Private Affair(7)

Olivia could hardly believe she’d spoken those words. And it looked like a lot of the people in the room were having a similar moment of confusion. She stood in the doorway, taking in the varying reactions to the short speech. Some eyes widened. One or two of her former classmates shook their heads. And a minority at least made an attempt to look as if they welcomed her and her new fiancé at the meeting.

Linda Unger, who had sent out the letters inviting people to the event, crossed the room to greet her. Linda had always seemed like her head was screwed on straight. When Olivia had looked her up, she’d found out that Linda had been married to a guy she’d met in college, but he had been killed in an automobile accident a few years ago. They had no children. The revelation had saddened Olivia. Linda had been a good kid, and Olivia had hoped her life had turned out well. Of course, it still could. Like it still could for Olivia herself.

“It’s good to see you after so long. We thought you were in New York.”

“I was. But Max and I are treating ourselves to a little break,” she answered. As the lie left her lips, her grip tightened on Max’s hand. “I, uh, heard about your husband. That must have been so hard,” she added, shifting the focus away from herself.

“It was,” Linda answered.

Back in high school, Olivia and Angela Dawson had been sort of friends with Linda, although there had been some rivalries between them. Like that Linda had been one of the girls who’d vied with her for starring roles in the drama club productions. But that was ten years ago. Did any of what had happened in high school matter now? Apparently it mattered to someone. At least that was how she was interpreting the deaths of her classmates. And Max wouldn’t be here with her if he hadn’t subscribed to her theory.

To her vast relief, Olivia didn’t have to say anything else, because Max took over, reaching out to shake Linda’s hand like a long-lost friend, explaining in his deep, warm voice that he and Olivia had gotten engaged recently and that he’d considered the reunion   committee a perfect way to meet her former classmates. Plus, it meant that she wasn’t going to leave him home alone while she went out.

Brian Cannon, one of the former big men on campus, walked up to them, studying Max. Seeing him and the other guys in the class was a test for her, and she gave him her best smile. But his focus was on Max.

“I’ve seen you before. But not recently,” he mused. “Hmm. Didn’t you go to Donley?”

“Yeah. I was a couple classes ahead of you,” he said, making it clear from the tone of his voice that he didn’t want to talk about his high school years.

But Brian didn’t let it go, and Olivia remembered that he’d often been pushy back in high school. “Strange that the two of you ended up together,” he said, raising his voice to carry around the room.

“Both of us are different from the high school kids we were,” Olivia said, hoping it was true for her. She knew for sure Max had changed. The confident detective standing next to her was nothing like the defiant boy she remembered from the bad old days. Or probably he had some of the same traits, but he was using them differently. For herself, mingling with these people again was having a strange effect on her—as if she were slipping back into the role she’d played at Donley.

“Did you know each other then?” Brian asked.

“Not really,” Olivia clipped out. They’d met, but she wasn’t going to explain that to Brian.

“Of course I’d noticed her,” Max interjected. “Who didn’t?”

“So where did you meet—officially?” Linda asked.

“I was on a business trip to New York,” he answered easily. “And a friend who thought we’d like each other introduced us.” He flashed a grin. “He was right.”

“Why haven’t we heard anything about your engagement?” Brian asked. “You’d think it would be on one of those celebrity gossip shows.”

“We’re keeping it a secret for the time being,” Max said. “And we’d appreciate it if you helped us out with that, by not talking to the press or anything. We’re still enjoying our privacy.”

Olivia watched the group’s reactions. Some nodded. Others murmured agreement, but she wondered if that many people could really keep quiet about the engagement of a former classmate who was a minor celebrity.

“How come you aren’t off in the Caribbean or somewhere exciting?” Linda asked.

Max slung his arm around Olivia and pulled her close. “We’ll do that later. Right now, we can make our own excitement.”