“Mrs. Ceruti, how is Louisa doing?” she called up the aisle.
The woman pivoted, her brows raised. “Louisa is fine. She’s married to a doctor, and they’re expecting their first baby.” Her nose couldn’t get much higher.
Heat flared in Olivia’s gut. She knew. Somehow Mrs. Ceruti knew and now deemed Olivia beneath her. Despite every urge to duck her head and run, some dark force twisted inside Olivia, spurring her on. “You must tell Louisa hello for me.”
Mrs. Ceruti’s nose wrinkled. “She would want nothing to do with the likes of you. Frankly, I can’t believe you have the nerve to show up here and disgrace your parents this way.”
Her voice had grown loud enough to create a stir in the store. People stopped what they were doing to gawk in their direction.
Olivia looked up and met the scowling countenance of her father. Customers turned, looks of disdain on their faces. Snatches of whispers made their way to her.
“Isn’t that the daughter? The one who . . .”
“Such a shame how she turned out. . . .”
“After all they’ve done for her . . .”
Each hateful comment pricked at her skin, tearing at her composure. She thought her pregnancy had been kept secret, but obviously her family hadn’t bothered to hide her disgrace after all.
“How dare you judge me?” Olivia’s limbs shook as she glared around the motley group. “I seem to remember all of you attending the same church as our family. A church that preaches compassion and forgiveness. Not hate and condemnation.” Her glare moved from Mrs. Ceruti to her father. “I may be far from perfect, but I have come to know God’s grace and have experienced His forgiveness. So from where I stand, I’m closer to a Christian than any of you can claim to be.” Her chin quivered, and before she could make more of a spectacle of herself, she whirled around and rushed out the door.
Olivia stormed down the street, outrage buzzing through her body like static on the radio. Angry tears blurred her vision, but she refused to let a single drop fall. Several blocks later, the rage drained away, leaving her limp and shaky. She looked around for a bus stop and found one nearby. Thankful for the bench there, she sank onto it.
With the adrenaline rush gone, a cold dose of reality began to sink in. The tiny seed of hope she’d reaped with her mother’s acceptance—hope that one day she might regain her place in the community—shriveled and died inside her.
More than anything, Olivia craved respectability, and she’d foolishly believed that if she worked hard enough and repented long enough, she could achieve it once more. What a naïve fantasy. It was clear to her now that she would never be respectable again.
The bus arrived, and she hauled herself onto it, claiming the first vacant seat. As the vehicle lurched forward, Olivia’s gaze fell to the Woolworth’s bag on her lap, and her thoughts inevitably turned to Sofia and Darius. If she continued to be part of their lives, would her disgrace taint them as well?
Of course it would.
Her throat closed up, swallowing a cry of despair. Darius deserved a righteous woman, one he could be proud of. Not one who’d been jailed for immorality and given birth out of wedlock. He and Sofia certainly didn’t deserve to pay the price for her sins. To be ostracized because of her.
“I think I’m falling in love with you.”
Oh, Darius. I’m sorry. Tears slid down Olivia’s cheek and dripped onto her arm. She couldn’t break her promise to attend Sofia’s birthday, so she would go. But after that, she would have to find the strength to distance herself from Darius and his precious girl and allow them to be free to find someone more suitable for their lives.
No matter how it would tear her heart out in the process.
36
On Saturday afternoon, Darius glanced over at Olivia seated beside him in the car. Looking lovely in a pretty green dress, she sat primly, her back barely touching the seat behind her, with a wrapped present and a plain white box on her lap.
He could only imagine the nerves that were racing through her at this moment. If he were meeting her parents, he’d feel exactly the same.
“Please try to relax, Olivia. My parents may be loud, but they’re harmless.”
She turned wide brown eyes on him. “I’m afraid this might give them the wrong idea. That we’re more than just friends.”
“That’s because we are more than just friends.” He longed to hold her hand, but her fingers remained in a death grip around the parcels.
She looked like she wanted to say something more. Instead, she pressed her lips together.
He decided to let it go. Once they arrived and her nerves settled, she’d see that she’d been worried for nothing.
Soon he pulled up in front of his parents’ house and turned off the engine. He came around to help Olivia out. She stared at the house, a frown marring her forehead.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Sofia will be the center of attention. You may notice that her grandparents tend to spoil her.”
Olivia gave a strained smile. “All children should be spoiled on their birthdays. It’s only right.”
Darius resisted the urge to hug her, conscious that people might be looking out the window. Hopefully, before the day was over, he could sneak in a few private kisses. It gave him a thrill just thinking about it.
He led the way in the front door, hoping to shield Olivia from his relatives for a moment and give her time to adjust. Sure enough though, his mother and two of his aunts came rushing forward.
“There he is. Darius is back.”
“Where is this mysterious woman?”
Darius cringed but pasted on a smile, tucking Olivia’s arm under his. “Mamá, everyone, this is Olivia Rosetti.”
He began the introductions, rattling off the names of his relatives and neighbors, certain by her bemused look that she wouldn’t remember one of them.
Then a beaming Sofia burst through the crowd. She wore
