Page 90 of Sweet on You
I nodded, but the truth was I didn’t want to return Olivia. She was sweet and smart and I was falling in love with her as much as I was with Lex. In a lot of ways, I wished she was mine, too.Reallymine.
I didn’t notice while I was chatting with Elsa that Olivia had reached out and grabbed the mug of coffee Elsa had just poured for me. In a matter of a second, the hot cup of coffee had tipped over, spilling across the table.
Olivia shrieked, crying out where the hot beverage had sloshed on her hand.
“Oh, my God,” I stood, lifting Olivia in my arms, bouncing her in my lap and dipping her hand into the cold glass of ice water on my table, while Elsa ran for some ice and rags in the back.
Elsa went to work mopping up the coffee and handed me ice wrapped in a clean towel, which I placed on Olivia’s hand. “I’m so sorry, Elsa,” I said.
“Oh, honey, don’t worry about it. Is she okay, though?”
I sniffled feeling completely overwhelmed. “I-I think so. I don’t know. How do you know if a burn is bad?”
I looked at her hand and it was a little red in one area, but otherwise looked okay.
“Usually, it blisters,” Elsa said, inspecting Olivia’s arm. Her crying had quieted, and now she was hiccupping against my shoulder. “I think it’s okay, though. It doesn’t look too bad. You could have your mom check it out?”
That was a good idea—my mom was a nurse practitioner and would be able to tell me in a minute if this was something hospital-worthy. Still bouncing Olivia on my hip, I tugged my phone from my purse and texted my mom.
“What the hell happened?” I looked up to find Lana, Lex’s friend, standing over us, wide-eyed.
“Lana, hi,” I said. “I’m just watching Olivia for Lex this morning. He opened the bakery and had to wait for Seth’s shift to start.
“Want some company?” Lana whispered with a smile. “An adult to talk to for a bit?”
“God, yes,” I laughed and we both slid back into the booth. “Do you and Tony have any kids?” I asked.
Lana shook her head, smiling at Olivia. “Not yet. And after seeing you in here just now? Maybe we’ll wait a little longer.”
I laughed at that, sliding Olivia back into the high chair at the head of the table. “This is not an average day… at least not in the couple weeks I’ve known Olivia. Maybe she didn’t sleep well last night.” I handed her another fry and her meltdown from earlier seemed all but forgotten as she grabbed the fry and gnawed on it.
“She looks so cute in her little glasses,” Lana said.
“She does. It’s just too bad she needs them because of Sarah couldn’t keep a needle out of her arm.” The opinionated remark was out of my mouth before I could stop it and I winced, peeking back at Lana. “Sorry,” I said, putting my hand over my mouth. “Maybe I didn’t get enough sleep last night, either.”
“It’s true, though.” Lana said.
“Even still, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s okay,” Lana said. “I know all about Lex and Sarah’s history.”
“Oh, right.” I tapped my fingers to my forehead. “Duh, you were his private investigator.”
She shrugged. “And his friend. He confided in me early on.”
I gave her a smile. “Of course. I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to imply—”
She waved away my apology. “Oh, come on. Don’t apologize. I’m not the biggest fan of Sarah, either, by the way. You ever need to vent about her?” Lana hitched her thumb, pointing to herself. “I’m your woman.”
“I appreciate that,” I said. “I have a feeling I’ll be taking you up on that, too. I’ve just been trying to wrap my head around what Sarah’s place might be within all this.” I swallowed and brushed Olivia’s blond curls from her face.
Elsa came back over with a fresh mug for Lana and poured us both more coffee.
From across the diner, a man at a table caught my eye. A camera was on the table beside him—which normally wouldn’t cause me any alarm—but the strap was wrapped around his hand, and his finger was resting on the trigger button. And the lens was pointing right at me… as though he’d been photographing my table.
“Hey, Elsa,” I said, dropping my voice and catching her wrist just before she walked away. “Who’s that guy at the corner table?”
Elsa and Lana both snuck a glance over their shoulders, and Elsa shrugged down at me. “I’m not sure. I’ve seen him around town for the last few weeks though. Always with that camera.”
