The Other Side of Anne (16 page)

Oliver lowered his eyes, and Celia became even more conscious of Oliver’s hands on hers. Of Oliver’s heated, smooth skin. Feeling a man’s warmth after months of being frozen out was nice.

Got Celia’s mind off her dead husband, at any rate.

Except Oliver let go.

Celia missed his contact immediately but did not reach out. Stupid her for making Oliver self-conscious about trying to comfort her.

Oliver’s eyes were still brown, but now they had gold flecks, too. Must be the lighting. Pretty eyes. Beautiful, alive eyes.
Please don’t tell me your father is dead.

A couple of messages, both in thin green Sharpie, were scrawled on Oliver’s cast.

Heal quickly! – Gino

Plenty
of fish in the sea – Dad

David’s message stopped Celia cold.
He’s alive. He’s okay.

“What?” Oliver synced his gaze with Celia’s. “No, no, that…oh, geez.”

Celia barked a brittle laugh.

“Listen,” Oliver said earnestly, and in that moment, with his pale face, dirty hair and pained brown-gold eyes, he was unbearably lovely in the way a small, hurting child is. “Listen to me. Dad’s alive, but...”

Oliver continued speaking, and Celia escaped to a dark place in the recesses of her mind. Words filtered through, anyway:
Almond’s bar...crash truck thirty-five miles per hour, surgery...might not...driver’s okay…but Dad has to, he will because of the baby, ribs, arms, legs, brain trauma…

Celia realized just how many things could happen in sixty seconds. Eating a candy bar. Texting someone. Making a phone call. Going to the bathroom. Orgasm. Crashing your car. Devastating a family’s life.

*****

Oliver told his stepmother what needed to be said. He was faintly aware of his grandparents, and of Janet and Chester, hovering at his side, of their sharp inhalations. No whimper from Celia, though. Just wide, unbelieving blue eyes. Thank God Celia was not crying. His grandmother crying, okay, he could handle that. But not his stepmother.

“Your arm,” Celia said. “What happened?”

“Did you hear me? Dad is—”

“I heard. Your arm, what happened?”

“It’s his wrist,” Shirley put in.

“What happened?” Celia repeated.

Oliver sighed. “I was running down the steps and tripped on a loose shoelace.” That was the story he had mumbled to his grandparents, too.

“Where?” Celia asked.

“Huh? Where did I trip?”

“Yes. Where?”

“Dad is—”

“Yes, I heard. Where did you get hurt?”

Oliver scoffed. “My apartment building. What does it matter?”

Celia narrowed her eyes. “Plenty of fish in the sea. Something happen with Lori?”

“I don’t get you,” Oliver snapped. “Your husband is fighting for his life, and you’re asking about my girlfriend—excuse me, my ex-girlfriend—and where I tripped?”

Celia’s chin trembled. Tears coming now. “I heard. Maybe I don’t want to think about it.”

Great. He’d made Celia cry.
You’re a shit, Oliver.
He rose from the bed and waved the policeman and his father’s surgeon in. He let his grandmother hold Celia, and Oliver imagined he had told the truth:
Well, Lori and I were at my place. She was drunk out of her mind. She accused me of being in love with you. I denied it and walked out of the apartment to the staircase. Lori tried to block me from leaving, and this guy, this six-foot-tall muscular guy, ended up kerplunking down the stairs.

Yeah. Embarrassing. Would not go over so hot.

Thirty-year-old Celia Hall is falling in love with a man she dares not pursue, and at exactly the wrong time. Celia knew that life after having her baby would be different, especially since her husband did not love her anymore. But Celia never expected post-baby life to be this difficult. David, her husband of three years, is in a coma that turns into a vegetative state. Oliver, David’s twenty-nine-year-old son, is forced into the awkward position of revealing David’s secrets to Celia.

Celia and Oliver share a perfect, passionate kiss that they cannot stop thinking about. Plus, they can help each other in ways no one else can. They try to build a friendship, but their growing attraction gets in the way. Can Celia and Oliver move past the taboo of their attraction and find their path together?