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

Olivia looked at him, her mind whirling. “I know. But I’m sure of it.”

“Not everyone is a Sally.” Broderick kept his voice low, but the words hit home. “You know that, right?”

She exhaled loudly. “I know. But…” She swallowed hard. “I can’t go through something like that again. I just wanted a chance to start again. Somewhere new, where no one knows me—or her. I thought I’d get that here, but it hasn’t worked out how I wanted so far.”

“I get that. But you have to let go of that crap from before. You have to give people a chance to prove they’re not like her rather than immediately suspect they might be.”

She fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I know.” Her voice was small. “But honestly, I don’t think I’m wrong about Chrissy.” She met his steady gaze. “I think she’s plotting something.”

“Well, I obviously hope you’re wrong. But even if you’re right, what can you do about it right now? Without any proof?”

That was true. She could hardly confront Chrissy with it, could she? Chrissy would just deny everything, and Olivia would look even more of a fool. And that was one thing she couldn’t stand. She sighed and pushed away from the desk. “You’re right. Let’s just forget it.”

“You okay?”

“Of course.” Her stomach twisted at the white lie. “Come on, the quicker we do this, the quicker we get to Whole Foods and work out what the hell we’re feeding them all tomorrow.”

Broderick laughed.

“Thank you, Olivia. That was wonderful. And so nice to see what you’ve done with the apartment.” Katherine pulled Olivia into a tight hug.

Olivia returned the hug with as much energy as she could muster. The afternoon had exhausted her. She could never relax when they were here; there was too much that could be found out, or let slip.

Katherine had indeed wanted a full tour of the apartment to see how it looked since her last visit six months prior, and Olivia had breathed a surreptitious sigh of relief that they had taken the time to switch the place around.

The meal had been fine, a selection of fancy salads and cold cuts. They’d eaten out on the balcony, then took coffee at the dining table when the late-July heat became too much. The whole time Olivia had, as usual, been on full alert for everything she said and did, and as they all left, the tension leaked out of her tired body.

“It was lovely to have you here.” Olivia smiled sweetly.

Finally, the three of them exited the apartment, and Broderick shut the door behind them.

Olivia slouched against the wall, waiting for the rumble of the descending elevator before she said, “Oh God, I’m exhausted!”

Broderick chuckled, then wrapped her in a tender embrace. “Thank you,” he murmured against her hair. “You were amazing, as always.”

“You’re welcome.” She looked up at him. “But please, let’s not do this again if we can help it.”

He had the grace to look embarrassed.

“Come on.” She pushed away from him. “Let’s get everything cleaned up, and then I can put my room back together.”

They’d just put away the last of the wedding photos when the phone rang.

Broderick grinned. “That’ll be your boyfriend. He’s the only one who ever calls the landline.”

“Oh, ha ha.” Olivia walked over to the phone and answered.

“Oh, good evening, Mrs. Sinclair.”

“Hello, Mr. Cousins.”

Across the room Broderick smirked and mouthed the words “I told you.”

“I’m so sorry to trouble you, but I’ve had a bad day and—”

“It’s no trouble,” Olivia gently interrupted. Yes, she was extremely tired, but there was no way she would say no. “Is he ready now?”

“He is. If you’re sure?”

“I am. I’ll be right down.”

She hung up and walked to her room. Her T-shirt would be fine, but over her dead body would she be seen out in public in the ratty shorts. Within two minutes, she’d changed into a more respectable pair.

“Want something to drink when you get back?” Broderick asked from his new position slouched on the sectional.

“God, yes. White wine. A very large one.”

Broderick bowed his head. “It shall be so, milady.”

She took the stairs down to the eighth floor, her steps light. Mr. Cousins’s call couldn’t have come at a better time—there was no better way to decompress after the day. She pressed his doorbell a couple of times.

“One moment!” he called through the door.

Three locks turned and the door opened. Mr. Cousins stood braced between the arms of his walker, a smile on his wrinkled face and his eyes bright yet watery. His white hair was thin but perfectly combed over his head. Despite the heat of the day, he wore a sweater vest over his shirt and full-length pants.

“Hello, Mr. Cousins.”

“Good evening, Mrs. Sinclair. Thank you so much for popping down.”

Olivia waved off his gratitude. “No problem.”

Barnaby walked up from behind Mr. Cousins and stood next to his master.

“Hey, Barnaby. Ready for a walk?” Olivia bent at the knees and looked into the dog’s eyes.

Barnaby stared back at her, his disinterest in doing anything right now plainly visible on his face. His eyes bored into hers as if to say, “Do we have to?”

She carefully reached past Mr. Cousins’s walker to grab Barnaby’s leash. “Come on, old man. You can do it.”

Mr. Cousins laughed, the sound raspy. “For a moment there I thought you were talking to me.”

Olivia chuckled as she straightened. “There’s only one old man here, Mr. Cousins, and it’s not you.”

“Sweet talker.” The old man’s eyes twinkled.

“We’ll be back soon.” Olivia tugged on the leash. “I doubt this one will need to go far.”

“That’s very true.” Mr. Cousins looked down at his beloved dog. “See you in a little while, boy.”

Olivia tugged again, and this time Barnaby moved, shambling past her. “Come on, once around the block. You can do it.” Olivia gave Barnaby a big smile.

Barnaby looked less than convinced but slowly followed her toward the elevator.

Chapter 12

“So, what’s on your agenda today?” Carl asked over the top of his breakfast coffee.

“I’m kind of