Page 23 of Heartless

Turning quickly, he faced a teary-eyed Rose. He held out his arms, and she walked into them. Out of everyone, he had known that Rose would welcome him home. Carrying a grudge was not her way. Anger and resentment were not even in her vocabulary. She embraced Hawke as she would any of the OZ members, as if he were her own child.

“I’ve missed these hugs,” he whispered.

Rose sniffed and laughed softly. “All you needed to do was come home.”

“There were reasons why I couldn’t.”

Pulling away, she patted his jaw gently. “I’m sure there were.”

If there were a billion people like Rose in the world, peace would no longer be an out-of-reach fantasy. Her entire being embodied the word.

“I wish everyone was as accepting as you.”

“They’ll come around. Families never stop loving, even when you’re boneheaded.”

That was likely the most criticism he would hear from her.

“I understand Olivia is here, too,” Rose said.

“She is.”

“That girl was not treated well.”

Yeah, he knew that. They’d both known she would have to pay a higher price than he would. Having your friends turn on you, especially when you’d done nothing wrong, would be devastating.

“I wasn’t here on her last day, and I’m sorry for that,” Rose said. “I would have liked her to know that at least one person was on her side. I tried calling her a few times, but she never returned my calls. I’m sure she wanted to move on.”

She hadn’t done that, though. He should know. He had been watching over her. And while she had lived her life and done good work, she had never resumed living. Those last few days, before he’d faked his death, had drained the life from her. And then when the OZ team had turned on her, she had retreated into her own little world. Last Chance Rescue had been her saving grace, but even there, she’d held herself back.

“I know she’ll be glad to see you, Rose. You were always her favorite person.”

“That’s because I know the real Olivia. There’s a sweetness to that girl that she does her best to cover up. I see through that façade.” She gave him a hopeful smile. “Now that you’re back… Are you and Olivia going to rejoin OZ for good?”

He didn’t know the answer to that. He definitely needed OZ’s help. But would they accept him after what he’d put them through? Olivia’s status was even shakier.

“I can see by your silence, you don’t have an answer.”

“I could never fool you, Rose.”

“Ha. Having children and then grandchildren is good training for reading people. You’ll understand when you have some of your own.”

He was glad she turned away and didn’t see him flinch. That pain, no matter how long it had been, never ceased. He doubted it ever would.

She headed toward the stairway and then stopped. “Are you coming?”

“Where are we going?”

“I’ve got you set up in the blue room. I believe Eve sent Olivia to the emerald room across the hall from you.”

He hadn’t given a thought to where he would stay tonight. His focus had been on getting here and seeing the team. Not a surprise, since he had a tendency to be able to sleep anywhere. A hard ground and a rock for a pillow had been his bed many a night. However, he couldn’t deny that the older he got, the more his body appreciated creature comforts.

He followed Rose up the stairway, enjoying listening to her tell him about her grandchildren. They reached the door of his assigned bedroom just as Olivia opened her door to step out into the hallway. For just an instant, Olivia’s too-still face lit up with a smile. Rose, just as she had Hawke, wrapped Olivia into a strong, affectionate hug.

As if it was as natural as breathing, Olivia returned her hug. But when she raised her eyes to look at Hawke, the smile fell away from her face, and the cool mask of indifference slid back into place.

Knowing his presence made her uncomfortable, Hawke opened his bedroom door and slipped inside. They would eventually have to face each other, but for right now, he wanted to keep that one unguarded picture of Olivia in his mind. It had been years since she’d looked at him like that. He remembered the exact moment when her smiles for him had disappeared forever.

Was it any wonder that she might have actually wanted him dead?

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