A/N: How are you doing? How are your family and friends? I know from the analytics the site gives me that my stories are read by people in wildly different countries. I hope wherever you are that you, your family, your friends, and your community are as well as possible. I've been living and working at my home full time since March and will be for the foreseeable future. I hope you'll understand with all the uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, this story fell off my radar. I can't promise regular updates like I was doing before March, but please trust that this story has a path to an ending and it will eventually be completed. Stay safe and wear a mask.
(See the first chapter for disclaimer, notes, spoiler, etc.)
Chapter Twenty-Three: "You Tonight"
Casey
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he swung the car into his assigned space in Liberty's garage and parked. Next to him, Allie immediately took off her seatbelt and moved to open the passenger door. "What's the rush?" he asked.
She glanced over, her long strawberry-blonde hair whipping over her shoulder. "I have to get up to Nana's office. She's got this all-day meeting with a group of MBA students. They're all women. They're getting a tour of the radio station and then Liberty. Nana has to answer all their questions while they eat lunch in the theater. No breaks."
He bit back a smirk, listening to her regurgitate Olivia's frustration. "She couldn't cancel it?"
She shook her head. "Nope. The program's coordinator said that Nana was supposed to do it in March, but they couldn't reschedule it again because this group of students move on to another something-or-other in July."
Olivia had cleared her entire calendar after Gregory died and it was only recently getting brought back to life. He nodded and reached out, running his hand over her hair. "Well, it should be a good learning opportunity for you, right?"
She rolled her eyes and squirmed away in the passenger seat. "Yeah. Right," she replied sarcastically. "Working in an office and hanging out with a bunch of thirty-year-old graduate students is exactly how I wanted to spend my last few weeks of freedom."
She scoffed as she climbed out of the car and he followed suit. "Mom and I don't want you bumming around the house before you leave for Arizona State." She rolled her eyes as she buttoned her navy blazer and followed him to the lobby that connected the parking garage to the Liberty building. "Besides, I thought you said interning in Nana's office was better than our original plan, which was to have you in my office."
"Oh, a thousand percent better," she grumbled. "Nana's at least fun to spend the day with and we have really nice lunches."
He ignored the knife-to-his-heart comment as he pressed the button for the elevator. He wasn't fun enough to spend the day with anymore. His kid didn't want to work with him. When he turned back to her, she was already looking down at her iPhone, typing furiously on the virtual keyboard. "Who's that so early in the morning?"
"Evy," she muttered. "She and I were supposed to get lunch today, but I have to be at the student thing with Nana. Maybe Nana will let me escape for 30 minutes." She turned off the screen and dropped the phone back into her shoulder bag. He opened his mouth to say something when her face fell and she asked in a quiet voice, "Do you think Evy and Nana will ever make up?"
He stepped closer and reached out, wrapping his arm around her. Unsurprisingly, she didn't flinch and move away, insisting that 18-year-olds didn't need to be babied. Instead, she leaned into him, burrowing into the nook between his arm and chest. "Of course they will," he murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"Ah, Casey, good morning!"
The moment was short-lived and they looked up as AJ strode into the lobby. "Good morning, AJ." He felt Allie step away as he – reluctantly – reached for AJ's extended hand. "I don't think you've met my oldest daughter, Allie."
AJ looked over, a charming smile on his face as he reached for Allie's hand and kissed her knuckles. "A pleasure to meet you, young lady. I believe we've spoken on the telephone when I've called Olivia's office." A tight smile curled her mouth, but her lips never parted as she pulled her hand back. A moment later, he felt himself grimace as he heard AJ continue, "I must tell Olivia it's long overdue for me to meet the rest of your family. After all, I've only met your younger half-sister."
Half-sister. He cleared his throat as Allie turned to him, openly gaping, and he said, "Be careful what you wish for, AJ. We all inherited Gregory's temperament."
AJ's chuckle sounded strained and he noticed Allie looked down at her phone. "It's Nana. She's waiting for me at the front entrance. We're leaving for the radio station."
"Better hurry then. Don't make her wait," he said, surprised when Allie leaned up and kissed his cheek.
"Will Olivia be back for lunch?"
He watched as Allie glanced over her shoulder, seemingly pleased to say, "No. We're in meetings all day. Sorry."
As AJ moved to reply, he called out, "Have a good day, sweetie!" She rolled her eyes as she pushed through the heavy security door and stepped outside, following the sidewalk around to the front of the building where Olivia waited. "Teenagers, you know?" he sighed, elbowing AJ conspiratorially.
"No, I don't. It's been decades since I was a teenager."
The elevator bell rang and the doors opened, filling the uncomfortable silence. What was he supposed to say in response to that? They stepped in and he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket as AJ cleared his throat. Allie's text message glared in the dim space and he angled his phone away. Hes a CREEPER was followed by a series of vomiting and angry face emoji.
"Casey," he heard AJ begin and he tucked the phone back into his pocket, "how has Olivia seemed to you?"
"In what way?" It was impossible to miss the way AJ's voice had dropped, as if they were standing in a crowd and he was concerned for privacy. One might almost mistake it for concern. Almost. But the abrupt change in tone allowed him to question the sincerity of the question AJ asked.
With a grave sigh, AJ turned to him and took a step closer. "Since her breakdown," he replied gravelly.
His stomach flipped. "HER WHAT?" he exclaimed as the elevator dinged. He cleared his throat as the sleek silver doors slid open.
"I've been most concerned," AJ continued as he followed him off the elevator. They stood facing each other in the vestibule of Liberty's executive floor. "I watch her closely when we're together and I fear she's sinking into a decline."
"Wait, what?" he repeated, disbelief flooding through the suddenly tense muscles of his body. "What breakdown?"
AJ slowly shook his head, almost as if he pitied him. "Casey, Ben and I know about the mental breakdown she suffered several weeks ago at home. After dinner, I believe it was?" He sucked in his breath, listening as the older man continued, "Of course, I'm worried about Olivia because of the affection I feel for her. But, I fear Ben is more concerned about how her mental instability will impact the work of Liberty."
He forced himself to square his shoulders and say through gritted teeth, "I don't know what you and Ben think you know, but Olivia is fine. Fine."
"Casey-"
"Who told you this? Who told you?" AJ shook his head and looked away discreetly. "Well, whoever it was, they clearly misunderstood the situation. Olivia was just- she just- I mean, she just remembered what happened the day Gregory died." AJ looked up sharply, his brow furrowed as he concluded, "She's still grieving. But, there's nothing wrong with her mental state."
"Yes." AJ's lone word stood out in the silence as he smoothed his tie. He watched as the large diamond on the older man's tie clip sparkled as he cleared his throat. "Well. Nevertheless, I'm sure you want the best for Olivia." He felt his teeth grind together as his jaw clenched, listening as AJ faltered and sighed, "As do I. Did she say anything about what she remembered?"
He forced himself to shrug as an icy feeling slithered down his spine. "She remembered a car accident. She remembered Gregory dying." He gripped the handle of his briefcase and forced himself to say, "Olivia's mental state is fine. I won't tolerate anyone say anything different, especially not you or Ben." He turned on his heel and strode down the hall to his office. As he did, he glanced down at his watch and wondered what the earliest time was he could interrupt Olivia's day with this new revelation.
Evy
With a deep inhale, Evy stepped off the elevator and onto the Liberty Corporation's executive floor. She reached up, tucking the wide brim of her floppy hat around her face. The last thing she wanted was to be spotted and forced to endure small talk with one of the employees. Had she even been in the building since Dad died? Whenever she met Benjy for lunch, she never met him here. She always met him at The Standard, picking a table in the sunny quiet corner of the café for them. Today with Allie though, it was more troublesome. Her niece refused to commit to a time she would be free. But now, walking down the quiet hallway to the small theater, sitting by herself at the café was suddenly preferable to being on the same floor as Mom.
She walked past the double doors to the theater, glancing quickly at the large sign that welcomed a group of graduate students from Pepperdine. Instead, she turned the corner, walked up the shallow flight of stairs, and quietly opened the rear door. Immediately, she heard Mom's clipped voice echoing from the speakers. "-balance the returns against the gains and then-" She guided the rear door closed and slipped into the shadows at the back of the theater. Mom was in a chair on the small stage, sitting next to a woman she didn't recognize. The female graduate students were scattered in the first few rows with boxed lunches on their laps.
As she sat silently, tucking her bag on her lap, the woman next to Mom said, "Alright, well. I think we'll open it up for questions before we close out lunch and start the next tour."
Several hands immediately went up. She watched, fascinated, as the woman called out a name, one of the students stood, and Allie trotted over to her with the handheld mic. "Thank you," the student said, brushing her red hair behind her ear. "Mrs. Richards, I read your bio last night and it struck me how interesting it was that you worked so closely with your husband for so long. My husband and I couldn't-" She gripped the straps of her bag as her stomach clenched. "-speak a bit how you balanced working together with your marriage?"
She licked her suddenly dry lips, her eyes laser beam focused on Mom. She looked so surprised by the question. So utterly unprepared for it. Gosh, she looked so small from all the way back here. Why did it look as if the overstuffed armchair was about to devour her? She shifted anxiously and watched as Mom's hands tightly folded in her lap. "My husband-" she began softly. Her voice cracked and the sound was amplified by the lapel mic clipped to her blouse. Her throat tightened as Mom looked up into the face of the audience who sat expectantly waiting for her response. Mom's face had fallen, her expression flat and broken. As if the question had instantly taken every drop of energy out of her. Finally, she heard say softly, "It might sound like an easy answer, but it was very natural for us. We shared our lives in every way since we married in 1974. We were true and equal partners."
Her chin trembled as Mom's broken voice consumed her. She blinked and brushed her eyes, listening as Mom murmured, "These last few months without him have left me wondering about what decisions he would have made. If the decisions I've made are ones he would have agreed with or…" She watched as Mom trailed off and her expression softened before a half-hearted chuckle rose in her throat. "Or, if he would have baited me into a long discussion about all the options." But, a moment later, her expression fell as she murmured, almost beneath her breath, "It's those long discussions I find myself missing ."
She sat back into the shadows, saddened into silence as Mom cleared her throat, looked up sharply, and asked for another question from the audience. The amplified voices of Mom and the students echoed around her as the pit in her stomach grew to monster-sized proportions. But, what throbbed in her heart and soul, crystallizing in the lump in her throat, was the sound of Mom's voice. How broken and sad it was. How broken and sad she still was. How much she still missed Dad. How much she would always miss him, she thought, even as she pushed a mental picture of Mom and AJ out of her head. It was Dad. It had always been Dad.
And, she was the biggest asshole in the history of assholes.
Bette
"COFFEE FOR MORRIS!"
She lowered her sunglasses and openly scanned the small coffee shop. Ah. There he was. Morris was a still built like the football player he used to be and was, therefore, impossible to miss. As she strolled over to him, she chuckled and remembered the way Gregory teased him when he announced he was leaving the police force and going into business as a private detective. Something about impossible to complete stakeouts, but what she most remembered was the way the two men laughed uproariously. "Well, hello stranger," she cooed, pushing her sunglasses back up her face. "Getting that to go?"
"Isn't the first time their rocket fuel has saved me," he murmured as he leaned forward to kiss her cheek.
"Busy day?" she asked. She watched the way he hesitated before shrugging. "Looks like it. Or, still recovering from a busy night."
With an affable chuckle, he took a long sip of his coffee before he sighed. "A little of this, a little of that."
"Hmm, cagey. Just like Olivia's been lately." She wasn't the fool she often let people think she was. She pushed her sunglasses up on her head, blinking at the afternoon sunlight flushed in the shop. "But, I suppose you'll tell me nothing's up. Just like she does."
"Nothing is," he replied. Carefully. No hint of emotion. Not even exasperation. Far too rehearsed.
"I don't know who to be more annoyed with: you or Livy." His eyebrow rose in a question and she leaned forward and hissed, "For keeping me out of whatever little secret you two have." The thought danced from the back of her mind as she watched an indescribable expression wash across his face. "That's it, isn't it?"
"Bette, I don't-" he chuckled.
She rolled her eyes so hard she felt a pain in her skull. God, she really needed to caffeinate. "Of course you don't," she whispered. "The two of you should know I would never put anything about you in the column! I'd sooner drop blind items about the moron in the White House than you two."
"What are you talking about?" he frowned, deep wrinkles grooving across his forehead.
Even with her heels and pushing herself onto her toes, she still fell short of his ear. "You and Olivia using AJ as a beard."
A numbing silence enfolded them as he slowly leaned in. "I don't know what-"
"Oh, sure," she marveled dramatically, her voice rising to a teasing octave. "I've grilled Olivia after all of her 'dates'-" her fingers curled into air quotes as he watched her blankly "-with AJ. That man hasn't even lit so much as an ember in her. But then, I think about all the times I've caught you watching her. Then, there's all those secret looks and hushed conversations you two have. And, finally, I think to myself: Morris is always at Livy's house." He shook his head slowly and she reached up, patting his cheek. "Listen," she sighed, her voice dropping, "it's only natural. It really is. The two of you loved Gregory. His wife and his oldest friend. There's no-"
"Bette," he interrupted with a low growl, "there's nothing like that going on."
"Oh sure," she scoffed, "Olivia's just spending all this time with AJ because she finds him charming! Truth be told, I don't know what her and Lainey ever saw in him, but time has not been kind to him. A wet dish towel has more personality than him."
"Bette." The syllable of her name echoed between them, throbbing with urgency. "There's nothing going on between Olivia and I. Nothing."
She squinted up at him, too vain for glasses after her ophthalmologist refused to perform another round of Lasik on her eye. Even her weakened vision could see the cloud of pain in his eyes. "You love her," she gasped in a whisper even as he shook his head. "You do. I can tell."
"Let it go."
"Why did you and Olivia decide on AJ?" she asked slowly, trying yet again to sort through this mess in her mind. Livy had been only going through the motions of living for the last few months. It was only recently that she started leaving the house again. Publicly spending nearly every evening with AJ, of all people. "If she's always with AJ for dinner, when do you two spend time together? Dessert?" As Morris looked down and shook his head, a new thought popped into her head. "Midnight snacks?"
"Bette."
"Oh, Morris, please stop denying it. If anyone watched you watching her – like I have – they'd realize how deeply you care for her! I haven't seen anyone but Gregory look at her that tenderly." His jaw clenched and she realized, belatedly, that she might have gone too far. "Is that why? Because you were his friend?"
"COFFEE FOR QUEEN OF THE NIGHT!"
She patted his shoulder and said, "Don't move. I think we both need more caffeine for this chat."
Olivia
"OHMYGOSH!" Allie exclaimed. "That was EXHAUSTING!"
I nodded as I followed her into the house. "Thank God it's over with," I murmured, kicking off my heels. Immediately, I felt myself sigh as the soles of my feet pressed into the cool tile. I rolled my neck from side-to-side as I walked to the stairs and slid my arms out of my black blazer. A moment later, Pancake bounded in from the patio and scampered over, dancing around me in delight as I knelt to scratch behind her ears. "Hello, my sweet girl," I whispered as she gazed up at me, slavish and devoted love oozing from her dark eyes.
"Going to rest before dinner?"
I glanced over my shoulder, a small smile on my lips as the blazer dangled from my hand. "This is the last time your mother will cook dinner for me. I want to be sure I can enjoy it." Allie grinned in reply and, a moment later, I gripped the bannister and walked slowly up the stairs with Pancake at my heels. The last dinner. The last night to hear Harrison chasing Nicola up the stairs to bed. The last night Casey's family would spend beneath our roof. I signed deeply as I walked down the hall to our bedroom, my fists balled into tight fists. I could feel the headache brimming behind my eyes, the pain swirling and growing like a tempest on the horizon.
As I walked into our bedroom, I swallowed a gasp as I saw the large windows. Evy stood in front of them, her back to me. That my daughter was back in this house unannounced, let alone in our bedroom, was a shock. Evy had been to the house to see Caitlin and Rory, to spend time with Casey's family, or with Benjy for dinners. But, our time together had been stilted and painful. She had barely spoken to me unless she absolutely had to. "Evy?" I said softly, my right hand dancing against the doorknob. My youngest child glanced over her shoulder, inhaling sharply before she turned to face me. I felt my own brow furrow as I watched my daughter. The way her face crumbled and tears filled her eyes. The way she frowned and shook her head as she shrugged helplessly. I bit the corner of my lip, struck – as I had been many times over the years – how much Evy resembled Gregory. "Darling?" I whispered as Evy crossed the room to me. Pancake immediately lay at my feet as if she sensed this would not be a quick conversation.
"Mom," she gasped, throwing herself into my embrace as I caught her. "Oh, Mommy, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" I closed my eyes as I tightened my arms around her. Evy hadn't called me Mommy since she was a very young child. At six, she had decided that Mommy and Daddy were for babies. We had been Mom and Dad ever since but for the rarest of occasions.
Evy's tears baptized my neck and the collar of my dark grey silk blouse as she turned her face into my throat. I drew her closer against me and pressed my face into her hair, breathing in the faint scent of her coconut shampoo. We stood quietly, entwined, as Evy's quiet sobbing and murmured apologies filled the silence of our bedroom. With a deep sigh, I cupped her face and gently turned it up to me. Gregory's devasted eyes looked back at me, burning into my soul, as I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Evy's forehead. "I know, darling," I whispered, my lips brushing her skin. "I know you're sorry – and I forgive you."
"But, Mom, I-" she croaked.
Because forgiveness had always been the easiest thing in the world for me to do. Whether it was Gregory or one of the children, my capacity for forgiving them had been limitless and always immediate. Especially with Gregory and Evy, who shared the same devotion to stubbornness and later, sometimes much later, the same burning desire to be forgiven. To make it right. To make me forget they had ever been angry. With my hands cupping Evy's flushed cheeks, I smiled down at her and repeated, "I forgive you."
Her only reply was to sob and hiccup as she gasped, "Can I come home?"
"Oh, darling," I whispered, drawing her back against my chest as I struggled – and failed – not to chuckle, "of course you can. I never wanted you to leave in the first place."
Her body slumped against mine as she relaxed and I ran my hand over her hair. "Good," I heard her mumble, "because Benjy's bringing my bag when he comes over for dinner."
With my chin resting on her head, I smiled quietly. Like sorting out the disorder of puzzle pieces, I felt the mess between us instantly resolve itself. "I'm glad," I murmured as I hugged her tighter, listening as she sniffled. "So very glad."
"OLIVIA!"
I glanced over my shoulder as Casey's bellow rolled down the hallway like a wave. A moment later, he rushed in and crashed to a stop when he saw Evy in my arms. "Shoot, I didn't know- I mean, I can come back-"
I felt Evy slip from my embrace as she wiped her cheeks dry. "It's fine, Case. It's fine," she sighed as she moved to my side.
With a sigh, I turned back to Casey, seeing the momentarily happy expression morph back into one of urgency. An expression that matched the way he shouted out my name. "What's the matter?" I asked.
He took a deep breath and exhaled two letters. "AJ."
I felt myself tense as his name reverberated like a gong in our bedroom. They all thought I was involved in a relationship with him and, as such, had gone out of the way to avoid even the most casual mention of him. I felt Evy's hand slip into mine as I feigned an irritated sigh, "What about him?"
"He knows about that night on the patio." Casey's blue eyes were narrowed to icy slits as he stepped closer. "Did you know?"
Slowly, I shook my head as I felt Evy squeeze my hand. While I had done more to keep him from stripping me of my clothes, it seemed I haven't paid enough attention to what he wasn't saying. "No," I sighed as my mind raced. I need to get hold of Morris. Morris would know what to do next.
"He and Ben think you're losing it. They worried about your mental health."
"WHAT? That's BULL," Evy exclaimed. It was a kind gesture, considering she was concerned I was deluding myself with false memories about the day of the car crash.
I said nothing, my mind racing as I replayed all my interactions with AJ over the last few weeks. I had no clue of what he was thinking. "-did he know?"
"What?" I asked.
"How did he know?" Casey repeated. "How did he know what happened at dinner that night?"
He exchanged a long look with Evy and I felt her tense. "No. NO! Don't even!" she hissed. "He wouldn't have told his dad!" Of course. Benjy. Casey thought he told Ben. "Mom, Casey – you have to believe me! Benjy would never tell his dad that! He loves being with our family! He feels more comfortable with us then he does with Ben's family!"
I patted her hand and murmured as assurances I turned back to Casey. "It doesn't matter how they found out," I pointed out, even as I saw the angry mistrust in Casey's eyes. "It doesn't," I insisted. I exhaled deeply, one that went through my entire body. "They know." I squeezed Evy's hand as I glanced over at her. "But, this is not how I wanted to spend your last night at home," I continued as I turned back to Casey.
He sighed deeply and ran his hand through his hair. An angry hand, I noticed. I turned to Evy and asked softly, "You're sure it wasn't Benjy?"
She nodded urgently, glancing from me to Casey and back again. "Positive. He doesn't talk to Ben about anything that matters."
I nodded and linked my arm through hers. "I believe you." I caught Casey's furious eyes and sighed, "We'll deal with this tomorrow. Now, let's see what Diana and Caity have made for dinner."
Casey's deep sigh followed Evy and I from our bedroom. My mind raced, wondering what else AJ knew that I didn't know he knew. I had been so careful. So. Careful. Perhaps…too careful. When I thought about it now, I could see that he had been keeping me at arm's length. Just as I had been keeping him at arm's length. Spending all this time together, feigning intimacy, but learning nothing. Doing nothing. An angry flush went through my body as I followed Evy down the stairs, Pancake brushing my calves.
"-you tonight."
I glanced over, watching as Evy playfully punched Casey in the arm. He flung his arm around her and, a moment later, had picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "You better NOT drop me," she shrieked with a laugh. Pancake's tail wagged enthusiastically, but she stayed at my side as we watched the spectacle. Enjoy this, Liv. Enjoy it for me. Nodding in reply, I followed the children outside to the patio where the rest of our family waited.
