T. Leigh - Gorgeous Chaos

“No. I don’t ever remember visiting here,” she said quietly, her eyes still glued to all the old buildings. “But it just seems familiar.” Olivia stared as they drove down Main Street, searching her brain for a memory that wouldn’t come.

Within a few minutes, Alexander pulled his car into the long driveway of his house overlooking the Mystic River, worried that being back inside his home would stir even stronger memories. He wanted to throttle his mother for her hair-brained notion that it was a good idea to bring Olivia back here.

“This is where you grew up?” Olivia asked, astonished at the breathtaking large white house with a wrap-around porch. “It’s beautiful, Alexander.” She got out of the car, gazing over the river at a tall ship docked on the opposite side of the bank. “What a view.”

Alexander stared at her, relieved that perhaps she truly had no memory of her childhood. She grew up just a few houses down from him and had the same view. She practically lived at Alexander’s house most of the time, and yet she acted as if it was the first time she had ever laid eyes on the river…and the house.

Starting to relax, he walked up to her and pulled her into his embrace. “If you’re good, I’ll take you down the street and buy you some ice cream later.” He swatted her ass, making her jump, before leading her up the driveway and into the house. She followed him down a long hallway, past several formal living rooms and an ornate dining room, and into the kitchen.

“Olivia, darling,” Colleen said, embracing her as she entered the open, modern room. “It’s wonderful to see you. I’m so glad that you dragged my son here.” She pulled back, winking. “Alex, please take your things upstairs while your fiancée and I have a little chat.”

“Mom…”

“Hush. I don’t bite, dear.”

Alexander rolled his eyes and carried their bags up the stairs to his room.

“Now, dear, let me see the ring,” Colleen said, turning back to Olivia.

She held out her hand.

“Oh, my,” she exhaled, holding Olivia’s hand up to her eyes for a closer inspection. “That is beautiful. I wonder if he picked it out himself.”

“Based on his closet at home, I’d guess so. He does have fantastic taste in clothes.”

Colleen laughed. “He absolutely does. I guess that’s what happens when you grow up with mostly women as influences.”

“Stop talking about me, you two,” Alexander joked, making his way back downstairs after scanning the walls to ensure that his mother had done a thorough enough job of ridding the house of anything ‘Olivia-related’.

“Well, listen. Why don’t you both relax for a while? People won’t start to arrive until seven, so you’ve got plenty of time to go for a walk or whatever you want. It’s finally supposed to be such a nice evening so I had everything set up out back.”

“Ma, who all is coming?” Alexander glared at his mother. She loved to throw a party.

“Oh, you know. Family.”

Alexander walked toward the back door, gazing at their expansive backyard to see that it was set up for roughly a hundred guests.

“Mom, this is not a small little get together.”

“We have a large family. Now out with you two so I can finish getting everything ready.”

Alexander looked over at Olivia, a look of panic across her face. “Come with me, gorgeous.” He pulled her hand and led her out of the house. “Want to go for a walk?”

Olivia nodded, needing a minute to calm her nerves.

“I’m sorry about all of this,” Alexander said, clutching her hand as they walked along the river toward downtown Mystic on the warm early spring day.

“It’s okay,” she replied nervously, letting out the breath that she had been holding. “I know that I need to get used to it. I just grew up with no family. My uncle was the only family I really had.” She looked down at her hand enclosed in his as she savored the warmth of his skin on hers, feeling comfort in the innocent contact.

“Were you close to him?” He was desperate for more information about his father’s secret life.

“It’s hard to say.” Olivia hadn’t thought about her younger years in quite a long time. “He was my legal guardian, but I really only saw him during summers. He had a house on Folly Beach right outside of Charleston, and we would spend our summers there. But he always seemed somewhat distant. Mom died leaving me a fortune, as you know, and when I was younger, he hired a nanny to take care of me.”

“Sorry…”

“It’s okay,” Olivia said, shrugging. “I guess I was better off than a lot of girls I was in school with. Most of them were sent to the boarding school so that their parents could travel and not be saddled with dealing with their kids. At least I had no parents. I guess the hardest part was around the holidays.”

“How so?”

“Well, even though all the other girls’ parents dumped them at some school so they didn’t have to actually care for them, at least they got presents and cards. I was the only one who never got anything. My nanny would sometimes send me a small little something, but when you’re a little kid and you see everyone else around you opening gifts and you don’t have anything to open, it’s difficult. You start to think that nobody loves you enough to remember to send you a gift for Christmas or even your birthday.”

“Fuck…” Alexander said under his breath, wondering why his father would agree to look after the girl and then practically ignore her.

Olivia glanced at him as they strolled along the riverbank past rows of historic homes. “Tell me about it.”

They walked in silence for a moment. “I had some pretty good friends there, especially in middle school and high school.” Her mouth turned slightly upwards, thinking about the girls she used to hang around with. “We used to get in so much trouble together.”

Alexander listened as she recalled her younger years, wishing he had known her during that time in her life. Maybe both of their lives would have turned out differently. Then again, if she hadn’t been taken from him, maybe they would have eventually grown apart, as childhood friends often do. He shuddered at the thought of not having her in his life.

“As the years went on, I spent more and more time at the school,” Olivia said, bringing him back from his thoughts. “My uncle was hesitant at first. He could be overbearing at times.” She tilted her head to look at Alexander with a playful expression. “You probably would have gotten along wonderfully. You remind me of him a little bit.”

His breath caught and his eyes met hers, silently questioning her.

“You know. You’re both rather protective of me,” she explained. “It’s cute and all, but you do realize that I’m an adult, right, Alex?”

“Of course I do,” he responded, bringing her hand to his mouth and placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles. “But I just have this deep-seeded need to look out for you and keep you safe.”

She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it, not wanting to argue after they were getting along so well. “Anyway, my uncle finally relented and allowed me to stay at school during the holidays so I could participate in sports and theater and other stuff. Of course, before he agreed to that, he made sure the security in place during regular sessions was exactly the same. He was just as paranoid as you.” She winked.

There was more silence as they turned onto Main Street. Olivia took in the narrow street with the drawbridge, everything seeming eerily familiar to her. “There’s an oyster place over the bridge, isn’t there?”

Alexander stopped in his tracks, causing several tourists to almost bump into him before they maneuvered around him, cursing underneath their breath. “How do you know that?” He met her gaze, his heart racing in his chest.