himself. He couldn’t remember ever being this angry.

      Olivia had already entered the old nursery where both he and Mark, as well as their younger sister, Madeleine, had spent the major part of their childhood. By the time Matt caught up, he sensed rather than saw his mother a few feet behind him.

      Amelia, who had been the Britton family housekeeper since before Matt was born, sat in a child-sized chair as she watched Thea, sitting across from her, happily putting together a puzzle. “I’m sorry, Mr. Matt,” Amelia said, looking up as he entered the room. “But she wouldn’t listen to me when I told your mother she should call Miss Olivia.”

      “I know this isn’t your fault,” Matt said as Olivia, with a cry, ran to Thea. She picked her up and kissed her over and over again.

      “Mommy! Stop!” Thea said, looking at Matt. “Unca Matt!” She tried to squirm out of her mother’s grasp, raising her arms to Matt.

      “Oh, sweetheart! I thought you were lost,” Olivia said. “I’m just so happy you’re not.”

      “I wasn’t lost. Mimi found me.” Mimi was the pet name Vivienne had insisted Thea call her, saying the title of grandmother implied she was old. Matt had rolled his eyes when he heard that one.

      “Good. I must thank Mimi,” Olivia said, still hugging Thea.

      “Mommy, let me down,” Thea said again.

      “We’re taking her home now,” Matt said to his mother, who stood behind him.

      “You’re going to be sorry for this,” Vivienne muttered under her breath.

      Matt knew she was keeping her voice down because she didn’t want to make a scene in front of Thea. Nor did he, and he knew Olivia felt the same way. They might have their issues with his mother, and she might be extremely misguided, but she was still Thea’s grandmother, and Thea loved her Mimi and Poppa.

      “Mommy!” Thea shouted. “I said I want Unca Matt!”

      Olivia, meeting Matt’s eyes, finally let Thea loose, and she ran into his arms. Matt picked her up and held her close. Laughing, she wrapped her little arms around him and snuggled in. If someone had asked Matt how he felt at this moment, he wasn’t sure he would have been able to put his emotions into words. His heart was too full. Right here in this room were the two people in the world who meant the most to him, and somehow, some way, he had to figure out how to keep them both safe forever. But at the present moment, he just needed to get them out of here.

      “Where’s Dad?” he asked his mother as he motioned for Olivia to precede him out of the room.

      “Playing golf,” his mother said coldly. “Where else?”

      “Tell him I’ll call him later.”

      When she didn’t answer, just gave him another icy stare, then turned and walked down the hall toward her bedroom, he sighed and followed Olivia down the stairs and out to the car.

      As Matt drove Olivia and Thea back to the festival to pick up Olivia’s car, he apologized in an undertone for the things his mother had said.

      “Forget it,” she said. “Thea is safe, I have her back, and that’s all that counts.”

      That was the most important thing, yes, but Matt knew there were going to be repercussions to this episode. However, no matter what it cost him, he’d already decided he’d do everything in his power to make sure none of those repercussions affected Olivia. The guilt for this debacle lay at one door, and that door wasn’t hers.

      When they reached Olivia’s car, she thanked him. “I don’t know what I’d’ve done if you hadn’t been with me today. I—I would have put off calling your mother because...” Her voice trailed off.

      “I know.” He wondered how long his mother would have kept Thea without notifying Olivia. He wanted to think she would have relented and done the decent thing, yet would she? Surely, when his father arrived home she would have had to tell him what she’d done.

      But maybe not. Maybe she’d have made up some story and his father would have been none the wiser. It wasn’t as if Thea had never spent the night with his parents. Olivia had been generous, even when his mother had not. That quality—Olivia’s generosity—was one of the many things about her he’d grown to admire.

      “I’ll always be there for you and Thea, Olivia,” he said, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder.

      That brought a smile to her face. “Thanks, Matt. Eve said something similar last night. I’m lucky to have you guys, I know that.”

      Not that lucky, he thought. But he smiled, too. “That’s the Olivia I know. A glass half-full girl.”

      “Yeah, that’s me. A cockeyed optimist.”

      “Nothing wrong with that.”

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