Page 112 of The Hardest Hit

“That seems so unlike us,” said Aiden.

“Aiden!” snapped Dominique.

“Well, he’s right,” said Evan, standing up and turning back to Olivia. He cautiously met her eye and she gave him a sympathetic smile. He sat down next to her and she promptly leaned into him. He squeezed her shoulders, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief that she was still hanging with him.

“Doing OK?” he asked. “This isn’t exactly the first impression of my family I was hoping for.”

“Doing great,” said Olivia. “You’re making my family look practically normal.”

“I suppose I will have to resign,” said Eleanor.

“Why?” asked Dominique, and Eleanor gestured to Olivia.

“I expect Ralph Taggert is going to make me.”

“I’m not telling Pops anything,” said Olivia. “None of this has anything to do with him.”

“Forgive me, my dear,” said Eleanor condescendingly, “but I find that unlikely. I know Ralph. Twenty minutes after you leave this house, he’s going to be on your phone asking for details. Even if you don’t tell him anything, it still tells him something. He pushes. He always pushes.”

“Yes,” agreed Olivia, “he does. But after last night, I believe that he will not be calling me. I’m no longer welcome at my grandparent’s house.”

Evan looked at Oliva and then at Jackson, feeling a fresh sense of anxiety. “You’re OK, though, right? What happened?”

“Your girlfriend took the screws to Ralph Taggert,” said Jackson. “With a bourbon bottle and a pie. It was the nicest takedown I’ve ever seen.”

“I didn’t take him down,” protested Olivia. “I just reminded him that maybe messing with people I care about is possibly not in his best interest considering all the dirt he gets up to. Just because I don’t talk about the skeletons in his closet doesn’t mean Ican’t. That’s all.”

Olivia looked at Eleanor and Eleanor’s expression hardened for a moment and then her head tilted as if assessing.

“Oh,” said Eleanor softly, “is that all?”

“But with pie,” said Jackson. “And bourbon.”

Evan glanced nervously at Olivia; she was still holding Eleanor’s gaze.

“Well, I am Southern,” said Olivia, smiling her sweetest most gracious smile. “I would have brought a cake today, but Jackson said not to, and, also, I threw it against the wall.”

“You threw it?” Evan asked. He couldn’t imagine Olivia getting that mad.

“I was very upset,” said Olivia. “My boyfriend broke up with me, and my grandfather was blackmailing him.”

“Well, anyone would be upset about that,” said Aiden. “Perfectly reasonable response. Still, a terrible waste of cake though.”

“Personally,” said Dominique, “I think it’s an opportunity.”

“Well, if we’ve learned anything in the last twenty minutes,” said Aiden, “it’s that you like an opportunity to throw things.”

“No, weirdo. I meanOliviais an opportunity. This healthcare bill is family values, the opioid crisis, science, and religion all in one big fat package. And about half of those are Ralph Taggert specialties. But this gives us the opportunity to show that while he may discard his relatives, we welcome them. And isn’t that just the perfect metaphor for the bill? He wants to cut people out of the family, but Deverauxes want to bring them in.”

Evan glanced at Eleanor, who was looking thoughtful.

“No,” said Evan. “We are not using my girlfriend as a talking point.”

“You can if you want to—Pops always does,” said Olivia. “As long as I don’t have to talk to anyone, I’m OK with it. But if you do, you have to get my degrees right. Pops never does. And if you could figure out a way to plug my research at the same time, I’d appreciate it.”

“I’ll draft something up,” said Dominique.

“I’m not sure—” began Eleanor, but she stopped as Theo came in.