After dinner, Kyle went in to watch a true crime show with her father, Noelle disappeared into her bedroom to do whatever she felt she needed to do to prepare for her wedding and Olivia helped her mother wash dishes. Olivia had just started to relax, thanks to the comfort of routine, when Noelle called to her from the bedroom.
“Can you come and tell me how to wear my hair?” she asked, but Olivia wasn’t fooled. Noelle had played nice long enough. She’d obviously decided on a bit of honesty to pierce the thin veneer of civility that had carried them this far. Olivia wasn’t opposed to that herself.
“I’ll be right back,” she told her mother.
Nancy’s forehead creased in worry, as if she, too, suspected that Noelle wasn’t interested in opinions on her hair, but she nodded, and Olivia silently promised to do all she could to keep her temper in check. Fighting wouldn’t improve the situation. Noelle and Kyle were going to have a baby. She needed to keep that in mind, especially if she wanted to be part of her niece’s or nephew’s life. The child was innocent and deserved the support of his or her entire family. Olivia just hoped that someday she’d be able to look at her sister’s offspring, at Kyle’s offspring, without cringing.
Maybe it’d be easy. Maybe Noelle would have a little girl who was a much better person than her mother....
“Are you thinking of an updo?” she asked as she walked down the hall.
Noelle was waiting by the door. She closed it as soon as Olivia walked in. “What are you doing?” she whispered harshly.
Olivia studied her flushed face. She was pretty; there was no denying that. They both had wide blue eyes, long blond hair and even features, but Noelle, shorter by two inches, had a curvier figure, which probably made her more attractive. Despite that, Olivia had never been jealous. Due to Noelle’s demanding nature, self-absorption and terrible mood swings, she’d never been particularly popular with the opposite sex. Olivia figured men could sense that her looks wouldn’t be worth the cost of involvement. She’d always thought Kyle understood that, too. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about!”
Did Noelle believe Olivia had said something inappropriate to Kyle? That she was trying to stir up trouble?
Olivia started to explain that she was at a complete loss when Noelle made the reason for her anger clear. “You’re seeing Brandon? Really? Kyle’s stepbrother?”
At first, because of Noelle’s emphasis on the family connection, Olivia assumed she was worried about how that might make Kyle feel. Neither one of them had any right to complain, of course, but the threat of looking like a hypocrite had never stopped Noelle. She believed the entire world should bow at her feet—which made Olivia suddenly realize that Noelle wasn’t angry on Kyle’s behalf. She expected Kyle to fight his own battles and cope with his own difficulties. She expected that of everyone, except herself. The only way Noelle could be this upset was if Olivia’s actions affected her personally.
And then Olivia remembered. For most of one summer, Noelle had had the worst crush imaginable on Brandon. She’d done everything possible to gain his attention, including driving past his house numerous times a day, calling him incessantly, showing up wherever she guessed he might be. Olivia had forgotten that, largely because it’d been so long ago—eight years or more. And he hadn’t given her so much as a second look. When August rolled around, he told her flat-out that he wasn’t remotely interested and she’d better quit stalking him or he was going to the police.
The police threat came—understandable enough—after she’d spied on him with another woman, but his unequivocal rejection had done significant damage to Noelle’s ego.
“Why are you smiling?” Noelle snapped.
Olivia sobered. “I guess I still don’t understand why you’re upset.”
Noelle grabbed her arm. “I’m upset because you’re doing this on purpose! You’re trying to ruin my wedding!”
“What?” Olivia jerked loose. “I’ve been planning your wedding—for free! Not only have I donated hours and hours of my time, I’ve called in favors from all the vendors I’ve ever worked with.”
“For Mom and Dad. Not for me.”
Olivia couldn’t argue with that.
“This is your revenge,” she continued. “This is how you think you’ll get the last laugh.”
“What are you talking about?” Noelle had liked a lot of boys over the years. She couldn’t claim proprietary interest in all of them. Besides, after that summer she’d never had a nice thing to say about Kyle’s stepbrother.
“I’m talking about you sleeping with Brandon!”
So Kyle had shared that information. “I don’t see why my being with Brandon would bother you. You’re in love with Kyle, right? You’re having his baby. And because of that baby, he’s marrying you.”
“Not because of the baby!” she cried, stamping her foot. “Because he loves me! I knew you’d try to cheapen it, try to convince yourself that he’s still in love with you. But he’s not. He hates that the two of you were ever together!”
When they talked on the phone for the last time, Kyle had said the years they’d spent together were the best of his life, but Olivia didn’t give him away. His feelings had probably already changed.
“Fine. He hates that we were together. He hates me. I don’t care. He’s all yours now. You got exactly what you wanted. So enjoy him and leave me alone.”
“I didn’t get pregnant on purpose. I know you think I did.”
“At this point, it doesn’t matter what I think.” She turned to go but Noelle wasn’t finished yet.
“Does Brandon know?”
Olivia hesitated with her hand on the doorknob. “Know what?”
“That I’m pregnant?”
Why would he care? “Of course
