Page 14 of Hold My Heart

He tiptoed down the stairs amid the squeak of old wood.Seven o’clock and all’s well. There were crickets chirping outside, the sound coming in through the opened windows. He drew in a deep breath and walked into the living room. There was Olympia on the couch, her computer on her lap and reading glasses perched on the edge of her nose. She didn’t wear them all the time, he knew, only when her eyes were tired. She’d been wearing them more and more lately, though.

He cleared his throat to announce his presence and she glanced up. “Is she asleep?”

“For now. I’m not sure how long she’ll stay asleep, but I think we need to have a talk. When did you get home?”

“About five minutes ago. Just kicked off my shoes and sat.” She placed the computer on the coffee table and stared down her nose at him. “I really hate it when people say they need to talk to me. It’s never good.”

His smile was as soft as his voice. “It’s fine, I promise. I wanted to talk to you about doing a little furniture shopping for Renee.”

“What do you mean byfurniture?” Olympia straightened her back and he heard a pop. “She has a perfectly nice bed in her room. It was the same one I used when I was a kid. The rest of the pieces are antique but in good working condition.”

He kept his posture relaxed, his tone neutral. From what he’d seen of her so far, he could tell she wasn’t comfortable slipping into the position ofMother. He had a sneaking suspicion it would be the perfect fit if she stopped fighting the tide. If she took a step back and stopped trying to control everything.

“There’s nothing wrong with what you have in there. But she seems to believe it’s not her own, and I can understand where she’s coming from. She wants to feel more comfortable. More at home. Maybe not a new bed, but how about letting her choose her own bedding and curtains and things like that? I think it would help if we all went shopping together.”

Instead of getting her back up, the way she did so often, Olympia sighed. Removed her glasses and set them on her lap to polish. Let her shoulders hunch. “Poor baby. I keep forgetting this is harder onherthan it is on me.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. I’d say it’s equally hard on both of you. I’m here to moderate.”

“And you do a wonderful job of it. What a diplomatic answer.” She blew out a breath. “Okay, Harlan. How is your schedule looking tomorrow?”

He shrugged. “I’m free most of the day. As I told you before, right now you and Renee are my only clients.”

“I’m looking at a half day in the office. Carl wants to do a little light remodeling before the big fundraiser.” Her face scrunched up. “I can only in my wildest nightmares guess what that means, and he won’t tell me. But it means I have time after lunch to do a little shopping before I can worm my way back in to supervise. Want to meet at the mall around two? I’ll add it to my planner.”

Inclining his head hid the widening grin from her. “Whatever you say. I’m happy to help out.”

Which was how they found themselves pushing a cart with a screeching Renee down a garishly lit aisle of a home furnishings store the following afternoon.

She kicked her feet, little patent-leather shoes swishing through the air in an attempt to knock over whatever she could reach. “I don’t want to be here! I want to go home!”

Olympia bent to shush her. “We’re here to buy things for your new room, sweet pea. We’ll go home as soon as we’re done shopping. Didn’t you want to get something just for yourself? Then we’ll go home, okay?”

Renee slammed little plump fists into the restraints of the cart. “I want to go to my real home. Myreal home. I want my Mommy!”

It took effort for Olympia to say, “I’m right here.”

“Not you! My real Mommy. I want myrealMommy and Daddy.”

And Harlan’s heart broke just a little more. It was easy to do these days, the more time he spent with the two ladies in front of him. Harlan reached up to run a hand through his hair, noting Olympia’s curved shoulders, dejected posture. “Why don’t you let her down out of the cart for a minute? She might be happier with a more tactile approach, picking out things she can see and touch for herself.”

“If I let her down then she’ll destroy something,” Olympia said with a groan.

Renee’s scream shook the rafters and Harlan could have sworn he saw a few startled birds take wing at the noise. He tried to focus on the two of them instead of the other people in the store, feeling eyes on him. If he noticed, then surely it was bothering the hell out of Olympia.

“We’ll keep her in our sight the entire time,” he said, his hands curling around the cart handle. “She won’t get far. And trust me, with all these toys around, she’ll be too distracted to destroy.” He mentally crossed his fingers.

Olympia turned toward him, sighed, adjusted her coat for something to do. “I’d rather not. If she’s in this kind of mood, then she won’t want to listen and we’ll end up chasing after her. No.” She was firm. “I don’t want to take any chances.”

“It’s not taking a chance. It’s letting her know we trust her to stay around.”

“But we don’t trust her. She’s four.”

“Exactly. She’sfour,” Harlan repeated.

“And she’s tired from not taking a nap and she’s hungry because she wouldn’t eat her breakfast this morning.”

“I’ll tell you a story.” He fell into step beside her, trying to focus on the conversation instead of Renee’s hiccupping sobs. “When I was little, my brothers decided they wanted to take me out fishing. My parents agreed because they thought it would be a good chance to bond, even though none of us really knew what we were doing.”

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