Page 35 of Between Desire and Denial
“I will.” I smiled, liking that the woman was putting her foot down about me being around when I intended to be anyway. “There’s a grill out at some point, right?”
“We used to have weekly cookouts on Fridays in the park, but I’ll have to check on that.”
“Every single Friday?”
“Yep. It was a lot. But, I’ll be honest. People expect you to show up. Mom and Dad started to miss them as I got older and she got sicker, and one time they almost weren’t let into a board meeting because of it. Granted, they claimed the board meeting was to discuss the weekly cookouts, but that’s a lie.” She scoffed. “Lucille had a few choice words for board members at that point. She was always very good friends with my mom’s parents before they died in a car accident.”
“I’m sorr—”
“Don’t be.” She waved it off. “I was young. But Lucille has always had a soft spot for my mother and maybe me and my brother, Knox, too.”
“I see that. Your brother still live down the street?”
She took a shaky breath and nodded. “I’m staying for him. And to figure out what’s going on. I just think… something’s not right. And the dynamics of this community truly sway so much that happens.” She chewed on her lip.
“What are you thinking?”
“If you need information about the community and I don’t have a thing to research, maybe the sociology of a small community would be a good start? I could ask around and make nice with everyone.”
This is how I knew Olive was resourceful. “That’s perfect. Any information we can gather as to why they wouldn’t want condos and offices will help. And if you go to most of the upcoming events, along with helping Lucille with that mailer, I’m sure we can gain a meaningful outlook on everything—”
“You should go to this one coming up, though.” She glanced at me as she dug through the white cabinetry and found a glass that she then filled with water. “If you’re not busy.”
“If I’m not here, I’ll fly back in.” I needed to keep priorities in place somewhat, I reminded myself. But as I turned away from her, I spotted the flower she’d pushed out of her hair on the floor. I picked it up, unable to leave it there for some reason.
She always wore them. I didn’t know if they meant anything but I held the flower in my hand as we walked through the dining room. “Let me show you the place.”
Chapter Thirteen
OLIVE
I followedhim with my glass of water in hand. We went through the kitchen to the back porch where he showed me an elevated hot tub surrounded by pavers and stones. It all was atop a hill with a view of his acreage that couldn’t be beat. We passed a study and two rooms on the first floor before arriving at the primary suite. “I’ve been staying here,” he said, gesturing.
“Makes sense.” I shrugged and then padded across the room to peek into the bathroom.
I gasped at what I saw then. “Wow. This is heaven in a bathroom, Dimitri. Did you help design this?”
“Probably a bit too much. But I enjoy the luxury of it.”
“I love it. Look at this bathtub.” I giggled and skipped over to swing first one leg and then another into it. “This is what dreams are made of. I love a good bath”
A claw-foot tub sat in the middle of the tiled wet room where a rain spray ceiling mount was installed above it. “The layout was bigger than initially intended, and the marble mosaic tile along the walls is much too expensive to profit from on a flip, but I wanted it for when I was here. If you like it, you can stay in this room.”
I bit my lip at his offering, and somehow, us in that bathroom seemed much more intimate than it should have. Then, I cleared my throat and got out fast. “No. I… that’s not a good idea. Like I said, the upstairs works just fine for me.”
“Let me show you,” he said, casually, but as he passed me, he slowed to put the flower back in my hair.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“Putting things where they belong,” he murmured back to me before dragging his finger across my cheek and down to my chin where he lifted it. “Better, Honeybee. Much better.”
Dimitri Hardy was more observant than I gave him credit for. It was like he knew that damn flower was symbolic in some way. He didn’t say more about it, but he positioned it in just the right place on my left ear, like he’d known where it went all these years.
I stepped back because I didn’t want to indulge in the desire that was starting to brew much too quickly for a man I was going to be living with. Not that we’d be together a whole lot. He’s bound to be gone most of the time, I told myself. I’d have friends around. I’d meet new people. His building of the office near Paradise Grove was going to bring in herds of newcomers, much to the dislike of Paradise Groveians. As we made our way up the oak stairs, I noticed that the hallway on this floor wasn’t decorated at all.
It smelled of fresh paint, but it was all white. Two rooms and a bathroom with no furniture.
“So, you really haven’t been living here at all,” I observed.
