Wild Zone (Rough Riders Hockey 4)

Olivia exhaled. “I don’t know, mom.”

“Well, think about it.” Smiling, her mom pushed from the corner of the mattress. “I’m going to meet a potential candidate. Maybe it’ll all work out and none of us will have to worry about anything.”

The knot in Olivia’s gut loosened enough to allow her to breathe easier, but Quinn didn’t look convinced. After both of them gave their mother a kiss and promised to meet up with her in a few hours for family girl time, they stared at each other until the front door closed, securing their privacy.

All the unspoken problems they should have talked about last night weighted the air between them. Olivia crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall. “Spill it, Quinn. What’s really going on with the business?”

“It’s just been slow. We have calms and storms, but we don’t have the cash to just let things idle when it’s slow. Then we’ll get a big job, or a couple of big jobs in a row, and we have to leverage credit cards for deposits. We always pay the cards off when the client pays us, but sometimes there’s a lag. Sometimes the client makes a change and we don’t get paid as much as we think. Sometimes there are cancellations, so the money we think is coming in, doesn’t. We’ve been managing with lots of small jobs. And the money you send every month has saved us more than once. But last night was a huge step forward.”

Quinn rolled her eyes and shook her head. “We caught the engagement party as a fluke. Beckett’s and Eden’s wedding planner is a part time space cadet and dropped the ball. A friend of a friend recommended mom and we scooped it up and ran with it. The only reason Charlotte was available was because she wasn’t taking any more clients so close to her due date. But she’d just seen her doctor and had a check up, and he’d told her he didn’t anticipate seeing her again until she delivered. So, with three weeks left to sit around and watch paint dry, Charlotte jumped at the chance to work. Plus she’s a major Rough Riders’ fan.”

Quinn stood, crossed her arms and paced the room. “Once we got the engagement party, met with Eden and pitched our idea, Eden was hooked. She loved everything about it from the warehouse to the decorations to the fun food Charlotte had planned. And Eden’s enthusiasm carried through the team, which brought us three more jobs. One is big—a charity event in a little over three weeks. One of Beckett’s teammates,” Quinn rolled her eyes to the ceiling, “mom pointed him out last night but I didn’t get a chance to meet him. I can’t remember his name. There are so many of them.”

“Twenty-five,” Olivia said, remembering what Tate had told her about his team the night before while he’d been giving her a foot massage that turned into much, much, much more. She rubbed her tired eyes on a moan. “There are twenty five players on a team.”

“Anyway, this guy puts on one of those five-thousand-dollar-a-plate dinners to fund his charity every year, Afterschool Advantage. It’s black tie, the whole team goes and brings their wives or girlfriends or dates. Sponsors and donors and season ticket holders will be there. Some are buying full tables for family and friends. He says it funds the entire year of the program—”

“Three weeks?” That sliver of resentment was jabbing her beneath the ribs. Why was it so hard for her mother and her sister to remember something so major in Olivia’s life? “I won’t be here Quinn. I have school.”

“You said it starts in a month. This will happen right before. You can fly back the next day. Mom and I will handle everything after the party.”

”You want me to start full time school and go back to work jet lagged?” her anger rose. “Jesus, Quinn, do you realize I worked my ass off for two years to save enough money to offset my scholarship, partially because I was sending money home. Now you want me to work while I’m here and extend my stay so I can work some more? To hell with how that affects everything I have planned for my life back at home?”

With a heavy exhale, Quinn flopped down on the bed, reclining sideways and propping her head in her hand. “I’m sorry, Liv. I’d love to tell you we don’t need you. That we’re solid—”

“I don’t want you to lie.” Old anger from the past flared and bone-deep hurt flowed in its wake. “Don’t tell me what you think I need to hear, Quinn. Just tell me the fucking truth or I’ll get back on a plane right now.”

Identical anger and hurt flared in Quinn’s blue eyes, and she sat up. “And don’t you act like I’m trying to hide secrets that are fucking with your life. I’m telling you right now, we’re struggling and we could use your help. If you choose not to help, fine. If you want to leave, fine. But don’t you dare threaten to leave like that in front of mom. Abandoning us both the first time when we needed you the most hurt us enough for a lifetime.”

“And both of your lies hurt me for a lifetime.”

Quinn turned her gaze on the floor and shook her head. “I’m so sick of this. I’m sick of living in the past.”

“It’s not the past if you keep doing it. Why have you been telling me everything is fine when I call?”

“Because mom didn’t want you to worry. You were already sending money, what more could you do? We all know you wouldn’t come home.”

Her anger burned hotter. “Just because you never went after what you wanted in life doesn’t give you the right to judge me because I did.”

“I am where I want to be. I stayed to help mom get on her feet.”

And Olivia had left because they’d made it impossible for her to stay. “I’m not going to feel guilty that neither of you asked me for help over the years. Did all my experience in restaurant management just slip past you? Did you think it was irrelevant? Or could you just not bring yourselves to ask my advice about anything?”

“We may have not given you the credit you deserve, but you live across the fucking world, Olivia. Last night was the first time we’ve ever had the opportunity to see what you do first hand. And you were out so late—or early, depending on how you want to look at it—neither of us could tell you how impressed we were with everything you did last night. You didn’t even give us the chance to thank you. Honestly, Liv, you don’t make it easy to appreciate you.”

“Oh, perfect.” Olivia closed her eyes and rested her head back against the wall. “Now it’s my fault. I feel like I’ve stepped into a time machine.”

“Stop living in the past. We have a very real problem right now. Mom gave us eighteen years of her life when she could have been out working, creating

a career for herself, one that could be supporting her now. Dad’s life insurance is all wrapped up in that company. She doesn’t have anything to fall back on. I can always find work, but mom’s not as flexible. Finding a job that will cover health insurance and retirement at her age is impossible.”

Quinn pushed from the bed, crossed her arms and paced across the floor, then back before meeting Olivia’s eyes again. When she did, her anger had mellowed into frustration and fatigue, much like Olivia’s.

“We need to do what we have to do to make this work,” Quinn said. “I know this is bad timing for you, but I need you to pitch in here. Dad would want us to do this for her. So I’m asking you now. I’m asking you to stay and help so that we can hold onto this forward momentum and keep mom on her feet.”

Well shit.

What the hell was she supposed to say?