Hearts in the City Read online

  Alistair blinked in surprise. He sat up straight, reaching for his glass and taking a sip of wine as he allowed the news to sink in. A feeling of optimism suddenly washed over him. It was selfish of him given the circumstances, but he couldn’t help it. He was fiercely attracted to Olivia and the sudden change in her relationship status opened up new possibilities. The last time he’d seen her she’d looked like a woman very much in love. How she’d gone from that to ending her relationship he was dying to know. He was probably drawing baseless conclusions, but if Theo had done anything to hurt her Alistair wished him a lifetime of misery. His mind a raced with questions but kept his cool. He’d have plenty of time to grill Jazlynn later on.

  “Well I’m very sorry to hear that,” he said, offering his sympathies.

  “Truthfully, I’m surprised they even lasted this long. I mean Liv and I don’t spend a lot of time talking about her love life, but the two of them never spent that much time together so I’m not surprised it came to this,” Jazlynn said, looking pensive as she laced her fingers through Trey’s, clasping her hand in his.

  “Well relationships are hard. That’s the truth and that’s all I’m saying,” Loretta said defiantly, shooting a warning look at both of her sons not to start in on her again.

  “I don’t know your sis that well that, but from what I know of her she’s really strong. I’m sure she’ll bounce back soon,” Trey said.

  “Trey’s right. She’ll bounce back in no time at all,” Alistair said, his face giving nothing away. He’d told his brother nothing of his affinity toward Olivia and thought it was for the best for the time being.

  “And your sister is how old again?” Loretta asked Jazlynn.

  “Just turned thirty,” Jazlynn replied.

  “Hmmm...” Loretta nodded, glancing at Alistair.

  He diverted his gaze away from hers. But he was smiling on the inside. His mother’s brain was in overdrive, her mind brimming with scenarios. The look on her face changed suddenly.

  “Please tell me she’s not spending Thanksgiving all by herself. There was plenty of room here. Had I known she was alone she could have—“

  “Ma...,” Alistair said in a gentle voice. “...Olivia will be fine. She’s more than likely spending it with friends.”

  “Actually she’s spending it in Boden at Auntie’s. She needed to clear her head,” Jazlynn said.”

  Alistair had to agree. “Sometimes getting away from everything is the right thing to do.”

  “Well I’m relieved she’s not spending it alone. That would have been awful with all of us sitting with plenty food and plenty of room. Something tells me we’ll get to meet this sister of yours soon anyway,” Loretta said, winking across the table at Alistair. “Now who all wants some pumpkin pie?”

  The flight attendant’s voice chirped through the speaker, informing the passengers they would land in Boden in approximately fifteen minutes. Olivia closed her laptop and shoved it into the carrying case. She eased her head back on the seat, relaxing her arms on the arm rests. Glancing around her she noticed other passengers returning laptops and magazines to carriers and tote bags, no doubt looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with family. Staring thoughtfully out of the window for a few moments, a strange calm washed over her as a glimpse of the city came into view. It seemed like ages since she’d last gone to visit her aunt. Neither she nor Jazlynn had seen their aunt since she’d come for Christmas holidays as she did every year.

  Olivia wished she could have visited her aunt under better circumstances but she was glad she’d decided to go. Her aunt had insisted she spend Thanksgiving with her. Olivia had told her Jazlynn was spending Thanksgiving with Trey’s family. Purposely avoiding telling her about her break up with Theo, Olivia simply said he was away on business. She’d lied. Telling her aunt the truth would have made it more real—something she couldn’t face yet. But as far as Vondrelle was concerned, the prospect of Olivia spending Thanksgiving alone wasn’t even up for debate—that Thanksgiving was for families spending time together. So in the end she’d told Olivia to book a flight to Boden.

  She’d cried herself to sleep every night the past four weeks. She’d have given anything to wake up and realize she’d only been dreaming. She longed to feel Theo nudging her awake. But this was no dream, rather, it was a nightmare of the unkindest variety—a broken heart. He’d thrown her to the curb, her heart left bruised and battered. Even her career—the one thing in which she’d always found solace—couldn’t cure her pain. No surprise since it was the reason she’d lost him to begin with. If she had it to do all over again, she would have taken heed to his pleas for spending more time together. She’d have put him first and her career second. How had she been so oblivious to them drifting apart? Sure, they’d bickered back and forth over their lack of time together, but she’d been so sure he’d always be there, that they’d always be together, right? Well she’d been wrong. And she’d have a lifetime of regret to remind her of it.

  She spotted Vondrelle almost immediately after going through baggage claim. Dragging her luggage behind her, she made her way over to the water fountains where Vondrelle stood gabbing away on her cell-phone. Always the sophisticated woman, Vondrelle was decked out in a very seasonable palette, wearing a brown pants suit topped off with a rust-colored pashmina shawl. Her hair was coifed to perfection and her makeup was expertly done as always. Fifty-five years old and a knockout, she bore a striking resemblance to Diahann Carroll. With her designer clothes and feisty disposition, she looked like she’d just stepped off the set of the TV show, Dynasty. Vondrelle Putnam-Jones could have given Alexis Carrington a run for her money, no doubt.

  As Olivia drew closer, she waved her arms, prompting Vondrelle’s attention, her face lighting up at the sight of her niece. Quickly slipping her cell-phone phone into her handbag, she bounded toward Olivia with a toothful grin. “Oh honey look at you!” she said, throwing her arms around Olivia, giving her a hug.

  “And you, too,” Olivia said, trying to sound as cheerful as she could.

  “Now stand there and let me have look at you hun.” Vondrelle stood back, giving her the once-over. “Yup...you’re looking great as usual...or as the young people say these days, ‘the bomb’.” She let out a luscious laugh. “That hefty salary of yours is sure keeping you in the dollars.”

  “Oh you’ve got some nerve to talk...” Olivia rolled her eyes playfully. “...you TV show goddess, you.”

  Vondrelle gave her a playful smack on the arm. “I’m just a local foodie with her own cooking show. The same person I was before with just a little fancier clothing, that’s all. I’m still your favorite auntie. Okay well...you’re only Auntie.”

  “You’d still be my favorite even if you weren’t my only auntie though.”

  “Look at you lying right through your teeth...” Vondrelle grinned.

  “Not lying, I promise.” Olivia joked with a broad smile as she put a hand across her heart. She was trying hard to be cheerful. Rather that than be a downer for her aunt.

  “Well let’s get out of here and get you home and settled in. I hope you’re hungry,” Vondrelle said, giving her a look of warning. “I put a really big spread together.”

  “Come to think of it I’m actually starving.” Olivia said, smiling. She’d scarcely eaten this past month and had dropped a few pounds and was none too pleased about it. She valued her curves. Her curves. Theo had always loved her curves. At the thought of it the smile left her face. She bit her lip to keep her emotions at bay.

  “Oh and one other thing...” Vondrelle said, interrupting her thoughts. “...I hope you won’t mind, but the TV crew will be popping in to film a segment of us eating dinner to use for a future show. Someone at the station came up with the brilliant idea of featuring a clip of me sharing a holiday dinner with family and friends. Are you okay with that?”

  “No I don’t mind at all,” Olivia said, forcing thoughts of Theo out of her mind. “As long as there aren’t any close-ups, I�
��ll be fine. I haven’t had a chemical peel in a while,” she said with a laugh. She had her reservations about being on camera when she was in a less than jovial state but she’d have done anything to make her aunt happy.

  After packing Olivia’s luggage in the back of the car, they set out on the highway for Vondrelle’s. “So tell me all about things hun...how are they going?” Vondrelle asked, as she steered the car down the highway.

  Olivia eased her head on the headrest and let out a sigh. Tired from the travel, she couldn’t wait to get to Vondrelle’s place and kick her high-heeled boots off and wriggle her toes free. “Things have been good. Work’s been busy...no surprise there. And speaking of your show, how are things going there?”

  Staring straight ahead at the road, Vondrelle shook her head. “Now now...not so fast.” She felt blindly to her right patting Olivia on the hand. “I still want hear about you—specifically that man of yours. How’s he doing?”

  “He’s well,” Olivia said, simply.

  “I see...So you said he’s on a business trip is he?”

  “Uh-huh, yes.”

  “Did the two of you ever deal with the problems you guys were having?”

  “Well...” Olivia said hesitantly. “Sort of...” It wasn’t a complete lie. The problems they’d been having had been taken care of because they weren’t a we anymore.

  “Any talk of rings or weddings yet?” Vondrelle asked.

  Olivia felt a tinge of guilt over holding out on her aunt. “You deserve to know the truth...” She paused. “Theo and I...we broke up.” There. She’d said it. And it still hurt.

  “You what?” Vondrelle asked in shock. “Oh honey, please tell me you’re kidding me.”

  “I wish I was...” Olivia pressed her fingers into her forehead as though swallowing the news for the first time. Saying it aloud made it feel fresh again.

  “Liv, you don’t just keep things like this from me. Why didn’t you tell me?

  “I know...I should have.”

  “Damn straight you should have. I mean I knew you two had your issues, but breaking up over it...?”

  “Unresolved issues...apparently we couldn’t get past them.” Olivia rolled her eyes.

  “You guys have two long years together haven’t you?”

  “Had...had two long years together.”

  “Was this your choice or was it his?”

  Olivia glanced away, fighting back her emotions, not wanting to cry over it anymore. Not in the car, not anywhere. She’d cried enough already to last a lifetime. “It was his choice. He said we’d stopped growing as a couple.”

  “Well that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Vondrelle said flatly. “There’s always room for growth in a relationship. Sounds like a cop out to me.”

  “Actually, in Theo’s defense, If I’d I had put more effort into the relationship, we’d probably still be together.”

  “Don’t you dare put all the blame on yourself,” Vondrelle said, scolding her. “I’m so sick of women blaming themselves for men’s shortcomings. You did your best...what more could you have done?”

  “I could have given him more time. I could have prevented letting my career get in the way. I could have cared less about financial success and more about my relationship—that’s what I could have done. And that’s why I’m alone now.” Olivia’s voice broke. She choked back her tears.

  “I’m really sorry you’re going through this sweetheart. I can only imagine how hard this must be for you,” Vondrelle said, comfortingly. “Maybe he just needs a little time to sort his head out and then he’ll come back.”

  “No...” Olivia shook her head. “I really don’t think that’s going to happen.” Theo sounded determined to move on with his life; he’d given up on them. “It was selfish of me to put my career ahead of...”

  “Now stop it and don’t be silly,” Vondrelle said, cutting her off. “You have no right to be second-guessing yourself. Do you realize how far you’ve come on your own since your mother died? Went to law school...got your law degree; all while raising your kid sister al alone when you were merely a child yourself. So please don’t sit here feeling guilty for your accomplishments.”

  Olivia knew she was right. But where was the happy medium? Couldn’t a woman hold down a successful career and have a good relationship too? “Yes I know you’re right and I am proud of my success. But what good is success when you’re lonely?”

  “You do make a good point there. Way back when William died I said I’d never fall in love again because the risk of losing love is too great. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to being lonely sometimes. Having a man around to give me foot massages and take me out to dinner once in a while would be kind of nice.”

  Olivia gave her a surprised look, seeing her aunt’s loneliness through her own. “I’d have never guessed. You’ve always seemed so content with your life the way it is I just assumed you didn’t care.”

  “Oh hun, I care all right. I care a lot.”

  As she’d promised, Vondrelle had prepared a huge spread. Joining the two of them for dinner were six neighbors from the condominium complex Vondrelle lived in. The TV filming crew arrived just in time for dinner, setting up shop in the dining room and filming clips of everyone enjoying Thanksgiving dinner. The process wasn’t nearly as intrusive as Olivia thought it might be. The crew was respectful of the fact that it was a real family gathering.

  While the TV crew filmed Vondrelle stood and made a toast, naming everything they all had to be thankful for and wishing for many more Thanksgivings. Olivia secretly hoped that by next year’s Thanksgiving her heart wouldn’t be as lonely as it was right then.

  Long after dinner was finished, the dishes cleared away, and the TV crew and guests were all gone, Olivia and Vondrelle sat comfortably on the overstuffed sofas in the den sipping wine. Olivia filled Vondrelle in on Jazlynn’s new relationship, expressing her distaste for the age difference. But Vondrelle wasn’t nearly as fazed about the age difference.

  “Well you know sometimes age really is just a number. And Jazlynn is nineteen now so really, she is legal.”

  “Oh must you remind me?” Olivia laughed, rolling her eyes.

  Over the course of the past few hours her spirits had lifted—a far cry from the way she’d felt when she’d first arrived. Vondrelle’s outgoing personality and vibrant lifestyle certainly hadn’t hurt, Olivia thought as she glanced around at the urban chic styled décor of Vondrelle’s home. She’d actually enjoyed sharing a meal with Vondrelle’s eccentric dinner guests, specifically the hippie couple talking about their days of peace and love back in the sixties and their stance against the Vietnam War. Strangely enough, even having the TV camera in her face had helped jolt her back to life somewhat. Even if it was just for the short time she’d be in Boden.

  “I know you’re really protective of your sister and I can understand why.” Vondrelle put her legs up underneath her on the sofa, resting her arms across her thighs. “You raised her from the scared little girl who’d just lost her mother into the confident young woman she is now. So understandably it’d be a little difficult for you to let her become a woman on her own.”

  “I’m worried she’s going to end up hurt dating so seriously so soon. I mean look what happened to me. Here I thought I had a man who was madly in love with me and he didn’t think twice about throwing two solid years down the drain.”

  Vondrelle furrowed her brow. “Sweetie, are you really sure things were as solid as you thought they were?”

  It was an honest question and no surprise Vondrelle had asked it as bluntly as she had. Olivia thought about it for a few seconds. “For all I knew I thought we were. Yes, we had our differences like any other couple, but nothing I thought I should have been worried about.”

  “Hmm...I don’t know,” Vondrelle said reflectively. “You seem to think you were too focused on your career—which I think is ridiculous, by the way. There’s no such thing as a woman focusing too much on her career
. This is new millennium after all. Women need to fend for themselves these days. And any man choosing to be with a career-driven woman should be supportive of that. You didn’t drag him kicking and screaming into the relationship. He was a willing participant.”

  “But I did promise him things would change.”

  “And change how? By you giving up your independence, or worse yet, giving up the career you worked your ass off for? Don’t think so, kiddo. No man’s worth that.”

  “Well I’d promised I’d cut back on some of my hours so we could spend more time together.”

  “And...?”

  “And I didn’t.”

  “You should never have made him a promise like that—especially one that hard to keep considering your career choice. You’re a lawyer for goodness sakes. Lawyers don’t make partner putting in a mere seven-hour day. They put in excessive hours and long, hard days.”

  “But it’s not as though I’m forced to put in as many hours as I do. I do it willingly.”

  “Well maybe not, but you do because you’d like to be a partner one day right?”

  “More than anything,” Olivia said, meaning it.

  “Then you should have let him know in no uncertain terms if he wanted to be with you he had to accept your career, too. I can’t tell you how many women over the years have given their dreams for the sake of being with a man only to lose themselves in the end.”

  It was sobering thought and Olivia took it to heart. “I wanted to accommodate him, I guess.”

  “And that was a mistake. My philosophy is either you take me the way I am, or you don’t take me at all.” Vondrelle folded hear arms across her chest defiantly, meaning every word she’d said.

  Olivia shrugged. “I thought promising him I’d cut my hours down would show him how much I wanted things to work.”

  “I don’t doubt it did. But he held you to your promise, and when you didn’t deliver on it he used it as an excuse to end the relationship.”