A Heart to Trust by A.L. Brooks (romantic books to read txt) 📗

Katherine allowed him to carefully pull her to her feet, her expression sad. “Oh, that’s a shame. This has been lovely, having everyone here once more.”

“It has.” Broderick pulled her into a gentle embrace. “And we’ll do it again soon, I promise. Right after I get back from Virginia. Maybe at our place next time?” He looked over his shoulder at Olivia, who could do nothing but smile in agreement, of course, even while inside she groaned at the suggestion.

“Hey, that sounds great!” Mallory chimed in. “We haven’t seen your place in so long.”

And there’s a reason for that. Husband, I’m going to kill you when we get home.

“Well then, let’s make it happen, shall we?” Olivia wondered if any of them heard her teeth grind.

“I’m sorry,” Broderick said the minute the cab door closed. He turned to her as the driver pulled them away from the sidewalk. “It just slipped out and—”

“For God’s sake! You know how much work that takes, and of course, you won’t be here so I’ll be the one doing it all.” Olivia glared at him.

He held up his hands. “I know, I know. I just… She was so sad. I hate lying to her about kids, and about leaving so soon today and…”

Olivia sighed and released her anger. She knew it wasn’t about him. It was this damn situation they’d created for themselves. “I know. Me too.” She pursed her lips. “It’s getting harder. I thought it would get easier, but…”

Broderick pushed his hand through his hair. “I’ll make an excuse, tell them something’s wrong at the apartment. Put them off.”

She shifted in her seat. “No, don’t. It’s not that much work to turn the place back into a pretend married couple’s realm.”

“Do you still think we need to bother? I mean, last time they only saw the living area, which didn’t take a lot to make it look like we both used it.”

“True. But at the same time, we slipped up at Philip’s charity gala last month, talking about redecorating the guest room. As in, my room. You know your mom will remember that and want to see what we did.”

“Oh crap, we did, didn’t we? Why does she have to have the memory of a goddamn elephant?”

She threw him a weak smile. “It’ll be okay. We can just move some of my things into the living room, hide the rest, and she’ll be none the wiser. Don’t cancel the invite—we’re telling enough lies, don’t you think?”

He said nothing, but his sad expression told her everything.

Olivia pulled her phone from her purse and opened her calendar app. “Okay, your race is Saturday the twenty-fifth. Invite them over the following Saturday. I’ll try to get home early on Friday to take care of the apartment.” She looked at him over the top of the screen. “But I’m not cooking too, okay? It’s Whole Foods or takeout.”

Broderick grinned sheepishly. “Deal.”

Chapter 6

On Monday morning, Jenny lingered outside the C&V offices, gazing up at the imposing edifice. Every nerve in her body stood at attention. She was off kilter; her entire routine had been upended in only a couple days. For starters, she’d had to get up fifteen minutes earlier as C&V were farther downtown than TC. She’d also had to figure out a new subway route into the city from her apartment and where to buy herself a breakfast. Thankfully, she’d discovered a bagel shop a block from the station nearest the office. Yay for bagels.

So, here she was, outside the building, her bagel bag clutched tightly in one hand, and her feet wouldn’t move.

Come on! So it’s a new building. And a new job. And a whole new lot of people to get to know. It’s no big deal. Really.

She tried to shake out her shoulders and rolled her neck a couple of times.

“Hey! I thought that was you!” a voice said from somewhere to her right.

Jenny turned to find Chrissy, she of the big hair and big smile, stood next to her. “Oh! Hey.”

Chrissy’s smile widened even more to goofy proportions. Her red lipstick glowed in the morning sunshine. “Not sure where to go, huh?” She tilted her head and her expression filled with sympathy and concern.

“No, I’m not.” Sure, let her think that.

To Jenny’s surprise, Chrissy hooked her arm though hers and tugged. “Come on, new colleague. I’ve got your back!”

Unable to help cheering up at Chrissy’s all-round perkiness, Jenny allowed herself to be pulled to the entrance.

A few minutes later, Jenny stood in front of her new work space. Chrissy had barreled her through security down in the lobby. She had her pass on a lanyard around her neck, had already been introduced to the C&V receptionist, and had been shown where the washrooms and coffee machine were. Her head spun.

“So, this is you!” Chrissy pointed at a small desk that sat pushed up against another of equal size. Both desks looked as if they’d just about take a laptop and coffee mug and not much else. “And opposite will be Maxwell.” She stepped over to two larger desks situated a few feet away. They each had what seemed like acres of space. “And this is me and Olivia.”

Both Chrissy and Olivia’s desks held laptop docking stations, neat piles of paperwork, some folders, and a few personal items on display.

Jenny gazed at the amount of free space that still remained on each. “That’s, um, great.” She looked back at the tiny desk she was expected to use.

“Your stuff’s arrived, it seems.” Chrissy pointed to a box on the floor.

Jenny recognized her handwriting on the top. “Yep, that’s mine.”

“Well, great! I’ll let you get your desk all set up. Our meeting with Derek is in half an hour, okay?”

That was something Jenny did know. “Yes, all good.”

“Great! Hey, you want a coffee?”

“I’d love one. Just long and black, please.”

“Got it!” Chrissy beamed at her and strode away.

Jenny exhaled.

Chrissy was super nice but a little