“She’s mad that we broke up?”
He quietly laughed in the form of a little huff out his nose. “Liv, she adores you. As far as she’s concerned, I’ve ruined everything and taken away the big sister she never had—which, ouch. I think she likes you more than me.”
The warmth that filled Olivia’s chest felt like the sun on a crisp fall day. At the same time, a wave of guilt washed over her for feeling like she’d somehow let Chelsea down. She tried to drown it with another pull of her milkshake. “I think you will forever hold idol status for her, don’t worry.”
He shook his head with a soft smile and shoved his phone back in his pocket. “Unlikely. She’s threatening to fly out here and stab me with the blunt end of a paintbrush.”
Olivia grinned at the thought of Chelsea hopping a flight and showing up in paint-stained overalls to harangue her brother. “What’s she doing this summer?”
“Art camp. She’s a counselor for a bunch of tweens trying to find their inner Monet.”
“That suits her.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of perfect. She’ll be back for school in September. We should take her—” He cut himself off midsentence as if he’d tripped. His brow furrowed. “Sorry. Never mind.”
His interrupted suggestion that the three of them spend time together—because clearly that was what he had been about to say—left Olivia with a sense of sadness she wasn’t sure where to place. Those days were obviously over.
She returned to her milkshake for solace. “How are your parents? How’s your dad doing after his surgery?”
Chuck lit up with the usual sunbeam shine that mention of Barbara and Sam Walsh summoned from him. Olivia had been lucky enough to bask in the source of that light on the occasions she’d met his parents, and while it was golden and beautiful, it always left her wrung out and drained like a long day in the real sun. The presence of something so wholesome and unconditionally absolute served to remind her that she’d never had the same. No doting from the two parents who’d given her life, at least.
“They’re good. My dad’s doing really well, apparently. I was thinking of flying out to help around the house for a while, but my mom said he’s already up and about. His doctors are impressed he’s recovering so well.”
“Your dad’s a sturdy man.”
“He is. Took a new hip like a champ. He says thanks for the get-well card.”
Olivia had sent him one two weeks ago when he’d had his hip replacement. Little did she know her relationship with his son would be over by the time he’d recovered. The thought made her ache the same way discussing Chelsea had. His whole family had been over-the-moon happy when their relationship had turned serious. They’d welcomed Olivia with an enthusiasm she’d at first found intimidating but had grown a fond affection for. Losing them felt like more than just a casualty of their breakup.
“Tell them hi from me,” she said with a weak smile.
A sad look washed over Chuck’s face, twinged with something Olivia couldn’t identify. He nodded. “I will.”
Another silence filled the space between them. Chuck drummed his fingers on the tabletop.
“Nice job getting them to double the prize money, by the way. That was a bold move,” he said in a shift of topic.
A smile bent Olivia’s frozen mouth. “I figured we had nothing to lose.”
He smirked and raised his coffee mug as if toasting to her. “Well, now we have double the amount to lose.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It is if we can’t pull this off.”
Olivia took a final slurp of her shake. “Then let’s do our best to stack the odds in our favor.”
“Agreed. So, what do you think they’re going to make us do?”
“Hopefully nothing too terrible. I won’t even have work to distract me while we’re in there.”
A look of surprise crossed his face. “You took time off?”
“Stephanie gave it to me when I told her about the show. Why do you sound so surprised?”
He tilted his head and gave her a knowing look. “Because you never take a break, Liv. I was sure you’d find a way to multitask, even while trying to win a million dollars.” He was scolding her just like her boss had, and she didn’t like it.
She found one last bit of frozen chocolate to suck through her straw with another gurgling sound. “Not this time. What about you?” she probed, knowing Chuck did not currently have a job to take time off from and unable to resist provoking him.