Page 56 of The Heartbreakers
“What’s all this for?”
“I’m making dinner,” he said. “Wash your hands. You can help.”
I stared at Oliver, brows raised. If he noticed my hesitation, he didn’t say anything. He was already pulling out the groceries, and I quickly noticed the way he was slamming cans of beans down on the counter as he pulled them from the bag. Something was wrong.
Not knowing what else to do, I slid the ponytail holder from around my wrist and pulled my hair back before turning on the faucet. While the water warmed up, I lathered my hands with soap and chewed on my inside cheek. This would be the perfect time to discuss last night, but I couldn’t bring myself to mention it, even after practicing for more than an hour. Especially not if Oliver was upset about something.
“Where is everyone?” I asked instead and grabbed a paper towel to dry my hands.
His nostrils flared. “They’resupposedto be here.”
“Supposed to?”
“Yeah. Once a month, we have what I like to call family dinner. I cook, and everyone else helps out. Tonight was supposed to be family dinner, but on the way back from the store, JJ saw the Cheesecake Factory and they all decided to go there instead,” he said, his lips curling in an ugly scowl.
He didn’t wait for any response on my part. Instead, he spun around and started opening and slamming drawers in search of something. Eventually he pulled out a can opener and hooked its jagged teeth to the lip of a can. He started to crank the handle, but the blade slipped. He tried twice more with the same results, his face turning redder with each failed attempt.
I placed my hand over his and pulled the can opener away. “Oliver, are you okay?”
“Fine,” he said through gritted teeth. A second later he shook his head and glanced up at me. “Sorry, Stella. I’m not mad at you. I’m just frustrated.”
He seemed a bit more than frustrated, especially considering it was only one missed dinner, but maybe I wasn’t catching something. “You don’t need to apologize. It’s fine.”
He nodded. “Well, looks like it’s just the two of us. You like chili, yeah?”
“Chili’s great.”
This seemed to put him in a better mood, because he turned on some music, and we busied ourselves with preparing our meal. For most of the next hour we worked in silence, our only conversation when he gave me instructions. I was uncomfortable at first, mainly because I couldn’t stop thinking about last night, but browning ground beef was so mundane that it was strangely calming. When Oliver started to hum along with the radio, I turned away from the stove and watched him chop vegetables. He was shimmying his shoulders back and forth, and I realized that if something awkward had happened last night, he wouldn’t be as relaxed as he was now.
Once the chili was simmering on the stove, I set two places for us at the table, and then we sat down and waited for the food to finish cooking.
“So…” Oliver said. He was playing with the spoon set out in front of him and was avoiding looking at me.Ohcrap, I thought.MaybeIspoketoosoon. He was about to bring up last night, and if thinking about it made him uncomfortable, then something bad totally happened. “I wasn’t purposely listening or anything, but I overheard you and Xander before the show on Monday.”
“Oh.” That wasn’t what I was expecting. “What about?”
“Your sister,” he said, starting to speak in a rush. “I would have said something sooner, but there wasn’t a good time and—”
The spoon flew from his hand as his fingers slipped, and it clattered against his bowl. Reaching out, I scooped up both of his fidgeting hands and held them still. Oliver raised his gaze to find mine.
“You don’t have to say anything,” I said. “Really, it’s fine. Cara…she’s been sick for a while now.”
Oliver grimaced and shook his head like he was disappointed in himself. “I’ve been trying to come up with something perfect to say all week, but I guess that’s stupid, isn’t it? There’s nothing that would make things better. It’s just, the thought of having someone so close, and then there’s this potential they might suddenly be gone…” Oliver stopped, and his expression was twisted in a way that made it impossible to interpret. “I can’t even imagine how difficult that must feel.”
The one thing that Ididunderstand was that he was upset, and seeing him so choked up was completely unexpected. “Thank you, Oliver. That means a lot to me.” He nodded his head, a grave expression still on his face, so I squeezed his hand and said, “If Cara were here right now, she’d point out that she’s still alive and that you need to stop acting all doom and gloom.”
“You’re right,” he said. His smile finally returned and he sat up. “Hey, did your sister like her gift?”
“Like it? She just about pissed herself she was so excited.”
Oliver’s grin widened. “That’s great. I can’t imagine how she reacted when Paul offered you a job. What’d she say?”
“Well, she threatened to never speak to me again when I considered turning it down.” As soon as the words came out, I wanted to steal them back because Oliver pulled away from me.
“You weren’t going to accept?” he asked. “Why the heck not?”
“I don’t know,” I said, my voice dropping. I didn’t like where this conversation was going, so I let my hair fall in front of my face and started combing my fingers through it.
“Really, that’s all I get?” he asked as I isolated the blue chunk from the rest of my hair. I wrapped the colorful streak around my finger and avoided his scrutinizing gaze. “Come on, Stella. There has to be a reason. It—it wasn’t because of me, was it?”
