Never Say Never (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 3) (21 page)

O
livia was
sure she was being watched. It was a strange sensation really, and something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but she was almost positive of it. She’d felt it the other day when she and Ellie were heading out to visit Kate at the hospital, and she’d had the really weird feeling that someone somewhere was watching her every move.

She didn’t like it, not when the estate was normally so quiet, and people in the village generally left her alone. She gave a slight glance towards Catherine’s house, suddenly feeling guilty and understanding what it must have felt like when she was peeping out her window at them. Olivia grimaced. What did Matt’s friend think of their relationship, she wondered.

“She’ll be mad about you,” Matt had enthused one evening when Olivia made cautious enquiries about Catherine. But judging by the way Matt spoke about her before, Olivia really wasn’t sure if this would be the case.

“She can be quite protective, but only because she has Adam’s best interests at heart. She gave up her job to look after him, you know. She managed a fashion boutique in Grafton Street, had been there since school. She supported me so much when Natasha died, and I don’t think I can ever let her know how much I appreciate that.”

“Wow, she gave up her job to do that for you?” Olivia replied, remembering how tough it was for her in the early days looking after Ellie on her own, and trying to come to terms with the fact that her life had changed utterly. She wondered sometimes if things would have been easier had she not had Ellie to look after. She could have just thrown herself into her work, into helping others and trying not to think about the one she didn’t help.

But Catherine, who had no family attachments to Adam, had made a hell of a sacrifice to give up her career in order to stay at home and look after him.

“So how did she manage to buy in Lakeview?” she asked tentatively, not wishing to pry too much.

“I’ll admit I helped out,” Matt said. “She had a place of her own – a nice apartment in the city, but was always saying that she’d prefer to move somewhere quiet away from the hustle and bustle of the city – and that a house would be more appropriate for Adam. I couldn’t argue with that – it’s been brilliant for him to have a back garden to play in and a bit of space. She got a good sum for her place and I gave her a few quid towards the deposit for the new one. Because she’s not working, and she had to get a little extra from the bank after the sale of her own, I went guarantor on the mortgage for her.” He shrugged. “It’s nothing to me and I suppose it was my way of saying thank you.”

“You two must be very close,” Olivia ventured carefully, wondering why on earth a young attractive woman with the world at her feet had more or less stepped into the role vacated by Matt’s wife, at least in terms of looking after Adam and admittedly looking after Matt. He seemed adamant that they were just childhood friends, and their relationship became galvanised even more by the death of Matt’s wife. Still, Olivia couldn’t help wondering if there was, or ever had been, anything else between them.

“She’s great,” Matt said, interrupting her thoughts. “She adores Adam, would do anything for him.”

“And did you two ever …?” Olivia felt like a heel for even suggesting it when she saw Matt’s expression cloud over.

“Of course not,” he said sharply. “She was Natasha’s best friend.”

“Of course.” Olivia wasn’t sure what that meant, but she suspected that he and Catherine had loved Natasha too much to betray her memory like that.

Still, Olivia had to admit that she found it all very strange, and she wouldn’t mind meeting this Catherine, who seemed to have sacrificed quite a lot of her own life to accommodate a simple friendship. Then, she all of a sudden remembered the young guy sneaking – well, in retrospect she had only
imagined
he was sneaking – out of Catherine’s house that morning a while back. She was making too much of this – Catherine might be a very good-looking girl who was being supportive to her friend, but she obviously wasn’t living like a nun either.

Anyway, Olivia decided now, didn’t she do well out of the relationship too – what with her own house in a lovely village, and little to do other than look after a young child? Of course, her life was still her own and no doubt she had plenty time and opportunity to
have
a life of her own. Olivia was just being silly, and now that she and Matt were a couple, she really should make the effort to get to know Catherine.

And of course, if Catherine was such a good friend and as lovely and obliging as Matt was saying, then Olivia was sure that the two of them would get on like a house on fire.

T
he following Friday evening
, Catherine was banging pots and pans around the kitchen as if she was rehearsing for a kitchen-utensil recital. What was he playing at, inviting
her
over here for dinner? How dare he flaunt the trollop in front of her. Was he toying with her now – was that it? Well, he could go sing – Catherine wasn’t going to lie down without a fight – not this time. After all those nights he’d spent crying on her shoulder, telling her that he loved her and didn’t know what he would do without her, and then, at the first opportunity, he goes and takes up with some dizzy wagon from across the road.

Catherine couldn’t comprehend the hurt she’d felt when Matt didn’t seem at all bothered that she was seeing Conor Dempsey, the owner of Octagon Design.

“I’m so pleased for you,” he’d said. “It’s not easy to find someone these days and he seems like a nice guy. Probably worth a few quid too,” he added, mischievously. Then he went on to say that he had always been concerned that their close friendship might prevent Catherine from finding a partner, that their heavy involvement in one another’s lives might be a stumbling block to her independence.

Catherine couldn’t believe it – it was as though he was
happy
she’d found someone, almost as though he was now free to go off pursuing other women – women like dumpy Olivia.

How could she have got it so wrong? She’d been so sure that seeing her all dressed up and ready for a night out with some man, someone that wasn’t Matt, would make him realise what he was missing. But no he didn’t seem at all bothered about it – in fact, he had collected Adam and without a care in the world had simply toddled off across the road to
her
house. Yes Conor was a nice enough guy, very charming and very flash with the cash, not to mention owned one of those gorgeous heritage cottages down by the lake, but really he had nothing on Matt. Still she supposed, in her eyes, there wasn’t another man alive who could live up to Matt.

How could he not see it? How could Matt not realise that they were perfect for one another – that she, Catherine could give him all the love he needed and more? She didn’t presume to replace Natasha, Catherine would
never
dream of that, but since Natasha died she had dedicated her life to helping Matt cope with his grief, helping him and Adam to move on. She’d even moved to this godforsaken hell-hole to lay the foundations for settling down to a quieter pace of life together away from Dublin. How could he not see that? How could he not understand that the three of them shared something special – something that could not, or
should
not be torn apart by some other woman?

Granted, this Olivia seemed to have a lot in common with Matt – she had suffered the death of her own husband and had also raised a child on her own. Was this what attracted Matt to her, she wondered? Was it the fact that he felt some kind of empathy for her situation? Catherine didn’t know. All she knew was that she was not going to let some desperate widow from across the road come between her and her happiness. Olivia would soon find out that the course of her and Matt’s apparent ‘true love’ wasn’t going to run smooth.

At all.

“
Y
our house is gorgeous
, Catherine,” Olivia said pleasantly, looking around the living-room. “You have a much better grasp of interior design than I have, I can tell you.” She gave a weak laugh, feeling more nervous about meeting this woman than she cared to admit. She took another gulp from the glass of white wine Matt had put into her hand when she had first arrived, only then realising that, in her nervousness, she was drinking it too fast.

For some reason, Matt had invited her to dinner at Catherine’s house tonight, insisting that she loved every opportunity to show off her terrific culinary skills. In truth, Olivia thought it was weird that Matt would so casually issue an invitation to his friend’s house, rather than to his own, but she wasn’t about to say anything.

Catherine’s taste in clothes wasn’t too bad either, she thought, feeling rather self-conscious in her plain attire of jeans and ordinary black woollen jumper compared to Catherine’s colourful off-the-shoulder top and flirty short skirt.

Judging by her slim figure and flawlessly applied make-up, Catherine obviously looked after herself, and because of this Olivia couldn’t quite put an age on her. She suspected though, that she could be close to her mid-thirties.

“I’m really pleased to meet you,” she said, when Catherine didn’t make much of a reply to her complimentary remarks about the house.

“Pleased to meet you too,” Catherine answered, although there was little warmth in her tone.

She walked immediately into the kitchen and, although she hadn’t been asked to, Olivia followed tentatively, hoping that Matt would soon return from settling the kids. Lately, Adam and Ellie had become firm friends, and were largely inseparable. Catherine didn’t seem to mind their playing in another room while the adults had dinner.

“Matt has been telling me all about you, and how great you are with Adam,” Olivia ventured pleasantly.

Catherine continued busying herself with the dinner preparations as if Olivia wasn’t even there.

“To be perfectly honest, I do feel bad about your having to do the cooking.” Olivia knew she was babbling but still felt she had to fill the silence. “We could have gone out in the village to save you all the effort but Matt insisted …” She trailed off, wondering what was wrong with Catherine. The way Matt went on, Olivia had thought that the woman wouldn’t hear of them having dinner anywhere else.

“Not at all – I enjoy cooking for Matt,” Catherine said, with a hint of a smile.

“Well, do you need any help at all?”

“I have everything under control, thanks.” Catherine continued opening cupboards and drawers, leaving Olivia standing in the middle of the kitchen like some kind of spare tool.

Again, she wondered what to say next, but luckily didn’t have to for much longer as just then Matt reappeared from settling the children.

“How’s everything going? Anything I can do?”

Catherine exhaled deeply and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. “If you could finish setting the table, and look after the drinks, it would be a huge help,” she said with a grateful sigh.

Great
, Olivia thought, piqued that the woman had rejected her offer to help. Now, it looked as though
she
was some ingrate, expecting to be waited on hand and foot.

“I’ll set the table if you like,” she offered and Matt gave her a warm smile.

“No, no, you go and sit down,” Catherine waved her away in the manner of someone swatting a fly. “Matt and I will take care of everything. Matt, why don’t you fill up Olivia’s glass for her? It’s almost empty.”

Olivia flushed and did as she was bid, silently annoyed at what was an obvious dig about the wine and the fact that Catherine had somehow managed to make her look like Lady Muck in front of Matt.

Soon after, dinner was served and Matt and Catherine joined Olivia at the table.

“Is Adam OK where he is?” Catherine asked, letting her long blonde hair fall loose from its clip and taking a dainty sip from her wineglass. She was one very attractive woman, Olivia thought, feeling downright dowdy sitting alongside her.

“He and Ellie are sitting entranced by some DVD,” Matt answered, his mouth full.

“Well, as long as they stay entranced until we’ve finished eating, I’ll be happy,” Olivia laughed, eager to relax the obvious tension.

Catherine frowned slightly. “Do you let Ellie watch television all the time then, Olivia?”

Olivia tensed, immediately sensing that she had said something wrong. “No, of course not. I merely meant that it would be nice for us all to get to know one another and have a bit of a chat in peace.”

“So, Ellie can be a bit disruptive then,” Catherine said, spooning cheesy potato gratin onto her plate. The way she said it, it was more of a statement than a question.

“Well no, it’s just – as I’m sure you know yourself, kids are kids and at that age –”

“We don’t let Adam away with any of that carry-on, do we, Matt?” Catherine interjected, glancing sideways at him.

“Certainly not.” Eyes wide, Matt shook his head. “Adam’s generally very well-behaved, but he knows full well that he’d get a tap on the behind if he started acting up in front of either of us.”

Olivia didn’t know what to say. Was this turning into a conversation about parental discipline?

“Well, Ellie knows that too of course, but you know when kids get together …” Olivia trailed off as she poured the dregs of the wine bottle into her glass. For a moment there was a strained silence, and then Matt stood up from the table and went to the fridge.
Great,
Olivia thought, mentally kicking herself for taking the last of the wine.
Now I look like a bloody lush.

“I really can’t understand why some parents feel it’s wrong to give a child a smack if they step out of line,” Catherine said, smiling appreciatively at Matt as he opened the bottle. “Although I suppose, in your case,” she went on, “it must be difficult to find a balance, what with your being on your own and all that.”

Olivia’s heart thudded against her chest. How was she supposed to answer that one?

“I’m sure I’m not the only parent who finds it difficult to find a balance, but of course I have no problem at all with disciplining Ellie when she’s bold. Having said that, I don’t need to do it very often because she
is
a good kid and – ”

“I suppose television is great for keeping her quiet all the same,” Catherine interjected as if Ellie was only good because of this.

“Yes Ellie does watch quite a lot of telly, doesn’t she?” Matt was helping himself to some of Catherine’s immaculately prepared roast lamb. The woman had even added a sprig of bloody rosemary to each plate, Olivia noticed. Talk about attention to detail!

“Not really – it’s just the few times you’ve called – ”

“I really feel exercise at a young age is so important for a child,” Catherine interjected, as if Olivia hadn’t spoken. “I take Adam for a good walk in the park most days – time much better spent than sitting on his backside in front of the box. It’s habit-forming and hopefully he’ll grow up a much healthier child as a result.”

Matt smiled. “Catherine’s an out-and-out exercise advocate, aren’t you?”

“Oh, definitely,” she said. “I love a good stint at the gym and I know I’m certainly not going to stay a size eight by sitting on my ass watching
Eastenders
.” She laughed. “And at our age, we
have
to make the effort to look after ourselves, don’t you think, Olivia?”

Olivia tried to tell herself that this wasn’t a pointed jibe at her very obvious lack of exercise, and the fact that her size-eight days were truly long gone. Yet, her rounded figure never seemed to bother Matt before so …

“Of course, but I do think I get enough exercise running around after Ellie – not to mention all the housework and cleaning up after her.” She rolled her eyes amusedly.

“You’re right, she
does
sound quite disruptive actually,” Catherine said, shaking her head. “And the problem is, Olivia, if you don’t nip it in the bud now, things will only get worse.”

Olivia could feel the heat rising on her cheeks. “I don’t know why you seem to have that impression, Catherine, but honestly, Ellie is – ”

Just then Adam burst into the room, his face red and wet with tears. “Daddy, Ellie won’t gimme back my Tweenie!” he wailed.

Catherine stood up immediately. “Oh, poor darling, come here,” she said, opening her arms towards him. For someone who was such an advocate of hard discipline, Olivia thought, she seemed all too eager to plamause the child.

She stood up too. “Adam, I’m sure Ellie will give you back your toy – where is she?”

Adam pointed towards the room down the hallway, and Olivia, followed closely by Matt, made her way to what was apparently Adam’s playroom.

Her eyes widened as she took in the mayhem surrounding her. The floor was covered with toys – popular, expensive toys, the television blared noisily in the background, and poor Ellie was sitting in the corner crying her little heart out.

“He hit me on the head, Mommy,” she said, as if heartbroken that her so-called good friend could injure her in any way. “I wanted to play with the Tweenie and he hit me with a Tommy-Truck!”

“Adam, come here, please,” Matt called sternly down the hallway.

“Oh, Ellie, are you sure you two weren’t just playing?” Olivia was only too well aware of how kids could exaggerate a situation to their own advantage when adults were involved, and she didn’t want to get Adam in trouble. However, a quick examination of Ellie’s forehead revealed a red mark and a throbbing bump.

“Adam wouldn’t do something like that unless he was severely provoked,” she heard Catherine say from the doorway. “He’s a very gentle child, and even at playschool has never had any problems with the other children.”

“It’s fine, Catherine, I’m sure they were just being kids.” Olivia knew well that the other woman wasn’t offering an apology, but if she didn’t try and diffuse the situation, she wasn’t sure what would come out of her mouth. Catherine had been niggling at her all evening and it was really starting to get to her.

“Well, you really should take her to a specialist or something,” Catherine went on. “She obviously has some anger issues.”

Olivia tensed. “With all due respect, Catherine,” she said, glancing sideways at Matt for his reaction to the incident. “There are two of them involved in this and, knowing kids of their age, I doubt either of them are totally blameless.”

“You don’t honestly believe that Adam hit her for no apparent reason,” said Catherine. “Look at him – she’s obviously upset him just as much.” She kissed Adam’s temple. “Poor baby, you’re OK now.”

Olivia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. And even worse, what she
wasn’t
hearing – from Matt. Catherine was being unbelievably rude, and totally unreasonable – wasn’t he going to say anything? Not that Olivia would expect him to take sides against his own son, but she was doing her best to be sensible and objective about her child’s involvement in this. Why couldn’t he?

Matt shook his head uncertainly. “Ellie must have done something – Adam does seem to be very upset.”

At this Olivia stood up, a tearful Ellie in her arms. “I’m sorry but that’s enough,” she said. “We don’t know what’s happened here, so there’s little point in our fighting about it.” She went to pass Catherine in the doorway. “Thanks for dinner, Catherine, I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to finish it.” She tried her best to sound cordial, but inwardly she was raging.

The other woman gave her a winning smile. “Some other time maybe, perhaps when Ellie has calmed her behaviour a little and –”

“Olivia –” said Matt.

“Goodbye, Matt.”

“I’ll phone you tomorrow?” he said, following her to the front door.

“Sure.”

“Bye, Matt, bye, Adam,” Ellie said, waving tearfully over her mother’s shoulder, upset that she and her new friend were fighting.

Olivia closed the front gate behind her. “Come on, Ellie, we’ll go home and have some of that nice ice cream Mummy got in the shops yesterday – what do you think?”

“Yay!” Ellie brightened instantly.

Embarrassed by what had happened, and stung at the fact that Matt wasn’t prepared to help defuse the situation, Olivia walked slowly back across the green.

So much for friendly neighbours.