Olivia Dunham was a stone wall. Had been as far back as Rachel could remember. If the emotion wasn't useful, her big sister did away with it, ensuring she always had a clear head. Rachel couldn't remember how many times that fact had pissed her off growing up. She'd been eleven when their mother had died and they went to live with Aunt Missy who, while loving, was never really there. Olivia took up the mantel of caretaker a bit too quickly and a bit too smoothly when all Rachel wanted was her sister. Despite that, they'd always been close and Rachel knew every emotion that Olivia let herself feel.
Jealousy was not one of them.
She noticed the confused pause and slight incredulity Olivia had failed to keep from her voice before handing the phone over, but hadn't thought much of it. It wasn't until after she'd hung up with Peter that she started piecing together what was going on. The sidelong glances, the air of unasked questions in the tension of on her movements. It reminded Rachel of when she'd come home far passed curfew and Olivia was trying very hard to be a sister instead of a mother. A very strong suspicion began forming in Rachel's head as she watched Olivia pretend to relax on the couch sipping from a wineglass.
Peter hadn't told her.
A couple of weeks after she'd first met her sister's charming colleague, she'd ran into Peter at a local bar and they'd ended up hanging out for a while. It was fun. He was gentle and funny and she'd let herself flirt like she was back in high school. She wasn't sure if she wanted to start something so soon after she'd left Greg, but it was certainly a welcome distraction. He'd asked for a couple of childhood stories about Liv and they'd gotten tipsy enough to start singing along to the songs that were playing in the bar laughing at stories the songs reminded them of. Olivia hadn't said anything so Rachel hadn't thought anything of it. But now it was becoming clear that her big sister hadn't known about the beginnings of friendship between her sister and her work partner. And it was obvious that it bothered Olivia at least a little bit.
Was he stupid?
If it bothered her sister enough that she let it show, then obviously Liv wasn't telling her everything. Or more likely wasn't admitting everything even to herself. She thought she knew Peter at least well enough to decide he wasn't trying to be insensitive, so Rachel chalked it up to male stupidity.
Olivia liked him.
It had been a long time since Rachel had seen Olivia warming up to a guy like that. And after what she'd told her about John, well, this was something Rachel did not mind letting her sister have. Liv had taken such good care of her growing up, and now with letting her and her four year old daughter invade her home and her life no matter how often she said she didn't mind in the least… Olivia had made too many sacrifices for her over the years. The least Rachel could do was not get in the way of whatever it was forming between her and Peter.