Chapter Eight
"Harvesting the kidneys for the fall, storing up the livers in the fridge."
Olivia liked to think she was prepared for anything but, really, who was ever prepared for someone to run at them with a three-pound turkey? It was hardly something she'd prepared for on a daily basis. Still, three weeks after the Halloween success, Olivia was met at the door not by a disapproving Nathan but by an extremely enthusiastic Shilo holding a wrapped turkey that was dripping with condensation. Apparently it had been frozen at some point but was currently thawing out.
"Livvy, look what dad got us!" Olivia had a nagging suspicion that this had once been a live turkey instead of just cloned meat but she resolutely pushed it aside. She would be afraid to touch it otherwise.
"Very impressive, Shilo. Now let's get the dead bird to a sink so it stops dripping on the carpet," she said lightly, scooping the turkey out of Shilo's arms and kicking the door shut with her foot. "Why do you guys have a turkey, by the way?"
"What? You don't celebrate the most thankful of holidays?" Shilo gasped dramatically, wicked humor in her eyes. "Sacrilege!"
"Okay, okay. I'm old enough to know when I'm being mocked. But you guys do know that Thanksgiving isn't until next week, right?" she asked as they walked into the kitchen together, vaguely noticing the sound of Blind Mag's music floating out.
"Shilo insisted on having it early since you wouldn't be with us for the actual day," Nathan informed her casually as he set the timer on the oven. Olivia, for once, had a moment to observe Nathan without being observed in return. It was only for a few seconds but she needed those seconds to make her brain reboot. He wore casual light tan slacks and a long-sleeved blue shirt he had rolled up to his elbows. She'd never actually seen his arms before this. She knew they were firm from experience but the visual proof was a little hypnotic. There was something about the way his long, large hands connected to capable muscled arms that made Olivia pause and fight not to remember the dream she'd had a few nights ago. It involved Nathan slowly rolling down the thigh high stockings she'd worn for Halloween, kissing her leg as he stripped it, slipping his hand further up her thigh.
"You in there, Livvy?" Olivia blinked several times at the sound of Shilo's voice and thanked God that Nathan hadn't turned around to see her practically drooling over him. There was something seriously wrong with her hormones this week. He was cute but he was nowhere near obsession-worthy. She let out a slow breath.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just zoned there for a minute." Olivia put the turkey in the sink where it could thaw in peace. "So what tasks am I being assigned?" she asked as she tugged off her jacket.
"Dad's in charge. Oh, I'll take care of that," Shilo said, quickly taking the jacket out of Olivia's hands and running out to hang it up.
"Shi, no running!" Nathan shouted after her. Olivia bit back a chuckle at the aggrieved expression on his face.
"Well, boss, I'm impressed. Letting her out of her room and accommodating my schedule? Either you've been brainwashed or Shilo's nagging finally wore you down."
"It was a combination of both," Nathan replied dryly. "Now, how do you feel about peeling potatoes?"
"Ah, potatoes, the fruit of famine, faithful and flexible food… Way too much alliteration," Olivia mumbled, shaking her head. "I'm a highly skilled potato peeler but you should shut me up if I start trying to wax poetic. It will only end in tears."
"You have my word," Nathan promised solemnly. It was only the shadow of a wink that let Olivia know he was kidding.
"Why does she have your word?" Shilo asked as she reentered the kitchen.
"Nothing important," Olivia said, accepting the peeler Nathan handed her and avoiding skin contact at the same time. "What job do you have in all this cooking?"
"I get to watch and listen to my music," she told her, disappointment obvious. Olivia bit her lip as she pulled the first potato out of the bag. Nathan had already bent about a lot of things. If they kept pushing at him, he might snap back into his old self. But maybe a teeny, tiny thing…
"Well, since we're cooking, you'll be in charge of setting the table," Olivia decided, keeping her eyes on the potato in her hand so she wouldn't have to see Nathan's expression.
"I've never actually set a table before," Shilo said uncertainly.
"It's not hard. I'm sure your dad will explain it to you when the time comes. Right, Nathan?" She did look at him then. His eyes were narrowed at her.
"Will I?"
"After all the cooking we're going to have to do, it's only fair that Shilo set the table. Wouldn't you agree?" she asked, trying to communicate her real meaning. She wanted to tell him that Shilo deserved to feel like she'd contributed something, that she was old enough to actually do things rather than let the adults handle it. Nathan stared at her a moment, grimaced and then nodded.
"Yes, I suppose I'd have to agree." Olivia looked quickly away so she could indulge in a satisfied grin without ruffling his feathers. Nathan used the pretense of reaching for a potato to lean over and murmur, "I saw that smile."
"It's your fault for looking," she countered, not letting his observance throw off her peeling rhythm. He cut the eyes out of the potato with a small knife.
"You did your fair share of looking when you first got here." The peeler slipped out of her hand and nearly tumbled into the drain before she caught it. Olivia glared at him, one blue eye livid. "The oven door reflects," he explained, gesturing with the knife at the shiny surface. She grunted and went back to peeling. "You looked very distracted."
"Can we just not talk about it?" Nathan chuckled softly and Olivia fought the urge to go after him with the vegetable peeler.
"Now, how did you put it before? Ah, yes, I remember. Don't worry. I'm not remotely interested," he said with eyes full of an emotion that certainly looked interested. Olivia couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Had he been drinking all morning? He was never this, well, flirty. If she didn't know any better she'd think he was doing it deliberately just to set her on edge. Olivia paused. Wait… She glanced at his face, noted his satisfied expression. And glowered. He was a sneaky bastard.
"What are you guys whispering about?" Shilo asked, distracted from Mag's pure soprano voice. Olivia glanced over her shoulder.
"Oh, I was just making a radical suggestion to your dad." Both Shilo and Nathan shot her a confused look.
"Really? What about?"
"This may sound extreme but I think everyone here is pretty brave," Olivia said, feigning a concerned look. "Shilo, what do you think about… garlic mashed potatoes?"
As the day wore on, she was surprised to find that she could laugh with Nathan only a few feet away. She was even more surprised when he was the one who made her laugh. The fact that she felt a subtle pleasure whenever she managed to make him smile was also a source of concern. Of course, the Graverobber wasn't right about her liking him. She was beginning to tolerate him but liking him was probably several weeks away, if not months.
Olivia commandeered the turkey before Nathan could get at it. She'd decided to be in charge of that particular dish when she learned that, like her mother, Nathan didn't actually cook the dressing in the turkey. He probably knew that it increased the likelihood of food poisoning, too. She washed the bird off as she chatted with Shilo about the latest broadcasted performance by Mag. Olivia enjoyed the once blind singer's voice and it was a topic Shilo enjoyed. "You use the giblets for the gravy, don't you?" she asked Nathan, holding out aforementioned bird parts. He nodded and accepted them from her hand.
"You quilt, you read, Shilo says you have a good hand with make-up and we already know you can make delicious pizza. Now it seems you know how to cook a turkey as well. What don't you do?" Olivia snickered while inserting slices of lemon between the skin of the turkey and the meat.
"Well, I can't dance," she said, breaking up sprigs of sage and thyme and adding them with the lemon. "I've never actually made a soufflé so I'm probably no good at that. Oh, and winking with just one eye is never as good as with two." There was an awkward pause and Olivia immediately regretted her choice of weaknesses.
"So… the other eye doesn't work?" Shilo asked tentatively. Olivia couldn't bring herself to snap at the concern on the teen's face.
"It's fine," she responded briefly. "Anyway, where's the tin foil? I need to cover this bird up before I pop him in the oven."
"This drawer," Nathan told her before studying the turkey with a frown. "Aren't you going to flip it over?"
"Nope. You're more likely to get a dry turkey if you don't have it cooking on its back," she informed him as she secured the foil around the bird in its pan. She glanced up at Shilo. "Commit that to memory, young lady. Some cooking tips should always be remembered." Olivia winked, waited for Nathan to open up the oven for her and then slipped the turkey inside.
Several hours later Olivia watched over the cooking food as Nathan walked Shilo through the steps of setting a table. Everything looked good so far and nothing had caught fire. The turkey had come out perfectly with plenty of juice for the gravy. She had allowed Nathan to carve the pieces he wanted, which were currently waiting to be consumed on a plate beneath tin foil to keep in the heat. The dressing smelled fantastic, the mashed potatoes looked extra fluffy and the steamed green beans were making her hungry. Fresh vegetables had that affect on her. Olivia briefly thought of wine but she rejected it immediately. Drinking around the underage kid was probably not going to fly with Nathan. Maybe he had sparkling cider or something nonalcoholic like that. With Nathan, she could never be sure.
He was cute. Damned cute, if she was honest. There was an edge to the cuteness, too, which really made him more than cure. It made him handsome. Olivia shifted uncomfortably. Thinking of Shilo's father as handsome wasn't safe ground to be on. She would be wise if she just put those thoughts out of her head.
Olivia went to the door of the dining room and watched the small Wallace family set the table. It was a nice room, the table a rich dark wood with a glass top. That certainly made it easier to clean. The walls were a deep burgundy, the wood floors covered by a rug that could probably stand to be vacuumed a few times. Still, the crystal chandelier warmed the place up and made it seem almost welcoming. She smiled as she noticed Nathan straightening the forks after Shilo set them down. His compulsiveness was almost kind of cute in this light. The two of them looked right together, father and daughter, their very own family unit. Then Shilo looked up at her and grinned.
"Hey, Livvy! What do you think?"
"I'm overwhelmed, Shilo. You were clearly born to set tables," she teased, hoping to be rewarded with a giggle. Shilo didn't disappoint her. Olivia then stepped into the room and as she did so she realized what was happening. She was becoming a part of the Wallace family unit. She felt the color drain out of her face as she looked to Nathan. He'd gone still beside his daughter. Olivia knew he felt it, too. She quickly took a step back. "I better get back to the food before the kitchen explodes or something." She tried not to run back to the kitchen counter but she certainly hustled. Olivia leaned over the sink, breathing deeply.
A family. Her family. No, bad things happened to her families. She could handle being a guest star in the Wallace house. Anything else wouldn't work. Maybe if she was just Olivia, just a morgue attendant who had a weird relationship with a drug dealer, she could be more in Shilo's life. But she wasn't. She lifted her hand and deliberately eased her fingers under the curtain of hair over her right cheek. Hard ridges of skin brushed against the tips of her fingers as she explored the pattern of scars.
She was a murderer, a monster. There were people lying in open graves because of her. Olivia was a decent person but the other… The other felt not an ounce of regret for anything she'd done. She moved her hand away from her face and closed her eyes. Shilo deserved better. Olivia would be more careful about how she interacted with the Wallace family. She would respect boundaries.
"Olivia?" She turned toward Nathan's voice, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.
"Yes?" she asked lightly. He wasn't fooled by her tone for a minute. It was beginning to worry her, just how easily he read her emotions.
"Shilo mentioned that you lost your family," he began gently, moving slowly toward her with a subtle grace he'd never bothered to use with her before now. "It must be hard this time of year for you." This was the Nathan Shilo got to see nearly all the time. The gentle, giving Nathan who only wanted to be comforting was a temptation Olivia hadn't expected. And it was tempting.
"Yeah, it can be a little difficult at times. But I'm fine," she assured him. "All in one piece and not a tear to be seen." She cleared her throat. "Besides, it's got to be rough for you, too." Nathan smiled but there wasn't any humor in it.
"I believe that's your way of changing the subject," he pointed out. She shrugged.
"Maybe. Maybe I'm just being considerate," she countered gently. He leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest.
"If that is the case then… Yes. Yes, it is rough." Olivia nodded slightly as she tilted her head to stare up at the ceiling. She wondered how she'd gotten into this regretful, bitter frame of mind.
"Do you ever feel like that even though you loved them so much and you miss them every day, you wouldn't want them to come back? Like if they saw who you are now, you wouldn't be able to bear it?" Nathan just stared. He didn't move or speak. She wasn't even sure if he was breathing anymore. Olivia felt like an idiot. Of course he wanted his wife back. And what did he have to be ashamed of except a little overprotective fathering? "Sorry, that was a stupid thing to say. I'm feeling maudlin." Nathan still didn't speak and Olivia worked up just a tiny bit of resentment. Was it really necessary to make her feel like a freak? "Well, we'd better start serving up the food before it gets cold," she said decisively. "Hey, Shilo, every set in there!"
"I think I've got it!" the teen called back. Olivia smiled.
"Good. It's time to eat." The three of them ate together, both focusing on Shilo.
Olivia didn't know just how close to the truth she'd gotten.