Page 17 of Only You

“Andrew, we need to talk. What is going on with Olivia? She was distraught this morning about going to school. She stormed off when we were making cookies as it went wrong and shut herself in the bedroom. When I went to see her, she was sobbing her heart out. Olivia refuses to tell me why.”

Andrew sighed, pinching the top of his nose hard to stem the oncoming headache.

“I’m on my way, Mum. I’ll explain when I get there.”

Andrew grabbed the files from his desk and stuffed them in his bag. Grabbing his keys, he made his way down to the hospital car park.

He arrived at his mum and dad’s house in record time. Pulling onto their drive, he climbed the three steps to their front door in a single bound. His mum was already opening the door before he knocked.

“Kitchen now,” his mother said, her face telling him she was out of patience.

“Olivia?” Andrew asked.

“With your father playing a board game. She can wait. I want to know what’s going on with my granddaughter.”

Andrew knew there was no point in arguing with her, so he followed her into the kitchen, dropping himself into the chair.

His mum placed a cup of steaming tea in front of him. A benefit of the phone tracking app she had insisted upon. She knew when he was on his way so she could get the dinner done on the nights she fed him when they had Olivia.

“Well?”

“Olivia has been having a few issues at school...”

“And I’m only just hearing about this now?”

Andrew filled his mother in on all the events that had been occurring over the past couple of months. By the time he had finished, his mother was slumped in the chair next to him.

“That’s it,” she said when Andrew shrugged. “We are cancelling Australia. We can postpone it until the new year.”

“You will do no such thing!” Andrew said. His tone let his mother know he would not even entertain it. “You have two sons, and the other one is looking forward to seeing you. Olivia’s happiness is my issue. I need to get to the core of her problems.”

It was at that point his father entered, holding Olivia’s hand. Olivia slipped from his grasp and threw herself at Andrew, her arms encircling his neck, squeezing him tight. Andrew scooped her up, returning her hug, pulling her onto his lap.

“Hey, sunshine.”

Andrew’s dad walked into the kitchen and leaned against the side.

“Are you going to tell Daddy, Olivia, or do you want me to?”

Andrew’s eyes flew to his dad. Had he uncovered what both he and his mum hadn’t been able to do? Olivia nestled further into Andrew’s neck.

“Okay,” Andrew’s dad said. “It looks like a few people have been a little unkind to Olivia. Two boys have been excluding her from their conversations at the table because...” Olivia’s arms tightened around his neck. Andrew ran his hand up and down her back, reassuring her that whatever was wrong, it would be okay. “She’s been told to stay quiet because she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, as she hasn’t got a mum.”

Andrew’s heart lurched. He uncurled her arms from his neck and used his hand to lift her chin until she was looking at him.

“Is this the boy whose artwork you destroyed?”

Olivia averted her gaze. “He told me I couldn’t speak ’cause my mummy didn’t want me. He said I didn’t know what it was like to have a mummy, so I couldn’t join in their conversation.”

Andrew’s heart moved to his throat, and he forced himself to swallow hard before allowing himself to speak.

“Have you spoken to Mrs Grant?” Andrew asked.

Olivia shook her head.

“Does Skylar know?”

Despite being only seven as Olivia’s best friend, he hoped that Skylar would side with her, remembering her own experience of exclusion in the past.

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