Olivia frowned, not understanding why they seemed so surprised. "A little," she answered evasively. She wasn’t ready for them to know how Vivian had researched him.
Looking anxious, Cameron’s mother stepped closer. "Please. What did he say?"
"Just…" she shrugged, looking confused. "Just that he feels guilty about her death, like he should’ve done more."
Chuck closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. His wife took his arm and squeezed comfortingly, but she continued to eye Olivia as she spoke. "Having someone close to you commit suicide affects everyone differently," she murmured quietly. Cameron’s father slipped a comforting arm around his wife’s shoulders and pulled her close. As he kissed her hair, Allison lifted her face and sent Olivia a sad smile. "I cooked."
A strange pressure filled Olivia’s chest. She ached for Cameron’s mother with a sympathy that made her want to cry. A cold chill passed over her arms, but Olivia didn’t shiver. Frowning, she realized Roger Donovan’s death had turned her meek and passive. While seeing her husband kill himself had made Vivian become more aggressive and ruthless, Olivia had shied into a shell and let her mother control her.
Disgusted with her own weakness, she glanced at Cameron’s parents. They seemed nice, like the type of parents she’d always dreamed of having. She wondered if her temporary husband knew what a priceless gift he had in these two people. They loved him unconditionally. And yet he pushed them away.
She’d stayed in Pasadena for twenty-four years, dreaming for a mere glimpse of such devotion from her mother.
"So, where are you from, Olivia?" Chuck asked, looking determined to change the subject.
"Pasadena," she answered.
"California?"
She nodded, and Chuck whistled. "Long way from home."
She shrugged. "I don’t live there anymore. I-I’ll never go back." An uncomfortable moment of silence followed her adamant proclamation. Olivia’s face colored. She could tell they wanted to know the reason behind her strong announcement, but they were too polite to ask.
Chuck cleared his throat and smiled. "Where’re you headed next?"
"I…" She glanced at Cameron’s parents and went blank. "I have no idea," she confessed, struck with a moment of panic. Where was she going to go next? "Cameron said he’d help me, but…"
"You have no clue, hmm?" Instead of looking appalled, Chuck looked excited. Rubbing his hands together, he said, "Well, you’re in luck, little lady. It just so happens that my business is to help other people with their business. Now, what kind of skills do you have?"
The only thing Olivia could think of was that she pleased Cameron in bed. Of course, that kind of skill only led to one type of job. She didn’t particularly want to announce such an accomplishment to the man’s mother and father either.
Turning a bright red, she shook her head. "I, uh, I don’t...I don’t really have any talents."
Chuck’s eyebrows lifted, but he didn’t look disgusted. "So, you’re going to give me a challenge. Good." He grinned before scratching his chin and visually dissecting her. "Well then. What kind of things did you do to pass the days back in Pasadena?"
Olivia swallowed. She’d shopped, sun-tanned, gotten facials and manicures, and had her hair styled.
Glancing away a little guiltily, she said, "I, uh, well, since my father passed, I’ve usually been the hostess whenever my mother had clients and other guests over to the house. A few of her widowed friends would sometimes have me plan parties for them, too."
"A social coordinator?" Chuck mused.
Next to him, Allison brightened. "Oh, do you think you could help me?" Reaching both hands for Olivia, she said, "I’m supposed to prepare a party for a gathering of twelve. Chuck’s having some clients from Texas up, and I’m completely lost."
"My own social coordinator retired recently," her husband put in. "Allison’s stepped in for him, but she doesn’t like the job much."
Olivia relaxed. If there was one thing she knew, it was how to plan a party. "Of course I could help, though I don’t know any of the caterers or musicians in this area. I’ll have to study the nearby—"
"Don’t worry about looking for a caterer," Chuck cut in. "We always use Southern Delights." Then he winked at her. "I’m sleeping with the main chef so I’ve got connections."
Olivia paused. She couldn’t believe Cameron’s father would announce something like that so openly. Her parents had never been faithful to each other, but they’d never come right out and aired it quite like this.