The Sweetheart Bargain (A Sweetheart Sisters Novel) (38 page)

Olivia and Miss Sadie headed for Millie’s room. Kris was already there, waiting outside. “Glad you came in. I thought you’d want to see this yourself.” She didn’t say any more, just smiled and pressed the door open.

Inside the apartment, Millie was again sitting on the bed, but this time, she was dressed in pale-blue polyester slacks, a floral blouse, and a white cardigan. Slip-on sneakers covered her feet, and her hair had been brushed and fastened into a low bun. She had one hand on the quad cane, and in the other hand she was holding a thin cardboard five-by-seven photo frame, the kind that opened like a book.

The same one Olivia had left on Millie’s bedside table a week ago. It was a little memento she gave to all the clients she and Miss Sadie worked with, an idea she’d gotten from another therapist. A portrait of Miss Sadie, with a little note on the opposite side, a way to cheer the patients between visits. Olivia had found that Miss Sadie often became a surrogate pet for her patients, and having a picture of the dog was a nice reminder of the bichon who brought so many smiles to their days.

“She’s had that in her hands for the past hour,” Kris whispered to Olivia. “Hasn’t said a word, but she gave a pile of clothes to the nurse, who helped her get dressed. This is the most progress I’ve seen Millie make in months.”

Miss Sadie beelined for the bed. She plopped onto the floor beside Millie’s feet, her tail swish-swishing on the carpet. Millie stared down at the dog for a long time, then laid the picture on her bed and turned to Olivia. “Walk?”

“Sure,” Olivia said, calm and casual, as if a breakthrough like this were an everyday occurrence instead of one that felt as rare as a comet sighting.

A single word, but that was all Miss Sadie needed. Her tail went into overdrive, and she darted back to Olivia’s side, waiting for the leash to be clipped onto her collar. Olivia bent down, cupped the bichon’s face, and stared into Miss Sadie’s brown eyes. “Gentle, Miss Sadie, gentle. Okay?”

Kris helped Millie into a standing position. Olivia took up a station on one side of the elderly woman, Kris the opposite. Olivia held Sadie’s leash in the space between herself and Millie. Miss Sadie trotted forward, staying far enough ahead to prevent too much slack. They headed out of the apartment and into the hall, an odd quartet of humans and canine.

At the end of the hall, Millie shrugged off Kris’s touch. “Outside. I want to go outside.”

Kris caught Olivia’s gaze. She nodded.

“Okay, Millie,” Kris said. “You got it.” She pushed on the handle to open the door to the courtyard, holding it as Miss Sadie, Olivia, and Millie made their way outside. The waning sunshine dropped a golden hue over the lush gardens, cushioned seating, and charming bird feeders. Greta was sitting on one of the courtyard benches, talking to Pauline. She waved at Olivia, and then her mouth dropped into an O of surprise when she saw Millie.

Millie put the cane down, took a step, then did it again. Miss Sadie kept pace with her, turning her pixie face up to glance at Millie. As they rounded the corner, Millie paused, then caught her breath.

Olivia put a hand under Millie’s elbow. “Do you want to go back in?”

Millie’s blue eyes met Olivia’s. She shook her head. “I want to walk Miss Sadie.”

“Miss Sadie is loving this walk, and she’ll go as far as you want to, Millie.” Olivia smiled encouragement and trust for her patient. “I’m right here, if you need me.” She handed the looped end of the leash to Millie. The older woman clutched it tight in her left hand, then lifted the cane with her right. Place, move. Place, move. Miss Sadie’s tail wagged, and she continued along at that slow pace, as happy as ever.

When they reached the bench at the eastern corner of the courtyard, Millie stopped and settled on the plaid cushion. She patted the space beside her, and Miss Sadie obliged by hopping up and curving into the space beside her new friend.

Millie’s arthritic hand came down, slow, tentative. She hesitated a moment more, then flattened her palm against Miss Sadie’s soft fur. Miss Sadie settled deeper into the cushion, letting out a little doggie sigh of contentment. As Millie patted the dog, the sadness eased from Millie’s features. Her eyes brightened, her cheeks pinked, and a smile curved across her face. “Thank you,” she said.

Miss Sadie gave Millie’s hand a doggie kiss, then laid her head on Millie’s thigh. Millie’s eyes misted and she reached out a hand to grasp Olivia’s. “Thank you.”

“Just doing my job, Millie,” Olivia said, covering Millie’s hand with her own, “just doing my job.”

Olivia had worked with dozens of patients in the weeks she’d spent at Golden Years, patients who had become friends. But none of the smiles or praise she had received mattered a tenth as much as Millie’s thank-you.

“That was wonderful,” Greta said, after Millie had returned to her room. “You changed that woman’s life.”

“I didn’t change it. She changed herself.”

“Whichever way you want to butter your bread, it still comes out the same.” Greta smiled. “Now tell me this means you’ve rethought giving your notice.”

Olivia thought about the little salmon-colored bungalow at the end of Gull Lane. When she’d pulled into the driveway a few weeks ago, she’d been so full of enthusiasm and hope. But now the electricity was out, the plumbing leaking, the repairs expanding by the day.

In my dreams, I imagined the two of you running this place together. Diana with her amazing veterinary skill and you with your intuitive touch with animals.

If that was the case, then maybe Bridget should have left the girls a stack of gold, too, because fixing the place up enough to get it running was going to take some serious cash to pay for help and expertise. Olivia didn’t have any of that. And even if she did, she’d be living next door to Luke. She wasn’t going to lie and say that seeing his house every day—or worse, seeing him—wasn’t going to hurt like hell. She’d fallen for him, fallen hard, and he didn’t feel the same. Maybe never would.

And that, she knew, was at the core of her wanting to leave. Despite what her birth mother had asked of her, Olivia couldn’t stay here and look at Luke’s house, day after day, go on sharing the ownership of Chance, and pretend her heart didn’t break a little every time she looked at him. Surely Diana could run the shelter alone, maybe even move her practice over here like she’d mentioned.

Maybe it was time Olivia faced facts instead of holding on to a dream that was far beyond her abilities.

She shook her head. “I got what I came here for. Answers. There really isn’t any other reason for me to stay.” Then she gave Greta a kiss before the other woman could voice an objection, and left.

* * *

Olivia pulled into the driveway and sat in the car. Diana’s Honda was parked ahead of hers, which meant Jackson and Diana were probably at the shelter, tending to the puppies. Olivia let Miss Sadie out of the car, then leaned on the roof of her car and looked out into the distance, in the direction of the beach.

Rescue Bay. Such an apt name for the town.

The tippy-top of the lighthouse peeked above the trees, nothing more than a red spire atop a long white cone. A beacon for people who’d needed to be rescued for dozens and dozens of years.

Right now, swimming in the deep churning waters of emotions brought up by the last few days, with Luke and the box from her mother, Olivia certainly had that sensation of drowning. She didn’t know which way to turn, which path to take. Whether to run or stay.

Diana strode down the worn grass path between the shelter and the house. She waved at Olivia. “Hey, Olivia, you should see the shelter. Mike’s been working on it all day and it’s really coming along. He made the kennel area safer, and he says we’re only a few weeks from being up and running. I know this town desperately needs a shelter again. And as long as there are puppies involved, I think we can get Jackson to help without too much prodding.”

A wave of panic threatened to engulf Olivia. She’d made this giant move, and now that she had what she wanted, the thought of staying, of settling down, of taking that risk on a permanent basis, terrified her. She needed time to think, time to breathe, time to figure out what she really wanted.

“I . . . I need to do something,” Olivia said. “Can you take Miss Sadie into the house?”

“Sure. Where are you going?”

Her gaze went to the red-tipped building in the distance. It seemed to call to her, asking her to lay her problems at its feet. Okay, maybe that was a crazy thought, but Olivia didn’t care. “The beach.”

* * *

The Rescue Bay lighthouse cast a long shadow over the beach, like a finger reaching over the sand. Luke dropped his shoes into a pile and strode down the sloping hill. The sand was cool and soft, making his bare feet sink size-twelve impressions into the sand. Chance dashed forward to play in the surf.

Luke’s gaze scanned the shore, and then he saw her, exactly where Diana had said. Twenty yards away stood Olivia, bundled in a thick gray sweatshirt, arms around her body, hair whipping in the wind coming off the ocean. Looking beautiful and sad all at the same time.

Regret urged him to let her be, but Luke had decided after his run that he was done with regrets. He had gone into the house, called Joe’s sister, and finally had that long, difficult, painful conversation. In the end, Emma had cried, but thanked him for telling her the truth. It hadn’t been easy, but it had been the right thing to do. Luke wasn’t sure where to go from here, but he knew he sure as hell wasn’t going backward. So he moved forward.

Toward the future. Olivia.

Chance reached Olivia first and jumped up to plant two wet paws on her chest. She shooed him down, laughing. As she petted the dog, Olivia lifted her gaze with a question, until she found Luke. The light dimmed in her features, and she turned away, walking down the shoreline. Away from him.

In that moment, he could see his future. Olivia gone, and his life back to being the empty dark nothing it had been for the last few weeks.

He broke into a light jog and caught up to her. Chance ran ahead, barking at seagulls he’d never catch, though the golden gave it his best effort. The temperature had dropped and the sunny day had turned dark and stormy. “Olivia, wait. I want to talk to you.”

She kept going. “About what, Luke? You made it clear we don’t have anything other than some sex between us.”

Her words shot back at him like a swift, sharp backhand. “I didn’t say that to hurt you. But to protect you.”

“I’m a big girl, Luke. I don’t need anyone to protect me.”

She was right. And to be honest, maybe he was the wrong person to protect anyone, much less Olivia. But he couldn’t let her go, not without saying what he had come here to say.

“My grandmother called me today and said you were leaving town.” She’d also told him she hadn’t raised him to be a total moron, and if he had even one decent brain cell, he would stop Olivia from leaving. Luke had hunted down Diana next door, who barely got out the word
beach
before Luke was gone.

He had known—maybe because he had good instincts or maybe because he and Olivia had a connection like none he’d ever known—exactly where Olivia had gone.

The lighthouse.

“So, you’re running away?” he asked.

“I’m not running. I’m accepting reality. That house is a wreck. I’m going to take Mike’s advice and sell it, and then I’m going back to Boston.” She stopped walking and turned toward the ocean, wrapping her arms around her waist. “Besides, I got what I came here for. I moved to this town because I wanted to know my birth mother, and in the process I also found a sister I never knew I had. So”—she shrugged—“there’s nothing else to hold me here.”

“Nothing else? Really?”

She blew her bangs out of her face. “I just told you I met my sister and found out about my birth mother. That’s really what this trip was about.”

“Trip?” He came around to the front of her, not caring that the surf rushed over his bare feet, inched up his ankles. “Not a move?”

“It was a slip of the tongue. Nothing more. Trip, move, same thing.”

“A trip implies an end date when you turn around and go back. A move is more permanent. You set down roots. You”—he came closer—“take risks, open your heart.”

“I did that.” But she glanced away when she said it. “And look where it got me. You were gone before the sheets even cooled. You talk to me about taking risks, Luke. When are
you
going to do it?”

He’d built a career on the word
risk
. Flying into storms, racing against time, battling Mother Nature on a daily basis. He’d been the cowboy, the one who leapt first and thought second, and in the end that same risky behavior that the government had lauded and rewarded with medals and commendations had cost the life of a good man.

“It’s different for me, Olivia. When I take risks, people get hurt.” He shook his head. Why had he gone after her? Why couldn’t he just leave it alone? Why did he have to take this one more risk—

No matter how much the outcome might hurt?

“See, right there.” She threw up her hands. “You put up a wall.” She was the one to approach him now, her green eyes searching his. “Or is this all another way of saying you’re not really interested in me?”