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“No. I won’t let you. They shouldn’t even be here, not this way…” I said, trying to hold on to her.
“And Olivia…” she muttered, her bottom lip now shaking as tears streamed down her face.
“You know her?” I questioned, shocked, because in all the years I’d been with Ella, I’d never laid eyes on her.
“Oh, I know her all right. Remember how I told you about Daniel? That is the Olivia,” she cried.
I was in such shock, I barely even processed what she said. What kind of messed-up world was this? Bill and Paula had brought her to me to fix us up? I didn’t want anyone but Cadence.
Panic hit me as I realized that it was the same girl who’d messed with Cadence’s relationship before. I knew she’d probably heard every word Paula said regarding fixing us up, so to her it probably felt like another personal attack. First Ella, and now, once again, her cousin. She was probably worried I’d turn my sights on her, just like Daniel had done.
“Apparently, she is a sought-after piece. I hope you are very happy together,” Cadence bit out.
Before I could stop her, Cadence was in her truck. I was about to approach her, rip open the door, and take her inside the house where I could stand up for the pair of us. Instead, she spun the wheels and took off.
* * *
I’d wanted to go after her, but first I needed to deal with the mess that was now inside my home. I took a few minutes to come to my senses before I walked back in through the front door. When I did, I was about to kick my shoes off when I looked up to see Paula and Bill step into the living room.
“Connor, perhaps we should have called first,” Bill said, guiding his wife over to the couch. “Made sure that it was okay that we introduce you to Olivia…that you were ready to move on…”
I rolled my eyes, then I too moved into the room. I took a seat across from them, trying to form my thoughts before I spoke.
Paula leaned over to Bill. “Clearly, we should have called first. I’d of thought that a year would be enough, but perhaps I was wrong…”
“What world are you people living in?” I yelled.
Bill and Paula looked over at me, confusion on their faces. “What?”
“Look. Ever since Ella died, you have taken every opportunity you could to remind me of the fact that she died alone, that perhaps I could have saved her, that perhaps I could have done more. LuAnn even took out an article in the paper trying to pin her death on me. Don’t think I don’t know it, because I do. I read the damn thing. It had her written all over it.”
“What?” Paula asked, shocked. “Why would she do that?”
“For the same reason she was harassing Cadence and I the other night. She’s not right.”
“LuAnn wouldn’t do anything of the kind,” Paula said, going to stand up and come over to me.
“No, don’t play these games. You know what I am saying is the truth. With LuAnn and yourself. Every single chance you’ve had, you’ve reminded me of all these things. I realized I was staying in the zone I was in because everyone else didn’t want me to move on.”
“Yes…and we’ve brought a lovely young woman for you to meet.”
“Paula, Bill, all due respect, but I don’t want to meet someone you are fixing me up with. Olivia doesn’t fall far from the tree of her mother. Ask her what she did to Cadence a few years ago.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Cadence and Olivia have never met. Ella only met her one time, when they were about four. That was when Olivia went to live with her father.”
“Well, they have met. Olivia was friends with Cadence when she was living with her grandparents. It seemed Olivia had a fondness for Cadence’s boyfriend.”
“No way. Not our Olivia,” Paula said.
“Yes Paula, your Olivia. I know you don’t believe me, so why don’t you just see what she has to say?”
“I’m not going to ask her something like that because I know she’d never do anything like that. Her mother raised her better than that.”
“Whatever you say.” I muttered under my breath. “Well, it doesn’t matter because I want you to note, and you’d better take it seriously, I’ve met the woman I want to be with.”
“Connor, you can’t be serious,” Paula said. “Cadence is…well…she’s Cadence.”
I nodded. “Yes, she is Cadence, and I love everything about her.” I took a moment, thinking about the words I’d just spoken. “Perhaps you should have called before you came out here at the crack of dawn. That way you could have found out about us the proper way, and not with her showing up in nothing but my T-shirt.”
