Olivia stood with George in the lane watching as Julia pulled her red Chevrolet Sonic up to the front of the buttercup-yellow Cape Cod on Primrose Lane. With her inky black curls escaping from beneath a red hood that framed her heart-shaped face, Julia gave them an excited wave. George cautiously returned Julia’s wave with a small pucker at the bridge of her upturned nose.
“Julia owns Books and Beans and dresses up for children’s story hour. It looks like she’s Little Red Riding Hood today. We’ll stop by this week and buy you some books,” Olivia said, while Julia practically skipped toward them with a big wicker basket on her arm.
“Good morning, George and Olivia! You have an absolutely gorgeous day for the big move. Are you excited?” she asked, looking from George to Olivia with a sweetly infectious grin.
“So excited!” Olivia said with fake enthusiasm. She didn’t want to dampen Julia’s obvious pleasure. She’d worked hard to make this deal happen. The older woman who’d owned the home hadn’t planned on selling for another couple of years. Because of that, Olivia estimated that she’d paid twenty thousand dollars above market value. But she couldn’t blame Julia for making what Olivia’s father would have seen as an unwise investment.
Two weeks before, Olivia would have done whatever it took to seal the deal. Over the past few days with some deep soul searching and a plethora of self-help books, she’d come to realize Finn had turned into her drug of choice. He was her antianxiety pill, a glass of Chardonnay, and a box of chocolates all rolled into one ridiculously gorgeous package.
Just being in his presence soothed her, calmed her. It’s why she would run to the clinic at any excuse. She needed him to tell her everything would be okay, and she believed him. Just like she had the night he’d told her he would have made the same choices for Cooper’s treatments as she had. He had no idea how much that meant to her. Still, this wasn’t healthy for any of them. It was a lot of pressure to put on Finn and, despite his reassurances, she didn’t want to turn George into a hypochondriac.
So, for a woman who was doing her best to wean herself off her drug of choice, living next to the clinic was not the ideal situation. It was like a reformed chocoholic living next door to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Obviously, she was a glutton for punishment because she still hadn’t worked up the nerve to tell him he couldn’t be her fake boy toy anymore.
Even harder than that was to know that she should have zero contact with the man for this to work. It was probably a symptom of withdrawal, but the thought made her sad. Because when she wasn’t using him as her security blanket, she really liked to be with him, and not only because he was pretty to look at.
“Are you okay?” Julia asked.
“Yes, of course. It’s just that I didn’t expect to settle in Harmony Harbor.” It was true. She’d been hiding out here. She’d never given any thought to what she’d do once the truth came out.
George must have picked up on something because she said, “I like it here. I like this house best. Your other house is too big, and the ghost lives at the manor.”
Olivia ruffled George’s hair and smiled. “I do too. It’s perfect for the two of us.”
George gave her the gap-toothed smile she saw more frequently with each passing day. “Three when you and Finn get married.”
Olivia waited for the conspiratorial wink. There wasn’t one. Fig Newton, George had been spending time with Kitty and the Widows Club. Had she caught matchmakingitis?
“Maybe it’s a good thing there’s three bedrooms just in case a little Davenport-Gallagher comes along.”
Olivia stared at Julia. What was wrong with the woman? She knew that Olivia and Finn were in a fake relationship. They’d been spending a lot of time together during house negotiations, and Olivia had spilled the beans. She trusted Julia. Well, she had up until now.
“I’m thinking of turning the third bedroom into an office.” Noting the disappointed expressions on both George’s and Julia’s faces, she said, “I’m thirty-eight. I’m too old to have a baby.” In case there was room for George to take that the wrong way, she added, “Besides, I have George. I don’t need any more children.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Olivia worried that she’d overstepped. Isabella hadn’t been gone long. She didn’t want George to think she was trying to take her mother’s place. But she seemed fine and was soon distracted by the sounds of a disturbance on the other side of the lane.
George stepped through a bed of yellow primroses to peek through a knot in the white fence. She drew back, her blue eyes wide. “Sophie’s granny and the old doctor are kissing.”
Julia and Olivia exchanged a look. From the way Kitty had been talking, she and Dr. Bishop were an item. Olivia joined George at the fence and peeked through the knothole. Julia found one beside them and did the same. The older couple were kissing all right.
Julia sighed and then whispered, “I haven’t been kissed like that in forever. I really need to get out more.”
Not long ago, Finn had kissed Olivia like that. She should have let herself enjoy it more. There would be no kissing in her future if she followed through with her plan. She took George by the hand and together they jumped over the border of flowers.
When Julia rejoined them in the middle of the lane, George looked up at her and said in a serious little voice, “Maybe no one kisses you because you’re pretending to be someone else. You don’t want the big bad wolf to kiss you. I think he bites.”
Out of the mouths of babes, Olivia thought, but George might have a point. “Well, I for one am glad she’s pretending to be Little Red Riding Hood today because I smell something delicious in her basket.”
Julia touched George’s cheek. “You’re a wise little girl. And Olivia has a very good nose. I have some welcome-to-your-new-home presents for you both.”
“Julia, you didn’t have to do that. We wouldn’t have the house without you,” Olivia protested as Julia lifted the red linen square from the top of the basket. “Okay, forget I said anything. You can’t take your gift back. This is amazing. Isn’t it amazing, George?”
George nodded, her eyes saucer-wide. The basket was filled with chocolates, fruits, cupcakes, two bottles of wine, children’s books, and adult’s books, with not one self-help book in sight.
Olivia raised an eyebrow at Julia. “Umm, why have we never read this at book club?” She held up a paperback. The cover was black and bronze with raised red lettering over half a man’s chiseled face and sensuous lips. The book was Warrior’s Kiss by J. L. Winters.
Julia’s creamy white cheeks pinked. “It has a fantasy element, and it’s, ah, spicy. I wasn’t sure how the Widows Club would feel.”
“You did just see how I reacted, didn’t you? I think they’d love it. Looks like the perfect beach read to me. Why don’t you pick it for next month?”
“I don’t know. I can just imagine what Byron would say.”
Byron Harte was the only male in their book club. He reported on their monthly meetings in the Gazette. “What do you care? It’s not as if you wrote…” She looked from Julia to the book. Julia Landon’s fiancé had been Josh Winters. It couldn’t be a coincidence. “J. L. Winters is you, isn’t it?” She didn’t have to lower her voice because George had taken an apple and was checking out the backyard.
“Yes, but please don’t say anything to anyone.”
“Why? This is so cool.” She hugged the book to her chest. “Now I really can’t wait to read—”
“Livy!” George screamed from the backyard.
“Oh God.” She dropped the book and ran. As she rounded the corner of the house, she saw George standing between a mangy black and gold dog and a bunny with a bloody paw.
“He was trying to eat the bunny, Livy.”
Olivia’s eyes dropped to the hand George was cradling. “Did he bite you?” she asked, doing her best to keep the fear from her voice. George nodded, and Olivia’s knees went weak. No panicking, she told herself. She was here now, and that dog wasn’t getting anywhere near George again.
“Okay, you just back up real slow, sweetheart,” she said quietly, although the dog had barely taken his eyes from his prey. She looked for signs he was rabid, but other than foaming around the mouth—which he wasn’t—she didn’t know what else to look for. He was obviously starving; his ribs were clearly visible.
The bunny moved, and the dog snarled. Behind her, Julia sucked in a harsh breath. “Julia, hand me two of the vanilla cupcakes.” Once Olivia had the cupcakes in hand, she said, “George, I want you to slowly move toward Julia. Once you reach her, both of you run to the clinic.”
“No, he’ll hurt the bunny. I’ve gotta get the bunny.”
“Shush, boy, good boy,” Olivia said, trying to get the snarling dog’s attention. She threw a piece of cupcake in the grass beside him. “I promise, I’ll get the bunny. Go, go now.” She relaxed a little once Julia got George safely away. Now it was just her, a possibly rabid dog, and a bunny she’d promised to save.
Finn was enjoying a nice chat with Mr. Taylor. Sherry’s comment last week had made him think about how he was handling his patients, and he’d asked the older man to come in today for a follow-up. There was nothing more that Finn could do for the ninety-four-year-old. Everything that could be done to keep him comfortable was being done, but sometimes just having someone to shoot the breeze with helped. Now that word he and Liv were an item had gotten out, the daily number of patients he had to see had reached a manageable level.
“I appreciate you sorting out my pills for me, Doc. This little doodad should help,” the older man said, holding up the plastic pill box dispenser with the days of the week written on each box, along with a.m. and p.m.
“Anytime, that’s what I’m here for, Mr. Taylor. I think—”
He broke off at Sherry yelling, “No, you get back here right now, missy. Just because he’s dating…”
“I better check—” Finn began as he heard the sound of running feet and doors opening and closing.
The exam room door banged opened. “Finn, Livy is trying to save the bunny from the dog. He’s gonna eat her.”
Red Riding Hood and Sherry showed up at the same time, jostling for position in the doorway. “Finn, Olivia…” Julia pushed off her hood and glared at Sherry. “Stop pushing me. Finn, Olivia is trying to rescue a bunny from being eaten by a dog with a cupcake.”
He headed for the door. “Call Animal Control, Sherry. You two, show me—”
“I don’t believe this. You have patients. You can’t just take off whenever your girlfriend…” Sherry made a high-pitched, aggravated sound in her throat and then yelled, “If you step one foot out that door, I quit!”
Finn didn’t have time to process what she’d said because, just as he reached the door, he happened to notice George protecting her hand. “Did the dog bite you?”
His grandmother walked into the clinic, carrying what smelled like oatmeal and raisin cookies, a favorite of Doc Bishop’s. “Finn, darling, what’s going on?”
“I can’t talk now, Grams, but can you take George back to an exam room? See if you can talk Sherry into cleaning her hand. She was bitten by a dog.”
“Who, Sherry?”
“No, George. If Sherry won’t do it, clean George’s hand with warm soapy water, and I’ll be back to take care of it.”
“Don’t be silly. Kyle can take care of George. Come on, darling, let’s go find Dr. Bishop.”
Julia made a small squeak of dismay a second before George said, “He’s out in the backyard kissing Sophie’s granny.”
“What? No, you must be mistaken. When did you—”
“Grams, not now. Where’s Liv, Julia?”
“In the backyard next…”
He was out the door before she finished. George, Julia, and his grandmother chasing after him. Grams, who hadn’t stopped asking questions, started yelling for Rosa and Kyle. Thankfully, both his brothers and their wives pulled up to the curb in a moving van at the same time the side gate opened and a disheveled Rosa and Doc Bishop appeared.
Any thoughts of his grandmother were wiped from his head when he reached the backyard. Liv was crouched down talking to the dog with a cupcake in her hand when the animal lunged, sending her sprawling on her back.
“He’s killing my Livy! He’s killing my Livy!” George cried hysterically.
Finn stood in Olivia’s backyard giving her the evil eye while she tried to sweet talk Animal Control into letting her keep the dog. The dog that had tried to eat her, the rabbit, and George. “Crazy-ass woman.”
“Tell me you could resist George if she looked at you with her big blue eyes and begged you not to let them put the dog down,” Liam said, nodding to where George sat in the grass with the dog’s head on her lap and the bandaged bunny in the box beside her. “And who says they’re going to put the dog down in front of a kid anyway?”
“I’m sure the guy thought she’d be cheering since said kid had been bitten by the dog and was crying hysterically not ten minutes before that the dog was going to eat her Livy. But no, she’s as crazy as the woman she lives with.”
Liam patted his shoulder. “You got a scare when you saw the dog knock Olivia down and pounce on top of her, didn’t you?”
Scare? He’d been terrified he wouldn’t get to her in time. “Ah, yeah, wouldn’t you? I thought she was crying, not laughing. And I thought he was eating her face, not licking it.”
“Guess the saying The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach holds true for dogs too.”
“Nice, real nice. Does someone want to tell me why I got stuck breaking up Grams and Rosa while you two stand here shooting the breeze?” Griff asked.
“You’re the oldest. Besides, what would you rather have dealt with, Rosa and Grams or a rabid dog?” Finn said.
“Are you seriously even asking me that? I’d deal with ten rabid dogs over those two. I’ll tell you one thing though. I sure wouldn’t want to be in Doc Bishop’s shoes right now.” The door of the clinic slammed, and the three of them turned. “Or yours from the looks of it.”
Kerry and Sherry marched down the lane and smashed papers into Finn’s chest. “We quit!”
“Look, ladies, I understand it’s been kind of crazy at the clinic since I started, but I’m sure we can—”
They both crossed their arms. “If you want us to stay, your girlfriend has to go,” Sherry said.
Now that he was off the market, the two of them had become increasingly dissatisfied at work.
Liv glanced over her shoulder, met his eyes, and nodded. He couldn’t believe it. She was seriously trying to break up with him now? He shook his head. She nodded more emphatically and mouthed yes. “No!” Okay, so that actually came out of his mouth.
Kerry and Sherry, presuming he was responding to them, stormed off. But not without getting in the last word. “Good luck trying to replace us!”
Liv looked at him like he was a recalcitrant schoolboy. She shook the guy from Animal Control’s hand and walked over to pat the dog and hug George.
“She bribed you, didn’t she?” Finn said to the twentysomething guy.
The tips of his ears pinked as he fast-walked to his truck. “I really can’t talk to you about it, sir.”
“How much?” Finn called after him.
“Oh, no money was exchanged.” The kid turned to smile at someone behind Finn. “See you next Monday at nine, Olivia. Thanks.”
Griff glanced from Liv, who was no longer smiling, to Finn’s unsmiling face. “Okay, maybe we should give Olivia and Finn some time alone, go help the girls unpack the kitchen stuff,” Griff said to Liam.
“You go ahead. I’d rather stay out here and watch—”
Griff grabbed Liam by the arm and dragged him to the back door, waving George into the house.
Finn crossed his arms. “Okay, let me get this straight. You were breaking up with me so you could date him? The guy barely looks like he’s out of puberty.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. First, we’re not really dating so I have no reason to break up with you, and second, we’re not going on a date. He follows the manor on Facebook and liked one of my garden DIY projects Sophie featured. He asked if I’d mind helping him with his.”
“You expect me to believe that a woman who is a gazillionaire does DIY projects?”
“I’m not a gazillionaire, and yes, I enjoy doing DIY projects. I don’t know why you have such a skewed perception of people with money, but it’s annoying. So please keep your opinions to yourself. And just FYI, I’m no longer your girlfriend.” She turned to walk off.
“All right, I’m sorry for being a jerk. Please don’t break up with me. If not for me, for the sake of the good people of Harmony Harbor. My patients today were actually there to see me as a doctor and not marriage material. Just give me a couple more weeks.”
“Fine. But only because Sherry and Kerry indirectly quit because of me.”
“Thank you. We have an audience.” He nodded at the side window. “I should probably kiss you.” There wasn’t anyone in the window; he just wanted an excuse to kiss her. He tried to convince himself the reason for that wasn’t because he’d been scared when he saw what he thought was the dog eating her face. Or that it had been the kind of fear you feel for someone who means a lot to you.
“No, you shouldn’t.”
“You don’t have to be so cross.” He grinned when she gave him a look, and then he and put his arm around her. “So when did you plan on telling me we were going to be next-door neighbors?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t know if the owner would accept the offer. Everything happened really fast once she did.”
For some reason, Liv didn’t seem too happy about that. He wasn’t sure if it was because she now owned a home in Harmony Harbor or if it had something to do with her proximity to him. Which wouldn’t bode well for his next question if that was the case. “Since you admit you are indirectly responsible for the clinic being short one receptionist and a nurse, any chance you’d play secretary for me?”