As You Wish (The Summerhouse 3)

“It’s my date and you’re not going.”

“I think we should do things together. With our clothes on. Get to know each other outside the darkness.”

“Does that include my knowing about you running around naked in the sunlight to get a full body tan?”

If Kit was surprised by her knowledge, he didn’t show it. He just smiled. “What car do you want to use? Bill and Nina are staying home tonight so we could go in theirs. I’m not sure Uncle Freddy’s old Packard is up to the two-mile journey into town. Or we could take the pickup. Maybe—”

“I have things to do.” Olivia modified her tone, made it less strident, less angry. After all, Kit hadn’t yet done the things she was furious at him for doing. When he said nothing, she stepped in front of him. “I’m not trying to be rude, but I really do have some very important things that I need to do and I can only do them alone.”

“Ah,” he said again.

“Stop saying that! We’ll go out tomorrow. I promise.”

Kit got up and went to the door. “I’ll get Bill’s car and meet you in the front in fifteen minutes. We wouldn’t want to miss a minute at—where was it?—Trumbull’s Appliance Store’s semiannual sale. I’m sure this will be a very exciting date.”

He was out the door before Olivia could say another word. This was something she hadn’t imagined. How was she going to get Alan and his Great Love together if Kit was hanging around? He liked to be in charge, in command. He liked to give the orders.

She called the kids to dinner and the men followed. They all wanted to know why she was dressed up and where she was going. She told them. Letty asked if she could go too; Ace asked if she’d bring back some ice cream; Uncle Freddy said the Summer Hill Bakery had blackberry pies; Mr. Gates asked her to find out how much a new stove would cost.

Olivia grabbed her sweater and ran out the door before they gave her more to do. Kit was leaning against Bill’s Chevy and cleaning his nails with a pocketknife.

“You want to drive? I wasn’t old enough to learn unt

il last week.”

With an eye roll at his lie, she got into the passenger seat.

They were barely out of the driveway before Kit said, “Why is it so important for you to go to this sale tonight and why did you ask someone you hardly know to go with you?”

“How do you know she isn’t my best friend?”

“I can’t see you being pals with someone who giggles and flirts with a stranger over the phone. Not your type at all.”

Olivia had to agree with that! When Alan was dying, she got to know Willie well. Makeup, clothes, and who was going to pay her bills were her main concerns.

“You’re not going to tell me what you’re up to, are you?”

“I’m not ‘up to’ anything. Willie is new in town. I saw that Trumbull Appliances is having a big sale, so I invited her to go with me. Now are you satisfied?”

“Not in the least. Why did you really invite her to go with you?”

Olivia threw up her hands. “You are an exasperating man! Okay. I think she and Alan Trumbull would like each other. Happy, now?”

“Happier,” he said. “What are you planning to buy? I think our washing machine was used during the First World War.”

Kit was parking the car in the alley beside the bank. In a few years, the town would tear down three lovely old buildings to put in a parking lot. She started to reply to him, but the Caldwell family walked by. Six years from now, their house would burn down and Mr. Caldwell would die saving his youngest daughter.

“Are you all right?” Kit asked.

“Fine,” Olivia whispered. Mr. Deavers and his wife went by. They would lose their son in Afghanistan.

“Livie?” Kit pulled her into his arms and stroked her back. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like knowing the future.”

He pulled back to look at her. “You can talk to me, you know. Tell me what’s wrong.”

She moved away and leaned back against the seat. Patty Ferris was walking with her high school boyfriend. When she dumped him to marry Sue Collier’s fiancé, there would be a lot of anger. But Patty would have three kids and be very happy, and Sue would leave town in a rage, go to law school, get her degree, and also be very happy.