Perfectly Inappropriate

Helen, her mother, entered the room and offered Olivia a mug of hot tea then took a seat on the couch next to her. Her light brown bob was longer than usual, and her old flowered apron hugged her curvy figure. “What made them fight, Livvie?”

Olivia took a sip from her mug, relishing the warmth and sugar. “Cameron said something not so nice to me and Noah obviously didn’t like that.”

Her mom scoffed, placing her hands on her hips. “I can’t believe that Cameron. First, he does despicable things. Then to say something bad about you. What’s wrong with him?”

“Good question,” Olivia commented.

“He’s an asshole,” Paige offered.

“Hear, hear.” Her dad raised his beer.

The reporter on the news station began talking about Cameron, giving backstory on who he was and where he worked. “God, this is awful.” She grabbed the controller then turned off the television.

“Baby girl, death is awful.” Her dad rose and kissed the top of her head. “This isn’t awful. It’s a moment. Maybe not a good moment, but a moment you’ll look back on one day and see far differently than you see it now.”

She smiled softly. “Okay, yeah, let’s go with that.”

He nodded and smiled. “Steak good for tonight?”

“Sounds perfect.”

“I’ll get the grill fired up,” he said before vanishing into the kitchen.

Her mom gave one of her “mom” smiles. “I’ll make your favorite, those cream cheese potatoes.” Which was a combination of potatoes, sour cream, and cream cheese. Perfect comfort food.

“Thanks.” She smiled again, even though this time it felt a little forced.

When she disappeared into the

kitchen too, Paige snuggled into Olivia’s shoulder. “You’re gonna be okay, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Olivia said, somehow knowing that was true but feeling shitty anyway.

“Has Noah called at all?”

“I don’t know. I left my cell in the car.” Maybe a cowardly move, but she was not ready to talk to him. In all this, after the shock of the fight had faded, she knew she had fallen back to her old ways of doing the right thing instead of listening to her heart. She had run when things had gotten tough. But Noah had let her go too. She couldn’t help but wonder what she would have done if he had fought for her to stay.

Hell, she knew—she’d be there, probably in his bed. And if she was honest with herself that’s exactly where she wanted to be. She dropped her cheek on Paige’s head and heaved the longest sigh yet. When would life get easy again?

Paige was quiet for a long moment before she broke the silence. “Noah might be worried about you.”

“Yeah, I should probably check.” Also, because thinking of him again had her wondering if he had been thinking about her too. She pushed off the couch and headed out the front door toward her car in the driveway. She reached in through the open window, grabbing her phone off the seat. Instantly, she felt the sink of disappointment.

No texts. No calls.

Before she could reconcile how she truly felt about that, a soft voice at the end of the driveway said, “Livvie.”

Her already conflicted heart promptly landed in her stomach. She forced herself to look up and stare into the eyes of the last person she had expected to see today. But Lacie’s parents still lived next door. Perhaps it should not have been such a surprise to see her old friend there.

“I’ve been wanting to call you.” Lacie approached slowly with watery eyes.

Speechless, Olivia stared at a friend she thought had loved her. She had not seen Lacie since that day, and her hands began to tremble. Anger. Sadness. It was all there ready to unleash itself in a scream. Needing support, Olivia leaned against the hood of her car.

Lacie’s voice got small. “I’m in therapy, you know.”

Olivia wondered how to respond but fell short. “Okay,” she said, thinking that was as good an answer as any.

Lacie averted her gaze then tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know why I hurt you. I don’t know what’s wrong with me that would make me do that to you.”