“So what’s his problem?”
Olivia started to tell but thought better of it. “Let’s go back and ask him.”
As they started toward the bridge, they heard a car door slam, then a woman’s voice.
“Kevin! I told you she wasn’t here, now let’s go!”
Instantly, Olivia stepped back into the trees, and Elise moved behind her. “Who are they?” Elise whispered.
Olivia’s face fell. “My stepson and his wife. They are very, very angry at me.”
“What dreadful thing did you do?”
“I got married and moved out of their house. No more free cooking and cleaning.”
“I had no idea you were such a selfish person.”
Olivia put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
“Come on, Hildy,” Kevin said. “I brought a picnic basket and two bottles of wine. You know her plane gets in today and of course she’ll come here. Let’s wait.”
“Why she’d want to give up our beautiful new home for this horrible old place, I’ll never understand. Or why she married that old man.”
“He’s rich—you know that,” Kevin said. “Olivia has always loved money. When I was a kid she was always working. If it hadn’t been for having a home with Willie and Alana, I don’t know how I would have survived my childhood. They always had time for me.”
Just a few feet away, across the narrow piece of water, Olivia’s whole body stiffened. This was something she hadn’t heard before. She’d had to work. She had to support all of them. She had to—
“So who the hell does he think paid for that home?” There was a great deal of anger in Elise’s voice. “Who gave them the time to do nothing?”
When Olivia turned to look at her in gratitude, she saw that Elise was pulling her T-shirt off over her head. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to escape by going over that wall in my birthday suit. I ne
ed an adventure.”
Olivia hesitated for only a second. She didn’t have the beautiful body she’d once had, but she’d kept in shape. She had a wooden ski machine in her office and spent twenty minutes a day on it. Expending the pent-up energy kept her sane, and vendors were used to talking to her when she was out of breath. She unbuttoned her blouse. “I’m with you.”
Under her T-shirt, Elise wore a very pretty white bra made of lace. As she unsnapped it, Olivia said, “If you leave that here, Young Pete can add it to mine that he found so long ago. I’ve been told that it’s in a frame and on his wall like a trophy.”
With a wicked little smile, Elise dropped the bra to the ground, then removed the rest of her clothes and tossed them over her arm. She unabashedly watched Olivia undress. “My mother would kill to have a body like yours. But lying on a table and having gorgeous men run their hands over her and calling it a massage hasn’t helped.” She nodded toward the house. “Are they still there?”
“Oh yes,” Olivia said. “But they’re looking the other way. I think we can make it across the bridge without being seen.” As she stood there naked, she felt silly and embarrassed, but also a bit excited. She’d had her clothes off for most of her honeymoon, but this was different. This was someone else’s fantasy.
Elise picked up a stone. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to throw it at the end of the terrace to distract them.”
Olivia took the rock from her. “Let me.” It had been a while since she’d thrown anything, but she’d kept her arms strong—and well, maybe Kevin’s ungrateful words would help her aim.
She drew back into a pitcher’s stance, leg lifted, and threw the rock. It sailed over the strip of water and hit the bottle of wine standing on the cooler. The bottle hit a rock and made a loud sound as it broke into pieces.
“Impressive!” Elise said.
“What the hell was that?” Kevin shouted as he jumped up.
“It’s this horrible old house,” Hildy yelled back. “It’s falling down. I told Olivia that man was a charlatan. He’s put her in this house and he’s left her—just like he did before. Kevin, we must get her out of here. If we have to move into this place, we’re going to be here when she gets back. I bet if we look hard enough we can find a key hidden somewhere. We must do whatever we have to to make her see reason.”
“Is there a key?” Elise whispered.