AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The morning flew by, and soon a knock on the door heralded her sister’s arrival with lunch.
“This is so great,” Charlie said. “I wish you could do this every day.”
“Well, my boss is usually such a slave driver,” Emily quipped, referring to their stepfather. “But today he gave me two hours off
for lunch so I could bring food to you guys. And he paid for it, too.”
“Yum! I love the lasagna from Papa’s Place.”
“The kids love it, too. But they’re gonna need to be hosed off afterward.” Charlie followed her eyes to see all three thoroughly enjoying lunch, while painting themselves with it.
“Yep. I’m gonna have to hose down the kitchen as well.”
“So this is Josh’s niece? And he has a nephew, too?”
“Yes. This is Chloe, and his nephew, Jace, is nine.”
“It makes so much more sense, now. Why didn’t he tell us the truth to begin with?”
“Well, I think he was still working on convincing Olivia to marry him, and he was hoping to do it before everyone found out why he was rushing things.”
“But you still think he’s in love with her? You don’t think he’s only marrying her so he can get custody?”
“He told me he loves her,” Charlie said. “And I believe him.”
“But that doesn’t jibe with what he told Spencer about them only getting married for a year. Why would they split up after a year if they were in love with each other?”
Charlie shrugged. “My guess is Josh is in love with Olivia, but she isn’t convinced of it. He’s probably asking her to give him a year to prove himself,”
“Maybe...”
“There is something else,” Charlie hesitated. “Remember, at Sunday night dinner, Olivia said she didn’t love Josh. I hope that’s not true, because I don’t want him to get hurt again.”
“So you’re feeling guilty because you were the one who hurt him before? And now you’re planning to help him convince Olivia, so it won’t happen again?”
“Basically. Yes, that’s it.” She sighed. “Two years ago I was so sure he could never really change, and I was only trying to protect myself from getting hurt. I actually figured he’d forget all about me. I never dreamed he had real honest-to-goodness feelings for me. Now I think he was telling the truth all along, and I feel like a real heel. I want to make up for it.”
“And is part of your motivation that you’re in love with him?”
“How can you ask that? Would I be trying to help him get together with Olivia if I was in love with him, myself?”
“I don’t know. He was so rude to you at the wedding. I can’t believe you even agreed to help him out by watching Chloe. So I can’t help wondering if you still have feelings for him.”
“Emily! We never actually even dated.”
“Now that’s totally untrue,” Emily said. “As I recall, he kissed you twice. According to our dating rules, that means you had two dates, at least.”
“That’s a technicality,” Charlie retorted. “Seriously, you’ve got to help me. Saturday night, Olivia was suggesting Josh and I might get back together. If she thinks it could happen, she’ll never trust Josh.”
“But you’re really sure you don’t have feelings for Josh?” Emily pushed. “Because...”
“I’m not in love with him.” Charlie set her glass down with a little more force than necessary, splashing her tea on the table. She grabbed a napkin to wipe her splatters while she scrambling to determine the best way to convince her sister. “Look Emily, I’m really not in love with Josh. Really. If I were, would I be thinking about asking Derek to go on the ski trip?”
“Derek from Saturday night?” Emily’s jaw dropped open. “You’re taking him with us on the ski trip? And Steven’s okay with it?”
“Well, I haven’t actually decided whether to ask him or not. I was going to ask your advice. Steven said I could bring him. He met him last night, and I guess they hit it off. Evidently, Mom thought I might want a guy along since you and Grace and Olivia will all be paired off. Do you think it’s a good idea?”
“Do you like him?”
