Damn the man, she hated crying at work for any reason. She blotted her eyes and leaned back in the chair. “It’s fine. I have to go. I have a lot of work to catch up with. Bye, Dad.” She hung up without waiting for him to reply.
Somehow Olivia survived the long week of fending off the media, and she wanted nothing more than to spend the upcoming weekend doing nothing. Except nothing wouldn’t help her life.
So she drew a deep breath an
d made a list of things she would be able to do, things she needed to face in order to move forward. She hoped she could handle it. Because the risk of what she could lose if she didn’t was so very great.
Chapter Twelve
Dylan let himself into his sister’s house, knowing it was just around bewitching time for Ava. Sure enough, the munchkin was attempting to avoid brushing her teeth by hiding behind the living room curtains.
“It’s not hide-and-seek time,” Callie called out to her daughter.
“Yes, it is!” came the reply.
Callie met Dylan’s gaze and grinned. “The good news is she doesn’t realize she can’t talk back to me while playing hide-and-seek and still … hide.” Callie tiptoed into the family room and swept her daughter into her arms, curtains and all.
Ava shrieked, then caught sight of him. “Uncle Dylan!” Another piercing scream, her flailing arms held out wide.
Dylan caught her easily. “How about I help you brush your teeth and tuck you in afterwards, and then you promise to go to sleep, hmm?”
“Yay! Teeth!” She waved her little hands in the air.
Callie clenched her jaw. “I hate it when she does a one-eighty for you.”
“And you love it at the same time, because she is going to bed.” He swung her over his shoulders and headed up the stairs.
A half hour and a lot of water splashing and story telling later, Dylan had tucked Ava into bed. Twice. She came out three more times, and his sister handled things until she finally settled in for good.
Callie groaned from the big club chair in the family room. “Business trips really do suck,” she muttered. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Dylan laughed. “I’m sure Matthew misses you as much as you miss him.”
“I’m sure he’s enjoying his night alone in a quiet hotel,” she said wryly. “But he’ll be home tomorrow, and Ava’s bedtime duties are all his.”
“Teamwork.”
Callie’s head picked up at the tone of his voice. He hadn’t meant to be so revealing, but the bedtime ritual with Ava had hit him square in the chest. What he’d never had growing up. What he wanted going forward. And who he wanted it with.
“Dylan, what’s going on? What’s wrong?” Callie asked, concerned.
His sister had always been able to read his moods well and visa versa. He knew it had more to do with how they’d raised each other than the normal sibling bond.
“Is everything okay with Olivia? Because I really liked her,” Callie said.
He smiled. “She liked you too.”
“So what’d you do to screw it up?” his sister asked.
Dylan rolled his eyes at her conclusion. “I told her I loved her and wanted a life with her. How’s that for a screw-up?”
“Oh. Wow.”
He shoved his hands in his pants and paced the small room. “I thought we had it rough, right? Dad bailed, Mom eventually did the same. We had each other … but we coped, right? We want to have the life neither of us had growing up. Hell, Call, I don’t want to be on the outside looking in anymore. Looking at the families and love other people have and wishing I had it for myself.”
Had he forgotten a condom on purpose? Hell no, he thought. There was no way he’d put Olivia through such emotional anguish and torture because of his own selfish needs. But would he be sorry if the end result was a baby? No, he thought. He wouldn’t. But she might be, and that scared the crap out of him.
His sister rose and walked over, wrapping her arms around him as she’d done when they were kids. “If Olivia doesn’t want that with you, she’s a stupid woman.”