Page 100 of Chasing Olivia (Trace + Olivia 2)

Douglas eyed his son. “Even after all these years you’re still a smart mouth.”

“It keeps life interesting,” Dex winked. “To be honest,” he laughed, scratching his beard, “when I opened the door, I thought you were my kid or something and that I’d knocked some girl up back in the day. Then you called me ‘dad’ and I thought, ‘Holy shit! She really is your kid, Dex!’”

“Sorry,” I giggled. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Nah,” he waved his hand in dismissal. “I’m just happy to know that good ole’ Derek didn’t die a virgin. He was always a goody two shoes. He was their favo

rite,” he whispered conspiratorially, pointing at his dad. “They think I didn’t know, but it was obvious.”

“That’s not true,” Douglas’ face grew red. “We loved you both equally. Derek never caused all the trouble you did though. If I could get back all the hours I lost bailing your sorry as out of jail, I’d be a young man again.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Dex chuckled with a roll of his eyes.

“Twelve times. Does that sound like an exaggeration?” Douglas countered.

I smiled at their familiar banter.

“Okay, so I was a bad kid,” Dex shrugged. “At least I’ll have some kick ass stories to tell my grandkids one day.”

“I’m home!” A female voice called out. I hadn’t heard the garage door open since I’d been so caught up in listening to my grandpa and Dex bicker.

I held my breath, bracing myself to meet my grandma for the first time.

Heels clacked against the floor and when they stopped I slowly brought my eyes up.

My mouth fell open and I’m pretty sure I choked on my saliva. Why? Because, I was looking at Margaret, the lady that owned the store with the origami stars. My eyes widened further as I recalled her mentioning a son that had died.

Margaret looked between Trace and I with a bewildered expression. “What are you doing here?”

“You know each other?” Douglas looked from Trace and I to his wife.

“I don’t know them, but they came into the shop yesterday.”

Trace began to whistle the tune to ‘It’s A Small World” under his breath. I smacked my fist against his thigh to get him to stop.

“What’s going on?” Margaret asked.

I couldn’t seem to get my voice to work. I sat frozen, staring at her like a weirdo. I hadn’t noticed yesterday, simply because I hadn’t known to look, but we had the same slender nose that was upturned on the end. The same heart shaped lips and slightly rounded cheeks.

“Mom, meet Olivia,” Dex swept his hand from Margaret to me, “your granddaughter. Oh, and she’s Derek’s daughter, not mine, FYI.”

Margaret’s mouth fell open and she looked at me with shock.

For a moment, she didn’t move, then suddenly she was in front of me sobbing hysterically. Gosh, I was making everyone cry today.

“You? You’re? Oh my God!” She pulled me off the couch into a hug, swaying us back and forth. My arms wrapped around her, holding her close, and inhaling her scent of lavender and juniper. She patted my cheeks, tears streaming down her face. “Derek’s daughter? I-I-I didn’t know.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I chose to say nothing.

“You’re so beautiful,” she fingered one of my curls. “You look so much like him.” She shook her head, gazing at me in disbelief. “I can’t believe this.”

“Me neither,” I admitted.

“How did you find us?” She asked as we scooted around to make room for her on the couch.

Trace cleared his throat and her gaze flicked his way. Rubbing my back, he said, “I hired a private investigator. I wanted Olivia to know her family.”

“Well, thank you,” Margaret wiped her face with the backs of her hands. “This is very forward of me, but can I ask who your mother is?”

---