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

Tamara shuffled along the seat until she could drape an arm over Jenny’s shoulder. “No shit.”

A laugh burst from Jenny’s lips. “Gee, thanks. That helps.”

Tamara chuckled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like I was unsympathetic.” She tilted her head. “It’s hard to know what to say. I don’t want to upset you, okay? But you know I’ve never sugarcoated anything with you, yes?”

“Yeah, and I love that you’re always honest with me. So keep it coming.”

“Okay, then here goes. It does sound like there’s some pull between you and Olivia, and it definitely sounds to me like Chrissy is jealous of that. You’re a grown-up, and no one can tell you what to do if they’re not living what you’re living. But please, just be careful, okay? I still keep coming back to Olivia being married. That’s a potential disaster waiting to happen.” She chugged her beer, and Jenny said nothing, giving her the moment. “And maybe think over what I said about being too quick to want to like people. It’s great to make new friends and to have cool people in your life, but only if they really are cool.” She tightened her grip on Jenny’s shoulders. “I don’t know what Olivia’s game is, but as someone who’s surrounded by office politics every damn day, I can tell you this: Chrissy sounds like she’s manipulating you a little. Maybe more than a little. Be careful.”

Jenny blinked rapidly. Chrissy, manipulating her? She’d seemed so friendly, so welcoming. And yet. She blew out a breath. Maybe she needed to take a step back, look at Chrissy with fresh eyes.

And Olivia?

She slumped back in her seat. Hell, she had no idea what to do about Olivia.

Olivia and Broderick were, for once, on time for Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, they would likely be early. She wasn’t sure what exactly had happened, whether subconsciously they’d decided always being last only led to more stress and more pointed questions from Katherine, or if it was pure luck. Whatever it was, she was amused when they buzzed up to Philip and Mallory’s apartment; Mallory sounded completely taken aback to hear their voices instead of Katherine’s.

When they walked into the apartment, they were greeted by Mallory, but Philip was nowhere in sight. “My darling husband is on a conference call with the Singapore office.” Mallory twisted her lips. “So much for this being a holiday.”

Olivia threw her a sympathetic look, but she understood. While many C&V staff were out of the office today and tomorrow, she also knew most of the execs and their assistants would have at least some work to do. International organizations were no respecters of public holidays.

She herself was beyond grateful for the short break. Deciding to back away from Jenny and what had been developing between them was all well and good, but doing so had exhausted her. She’d seen the confusion and hurt in Jenny’s face, and it churned her stomach every single time. Everything would have been so much easier if she could have explained why she’d slammed down her walls, but that was impossible. Not even Jenny could know Olivia’s real situation.

She’d found herself considering it, just for a moment, as they’d drawn closer working on the Catwalk rewrite. They’d connected well and had some fun, and it felt so good to relax with a colleague once more. But she’d soon dismissed the idea of opening up that far—as much as she found Jenny attractive, she didn’t know her and therefore didn’t know how likely she was to keep such a secret.

So she’d kept her head down and ignored Jenny’s searching looks until they became less frequent and Jenny retreated back into herself. There’d been a day or two of sullenness, and then resigned acceptance settled in. Now they were back to being polite colleagues. It was still better than when they’d first started working together, but it was a mere shadow of what they’d had working on Jenny’s presentation.

It’s for the best. The mantra had repeated in Olivia’s brain multiple times per day. Sometimes, she’d even believed it.

“So, you’re first.” Mallory led them to the spacious living room. “And that’s a first.” She smirked as she motioned them into the leather couch. She herself sat in a large armchair across from them.

On the coffee table stood the usual bottle of sherry and small glasses along with a bottle of sparkling water with a tall glass lined up for Olivia.

Broderick poured, expressing surprise when Mallory declined a sherry and pointed to her own glass of water. “I’m good. So, I hear Katherine is very excited about working on your project.” She grinned at Olivia. “Apparently, she’s dug out some of her old tapes and has been reviewing them, making notes on what she thought worked well from her performances and what didn’t. It’s very sweet how committed she is.”

“Oh, that’s cute.” Olivia shook her head. “But she needn’t worry. I’m sure she’s going to be fantastic.”

The door buzzed.

“That’ll be the star herself.” Mallory stood.

Katherine arrived in a swirl of hugs and kisses. By the time she’d sat on the couch next to Broderick, sherry in hand, Philip had also appeared.

He apologized for not being there to greet them, then took up position sitting on the arm of his wife’s chair. “So.” He lifted his glass of sherry. “Happy Thanksgiving!”

They toasted and sipped. Then Philip and Mallory shared an enigmatic look; Mallory nodded, and Philip leaned down to kiss her forehead.

Mallory cleared her throat. “So, we have a little announcement.” She smiled at them all. “I’m pregnant.”

Katherine moved far quicker out of her seat than Olivia would have imagined possible, and her cry of joy resounded around the large room. “Oh! Oh, that’s wonderful news!” She clapped her hands together, then rushed around the table to pull Mallory up—carefully—from her chair and into a close hug. Then she brought her son into the fold and hugged and swayed and cried with