Page 110 of Trust Again

He placed a hand behind my neck and pulled me closer. I waited for his lips to touch mine, but he was still looking down at me as if waiting for my permission.

So I placed my lips gently on his. Carefully, I let my tongue glide over his lower lip and nibbled it. He sighed in relief. His tongue slid forward and found mine. God, how I’d missed him.

This time, the huge house didn’t faze me as we pulled up. Maybe because this time there was no emergency—we were coming to visit.

Standing at the door, Spencer held my hand, while holding the pizza cartons under his other arm.

The heavy door opened and Spencer’s mother smiled warmly at us. “Dawn, how lovely to see you again.” She embraced me and turned to her son. “Hello, big guy.”

Spencer hugged his mother tightly.

“Livvy’s waiting. She was talking about nothing but you today, Dawn.” She smiled over her shoulder at me and walked through the foyer to the room where we’d sat together a few months earlier.

I began to sweat. I walked into the room behind Spencer.

“Finally!”

Olivia was sitting in a comfortable armchair. She stood and came toward us.

With her dark hair, strong eyebrows, and wide smile, she looked like she was cut from the same cloth as Spencer. And she was tall. This teenager barely resembled the girl I’d seen in the photo on Spencer’s desk. She was wearing eye makeup and lip gloss, and her hair was partially pinned up. She wore tight jeans and on her T-shirt was a big, glittery heart printed with the words #LoveIsLove.

I liked her right away.

“Hi,” she said shyly. She hugged me briefly. “I’m Olivia.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” I said. “I’m Dawn.”

“I know. He talks…” She hesitated and her smile slipped a bit. She lowered her eyes. After a moment she looked up again. Her cheeks reddened and it took a while for her to continue speaking. “He talks a lot. About you.”

“Don’t worry, I only tell her good things,” Spencer called over his shoulder at me as he set the pizza boxes on an antique table and gave his sister a powerful hug.

She struggled in his arms and checked her hair with an annoyed expression after he let go.

“You see?” Spencer said. “That’s exactly what I meant! Not a day past her 15th birthday and she finds me unbearable already.”

“I’d be annoyed, too, if you undid my hairdo,” I replied and looked at the extent of the damage. “Let me see…”

Olivia leaned her head toward me, and I fixed the bobby pin that had shifted out of place. I caught a glimpse of a wide scar on the left side of her head. It was clearly visible, since there was no hair growing along the broad line. But Olivia had styled her hair to cover it.

“There, now it’s okay,” I said.

“Thanks,” she replied, smiling again. Only from close up could one see that the right corner of her mouth was a bit higher than the left. “So, and now may I… um… now I may…” She took a deep breath, searching for the right words. “I’m allowed to open it.”

“If it were up to me, you could have done it earlier,” I replied. “But I think Spence wanted to make it more dramatic.”

“He likes to.” She picked up the gift from the floor and nodded toward the nearest chair.

I sat down to her right.

Olivia lifted the box and shook it gently. Then she tore the wrapping off so abruptly that it made me laugh.

“Oh, cool. Thank you,” Olivia said, holding up the Barnes & Noble gift card so Spencer could see it. He was still standing where I’d left him, watching his sister, arms folded.

She opened the chocolate and shoved a piece in her mouth. Then she held the box out to me.

I took a piece. “Thanks.”

Olivia then lifted the scrapbook out of the box. “Wow,” she gasped. She opened the first page and saw the pictures I’d pasted in. Spencer walked around behind her armchair and rested his elbows on its back.