“Did you know she could do that?” shouted Colin over the crowd.
Forrester shook his head slowly with a wide-eyed expression. His eyes darted back to Olivia while she waited for her turn to step back up in the competition. Jesus could have cracked the skies at that moment, and he still wouldn’t have taken his gaze off the laughing woman. He had doubted his ears when he had been told that she had agreed to be a contestant in the ax-throwing contest. Over the last six days, she had been keeping to herself as she moved through the five acres that held tents, open fields, and hundreds of people that drove for hours to be there. Well, that wasn’t completely true. She had been doing her best to keep away from him.
Since that night in his room, he had been doing his damnedest to engage her in conversation, but to no avail. Olivia would answer him, but no more than that. He had even tried using the grandbabies as an excuse to be alone with her, but that didn’t work either. He had charged into her room holding Brick’s son in one arm and a handful of weeds in the other.
“I think the boy might have hurt himself,” he had said, marching into her room. He hoped the excited way that he had burst into her room would have been enough to make her overlook the fact that he had passed by other people to come to her with this news.
Olivia rolled off the bed and hit the floor to bounce back up on her feet. He hid his smile as she ran over to him and the shocked baby in his arms.
“Are you serious?” she grumbled with a frown.
“I’m not joking. He—”
“Those are weeds, Forrester,” she huffed with a shake of her head. “You grew up in these parts.”
“Aye, but I didn’t commit to memory of every damned blade of grass,” he had replied. “How do you know that it’s not poison?”
Olivia sighed, taking the baby from his arms. “My grandma was a midwife. She taught us about every patch of grass and bloom all over this blasted area.”
Forrester had been struck dumb then, just like he was now, watching his wife swing the ax in her hand while the crowd cheered her on. Her sure steps brought her up to the line. She paused and narrowed her gaze. Someone in the crowd shouted for silence, and the people watching obeyed. He noticed then what her secret was.
Unlike the other men, she bent at the knees to use her weight to propel the heavy weapon. With a swish, the sharpened blade cut through the air to land with a loud thud. His slack jaw expression mirrored Colin’s, Pike’s, Brick’s, and their wives. All three axes had made their marks. His head turned slowly back to Olivia. His blue eyes roamed over her body. She was too busy laughing like a carefree school girl as she happily lowered her head to allow the medal to be slipped around her neck.
He closed his mouth to swallow hard before he turned away. He felt a pain in his heart.
Where the fuck has this woman been all of these years? Why had he been cheated out of the excitement he experienced from her unguarded laughter, and her knowledge of things around him? Why had he had to deal with the empty-headed, socialite fool that had been his wife? It was as if when she had entered into the financial status that she desired, she had left this part of herself behind.
He saw then that he had fallen in love with mere glimpses of this Olivia, only to grow to hate the version she had taken on.
“Fuck it,” he hissed.
He’d had an appointment with the woman that he knew was waiting in his room. She would be able to take away his pains in more ways than one.
It was as if the day had finally risen in Olivia’s life. She paused, tossed back her head, and stared at the sun until the bright orbs of lights that dance in front of her eyes forced her to close them. It had taken her a few days, but she felt as if she had finally awoken. There was joy, peace, and warmth that she had thought she had lost. She felt the pressures she had put on herself to carry for so many years just evaporate under the rays of the Irish sun.
After she had loosened up, so did the people around her that had been giving her the cold shoulder. It was then that she noticed that if she had been, they would have been, to her, as well. If she was willing to laugh, and not take things so seriously, life was more enjoyable. These people didn’t give a damn. All they wanted was fun, good food, a stiff drink, and acceptance. Sure, there were fights, but even after the storm passed, those same people would be laughing and teasing each other as if nothing had just happened.
“You can do that shit later. Come on,” said Saoires.
Not being refused, she dragged Olivia away by her arm.
“Can you believe it? I still got it!” She laughed.
“Yeah, you still brag like always,” her sister teased.
“Where are we going?”
“I know all those people screaming your name has gone to your head, but I want to eat.”
“We don’t have to help in the hall.” Olivia frowned.
“No. You don’t, but I do, and you are helping me,” Saoirse stressed.
Olivia shrugged her shoulders and got to work without a complaint. She gave instructions on how to set up the long tables for those that had been invited to the Great Hall for lunch. It began to fill up with the 200 people that were mostly Forrester’s clansmen, their families, and a few close friends.
She was so focused on her task that she gave no notice to Saoirse’s eyes constantly going to the stairs that lead to the upper parts of the castle. It wasn’t until Brick and Pike entered the Great Hall and signaled for the food to be uncovered to begin the eating did she realize something was off. It was always custom for the Lord—that being Forrester—to give thanks first.
Olivia took care of seating the late comers before she tossed her legs over the bench to take her seat at the head table. She waited until her sons thanked the two girls in charge of serving their table left before she spoke.
“Where’s your Da?” she asked.
Over the last few days, her accent had changed to become heavy and more integrated with slang terms.
Pike didn’t even look up from his plate. Her emerald eyes narrowed as they darted from Pike to Brick, then to be met with a look of pity from Cashmere and anger from Lakyta.
“Alright,” she tried to sound nonchalant, hoping that her accelerated heartbeat couldn’t be heard. “Where is he?”
She turned her gaze on Colin, Angus, and Shamus only for them to stare back at her like a bunch of fools. No longer in the mood, she reached across the table to snatch both of her sons’ plates away.
“I asked you a question. Don’t make me ask you again,” she stated with a cold smile on her flushed face.
Brick looked to Pike for help. With a sigh, he told her. “Da had other arrangements. In his room.”
“We guess the food wasn’t the afternoon delight? That he was craving,” Lakyta added for good measure. She rolled her eyes at the glare Brick gave her.
“Oh,” whispered Olivia.
“That’s why I asked you to help get everything ready. I didn’t want you to see anything,” explained Saoirse at her side.
The lump in Olivia’s throat restricted her from talking. Her response was a robotic nod while she pushed Pike’s and Brick’s plates back across the table. Everyone tried to go back to eating and not look at her down-cast self at the table. Her entire body rocked as she shook her leg in frustration. Her eyes remained locked on an unknown space while she got lost in thought.
Soon, conversation picked up around her. She could hear their voices, but their words and meanings were lost to her. She was a million miles away. The sounds of laughter floating around the room did something to her until she snapped. Like a spring being launched, she lifted her head to find that Colin had been watching her the entire time.
“So, what’s it going to be?” Colin asked out of the blue, causing everyone to look on in confusion.
“The decision.” Olivia smirked.
“Aye, I think so, cailín.”
He watched her get to her feet. Now, it was his time to frown when she didn’t head towards the stairs, but into the kitchen, instead.
“I’m missing something,” remarked Pike. His eyes suddenly grew in size. “Ma! Fuck! Calm down,” he sputtered as he scrambled to his feet.
His excitement caught the attention of those at his table and those near enough to hear and see what was going on. Like a wildfire, everyone in the room froze in mid-chew to gawk in dumbstruck awe as Olivia marched through the Great Hall for the stairs.
“Olivia! No! Your fist. Not…” screamed Colin as he shoved people out of the way that had gotten up to follow her in hopes of seeing her commit cold-blooded murder with the shotgun she held in one hand and the large piece of hickory wood she held in the other.
If Forrester hadn't been enjoying the sensations the woman’s hands on his body was creating within him, he might have questioned the yells and shouts that were so close to his room door. However, that noise had become normal since the games began.
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply of the scented candles she had lit before she had gotten started. He dropped his head in bliss. The first time he had taken the woman up on her offer, he had marveled for days at how skilled she was. She was a fuckin’ pro.
A loud screech tore through the room. Forrester dropped to the floor as if bombs were falling from the sky. He quickly rolled then bounced on his feet. He couldn’t move as his brain fought desperately to process the sight in front of him. It wasn’t the number of people that were fighting for space in his room, but the sight of Olivia.
Her fingers dug into the woman’s hair to drag her back and off the bed. He broke eye contact at the chaos going on at the door. His questioning eyes bore into Colin, Pike, Brick, and Lakyta when they managed to make their way into the room. He opened his mouth to ask what the hell was going on only to be silenced by Olivia.
“I told you to be still,” she fumed menacingly to the woman trying to fight herself loose from her death grip. “Be still!” she shouted into the woman’s face. “No?” she inquired.
A collective gasp that could be heard around the world echoed throughout the room. Olivia dragged the woman to the wall. She began to repeatedly pound her head against the stones until all the struggle left her. Forrester ran across the bed. His voice shouting her name broke her out of her attack.
“Olivia! Livy … stop it.”
She slowly turned her head to face him. A chill ran down his spine at the bloodlust in her eyes.
“Oh, now, it’s Livy?” she questioned with a growl, still holding onto the woman’s dark brown locs. “What happened to bitch? No—it wasn’t that,” she paused with a smirk, taking a step forward. “More like a gold-digging, non-feeling, bitch would fit the bill, right?”
Her eyes stayed locked on his while her boys pried the whimpering woman’s hair from her. Pike flinched due to the handful of hair that his mother still held in her hands. Brick reached for the shotgun with the barrel pointing to the ground that hung over her arm. He quickly jumped back. He threw his hands up in surrender when she jerked away. The sound of the gun closing ricocheted throughout the space.
“Calm down. Let me explain,” begged Forrester in a deep, steady voice.
“Now, you want to treat me like a human being? What did you think would happen? I came to you. I stood right in that spot.” She gestured with her head. “I asked you to please… Please, show me some respect. I know,” she choked on her words. “I know you don’t love me anymore, but you could at least try not to shame me!” she screamed.
Forrester’s mouth fell agape. Now, he understood what was going on.
“You thought we were fuckin’!” he replied in awe.
“Now, you want to make fun of me,” she thundered, training the gun at his chest.
A stillness fell over the entire room as everyone’s hearts came to a stop.
“Take a look around, Olivia. Not, not the candles,” he added quickly. “But the oils.” He pointed as he attempted to reach his enraged wife. “When you came in, the cailín was rubbing my back. Not my front. I tweaked my back out on the field.”
She shrugged, causing his face to fall. He saw that he was in deep shit. He had never seen Olivia at this stage of madness before. She normally just brushed things off, not really caring about the situations. She was too damned self-centered to care.
“I wonder how many bitches that’ve been smiling in my face have you fucked,” she questioned, tilting her head. “The bartender at the party, but who else here has made the infamous list? Come on,” she fumed, turning the gun on the crowd as she backed towards the wall. “Who’s rode the mighty staff of the Lord?” she mocked.
Cries of alarm rung out. The same people that had pushed to gain entry into the room to have a good view were now trying to get out.
“He didn’t fuck anybody,” promised Colin.
“Oh, shut the hell up. I know you’ll say whatever for him.”
“But it’s true. Only that girl. That’s it,” stressed Forrester.
“Bullshit! I saw the two slags in your bed. They were—”
“He lied. Da didn’t even go upstairs. He fell asleep in the chair downstairs,” Pike spoke up.”
Her gaze darted over to her sons.
“Is that really true?” she inquired forcefully, demanding them to answer her.
“Yes,” Lakyta spoke up from her hiding place. “He made you think that, but he didn’t do it. He was just playing a mind game.”
“Why can’t you just say a simple yes, or no? All that extra shit isn’t needed right now,” Brick shot over his shoulder.
“A fuckin’ mind game. With my feelings!” boomed Olivia.
“See!” thundered Brick, upset over the new war path his wife had put his mother on.
“Olivia, please. I’m sorry,” Forrester acknowledged.
“I’ll happily give you want you want, Forrester. You can’t stand me even though I know I’ve changed. Well, okay. I won’t fight you, but I’ll be damned if you make a clown out of me again,” she replied through gritted teeth. “If you’re able to find a bitch brave enough to run around with you, you better do it so I don’t find out,” she warned in an ominous tone. “I’ll fuckin’ kill you and the bitch. I’ll split your ass in two,” she whispered.
Olivia blinked at the slow smile that formed on his handsome face that reached ear to ear. She considered that maybe she wasn’t the only one that had been pushed too far. His goofy expression was making her uneasy.
“I mean it, Forrester.”
“Oh, I know you do, cailín,” he spoke in a deep voice that seemed to have a strange, hidden meaning behind it.
“We all believe you, and we know how good you are with that ax. He’ll never be seen again,” someone in the crowd shouted.
Olivia doubted it was what the person said, but more the relief that no one lost their life that day was the real cause for the laughter in the room and hallway. Forrester narrowed his eyes then hid them under hooded lids while he watched his boys rush to disarm her. She reassured them that she was alright while she shook off their hands.
“Let’s go eat. All this crap got me hungry and thirsty.” She grunted before getting swallowed up in the crowd.
This wasn’t an act, and he knew it. Normally, Olivia would play the victim. She would have gladly indulged in the boys’ sympathy, but she had refused it this time. She didn’t want it because she didn’t need it. Also, she would never have made a scene like that. She would have smiled, played along, and waited to fuss behind closed doors to keep the illusion intact. No, she didn’t give a damn. She didn’t hide.
“Did you see that coming?” asked Colin.
Forrester chuckled while he ran his hand through his hair. “No.”
“Well, she’s stepped up to the plate, and that was some home run.”
“Hum.”
“Now, what’s going be your play?”
Forrester turned deathly serious. “No play.” He saw a worried frown crease Colin’s face. “I’m not Delph, man. Make no mistake; Olivia is mine. I’m going to get my wife and a new life.”