Page 93 of Fight For Us
“Hi, I’m Olivia. Nice to meet you.” I stuck my hand out to shake hers, but she ignored it and walked past me to the kitchen.
“Where’s my granddaughter?” she asked, poking into one of the kitchen cabinets. She sniffed and turned back toward us. I noticed her eyes lingering on Wes’s prosthetic leg for more than a few seconds.
“I’ll get her. I’d like you to meet my son, Alex, as well. He and Lilly have become close friends. Wes, why don’t you offer Regina a drink?” I widened my eyes at him trying to silently imply to get a move on since he hadn’t left the front doorway.
“No, I don’t think I will,” he said. “She won’t be here long, right, Regina?”
My face grew hot while Regina gave him a look of utter hatred. “Wes, that’s no way to treat our guest,” I said. “I’ll go get the kids and then make you something. Tea, coffee, sparkling water?”
“Thank you. At least someone has manners. A sparkling water sounds lovely, Amelia.” She went back to poking around our kitchen.
“It’s Olivia,” I said. “But sure, no problem. Wes, join me.” I asked in an overly sweet tone. Once we were out of earshot, I turned to him and whispered through gritted teeth, “What is wrong with you today?”
He crossed his arms. “What? Because I’m not kissing the devil’s ass?”
“You don’t have to kiss her ass, but maybe try to be civil. Your future is riding on today.” I leaned against the wall and racked a hand through my hair. This stress was more than I could take.
“I refuse to kiss her ass today or any day. She can do what she came to do and get out.” He took on a harsh tone I’d never heard from him before. I wrapped my arms around my chest and turned away from him.
“Fine, if you want to make a bad impression, that’s on you. I guess I’m the only one of us who cares about Lilly.” I held back tears and stormed away from him and into the guest bathroom.
Patting my face with cold water, I took some deep breaths and tried to stop my brain from spiraling. This wasn’t the Wes I knew. I had no idea who that man was. Yes, we’ve had a lot of stress but we’ve always been able to lean on each other and work toward our common goals. I had to pull myself together for Lilly. I loved that girl enough for both of us.
When I came out of the bathroom, Wes was nowhere to be seen, but I heard the kids talking with Regina in theliving room. I peeked in the bedroom but he wasn’t there either. I was going to kill that man.
“Sorry about the wait,” I said as I entered the living room. “Let me get you that drink.”
“It’s fine. The children are telling me all about what they do every day. Krav Maga classes for children? Is that safe?”
I put her drink on one of my wooden coasters in front of her, and sat across from her on the couch. “It’s extremely safe. They teach confidence and how to stay safe in all kinds of situations. There’s very little physical contact.”
“I saw your son was recently injured. Was that from these classes?” She sipped from her glass and focused her gaze on me.
“No, that was from an accident at school,” I said, keeping my tone clipped.
“Bullies,” Alex added.
Was it a good time to smack myself in the face? I made eyes at Alex and he cleared his throat and fixed his gaze out the window.
“Bullies? That sounds serious. Lilly, have they bothered you?” She craned her neck toward her granddaughter and gave her the same intense stare down.
“Um—not so much.” Lilly sounded so small, it broke my heart.
“I see,” Regina said. “I’ll be speaking to the principal about this.”
Shit, shit, shit. “No need to bother yourself with that. They’ll be changing schools soon. We toured this amazing private school and they’ve been accepted for next school year.”
My cheeks heated as the exaggeration slipped past my lips. It wasn’t a total lie, but somewhat truthful.
“Well, that’s good to hear. Is it Bright Minds Academy? I have a few friends on the board.”
I couldn’t remember the name of the schools I looked at. Not while she was giving me such intense eye contact with those clear blue eyes that looked almost translucent. “I think so. I’d have to find the email and double check.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like that information, so I can follow up with them,” she said.
“Sure, I’ll send it over.” I chewed on my bottom lip wondering where in the world Wes went.
“Oh, and have you chosen the date for your psychological testing?” Regina pulled out her phone and tapped her screen. “Best to get it done and out of the way, don’t you agree?”
