white overalls.” He glanced out the window, remembering, and his face lost some of its drawn look. “Cam and I didn’t want to leave the apartment for a second! I think we ate out of cans for three days until we finally had to go out for more coffee. One cannot survive without coffee, no matter how magnificent the asses on the men bending over your tub are!”
Laughing, Olivia felt a lightness course through her. She was suddenly certain that Cosmo would recover from this blow.
Losing Camden would scar him, change him, and haunt him, but he was capable of living a full and colorful life despite his lover’s violent death. The realization comforted Olivia.
As though sensing her thoughts, Cosmo reached over and squeezed her arm. “How long did it take you to get over your parents’ death? I know you’ve never brought it up, but Annie told me they died within a few years of one another. Poor you.”
Olivia suppressed a surge of anger over being the source of idle gossip once again. After all, it was almost a given that Annie would tell Cosmo about Olivia’s past. Perhaps the innkeeper hoped to let the young man know he wasn’t alone in his grief. Perhaps Cosmo wanted to get a more complete picture of the woman who’d recently befriended his lover. Either way, Olivia knew she needed to stop being so prickly when asked about her personal history.
“My mother left our house in order to pick up my birthday present during the onset of a hurricane,” Olivia began. “She’d left it at the library—that’s where she worked. After she’d gotten it from her office and returned to the car, a strong gust of wind gave a rotting telephone pole a fierce push.” She swallowed. It never grew any easier to talk about the next part. “It fell, smashing right through the windshield. They say she probably didn’t even know what hit her. Her death was instantaneous. I turned seven the next day.”
Cosmo covered his mouth with his hand. “Oh! That’s horrible!” He tightened his hold on the cardboard box in his lap. “Why didn’t she wait? It was a
Olivia shrugged. People had been asking her the same question since her mother was laid in the ground. “Around here, one can grow complacent about storms. They’re such a part of our regular rhythm. Living on the coast, hurricanes and tropical storms are commonplace.” She smiled wanly. “They’re like unwelcome relatives. Sometimes, we don’t give the weather the respect it deserves. This hurricane was only a category two by the time it reached Oyster Bay, and us locals can get pretty cocky about anything under a category three.”
“Not
“My father understood storms,” Olivia continued as though Cosmo hadn’t spoken. “He tried to stop her. It was the biggest fight they’d ever had! My mother usually listened to him, but she wouldn’t back down this time. The last image I have is of her blowing me a kiss as she ran out to the car.”
Cosmo’s eyes were glistening. “What was the gift? The one she drove through a hurricane to bring you?”
Olivia glanced at Haviland’s image in the rearview mirror. His eyes had been closed, but even in sleep he seemed to sense her need. He lifted his head and met her gaze, as though saying, “I’m right here.”
“It was a puppy,” Olivia answered. “And before you ask, he was on the front seat of my mother’s car when the pole fell. He lived, but I wasn’t allowed to keep him.”
“Why not?” Cosmo was shocked.
“Because he survived,” Olivia whispered.
A silence descended and the passengers listened to the sound of road passing beneath the tires. After a few miles, Olivia said, “I have Haviland now. The finest dog ever born. Not only that, but I believe Michel has packed us another bountiful lunch. Would you mind reaching for the picnic basket? It’s behind my seat.”
Cosmo graciously accepted the change of subject. “I’ll tell you
“We aim to please,” Olivia replied, pleased by the compliment.
For the rest of the ride, Olivia questioned Cosmo about his decorating ideas for his new client. As he talked, Cosmo distributed the courses of their delectable lunch. The Rover’s occupants dined on curry glazed duck legs, vegetable tortillas, succulent peaches, and truffles until they were satiated.
At the airport, Cosmo insisted Olivia drop him curbside.
“I’d make a scene otherwise,” he told her. The pair embraced next to the Rover.
On the return drive, Olivia thought about what Cosmo’s life would be like during the next few months. She visualized his first days alone. He’d take a cab from the airport and, after a stiff drink or two, fall asleep, too tired for the tears he’d expected to shed. The following morning he wouldn’t want to get out of bed. He’d linger there, replaying memories in his mind. But after a few hours he’d grow bored or hungry or be forced by other physical needs to rise.
Later, he’d open the fridge and smell the milk. It would be sour. The fruit would be spoiled and the cheese tinged with green. Not really hungry, he’d end up making toast with butter and jam just to see what food tasted like. He’d try to concentrate on at least one article in the paper, but reading would be an exercise in futility. He’d throw out the rotten food and take the trash to the street. Eventually, perhaps not until nighttime, he’d go out to the grocery store and empty the mailbox.
The next day he might have cereal because there was milk now. He might eat a banana. The small victory of having replaced the ruined food would be enough to encourage him to shower and, perhaps, to water the plants.
Cosmo would drink too much and talk aloud to Camden for hours on end. When Camden wouldn’t answer, Cosmo would rage and then, his anger spent, he would weep. But each day he’d wake up and eat something. He’d get dressed. He’d drink orange juice without the vodka. One day, he’d finally venture out to his local Starbucks, the dry cleaners, and the outdoor market. He’d open a few letters and return a few calls. He would begin to live again.
“Cosmo will be fine,” Olivia told Haviland. “Give him a year and he’ll be on the cover of every interior design magazine on the rack.”
Haviland looked out the window and whined.
“I’ll miss him too. And Camden. There’s no one like them in Oyster Bay,” she said as she approached the town limit sign. She glanced at the billboard featuring the Ocean Vista Condos and muttered, “Oyster Bay’s changing, Captain. Who knows what our little population will look like in ten years.”
Picturing dozens of Talbot Fine Properties building projects springing up all across town like mushrooms after a long rain made Olivia feel glum. It was Friday evening. Her restaurant would be filled with lively laughter and tantalizing aromas, but she didn’t feel like being there. At home, her unfinished chapter waited for her, but she wasn’t in the mood to write.
She was restless, craving something different. She wanted company—to share a bottle of wine and quiet the tumult of thoughts whirling around in her head.
If only for a short while.
Without being fully conscious of her actions, Olivia parked across the street from Through the Wardrobe. She approached the front door just as Flynn was turning the dead bolt with his key. Seeing her, he smiled.
“You caught me! I’m closing a full hour early.” He gestured at the periwinkle sky. “It’s just too nice a night to be stuck inside.”
Olivia followed his gaze and nodded. “Dry though. I could use a cold drink.”
Flynn studied her face. “I’d love a beer, myself. Where should we go?”
Hesitating, Olivia wondered if what she planned to say would turn out to be a grave error in judgment. Still, the sultry air and hazy moon convinced her to follow through on her impulse. Shrugging idly, she said, “How about your place?”
Flynn’s Caribbean-style cottage was located on a sleepy street not far from Through the Wardrobe. Olivia and Flynn had shared a few drinks on his back patio. The drinks had led to a kiss, which quickly became heated, but Olivia wasn’t ready to explore anything further with the attractive bookstore owner. Despite Flynn’s coaxing and cajoling in hopes that she would stay a little longer, Olivia firmly said good night a few minutes shy of midnight. Seeing any further attempts at persuasion were futile, Flynn walked her through a jade green living room decorated
