Chapter Twelve

William came up beside him as Derrick braced himself against the kitchen sink. Was he doing the right thing in chasing after Olivia? So much water had passed under that bridge. What if he was making a mistake? When he’d glanced at Meredith for reassurance, all he’d felt was conflicted. But why? She was doing everything in her power to help him.

“Hey.” William placed a hand on his shoulder. “Want to take a walk?”

“Dunno,” Derrick said, studying the pile of sudsy dishes in the sink. His grandmother had left stuff there from her prep work. A cutting board, a couple of knives, a glass bowl. A whole lot of bubbles.

“You know,” William said, “you can stare into that dishwater all you want, but it’s not going to give you any answers. If you’d like, I can get you some tea leaves?”

Derrick heaved a breath. “William.”

“Look, bro. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but it’s clearly something.”

“I was just fine until yesterday afternoon.”

“Were you, really?”

Derrick shook his head, understanding the answer was no. Olivia’s ghost had haunted him for ten long years. It had taken Meredith pointing that out to make him face it. “I mean, on the surface I was fine. I guess there were other things going on underneath. I didn’t reconcile with those until after Meredith’s media posse showed up.”

William’s eyebrows shot up. “Something tells me that there’s more to this story.”

“Yeah.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

“Maybe.” Derrick wanted to talk to his brother. He really did. The trouble was, he still hadn’t sorted certain things in his own head. Like why he’d freaked so badly when his grandparents started talking about him finding love. That’s what this whole Olivia thing was supposed to be about, wasn’t it? A second chance for him and his ex, best-case scenario?

William nudged his arm. “Come on. The fresh air will do you good.”

“I’m not up for a long walk.”

“Then let’s go check the mail.”

“Grandmother already got it. I saw it sitting on the hall table.”

“Okay,” William said, and Derrick turned to face him. “Then we’ll double-check.”

“Why are you so stinking nice all the time?”

“I’m not. Remember that time I beat you up when you were in the fourth grade?”

“I’d stolen your girlfriend.”

“I broke your front tooth.”

Derrick ran his finger along the cap that looked like the real deal. “Good thing Mom knew a great dentist.”

“Good thing that I forgave you.”

“You? Forgave me?”

William’s eyes twinkled. “For stealing Mary Elizabeth.”

“Who?” Derrick chortled. “Oh, her.”

“We’d better skedaddle,” William said, “before we get roped into doing the dishes.”

“We shouldn’t leave all this for Grandmother.”

William grinned cajolingly. “The others will help.”

Derrick followed William to the front door as Clarita’s voice rose in the dining room. “Oh! Your guesthouse sounds charming. Why, thank you. I’d love to.”

“What did you mean when you mentioned the media?” William asked as they walked toward the mailbox. It was breezy out, with sunlight threading through the blueberry bushes hedging the drive.

“They were after Meredith,” he said. “Or really, a story about her—and me.”

“How did that happen? Last time I checked, you and Meredith Galanes were barely on speaking terms.”

“That’s true, but times have changed.”

“Oh yeah?”

Derrick kicked a pebble with the toe of his boat shoe. “We’re in a position to help each other now.”

“I get how she’s helping you, with Olivia, being a matchmaker and all. But what can you do for her?”

Derrick inhaled sharply, then blew out a breath. He knew William would not take this well. “Pretend to be her fiancé.”

“Oh, no you don’t. No, no, and just no. Derrick,” William said sternly. “Didn’t you learn anything from last summer?”

“This is not that kind of pretending, all right? This has everything to do with her job and her show getting syndicated.”

“Her matchmaker show?”

“Yeah. That one.”

“Color me confused.”

“Meredith was on some interview program and she got asked about her love life. Since she doesn’t have one—”

“She doesn’t?” William interrupted.

Derrick scrubbed a hand over his face and shook his head.

“I would have thought— I mean, a woman as hot as she is.”

A muscle in his jaw tensed. “Watch it.”

“Watch what? I’m just making an observa—” William’s lips tipped up in a grin. “Hang on. Are you into her?”

“Mer? Are you out of your mind? No, I’m not into her,” he said a bit too defensively, in part in an effort to convince himself. Meredith had always rubbed him the wrong way but they had shared that tender moment last summer. And a few other surprising ones this morning in his workshop, too. She’d seemed seriously impressed with his woodworking, and when she’d stared up at him with her big, dark eyes, he’d unnervingly itched to hold her. It was like something in their relationship had shifted—beyond that initial antagonism and into friendship, or perhaps into a more tenuous arena. Which only made things complicated, and Derrick didn’t want complicated.

“The problem is,” he continued, “her not having a boyfriend looked bad for business, so she asked me to go along with the press’s false perception that she and I are an item.”

Derrick told William about the paparazzi showing up, then summarized Meredith’s arrival and him and her cutting their deal.

“How does the aunt fit in?”

Derrick rolled his eyes. “Mer’s very conservative parents worried about her staying alone with me, so they sent Titi Clarita to chaperone.”

William belly laughed at this. “But now she’s staying here?” He winked. “Nice move.”

“Mer and I don’t need chaperoning,” Derrick grumbled. “We’re working together on our plan. That’s it.”

“Your Olivia plan.” William set his chin and thought on this. “Right,” he said, like he was finally accepting it. Well good. Derrick needed all the support he could get.

They reached the road and the fluttering ivory pennant with the name Albright on it suspended from a post above the mailbox. Derrick checked it as a matter of course and, naturally, it was empty.

William shrugged. “Maybe we’ll have better luck tomorrow.”

“Suit yourself. I won’t be here tomorrow.”

“No? Where will you be?”

“Making arrangements with Meredith.”

“Ah.” William studied him sadly. “I’m sorry, Derrick. I really am. I didn’t know about Olivia. Didn’t realize you hadn’t fully let that go.”

“Do you think she’d consider giving us another chance?”

“I guess you’ll never know unless you try.” William mulled things over as they walked back toward the house. “So, who exactly believes that you and Meredith are engaged?”

“The paparazzi, social media…that kind of thing. This is all part of a show for the public and her network. A very short-term show. That’s the deal that Mer and I made. Ten days or bust. Unless she hears something about her syndication deal sooner, and she’s thinking she might. After this weekend, we’ll probably at least have an inkling about how it’s going between Olivia and me.”

“So, until then, you’re staying together—in very close quarters—at your cabin.”

“Don’t even think it.” Derrick cocked an eyebrow. “She’s on the sofa bed.”

William held up both hands. “I wasn’t thinking a thing!”

“Uh-huh.”

His brother chuckled as they approached the house where Sofia stood on the porch, cradling Julia in her arms. The baby gave a little yawn like she was newly awake. “There you guys are!”

“We were checking the mail,” William said.

“But didn’t…?” Sofia shook her head, and then said, “Never mind.” She spoke to Derrick. “Meredith told me about the media mess, her contract. Everything. She also really believes that you and Olivia deserve another shot. And, honestly? I do, too. So, I’ve made up my mind. I mean, if it’s fine with William.”

William smiled with his eyes, apparently reading his wife, and she nodded.

“We’d love to invite Olivia to the christening,” Sofia said.

Anxiety settled in his gut.

He should be happy, right? Ecstatic.

And he was. He just wasn’t feeling it yet.

Probably due to shock. And also the uncertainly.

His excitement would take over once Olivia confirmed.

“But, you know Derrick, she still might not come.”

“Yeah, I do. Thanks, Sofia,” Derrick said. He patted William’s shoulder. “Thanks to you both.”

“Oh, don’t thank me,” Sofia said. Her dark eyes twinkled. “Thank Meredith. She’s the one who talked me into it.”