A Heart to Trust, A.L. Brooks [speed reading book TXT] 📗

remaining model cars; a snow globe of London’s Big Ben and a small replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The shelf under the TV was restocked with the handful of DVDs she and Broderick were supposedly watching together, including the one of their wedding.

She replaced the plain, brown cushions on the sectional couch with a few more colorful ones, then walked to the kitchen to retrieve the large bunch of flowers she’d also bought the night before. They took center stage in the middle of the dining table that had been cleared of all Broderick’s old newspapers, receipts, paperwork, and empty envelopes. She stuffed all that into a large grocery sack and placed it outside his bedroom door for him to deal with when he arrived home.

Twenty minutes later, she was happy with the result; the room now looked like it was shared by a straight, married couple and had a mix of his “masculine” items and her “feminine” ones.

She stood with her hands on her hips. “What a charade.”

The front door opened behind her, and she turned to wave at Broderick as he walked in.

“Hey!” He laid his two suitcases on the floor and walked over to give her a brief hug. “You got started. Thank you!”

“This room is always easy to do on my own, so I thought I would save us some time.” She glanced at the large clock on the wall opposite the TV. “You made good time.”

He kicked off his shoes and rolled up his shirt sleeves. “Yeah, traffic was pretty light.” He walked toward the kitchen. “I’m grabbing a beer. Do you want something?”

“I’d love a glass of wine, thank you.”

He returned a couple minutes later with their drinks.

They clinked glass to bottle, sipped, then smiled at each other.

“Here we go again.” Broderick’s mouth quirked up at one corner.

“Indeed.” Olivia poked him in the bicep. “No thanks to you.”

He chuckled and turned toward Olivia’s end of the apartment. “Shall we do your bedroom first?”

This room would be depersonalized as a guest room. Later, they’d switch Broderick’s bedroom to a shared master, with enough of Olivia’s clothes in the walk-in closet and toiletries in the en suite to make it look authentic.

As they worked, they chatted about Broderick’s race, then Olivia’s work.

“You haven’t talked much about it but you don’t sound happy,” Broderick observed as they moved around Olivia’s room, rearranged furniture, and boxed up her possessions.

Olivia sighed as she picked up a pile of books, a series of lesbian romance titles that would definitely confuse her mother-in-law if she ever saw evidence of them in the apartment. “I’m not. I’d barely got settled into the new job, and then this happened.”

“Is it the work itself? Or this competition for places?”

She placed the books in a box. “More the latter. Specifically, the personnel involved.”

“Oh?” Broderick opened the closet and held out his hands for the box of books.

Olivia’s anger from the morning’s incident bubbled up again. “I honestly don’t know what to make of them.” She handed him the box. “Chrissy seems nice on the outside, but she pulled a stunt this morning that really angered me. Maxwell, one of the TC people, is just a complete mystery to me. And Jenny, the other TC person, is the most outwardly unprofessional person I’ve met. Yet, she seems incredibly capable for the most part. Even if she is intent on winding me up every five minutes with some of her behavior.”

Broderick put the box on the top shelf before turning to look back at her. “Is she actually doing that, or are you just being…you?”

“What do you mean?”

He rolled his bottom lip between his teeth. “You know what I mean. I love you, so keep that in mind when I say you can be a little…icy toward new people. Actually, a lot icy, let’s face it.”

“Icy?” She raised one eyebrow.

Broderick chuckled. “Do not fight me on this. You did it with me all those years ago until I got you drunk. You did it with my mother, of all people. You’ve done it with everyone I’ve ever introduced you to. And, you know, you’ve been colder since Sally did what she did. I understand why that would make you pull back further. But all I’m saying is this Jenny might not be doing anything deliberately to upset you. It might be you’re not giving her a chance because you’ve instantly thrown up your big ice wall.”

“I’m just trying to do my job. To keep my job.” Her voice was tight. She was angry, but only because she knew he was right. Damn him.

“I get that.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But you’ve got to be able to work as part of a team, haven’t you? I mean, Derek’s looking at that too, I’d guess. So don’t go shooting yourself in the foot by shutting them all out.”

“I’m not.” When he smirked, she sighed. “Okay, perhaps a little. But there is more to it than that.” Should she confide in him? Maybe it would help to talk it through with an outsider, someone she trusted who knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t say this lightly. “I’m not sure what her game is, but I think Chrissy is trying to set me up for something.”

Broderick frowned. “Set you up?”

“Today she claimed she had no recollection of a conversation we had yesterday.”

“Okay.” He drew the word out. “But, you know, that happens to a lot of us when we’re busy.”

Olivia chewed on the inside of her cheek. “I know, but there was something different about this. I can’t explain it, but I’m convinced she was lying.”

“Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know.” Olivia crossed the room and leaned against her desk. Her hands clutched tightly at its edges; tension filled her body. “It caused difficulties between me and Jenny. Actually, it made matters worse in that respect.” Was that it? Was Chrissy trying to drive a bigger wedge between them? But if so, why?

“It sounds a