Along Came Mr. Right

by Gerri Russell

  Olivia.

  Her name hovered in his mind, along with the image of her wide, brown eyes. His groin tightened instantly. He groaned at the deep-seated ache that burned through him as he pulled into his driveway. He turned off his car and got out. Slinging his computer bag over his shoulder, he entered the house.

  He tossed his keys on the table in the foyer and paused. The house was completely silent. That silence had never bothered him before. With a curse, he flipped on a light, then headed back to his office and sat down at his desk. After removing his laptop out of the bag, he set it on the desk, turned it on, then opened the files containing the code for his Matchmaker app.

  Before Olivia he’d never realized what was missing from his life. If he was ever going to get any of the things he wanted—all the things that made up a family—he needed to fix his app. In order to get the results he wanted with Olivia and to prove Matchmaker 2.0 was ready to go to market, he was going to have to go back two versions and reinstall all the upgrades he’d made, as well as reenter all the data he’d collected from applicants in the past month.

  He had his work cut out for him. Max settled back in his computer chair. If he remained focused and caffeinated, he just might finish all that work before the weekend.

  After school on Thursday, Olivia attended Paige’s group tutoring session with the teen. Max was as friendly to both of them as he was the other students, but he was distracted. And Olivia had never seen him look so tired. She tried not to read anything into his behavior, but it felt as if everything around them was starting to crumble more than it already had, leaving her shaken and angry and out in the cold.

  On Friday, Olivia sat in a desk next to Paige during her private tutoring session while Paige and Max went over the teenager’s retaken math test. She’d received an A-minus, having missed part of one equation. Beyond the math test, Paige had completed all her reparations for her shoplifting, even sweeping the Walgreen’s parking lot as Mrs. Miller suggested. Finishing her counseling sessions were all that remained of her detention agreement. And, if she could keep her grades up, passing tenth grade looked possible as well.

  “Great job, Paige,” Max said. “You’re back on track for a B in my class. Only one more test and the final remain for the quarter.”

  Olivia was thrilled for her. She’d worked so hard for this success. “Do you know what this means, Paige?” Olivia asked.

  The teenager’s smile reflected her pride, and amusement shone in her eyes. “That I’m not as dumb as I thought I was.”

  Olivia enveloped the teenager in an exuberant hug since it was just the three of them present, and Paige wouldn’t be embarrassed by the show of affection. “You won the bet we made a couple weeks ago.”

  Paige returned the embrace, then pulled back with a look of surprise. “I did, didn’t I?” She narrowed her gaze on Olivia. “What was that prize you promised me again?”

  “The satisfaction of a job well done.”

  Paige groaned. “I should have bargained for more.”

  “How about a sleepover tonight?” Olivia replied with a laugh.

  Paige nodded as she packed her books into her backpack, preparing to leave. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

  Once they were alone, Max turned to Olivia and smiled. His smile was like a ray of sunshine, driving deep, warming all the places inside that had gone cold while he’d been . . . what? Distracted? Indifferent? Finding a way to tell her good-bye?

  He didn’t look as if he wanted to break things off. The faraway look was gone from his eyes, replaced with satisfaction and a little heat. “I did it,” he said, moving out of his chair toward her.

  “Did what?” she asked, rising to meet him.

  He looked so pleased with himself, as if he were about to explode. “I fixed the Matchmaker app. I’m ready to take it to market.”

  “That’s great,” Olivia said, not quite understanding the significance of his achievement.

  “Don’t you understand? The sooner I sell the app, the sooner I can pay my investor back, the sooner I’ll be free.” He touched her, his warm hand molding to her cold cheek.

  She heard the excitement in his voice. A tiny shaft of hope flared in her heart. Max was not Damien. His deception was in word only. “Will the app sell quickly?”

  “I have two interested parties already. In the next few weeks, I’ll make the necessary arrangements, and we’ll see what happens.”

  “Congratulations. I’m really happy for you.”

  “Happy enough that you’d take the Matchmaker test for me one more time?”

  Olivia looked up at him, saw tenderness in his expression but also a hint of unease. She felt as if everything was hanging, suspended between them. Her breath hitched. “I want to, but I don’t think I should.”

  “Why?”

  “If we don’t match, will you go back and work on the algorithm more?”

  He hesitated, then admitted, “I would.”

  “Then I can’t do that to you, to us. It’ll never end.”

  He arched his brow in thought a moment before acceptance entered his eyes. It gave her strength, that look in his eyes—as if everything she’d imagined over the past weeks was truly all a bad dream.

  “Can we go out and celebrate? Just you and me? It is Friday night.”

  Olivia shook her head. “Paige and I are having a sleepover at my condominium. I’ll take her to her therapy appointment at nine from my place tomorrow.”

  “Mind if I tag along to the therapy appointment?” he asked.

  “This is something Paige has to do by herself. I’ll drop her off, then wait for her to finish.”

  “I could wait with you?”

  Olivia bit down on her lip, considering. “Is that wise for the two of us to be seen alone together again?”

  He looked into her eyes and smiled. “Probably not, but I don’t care.”

  Olivia smiled back, no longer feeling a sense of desperation or pain. “All right,” she said with a catch in her voice. “Meet us at my place at eight thirty.”

  “I’ll be there.” Max gave her another one of his smiles, the one that made her throat go dry and her heart patter in her chest as if she’d been running a race. Max would risk being seen in public with her, and he would help her with Paige.

  If she looked past his engagement and the lies he protected for Annalise’s sake, Max was a decent man.

  Olivia wanted desperately to believe that was true.

  Saturday morning dawned bright and clear. The scent of coffee filled the air. Olivia opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling of her condominium. Silence surrounded her. She knew from experience Paige was not a morning person. The teenager usually needed prompting to get out of bed on the weekend. So why did she smell coffee? Olivia got up and followed the aromatic scent into the kitchen.

  “Breakfast’s ready,” Paige said as she put two plates of sliced fruit and scrambled eggs on the table. “I used what I could find. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “I can’t believe you made me breakfast,” Olivia said, reaching for a coffee mug. “And coffee.” Olivia headed straight for the small Italian coffeepot on the stove. The metal lid clanged softly as the water bubbled up from the bottom well to the top. Puffs of fragrant steam coiled in the air, drawing her forward. Italian coffee. Her favorite. Careful not to spill a precious drop, she poured the dark and steamy brew into her cup. She took a sip and closed her eyes, savoring the bitter liquid as it warmed her. She opened her eyes and sighed with pleasure.

  Paige smiled. “I wanted to do something to thank you for having me over last night. I never knew you were so competitive about card games.”

  Olivia laughed. “I was the UNO champion at the student center in college. I held that title for four years despite challengers.”

  Paige gave her an odd look. “UNO is a game of luck, not skill.”

  “I guess I was lucky back then.” Olivia slid into a chair at the table.

  Paige joined her in the chair
across from her. “I think you’re lucky still. A lot of the teachers at the high school would die for Mr. R. to look at them the way he looks at you.”

  Olivia choked on her coffee. “How do you know how he looks at me?”

  Paige rolled her eyes. “I’m not blind.”

  Paige really was far more aware than Olivia ever gave her credit for. Talking about men and boys, a thought suddenly occurred to Olivia. “Is there a special boy in your life?” She’d never considered that fact before.

  “No,” Paige replied, lifting her fork and scooping up a bite of eggs. “All the boys my age either have egos bigger than their brains, or they’re so awkward they can’t talk to a girl.”

  “You’re right,” Olivia agreed, comforted by Paige’s response. There would be a day when boys were no longer egotistical or awkward to the teenager. Hopefully that day was a long time from now.

  They ate in companionable silence. Then Olivia asked, “Are you ready for today?”

  “Do I really have to go meet with that counselor?” Paige asked with a frown.

  Olivia set down her fork. “Seeing Dr. Fisher was one of the conditions of your release from detention. We talked about this, Paige.”

  Paige stared at her as if she’d grown horns out of the sides of her head. “I don’t want to go. You’re my mentor. Can’t you make this go away?”

  “No, Paige. I can’t.” Olivia straightened. Here it was—the tough part of being Paige’s mentor and an authority figure. “It’s group counseling, and if you don’t go, I’ll have to report you to your social worker.”

  Paige gaped at her. “They’d take me back to the juvenile rehabilitation center and lock me up.”

  Olivia wanted to shake some reason into Paige, but she made herself shrug. “Life is full of tough choices. It’s Echo Glen or counseling.”

  “You’d let them take me back there? You don’t know what it’s like.” Tears welled in the teenager’s eyes.

  “Follow the rules or suffer the consequences,” Olivia said with a calmness she did not feel.

  Paige fisted her hands at her sides, her body quivering with anger. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

  “I’m your friend, Paige, but it’s also my job to help you understand the reality of what happened to you,” Olivia said matter-of-factly. This wouldn’t be the first specially trained counselor Paige had had to talk to in her young life.

  “I hate you.” Paige jumped down from her chair and stomped down the hallway into the bedroom she’d slept in last night. The door slammed shut a moment later, the sound reverberating throughout the condominium.

  Olivia took in a breath and let it out slowly as she reached for her coffee mug once more. Paige didn’t really hate her, Olivia knew, but the words stung anyway.

  An hour later and very much against her will, Paige went into her group therapy session at the Group Health Hospital on Capitol Hill. She headed down the stone staircase to the meeting rooms, locating the sign outside the door for her group.

  Her anger had faded, replaced with resignation. She stopped just inside the doorway, listening to the other kids talk in the large, open room. Their chattering voices sent her heart racing. She hung there at the door for a moment longer, seeing if anyone would notice her. Only Dr. Fisher did.

  “Come on over and have a seat, Paige,” the tall, thin man with round, wire-rimmed spectacles said, motioning for her to come inside.

  When she couldn’t come up with an excuse not to, she joined the group. She’d never been to one of Dr. Fisher’s group sessions before, but she’d heard other foster kids talk about him. Some said he’d helped them; others said he hadn’t. Guess it would be up to her to decide for herself.

  There were five other kids there besides her. Four boys and one other girl. She recognized one of the boys from her school. They had English together.

  “Heya, Chicken Little,” Dwayne taunted her as she joined the others. “Never thought I’d see you in here.”

  Paige looked away. Dwayne knew she hated it when he called her that name.

  “That’s enough, Dwayne. Since Paige has joined us, let’s all take a seat.” Dr. Fisher sat down, expecting them all to do the same.

  Paige waited until Dwayne sat down, then sat in a chair away from him, next to a nervous-looking boy with bright-red hair. “I’m Paige,” she said, with a quick look at his ruddy face.

  “Brad.” Two bright spots of color tinted his cheeks. “Whatcha in trouble for?”

  “How do you know I’m in trouble?”

  “That’s what we’re all here for,” the boy said.

  Paige leaned back against her chair with a pout. “Well, I’m fine. I don’t need to be here. I only came ’cuz they made me.”

  “I need to be here. You do, too.”

  She gave him a flinty look.

  “I’m serious.” Brad sat forward and gingerly touched her hand where it rested on her knee. Color flooded his cheeks again, and he pulled his hand away, but he continued talking. “Dr. Fisher can help. When I came here, I was out of control. I’d just lost my parents and I landed with my aunt and uncle. They already had two kids, but they took me in anyway.” He dropped his gaze to the floor. “And I repaid them by drinking and smoking and making their lives a living hell.”

  Paige was startled. The boy looked as though he was fresh off the farm, plaid shirt and all. What did he know about drinking or smoking? “Yeah, right.”

  He brought his gaze to hers once more, and the sincerity in his eyes stole her breath. “I’m serious. Dr. Fisher helped me see I’m not the sum of my mistakes, or the mistakes thrown at me.”

  Paige eyed him suspiciously. “You sound like Oprah.”

  He grinned. “Give the session a try. Just for today. See if it doesn’t make you feel better about yourself and your life.”

  The angry ball of emotions she always carried inside her started to unfurl as a shard of hope cut its way through the tangled mess. “All I want is to feel normal.”

  “You will.”

  She gave him a hesitant smile as she studied him, really studied him, and saw he wasn’t a country boy at all. He was a younger and less polished version of Chris Pratt, and suddenly she realized he also went to her school. “I should know you, shouldn’t I?”

  He shrugged. “We have math together.”

  “Math isn’t my best subject,” Paige admitted. “I keep my head down and hope the teacher won’t call on me.”

  “Math isn’t my best subject either.”

  Paige shifted slightly toward him in her chair. “I’m sorry I’ve never talked to you before.”

  His smile increased. “Well, I always wanted to talk to you.”

  The subtle compliment warmed her as she settled back against her seat. Dr. Fisher started talking, though she couldn’t focus on the words over the rabbitlike patter of her heart. Paige pushed her hair away from her eye and stole another sideways glance at Brad.

  She’d done lots of things she hadn’t liked before. What could it hurt to sit through one therapy session?

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “I’m so nervous for her,” Olivia said while she watched Paige walk into the hospital where her group therapy session would take place.

  “She’ll be fine,” Max said in a reassuring voice. “She needs to do this to help her realize there are other ways to deal with her anger.”

  Olivia pushed her hair away from her face and sighed. “I agree, but I still worry.”

  “I know just the thing to take your mind off Paige.” Max started his car and headed out of the parking lot. “Trust me. You’re going to love this.”

  Olivia tensed. People made that kind of statement only when they weren’t totally convinced of the truth of their words. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Bike riding.” Max turned down Broadway, then headed for Fairview Avenue, following it until they were beneath Interstate 5. “No one will be able to get the two of us in a picture together here,” he said, stopping the ca
r in the parking lot before a sign that welcomed them to the Interstate 5 Colonnade Mountain Bike Park.

  “We don’t have bikes,” Olivia said, stating the obvious.

  “Sure we do.” As soon as they exited the car, a tall man stepped away from one of the columns and headed for them with a welcoming smile on his face. He had sandy-blond hair and the greenest eyes Olivia had ever seen. The two men shook hands a moment before Max cocked his head toward her. “Connor, this is Olivia.”

  “Greetings.” He gave her hand a firm shake. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

  Olivia offered him a hesitant smile as she drew her hand away. “Likewise. And you are?”

  “Connor is a good friend of mine and the supplier of our entertainment this morning.”

  Connor laughed. “You owe me for this one, buddy.”

  “That makes two favors I owe you. I know you won’t forget to remind me of that fact any chance you get,” Max responded with a laugh. He pulled a mountain bike out from the shadows.

  “Yeah,” Connor agreed. “I won’t forget.”

  Max withdrew a second bike and steered it toward Olivia. “This one’s for you.”

  Olivia shook her head. “I haven’t been on a bike since . . . I can’t remember the last time.”

  Max gave her an encouraging smile as he held a helmet out to her. “You know what they say—you never forget.”

  She was absolutely certain that she’d forgotten every little nuance of riding a bike. Max waited patiently for her to secure her head protection and mount the bike.

  When she did, he looked pleased. “Get ready for a good time.” He snapped on his helmet and waited for her to start on the bike trail ahead of him. “Thanks, Connor,” he said over his shoulder before joining her on the path through the colonnades. Above them the sound of cars driving over the expansion joints in the elevated viaduct echoed rhythmically, mixing with the cry of the waterfront gulls floating on the morning breeze.

  Despite her fear of not remembering how to ride, especially over the uneven terrain, Olivia couldn’t help but be impressed at the creative use of otherwise dead space beneath the major highway.