“Olivia?”
“Yes. Olivia. The young lady who brought magazines here a few weeks ago. Just the three of you.”
“Uh, Mrs. Poor, I don’t understand. Olivia really has no need to be there, and I believe she has to work tomorrow. Nola, on the other hand, has been a very active member of the committee from…”
“No,” Mary said. “Nola is not invited. I’ll take you and Mr. Macelli and his wife and that’s it. Otherwise there’s no tour.”
“But if she’s working…”
“Then we’ll pick a day for the tour when she’s not working.”
Alec was quiet for a moment. “Well,” he said, “all right. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Good. I’ll see you in the morning, then.”
Alec hung up the phone, frowning. That was weird. Mary Poor must finally be losing it. He sat at his office desk for a few minutes, debating his options. Then he picked up the phone again and called Olivia.
“This puts you in an awkward position, I know, but could you do it, please? One last favor?”
“Paul’s going to be there?”
“He needs to be there. You, on the other hand… I guess you made an impression on the old woman.”
“Well,” she said, “I suppose it’s good in a way. It’ll force me to see Paul. I’ll finally have to tell him about the baby.”
“You still haven’t done that?”
“I haven’t talked to him at all. He’s left messages for me to call him, but I’ve been avoiding the situation.”
“Olivia.” He wished she would get this over with. “What are you waiting for?”
She didn’t answer.
“It’s none of my business, right?” he said. “Well, would you please call Paul to let him know the change in plans? I have to call Nola and uninvite her.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
“There is no earthly reason for you to go on that tour, Olivia,” Paul said.
She held the receiver between her chin and shoulder as she opened a can of cat food for Sylvie. “I’m aware of that,” she said, “but apparently Mary Poor refuses to do it if I don’t go.”
Paul groaned. “Christ. She’s so damn…controlling. How does she even know you exist?”
Olivia tensed. “I met her one time when I dropped Tom’s old magazines off at the retirement home.”
Paul was quiet for a moment. “Was that something else Annie used to do?” he asked.
“Yes.” She didn’t offer him any more information than that. She didn’t like him just then.
“Why haven’t you returned my phone calls?” he asked.
“I haven’t wanted to talk to you.”
“That’s not what your good friend Alec told me. He said there’s something important you need to talk to me about.”
Olivia set Sylvie’s bowl on the floor. “Well, actually, I do have a lot to tell you—to straighten out with you. Could we go out for an early lunch somewhere after the tour tomorrow?”
“All right,” he said. “You’re not going to show up for the tour with your hair dyed red or anything, are you?”
She gritted her teeth. “You can be very cruel.”
He hesitated again. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just feel as though you’ve become a stranger all of a sudden. You’ve been living a life I know nothing about.”
“You’re the one who wanted it that way.”
“I know.” He drew in a weary-sounding breath. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Olivia pulled into the small parking lot near the keeper’s house at nine the following morning. Paul and Alec were already there, leaning against Alec’s Bronco. She felt their eyes on her as she parked next to Paul’s car, and she took a deep, steadying breath. Could there be a more awkward group than the three of them? She smoothed her blue jersey over her new white drawstring pants and got out of the car.
Seeing Paul and Alec side by side was unnerving. Two very attractive men. As she walked toward them, she felt a little of the sleaziness Alec had spoken of the other night. She had slept with both of them.
Alec looked a little tired. He smiled his greeting at her, holding her eyes a moment too long. There was a camera around his neck, a camera case over his shoulder, and he wore jeans and a blue short-sleeved shirt, the dark hair on his chest clearly visible at the open collar. She quickly moved her eyes to the relative safety of her husband.
“Good morning, Paul,” she said.
He nodded stiffly. She didn’t think she had ever seen him look quite so uncomfortable.
She was relieved when the van from the retirement home pulled into the parking lot. Alec helped Mary down from the passenger seat, his hand on the old woman’s elbow. Mary was wearing a white-and-blue-striped dress and white sneakers.
A young blond woman jumped out of the driver’s seat, a paperback book in her hand. “I asked Mary if I could do the tour with y’all, but she said no way.” She grinned. “When Mary says no, you don’t argue. So I’ll be out on the beach.”
