“It has been far too long since I last saw you, darling. Your Grandmother told me you have been living in New York, is that correct?” She asked.
“Yes it is. I moved there in the summer after my senior year.”
Lillian let out a tsk as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You know I always thought you and my Ollie here were going to get married.”
“Oh—” I stammered out, looking to Ollie for a response. He stood there, perfectly at ease with a large mischievous grin plastered across his face.
“There’s still time,” he said, fueling the fire.
“That’s very true,” George added. “Now, let’s eat. I’m starved!” He took off towards the dining room but the other two stayed behind.
“You must come eat dinner with us, Danielle,” Lillian said, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Oh no, I don’t want to intrude. You all go on and we’ll catch up some other time.”
“Nonsense darling, you’re practically family. Ollie, tell her she must come.”
Oliver looked at me and slung his arm over my shoulders; the smell of aftershave made its way into my nose. It wasn’t the smell I’d grown accustomed to, nor was it the one that clung to my pillow that I held close, after a certain someone left. Those arms though, and the way I felt every single time I was curled into them—was something that hadn’t changed. Oliver’s touch had a way of controlling every sense in my body; if he was near me, my body reacted with a tingling sensation, craving more. Which made it even more bizarre that I didn’t see him before crashing into him tonight. I really must have been lost in my own thoughts.
“Oh come on, Dani. You know you want to.” Glancing back and forth between the two faces—I realized there was no real way out of this one. Thirty seconds after agreeing my phone rang in my hands. I was only allowed a quick glance before joining Ollie’s family—just as I suspected—Corey. Apparently he had the same thoughts of spending time together tonight as I had. I fixed my smile back into place, even though I felt myself sinking into sour-puss mode.
By no means was I opposed to spending time with the Garrisons—it was the conversations I was dreading. They knew the history with my mom, how I abandoned—as my melodramatic Grandmother put it—my family and how much I cared for Oliver. None of this was stuff I wanted to converse about but I had no escape now.
* * * *
Dinner went exactly as expected. Question-after-question was thrown at me about my mother, the Inn and my Grandmother. There was the occasional, Ollie and I needed to marry comment, but the rest was standard. How have you been? Are you happy to be home? Do you plan to stay long?
Overall the night was enjoyable—despite the mother questions. It was nice to have a chance to catch up with George and Lillian. They really were twp people of the few that didn’t make me cringe when I thought back to my history with them. Ollie was a different story all together. His arm often lingered along the back of my chair and on numerous occasions, he reached down and gave my thigh a little squeeze. The look in his eyes was one I had seen worn by many different men. He no longer saw me as the high school girl with the crazy crush on him—I was now an ‘option’ for him. I wasn’t sure whether to be offended or honored by the way his eyes scanned my body, lingering a little longer on specific areas of interest—boobs and hips.
Corey’s voicemail from the missed call, told me to call him when I got home. The dinner lasted much longer than expected, since a meal with the Garrison’s was an event. It was now close to nine. The day had been long, and I knew as the week pressed on I was only going to be more worn out. Truth be told, I was ready for bed. Even worse—I wanted Corey over but not for a good and sweaty roll around between the sheets. I wanted to lie in bed next to him, tell him about my day and hear about his. Let him make me laugh and forget all the crap swirling around inside my twisted mind.
This only left me with one feeling—YIKES!
Corey was supposed to be my hookup. My no-strings-attached hookup. NOT