Page 70 of Tequila Tuesdays

“Is he one of Sebastian’s friends?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Is heyourfriend?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Is he yourspecialfriend?”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re so funny. How old are you, twelve?”

“You know what’s even more funny? You’re twenty-eight and you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Shut it, Ollie. And it’s complicated.”

Her eyes rounded, and she pointed her finger in my face. “Oh, my God! Youdohave a boyfriend.”

“I love you more than life itself. But first, get your finger out of my face. And second, you’re a nosy bugger and you’ve got a big mouth.” Olivia rolled her eyes but didn’t deny it.

Ava called Olivia about two minutes after she put her stuff in the spare bedroom.

“We’ll be over in a few minutes. I just barely walked in the door,” she told Ava.

Olivia paused, and I could imagine Ava giving her a guilt trip about staying at my house for the first part of her vacation. Olivia usually split her time between us when she visited Palm Springs. She also planned to be with Ava over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

“Mom, we’ve already talked about this,” Olivia said. “I’ll move over to your place on Christmas Eve. I want to spend time with Harley too.” She paused, then sighed. “Don’t ruin my first night here. We want to come over, but I don’t want you bringing this up if we do.” Olivia paused and listened for a minute. “Okay, we’ll be over in a few. Love you too.”

Olivia had somehow gotten stuck in the middle of the conflict between Ava and me, and I wasn’t sure how to make it easier for her.

“You know you can stay with her the whole time. I don’t want you to ever feel like you have to choose between us.”

Olivia shook her head. “Iwantto stay with you. It’s more relaxing and peaceful here. And she needs to stop being so pushy and unreasonable.”

I sighed and arranged my hair in a quick knot. “She’s not the only one with issues in our relationship. I have a short fuse with her, but I’m trying to do better. It’s a work in progress.”

“You shouldn’t have to rearrange your life to be her safety net, and then put up with her nitpicking and moodiness on top of it.” She looked away for a moment. “Maybe it’s time to let her make her own choices—just let natural consequences take their course.”

“I’ve thought about it, and about selling this house.” I looked around. “Dad’s memory seems to keep me here. But maybe it’s time.”

We tabled the discussion and walked next door to Ava’s house. She must have been watching for us because she was waiting with her front door open.

“Olivia! I’ve missed you so much.” She gave Ollie a long hug and kissed her on the cheeks several times.

She turned to me. “Harley, do you have any lemon? I made halibut but forgot to buy one.”

“Yes. I’ll go grab it.”

I went back to my house and got the lemon. I also took a few minutes to eat a little snack. When I got back to Ava’s house, it smelled like overcooked fish. Olivia opened some windows and tried to air out the kitchen. She gave me a wide-eyed look.

“Your patio looks so inviting. Can we eat out there?” I asked.

“Oh, what a great idea,” Olivia piped up. She surreptitiously waved her hand in front of her face.

Ava shrugged. “I guess we can eat outside.”

During the meal, Ava peppered Olivia with questions about her plans after graduation, and we laughed about one of Olivia’s roommates trying to wax her boyfriend’s bottom and accidentally giving him second-degree burns.

Ava was aghast. “You mean he let her wax his privates, and she’d never waxed anyone before?”

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