‘That might be a good sign,’ Olivia agreed.
‘Let’s hope so,’ Ethan replied. ‘I picked Andrew up from the airport last night, and drove him straight to where I knew Shelley was staying. It wasn’t exactly an auspicious meeting. Both of them were still too angry—with each other and themselves. But I’ve suggested that I continue to look after Andrea over Christmas while the two of them sit down and talk to each other. The least they can do is come to some sort of agreement about Andrea’s future upbringing that won’t result in a repeat of Shelley’s recent feelings of desperation. I think that’s fair enough, don’t you?’ He looked at Olivia intently.
What did it matter what she thought? None of this situation was really any of her business. Although that didn’t mean she didn’t have great admiration for the way Ethan was handling this delicate situation. In fact, she was starting to think he was a pretty wonderful human being!
She nodded abruptly. ‘I think that’s very fair,’ she agreed, her admiration for him deepening by the minute. Not only had Ethan turned his own life upside down in order to look after Andrea, but he was also trying to help her young parents come to some sort of understanding over the situation.
‘Good. At last I seem to have done something right in your eyes!’
Olivia stared at him. What could it possibly matter what she thought—of him or this situation…?
‘Now, stop diverting my attention, woman,’ Ethan said briskly. ‘Let’s go and prepare those vegetables!’
‘You still want me to stay to lunch?’ she said, amazed. Considering the strain he had been put under himself the last couple of days, her erroneous assumptions must surely have been the last straw as far as he was concerned?
He looked at her with mocking brown eyes. ‘I’ll let you know once you’ve peeled the potatoes,’ he teased.
She had been let off lightly, Olivia acknowledged as she followed him through to the kitchen. Ethan had every right to feel absolutely furious with her for her presumptions, but he had chosen to explain the situation to her instead. If the circumstances had been reversed, Olivia knew she wouldn’t have been so magnanimous…
Which, to her dismay, only served to prove to her how narrow-minded and self-opinionated she had become these last few years.
She had formed an opinion of Ethan Sherbourne based on…what? Her own assumptions, that was what. Well, she had been completely wrong concerning Andrea, so wasn’t it feasible that she was probably wrong in most of her other ideas concerning Ethan, too?
Most of…?
There she went again, qualifying the positive with an added negative. Why couldn’t she just admit she had been wrong about Ethan, full stop? He—
‘Stop beating yourself up, Olivia.’ Ethan cut into her self-disgusted thoughts. ‘If it’s any consolation, I probably am most of the things you previously thought me.’
She sighed heavily. ‘I somehow doubt that very much!’
‘That bad, hmm?’ He leaned back against one of the kitchen units to look at her assessingly.
‘I’m afraid so,’ she admitted self-disgustedly.
‘Then that makes your being here all the more credible,’ he told her warmly. ‘Now, peel these potatoes.’ He thrust the bag in front of her. ‘I shall deal with the carrots and sprouts!’ He turned back to take the other vegetables out of the fridge.
She swallowed hard. ‘Don’t you want to know what I thought?’
‘I think I can guess most of it,’ he said wryly.
Olivia couldn’t even see the potatoes for the first few seconds she was peeling them, her eyes once again swimming with unshed tears.
She really was going to have to stop this, she decided firmly a few minutes later. Either she would have to sit down and have a really good cry, or she would have to get her emotions back under control. It was just that the latter was proving so hard at the moment!
‘Olivia…?’
She turned slowly to look up at Ethan. He no longer made any pretence of working beside her, but stood looking at her instead. If, now having had time to think it through, he no longer wanted her to stay and spend Christmas Day with himself and Andrea, she would quite understand. After all—
Her self-berating thoughts came to an abrupt end as Ethan took her firmly in his arms and kissed her soundly on the lips!
An emotional sob caught in her throat as her arms moved convulsively over his shoulders, her lips parting as she began to kiss him back.
How long that kiss lasted Olivia had no idea. Her senses were reeling, every particle of her feeling totally alive.
Ethan pulled back slightly, looking down at her, his eyes dark and unfathomable. ‘You are an extremely beautiful woman, Olivia,’ he told her gruffly.
She gave a choked laugh, shaking her head. ‘I’m narrow-minded. And opinionated. And—’ She stopped speaking as Ethan put light fingertips against her lips.
Ethan shook his head. ‘You’re beautiful. Desirable. Intelligent. Warm. Caring—yes, you are, Olivia,’ he insisted as she would have protested. ‘Someone, or something, has hurt you very badly. But you can’t hide your gentleness when you’re with Andrea.’
‘She’s just a defenceless baby,’ Olivia explained, still very aware of the hard strength of his body moulded against hers.
Ethan grinned. ‘One you were obviously determined to defend from my inadequacies at baby-minding!’
‘How was I to know you had done all this before?’ Her voice rose indignantly.
Ethan looked rueful. ‘Actually, I haven’t—the fact that I didn’t play enough of a role in Andrew’s babyhood was one of the reasons my wife left me!’ he admitted.
Olivia looked up at him quizzically. ‘How long were you married?’
‘Two years,’ he acknowledged reluctantly.
‘Two years!’ she gasped incredulously.
He shrugged. ‘Apparently I wasn’t very good at it.’
‘But even so—’
‘How long were you married, Olivia?’ Ethan interrupted, his gaze compelling now, his arms tightening about her waist as she would have pulled away.
She glared up at him as she found herself suddenly trapped in his arms. ‘Let me go, Ethan!’ she erupted.
‘Not until you answer me.’
Her eyes became icy as they met his, her body rigid within the confines of his arms. ‘What makes you think I’ve been married?’ she scorned.
‘This.’ He clasped her left hand and raised it into view, his thumb moving lightly over the third finger. ‘Strange, isn’t it, how the indentation from wearing a ring very rarely goes away, even when the ring is no longer being worn…?’
Olivia looked down at that hand too, easily able to see the indentation he referred to.
She snatched her hand back, pulling sharply out of his arms, breathing raggedly as she stepped away from him, her cheeks pale. ‘I did slightly better than you, Ethan.’ She spat the words out. ‘My marriage lasted just over three years.’ To her dismay—and her anger!—her voice broke over those last words. ‘But at least I don’t fill my life with a load of empty-headed male bimbos in order to make myself feel attractive and wanted!’ She was breathing heavily in her agitation, glaring at him defiantly.
Ethan looked at her wordlessly for several long seconds, and then he drew in a harshly controlling breath. ‘Peel the potatoes, Olivia,’ he rasped.
Her eyes widened. ‘I—’
‘Before you say something you are definitely going to regret!’ he concluded warningly, eyes narrowed to steely slits.
She had already said several things she deeply regretted! But Ethan had touched on a subject that, although almost ten years old, was still raw and painful.
But was that really a valid excuse for the insulting things she had just said to him…?
She shook her head. ‘I really think I should leave,’ she said flatly.
‘For speaking your mind?’ Ethan’s brows rose, his expression surprised. ‘God, Olivia, you don’t know how refreshing i
t is to be with a woman who does exactly that!’
She looked at him. ‘You really want me to stay?’
He nodded wordlessly.
Olivia looked puzzled now. ‘But why?’
‘Someone has to help me eat this huge turkey!’ he returned teasingly, before turning back to the task of peeling the carrots.
Olivia could only stare at the broadness of his back, once again left reeling from his unexpected reaction to something she had said or done deliberately to insult and so ultimately antagonise him.
Deliberately because it was a form of defence that had always worked for her in the past. And yet Ethan refused to be offended…
He also kissed her whenever he felt like it. Deep, compelling kisses that made her knees shake and the rest of her body turn to jelly. Worse than that, despite the things she had said to him, she actually liked him. Perhaps more than liked him, she realised with increasing dismay…!
She had to get out of here before she fell completely under his spell!
‘It’s up to you, of course, to see that she doesn’t leave,’ Mrs Heavenly told Faith as she appeared beside her.
‘I’m working on it,’ Faith said, absolutely stunned at the older angel’s appearance. Mrs Heavenly knew—She always—‘What are you doing down here?’ Faith gasped her shock.
‘I just love it here on Earth this time of year.’ Mrs Heavenly looked across at the Christmas tree Olivia and Ethan had decorated so companionably earlier that morning, her cherubic features beaming with pleasure. ‘It’s a beautiful tree, isn’t it?’ she said happily.
‘Yes, but—Mrs Heavenly, Olivia seems—special to you somehow, so if you would like to take over this assignment yourself, I really wouldn’t mind,’ Faith told her carefully.
‘Don’t be silly, my dear.’ Mrs Heavenly gave another of her cherubic smiles. ‘You’re doing absolutely marvelously without any help from me.’
Which in no way answered the question of why Mrs Heavenly was taking such a personal interest in Olivia Hardy’s future…
‘I’ll leave you to it, then, Faith,’ Mrs Heavenly said.
For how long? Faith wondered as the image beside her shimmered and then disappeared…
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘ETHAN, I really think—’ Olivia broke off her excuse to leave as the doorbell rang out shrilly.
‘Who on earth can that be?’ Ethan exclaimed as he put down the knife he had been using and turned to go and answer the door.
Olivia’s response was much more marked. It didn’t matter who the caller was; it had to be someone who knew Ethan well enough to feel comfortable calling on him on Christmas Day—in which case she would very definitely be in the way!
She followed Ethan reluctantly from the kitchen, hanging back slightly as he moved to open the door.
‘Dad…’ A tall, dark-haired young man stepped forward to give Ethan a hug.
Andrew, she realised immediately. And standing beside him, looking extremely shy, was Shelley!
Olivia was very definitely in the way!
‘Andrew!’ Ethan stepped back at arm’s length to look at his son. The similarity between the two men was obvious, despite the twenty-year difference in their ages. Both were tall, dark haired, and dark-eyed, though Andrew’s looks were still boyishly handsome where his father’s had honed down to carved teak. 94
‘What are the two of you doing here?’ Ethan asked quizzically.
‘Neither of us could stay away from Andrea any longer.’ Shelley was the one to answer, her eyes anxious as she looked past Ethan into the apartment, obviously searching for her baby.
Ethan stepped back. ‘She’s fast asleep in the bedroom on the left,’ he told the young mother warmly. ‘Go with her, Andrew,’ he instructed his son huskily as Shelley hurried past him.
Olivia hung back in the kitchen doorway as she watched the young couple go into the bedroom together, Andrew’s expression one of excitement mixed with awe. And no wonder; he was about to see his daughter for the first time!
She turned back to Ethan, able to see the expressions that flitted across his own face as he watched his son about to face fatherhood: love, pride, and lastly regret, for the fact that Andrew was no longer a child himself.
Olivia felt even more of an intruder as she so easily gauged those emotions.
She swallowed hard. ‘Ethan…’
He instantly turned to smile at her, at the same time seeming to shake off those feelings of regret. ‘It looks as if there might be four of us for lunch,’ he said as he strode towards her.
Her eyes widened. ‘You can’t still want me to stay…?’
‘Why can’t I?’ Ethan queried, bending to kiss her lightly on the lips as he passed her on his way into the kitchen. ‘If things have gone as well as I hope they have between Andrew and Shelley then we can all have ourselves a real old-fashioned Christmas!’ he added with satisfaction. ‘You know—grandparents, parents and grandchild.’
It didn’t take too many guesses to realise under which category he thought she came! ‘Ethan, for one thing I’m not old enough to be a grandparent,’ she began with embarrassment. ‘For a second—’ She broke off as Ethan swung round and took her in his arms. ‘What—?’
‘Exactly how old are you?’ Ethan demanded to know, easily moulding her body against his.
She frowned up at him, totally stunned at finding herself in his arms yet again. ‘Thirty-two. But—’
‘Old enough to be the partner of a grandparent,’ he assured her.
Olivia’s eyes widened. ‘But I’m not—’
‘Dad, is it okay with you if—? Oh!’ Andrew stopped abruptly in the doorway as he saw his father wasn’t alone, and his euphoric expression turned to puzzled curiosity as he looked at Olivia.
Not just because Ethan wasn’t alone, Olivia inwardly panicked, but because he was holding an unknown woman in his arms—unknown to Andrew that was!—in an obviously intimate way!
‘It’s okay, Andrew,’ Ethan said as he turned to face his son, releasing Olivia but still keeping his arm draped across her shoulders. ‘You were saying…?’ he prompted.
Olivia had never felt so embarrassed in her life, knowing from Andrew’s speculative expression as he looked at the two of them that he was drawing his own conclusions concerning their relationship—and coming up with completely the wrong answer!
Andrew gave his father a knowing grin. ‘Shelley and I were wondering if it was okay for us to spend the day here with you.’ His grin turned to an uncertain frown. ‘But obviously that was before I realised—’
‘Of course you can all spend the day here.’ Ethan cut briskly across his son’s awkward glances in Olivia’s direction. ‘This is Olivia Hardy.’ He smiled down at her warmly. ‘A special friend of mine,’ he added for his son’s benefit.
‘Olivia,’ Andrew greeted.
‘Andrew,’ she returned, still reeling from Ethan’s ‘special friend of mine’ claim.
‘Have you and Shelley managed to sort anything out in the last twelve hours?’ Ethan prompted sharply. Obviously the politeness of the introductions was over as far as he was concerned. ‘Besides the fact that you both love Andrea, that is,’ he added dryly.
That slightly dazed expression returned to Andrew’s youthfully handsome face. ‘I still can’t believed she’s real,’ he breathed.
‘You will once you’ve done your share of walking up and down with her when she starts teething!’ Ethan assured his son.
‘I loved Shelley before, and totally disintegrated when she broke off our relationship, but this—! I’ve asked Shelley to marry me.’
‘And?’ Only the tightening of Ethan’s hand on Olivia’s shoulder betrayed his own tension.
Andrew went on, ‘She’s agreed to a six-month trial period. Just in case I want to change my mind. Which I won’t,’ he added firmly. ‘I never wanted to break up in the first place, and now that I know the reason for it—! Be prepared for a wedding in six months’ time!’
Lo
oking at Andrew Sherbourne was like looking at Ethan as he must have been twenty years ago, Olivia realised. The younger man obviously had the same confidence and determination as his father, although, as far as she could see, Andrew had yet to develop his father’s arrogance…
‘Unless you were thinking of having one yourself before then…?’ Andrew probed, thrusting his hands into the pockets of his denims as he looked speculatively at his father and Olivia.
Ethan looked down at Olivia as he felt her stiffen against him, his brown gaze openly laughing at the panic he easily read in her expression. ‘I’ll let you know if I do,’ he answered his son evenly, those brown eyes continuing to laugh at Olivia’s obvious discomfort.
‘But don’t hold your breath!’ Olivia put in sharply, moving slightly so that she was no longer in the curve of Ethan’s arm, able to breathe more easily, think more easily, now that she was no longer held against his warm masculinity. ‘Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I think it’s time I went home and—’
‘No way,’ Ethan said firmly as he guessed what she was about to do. ‘Andrew and Shelley have you to thank as much as me for looking after Andrea these last two days. We’re all going to spend the day here together, Olivia,’ he stated decisively, daring her to continue with her excuses to leave.
The prospect of spending the day with Ethan had been nerve-racking enough, but Olivia could imagine nothing more awful than having to be with his son, son’s girlfriend, and baby granddaughter too. Almost, as Ethan had already pointed out, as if they were a family!
‘Oh, please don’t leave, Olivia!’ Shelley had come out of the bedroom, baby Andrea nestled contentedly in her arms. ‘For one thing I haven’t had a chance to apologise to you for my rudeness the other evening,’ she said. ‘You must have thought I was awful, just leaving Andrea here in the way that I did—’
‘Not at all,’ Olivia instantly assured her warmly. ‘Motherhood can be—overwhelming, can’t it?’ she sympathised.
‘Yes,’ Shelley acknowledged, glancing down at her baby daughter. ‘But I’ve realised this last couple of days just how rewarding it can be too.’
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