Part 3 (1/2)
She returned to her plants with a harrumph. ”d.a.m.n right, it wasn't. You were a little h.e.l.lion.”
”Mom used to call me her angel.”
”You mama had the kindest heart of anyone I've ever known,” she said softly, all the teasing banished from her voice.
Olivia swallowed. She wondered if losing a daughter was worse than losing a mother.
Clearing her throat, Mae pulled out a weed and tossed it aside. ”Your poor mother is probably turning over in her grave, what with the way your antics have aged me.”
”Right. Have you ever considered that you've aged because you're ancient?”
”I'll have you know I'm not a day over seventy, you-”
Cheeky imp, Olivia mouthed.
”-cheeky imp. I'd like to see you look this good when you're pus.h.i.+ng your eighth decade.”
Amused, she watched her grandmother mutter to herself as she finished the bed. Olivia breathed in the fresh scent of herbs and the knot inside her loosened a little bit. ”Granny Mae, what would I do without you?”
”Goodness knows.” She eyed Olivia's outfit. ”Probably die of pneumonia. Don't you have a wit of sense, girl, parading around like that?”
”It is a little nippy out, isn't it?” She huddled in her coat.
Without looking up, Gran asked, ”So you going to tell me what's bothering you?”
Olivia heaved a sigh. ”Michael's back. He said he's shooting a movie here at Pembroke Farms.”
Her grandmother nodded, seemingly engrossed by the weed she was trying to pull out.
”That's it? No explanation?”
”I was offered a tidy sum to have them use my farm for a couple weeks. I accepted. You're the one always telling me I should have more of a nest egg, for the future.” Gran gave her a sly look. ”It's been a long time. I thought you were over him.”
Olivia frowned. ”I am.”
”Then it doesn't matter if they film here, does it?”
h.e.l.l yes it mattered. ”No.”
”So what's the problem?”
Just that she'd been sold out for a tidy sum. ”I guess there is none.”
”Unless you still have feelings for him.” Gran shot her another look. ”It'd be understandable. You two were inseparable for most of your lives.”
”The only thing I feel is indifferent.” She glanced at the sky to make sure she wasn't going to be struck down by lightning.
Her grandmother sat back and stared at her, her hands resting open-palmed in her lap. Olivia had no trouble interpreting the look in her eyes. Succinctly put, it said bulls.h.i.+t.
Olivia finally said, ”Maybe I still have the teensiest of feelings for him.”
Gran snorted.
”Okay, so I'm still a little p.i.s.sed. I thought I was over him,” she said, dejected.
”It's natural to still feel something, epecially when you loved him so completely.”
She crossed her arms tightly. ”I don't want to feel anything for him.”
”Best face it head on. It'll help you put it behind you once and for all.” Gran gave her a sideways glance. ”If that's what you want.”
”Of course, that's what I want.” When her grandmother said nothing, she gaped incredulously. ”You aren't suggesting that I hook up with that b.a.s.t.a.r.d again, are you?”
”That's not for me to say.” She put a hand out to Olivia for help up.
”What are you saying?” Olivia helped her stand and picked up the basket to carry inside. ”He dumped me because I was in the way of his so called freedom. If we got together again, how would it be any different? He'd leave me just as quickly the next time an irresistible offer popped up. No, even faster this time.”
”Hmm.” Gran slid her arm through Olivia's and walked next to her.
”Because he loves himself to the exclusion of everything else. Or at least he didn't love me enough.”
”He loved you. Probably still does.”
”Right.”
”That kind of love doesn't fade. Like the love of a parent for a child.”
”Bad a.n.a.logy, Gran. My parent didn't love me enough to stay either.”
”He loved you. His way of expressing it just wasn't ideal.”
”Ha!”
Her grandmother gave her a chiding look. ”He meant well.”
”Give me a break, Gran. He dumped me here after mom died and didn't come back for ten years. When he did come back, all he did was criticize me.”
”He just wanted what was best for you.”
”How could he have known what that was when he didn't bother to get to know me?” Olivia guided her over a wobbly stone, knowing that Gran didn't see that well in the fading light.
”Everyone's fallible, love.”
”I know that,” she said defensively.
”Does that mean you're going to give him another chance?”
”Not in this lifetime.”
Gran chuckled. ”Love, as much as you'll hate me for saying this, you're just like your father.”