“Okay,” Olivia said. “But you don't have to avoid me. You could come by to see me. Maybe we should talk about this.”
It was another thing that I'd been thinking about since Wednesday night. Her and I, dating in such a small town, everyone was going to know everything that we got up to. I wasn't ready to cross the bridge yet.
“We're going to have to be careful,” I told her. “This town gossips like no other. I don't want people questioning us.”
Olivia sighed again. “So I guess you're asking me to start avoiding you too, aren't you?”
“Of course not,” I said gently. “I'm just saying that I want to talk about this in private. Or maybe five towns over.”
“Going to be an awfully long drive to go five towns over for coffee,” Olivia said, and I could hear the grin in her voice again, finally.
“I don't think we'll have any trouble coming up with things to talk about,” I said.
“Well, I guess I'll see you around,” Olivia said uncertainly.
“You'll see me around,” I agreed firmly. “At the very least, I'll see you on Monday morning when I bring Emma in for daycare. I assume that she'll be feeling better by then.”
“Good,” Olivia said.
“Who was that?” Helen asked as she came into the foyer, watching me hang up the phone.
“No one,” I said, feeling guilty again. But Helen was going to need to know about this sooner or later. She'd start to wonder otherwise. I took a deep breath. “It was Olivia Sable,” I admitted. “We went on a date on Wednesday.”
“That's nice,” Helen said, smiling at me. “Olivia seemed like a very nice girl.”
“She is,” I said, surprised at how okay Helen was with the idea that I had moved on to someone else. Maybe she didn't realize that when I said date, I meant...well. I shifted, thinking about where the evening had ended up. Not that I was going to tell my mother-in-law about that.
“I have to get to work,” I told her, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. “If you need anything, give me a call.”
“Will do,” Helen said cheerfully, ushering me out the door.
I was distracted all morning, and lunchtime was no reprieve. I headed over to Ernie's Diner for lunch, craving a tuna melt. “How've you been lately?” Ernie asked as he poured me a cup of his strongest coffee.
I shrugged. “You know, same old, same old,” I said. “Not much changes in a town like this.”
Ernie laughed. “You're right there,” he agreed, looking around the diner, which looked exactly the same as it had for the whole time I'd lived there, right down to the photos on the wall and the chips out of the linoleum. “Heard you've got yourself a new lady friend, though.”
“Who, Georgia Witherspoon?” I asked. “I ran into her at the market the other day, that's all. You know how she is. It's no secret that she's been chasing me for years now.”
“Not Georgia, no,” Ernie said, waving a hand at me. “I meant the new girl. Jeannie Sable's daughter.”
“Olivia?” I asked in surprise. “Emma goes to her place for daycare, that's all. Helen's getting older; I figured it would be easier on her, a little less stress if Emma wasn't her sole responsibility nearly every day of the week.”
Ernie raised an eyebrow at me. “Emma goes there for daycare, sure. We all know that.” He leaned in close. “But I heard your car was parked in her driveway rather late on Wednesday evening.”
I tried to school my features into a neutral expression. Of course, someone had noticed. It was exactly what I'd been worried about. This was a small town, and people took notice whenever anything even slightly out of the ordinary happened.
“So, you're finally moving on from Emily, are you?” Ernie asked, moving to dry some cups. “About time, I'd say.”
“Olivia and I aren't dating,” I said. “Or doing whatever else you're insinuating.” I hoped he couldn't see the faint blush spreading across my cheeks. “We're friendly, sure. But Wednesday night, I was just over there because...” I cast around in my mind, trying to find some plausible excuse. Finally, I hit on one. “Emma forgot her dolly over there during daycare, and she refused to go to bed without the thing. I just went over there to get dolly back.”
Ernie frowned. “Seems like you were over there for a long time if you were just there to get a toy,” he said meaningfully.
“Oh come on, Ernie, I don't know what you want me to say,” I complained. “Like I said, Olivia and I are friendly with one another. I didn't just run in, grab the toy, and leave. We chatted a little. We shared a little wine.”
“Sounds romantic,” Ernie said. “And Emma waited for you that whole time?”
“Emma didn't need her dolly to fall asleep,” I said, knowing full well that I was just digging the hole deeper and deeper. I didn't like lying about it, but I wasn't ready for the whole town to know about Olivia and I yet, and as soon as Ernie knew, the cat would really be out of the bag. “Who told you about the car anyway?” I asked. “You live on the other side of town from me; you weren't just passing through, either.”