The air felt colder on the walk from the station. Once inside the warmth greeted her. They lived in one half of a restored brownstone. It was different from the co-op her family had lived in before Kurt.

As Olivia stepped inside, the feeling of home embraced her. Her mother popped around the corner.

"I wasn't sure if it were you or Kurt. You're late tonight."

Anita looked beautiful, even having changed into a matching knit lounge outfit.

Olivia busied herself hanging up her coat. "I wasn't working. I went for a drink."

"Then you're early. How's Lindy or were you with Mandy?"

"Neither. I had a drink with Graham from nonfiction."

"Graham? Interesting."

She giggled. "Truthfully, not very. Lindy convinced me not to back out." Olivia groaned. "She's forcing me to go out with him five times."

"Forcing you?"

"Incentivising me. She'll give me an Armani if I do."

Anita laughed. "The one you love?"

She nodded, with visions of herself on the arm of own personal prince charming.

Anita smiled. "Five dates are enough to know you like someone. I think your brother had five dates in five days."

"Mom, he said there are rumors you were still married. I told him you weren't."

"But Kurt was only separated. Divorced among the wealthy is never easy."

"I don't like people judging."

Anita smirked. "After twenty-two years, we have proven we are more than a fling."

"But dad wanted children." In her heart, Kurt was her dad. She had first called him the name at age ten.

"Ironically, we couldn't, and when my career took off, the effort it would take seemed daunting. When Kurt turned forty, he told me you and Ian fulfilled his desire to be a father. I thought you knew this. It's personal, but not a secret."

Olivia smirked. "Meaning Lois knows."

Anita nodded. "Yes, I confided in my sister-in-law while you were chasing after Zachary."

"I wasn't chasing Zach at twelve." She had set her sights elsewhere.

"I'm glad you're home. Kurt should be home from the driving range soon, but I've been thinking about his sixtieth birthday. We should have a surprise party and who better to plan it."

"A company party?"

"No, no. Private. Friends, family, and some business contacts, I suppose. You can wear your dress."

"I might save it for something special." Someone special. "Will we need to reserve hotel rooms or will we all pile into the third floor?" They had three bedrooms but there was a large room in the attic. On occasions when the Steele's visited, they crashed on sofas and air mattresses.

"I'm not sure the married couple wants a slumber party and your brother..."

Olivia smiled. "Lilli and Ainsley are best friends. They may not mind." The idea of a big sleepover sounded fun.

"We can offer or they can get a hotel. I would like to accommodate your brother and Kurt's sister. Maxwell may take the train back to New Haven."

"We had better set a date, so he can arrange his schedule."

Max was finishing up his pediatric surgery fellowship. His dedication to his studies and training often kept him away on holidays and family gatherings. Olivia hadn't seen him since Zach's wedding six months before.

"Is there anything to eat?"

"It's a fend for yourself night. There are some leftovers. Darling, give Graham a chance. You might find you like him."

Olivia heated some Lo Mein and carried it to her room to eat. She had a string of texts from Lindy asking for an update. A minute after she replied she was home, Lindy FaceTimed her.

"Why are you home?" Olivia asked.

"I'm going out later with Bradley."

"Cooper?"

Lindy laughed. "I wish. You remember Brad is the guy I met at the children at risk charity. My mother and her philanthropic obsession."

"At least she's more respectable than the Brownings turned out to be."

"No, no, no. You are not changing the subject. Just because my mother and your father traveled in the same social circles, they are different people." Lindy's mother helped others and Chip Browning stole from them. "I want to know about the graham cracker."

Olivia giggled. "He wore a brown suit."

"Sign of weakness."

"Seriously." Olivia had never seen Kurt wear a brown suit.

"I read it someplace. Did he kiss you?"

"No! He was a gentleman. Just for you, we made some tentative plans, lunch and trivia."

"Trivia! I'll get Mandy and we'll go too."

The three friends had enjoyed competing in bar trivia. Their favorite was in Hell's Kitchen at a bar with low lighting and interesting clientele. Lindy was an upper east side girl and Mandy was SoHo. Her two friends were opposites. The creative artist versus quantitative business guru. Olivia bridged the difference with her organization and social skills. Dressed in jeans they were a formidable trivia team.

"He's a nonfiction agent. He reads books all day."

"As long as his mind isn't a sieve."

"I doubt it. He's got an academic vibe."

"A professor. They can be hot in a nerdy way."

"Maybe." Olivia took a bite of noodles which had turned lukewarm.

Olivia had a crush on one professor, but he didn't fit the mold at all. He looked more like Zach at thirty than Graham. Zach had a friend at NYU, who became a professor. Olivia never had a crush on him, because he was the type to sleep with every girl who walked past him. Chivalrous Zach protected her.

"Obviously, you didn't share a meal."

"Noooo! He went home to watch Jeopardy like a senior citizen. One drink and I had enough. Four more times might kill me."

"We'll join you for trivia, but you have to engage with him."

"Engage?"

Lindy rolled her eyes. "The server needs to know your drink tab goes to him."

Olivia bit her tongue on the remark sitting on the tip. It was old school to expect the man to pay. Olivia's mother might have been raised like Lindy, wealthy and pampered, but Anita emerged from a teen pregnancy and a failed marriage as a determined, capable woman. Anita didn't need Kurt, but they were true partners. Olivia shut her eyes, she wanted her partner to realize she was his other half.

She wandered into the kitchen with her dirty dish. Kurt sat at the counter eating a sandwich.

"How's your swing?"

He chuckled. "As good as one would expect for the middle of winter. I might beat my brother-in-law, but I'll never play better than Ken."

Olivia laughed, Ken Sumner and his son JJ could have chosen the PGA over publishing.

"So Graham, huh?"

Her cheeks warmed. "Does she tell you everything?"

He chuckled. "Pretty much. I don't know him well. Nonfiction is Peter's domain. He seems like a decent guy."

"He's no young Kurt Dwyer. Mom got lucky."

"I was the lucky one. I remember the day your grandfather told me his daughter majored in English at Sarah Lawrence and needed a job."

"But did he tell you she had two kids and an ex who was a criminal?"

"I knew who she was. I also knew your father. We traveled in a similar circle back then."

"There is so much I never knew."

"About what darling?" Anita gracefully walked into the kitchen. She looked regal even in loungewear.

"Your employ as my assistant."

"Grandfather got you the job."

"He did, but I kept it and earned every author I have."

"I know Mom. What were you doing?"

It surprised her Kurt had been eating alone. As a couple, they were always together.

"Talking to your brother. He's fine."

"Mom! It's Friday night."

She smiled. "I know. It seemed JJ and Zach went to see the Celtics and so Lillian was visiting Ainsley. Your brother was hiding in the bedroom with his cat."

"He was hiding?"

"He said something about The Bachelor."

Olivia laughed. "Poor Ian. Are the cats still fighting?"

"He said he is trying to give Felix to his Uncle David. I already said no."

"I always wanted a pet." Olivia had been using that line for twenty years.

"When you move out, just like your brother."

Kurt cleared his throat. "I spoke to my sister on the ride over to the range."

"What did Lois have to say?"

"She's been keeping busy. Max received his license to practice in Massachusetts."

Olivia's heart sped up. "What? Why Massachusetts?"

Kurt said, "It looks like he wants to go home."

Anita commented offhandedly. "Hmm, I thought he would have stayed in New Haven."

"Or Manhattan?" Her words suspended in front of her.

The couple looked at each other and shrugged. "Lois is happy. She wants a grandchild and Max's career will be established and he obviously likes kids."

Kurt nodded. "An extra two years, to specialize in saving kids. I would say so."

"I'm tired. Goodnight." Olivia tried not to run as both wished her a goodnight. Tears threatened at the imagine of Maxwell Steele with a family which didn't include her.

Poor Livvy. Please vote ⭐️