Page 25 of Caden
“One of your brothers told me.”
“Did they tell you or did they let it slip?”
Caden glanced at where Olivia still stood against his chest and found her watching her mother with narrowed eyes. His gaze went back to where her mother sat at the small table. She lifted one shoulder and let it drop in a dismissive gesture.
“Does it matter? I know now. And now we’ve got to decide what we’re going to do about it.”
“What we’re going to do?“ Olivia asked as if she hadn’t heard her mother clearly. But then she continued, “WE are going to do nothing. YOU are going to go back to work and mind your own business. I’m an adult, Mama. I get to make my own decisions and choose who I date. That might have been a decision you could have made when I lived at home, but no longer. I like Caden. His friends are nice.”
“You’ve met them? Spent time at his club?” The horror in Mrs. Duncan’s voice was clear. As if she couldn’t stand the idea that her daughter would spend time with people like that.
“I have.” Olivia seemed to stand taller. She squared her shoulders and stood ready to defend him and his friends to her mother. “Members of his club and their wives and girlfriends. I’m sure I haven’t met them all but those I have are nice. They invited me to another gathering in a couple weeks and I’m going to that too.”
A look of stubborn dissatisfaction crossed Mrs. Duncan’s face. “I can see you’ve set your mind to this. There never was any budging you when you were set on something.” She stood. “I just hope that this doesn’t turn out to be something you, and the whole family, comes to regret.” She took her empty cup to the sink and set it inside before heading for the door. In the doorway she stopped and turned back. “Give your father a call. He said something about needing to talk to you.” Her voice was gentler than any of their previous discussion. With that she turned back and left.
Olivia didn’t move until after they heard the click of the front door closing. Then she took a deep breath and let it out in a rush.
“I’m sorry. I knew she wouldn’t be happy, but didn’t think she’d do this with you here.”
“No problem, sweetheart. I’m not upset. I knew it was a possibility. And it’s not like you hid it from me, you told me in the very beginning who your mother is.” He tugged her close and brushed the tip of her nose back and forth with his several times. “I knew about the King’s history. I was around when it happened, but not part of it. I had an idea she might not be happy to have one of her kids involved with part of the Kings. I was prepared for it. Kind of. I wasn’t ready to be woken from a dead sleep, caught naked in your bed. But even then, I wouldn’t change it if it meant missing even a moment with you.” He watched her face for a moment, trying to judge what she was thinking. When he couldn’t figure it out, but felt her softening against him, he lowered his head to kiss her, gently at first then with more heat and passion.
Blindly, he extended the arm with his coffee cup, until he found the edge of the counter. He set the cup down and pushed it away from the edge, then took her cup and did the same, before sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her back to the bedroom.
He wanted to show her how much she meant to him before they had to go their own directions, off to work for the day and other business.
18
Olivia had hoped to avoid the confrontation with her mother as long as possible, not that having Caden spend more time with her was a hard ship. And it wasn’t that she wasn’t willing to stand up to her mother. She just hated doing it.
This morning, when Mama had burst in demanding an explanation, Olivia’s heart had sunk. She didn’t know if this would be enough to run Caden off, but she hoped not. She liked him, more than a little. On the other hand, if it was enough to scare him off, maybe it was better done now, than when she was even more attached.
After her mother left, when he kissed her then carried her into the bedroom, she wasn’t sure which feeling had been more overwhelming, relief or need. When he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, the need definitely won.
Now, she lay staring up at the ceiling, trying to catch her breath and wondering why families had to be hard. They were only trying to protect her, she knew that, but they took it too far.
“What are you thinking about?” Caden’s voice was soft where he lay next to her on the bed.
“Family. I’m wondering why they have to be so difficult.”
He chuckled. “Because they love you and that’s how they show it. I get where your mom is coming from. She has had a lot of trouble from the Kings, or from the men who are no longer Kings and probably for a lot longer than we were aware of. She doesn’t want that kind of trouble for you. Especially not for her baby.” He fell quiet for the space of several moments. She thought he’d finished, then he spoke again. “I thought for sure you were done with me when she had her fit about the Kings. That you stood up for my friends, that you’ve met once, means a lot to me.”
“Of course I would. They’re good guys.”
“I know that, but you have no way to know that. You met them once, mostly for a few minutes at a time. They could be anyone.”
“But I know you. Or I’m starting to. You are a good guy, and you wouldn’t take me around people you didn’t believe were good people, not if you could help it.” She didn’t know how she was so sure, but she was.
She lay there a few minutes longer, trying to relax enough to go back to sleep, but now that she was awake, her brain wouldn’t stop. After a while, she got up again. Picked up Caden’s shirt and put it on as she went into the kitchen. Might as well make breakfast if she wasn’t going to be able to sleep.
“Ijust don’t know how to deal with her sometimes,” Olivia said. She’d waited until he would be between classes before calling Dad. Caden had gone home by then, promising to be in touch when he got off of work. She was getting ready for work herself.
“She’s just trying to protect you. You know that. I know she’s a bit aggressive in making sure her babies are happy, but at least she’s trying.” Dad tried to placate her. But maybe he was right.
If Dad and Caden were saying the same thing, that Mom was only trying to protect her, why should Olivia object?
Because the way Mom was going about it was high handed and controlling? Was that enough?
Yes. It was. Olivia needed her mother to realize that while she could raise concerns, she could ask questions and try to get Olivia to think about the decisions she was making, it was no longer her place to slam into Olivia’s home and demand answers. Olivia was no longer twelve. She was grown and had her own life. She had to make her own decisions and, if it came to that, her own mistakes.