Page 37 of Time To Live Again

“Oh. Um…I’m not sure.” Olive’s worried eyes bounce to mine. “Um. Well…I don’t know your mom. Isn’t it rude to show up without warning?” She lets out a nervous giggle. “Then again, I did the same at the party last night.”

All I want to do is kiss her worries away.

“Give me a second.” Tonya pulls her phone from her pocket and leaves the office.

“Leo, I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable. We only met yesterday, and then to go to dinner at yourmom’s…” Olive continues to babble.

“It’s a done deal.” Tonya comes back in with the phone up in the air. “Mom would love to meet you. It’s a way of saying thank you for your help.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I fixed it, but shouldn’t we wait for proof?”

I place my hand on her back. “Olive, please. It’d be perfect because we’ll be starving after our hike tomorrow.” When we walked back to her room, she agreed to go hiking with me. “I promise you, my mom’s awesome. You already know Tonya, you’re aware of Sully and his kitten. Donna will be there too. You met her yesterday. Believe me, Mom’s pot roast is amazing.”

This is perfect. I was already going to invite Olive to dinner before she offered to help. I know it might seem strange, but it feels completely right to have her with us. With me.

“You’re not a vegetarian, are you?” Tonya asks, her nose scrunching up.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that if you are.” I eye Tonya.

“Opposite. I love any type of meat. There’s nothing like a good ole steak.” Olive kisses her fingers.

“Good,” Tonya says. “Well, I’m off then. See you at Mom’s. Have a good hike.”

“Wait, Tonya. Why did you come here to begin with? I thought you were at Mom’s helping her cook something.”

“Good point.” She goes to the printer and pulls some pages off it. She checks each page, then waves them at us. “I came to pick these up. And you know everything has been meticulously prepared already. Mom’s working on the last dish right now. Don’t you know us at all? Jeez. Later, gators.” She straightens the tape dispenser and stapler before she’s out the door.

I stand in front of Olive and place my hands on her shoulders. “There’s no pressure to go with me. If you want, think about it tonight and let me know in the morning.”

“I want to go, but the thought of meeting more new people… My job is mostly virtual now. I hardly ever have to interact with anyone in person. You know, I think I’ve met more people in the last twenty-four hours than I have in the past six months.”

“Well, Mom’s the only person who’ll be there tomorrow that you haven’t met.” That’s not quite right. She hasn’t formally met Sully, but I’m not going to say anything.

“That’s true,” she concedes.

“Besides…” I scrutinize her playfully. “You said you had fun last night. Was that only because you met Sam?”

She taps her chin. “Hmm. He was a highlight. But there was this other guy…danced like Magic Mike. He caught my eye way more than Samuel Moore did. We even exchanged numbers. Can you believe he hasn’t asked me out yet? I’m one hell of a catch.”

I whip out my phone and type a quick text. A chuckle slips out when I realize she’s still listed in my phone as FG. Her phone pings. I change her name quickly in my contacts.

She glances at it. “Oh, look at that. He sent me a message. Took him long enough. Let’s see what he wrote.”

Me: Hey beautiful. Remember me? I’m the guy who couldn’t keep his eyes off you last night. Or right now.

She types back.

Olive: Was that you? I didn’t recognize you without your ’70s mustache.

I’m going to hear this for the rest of my life. Not complaining, though.

Me: That guy would like to take you to eat the best homemade meal on Orcas Island.

She looks up from her phone and says, “I’m not sure it’ll beat my mom’s. I guess I’ll have to go to compare.”

I slide my phone back into my pocket after I switch her name in my phone. “Good. You won’t regret it.” I straighten the green folder and place it back exactly where it was to avoid Mom’s or Tonya’s stink eye.

“Can I ask you a question?” she says.

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