Open Tab by J.A. Armstrong

Author:J.A. Armstrong [Armstrong, J.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0692056327
Amazon: B078YC2XM8
Publisher: Bumbling Bard Creations
Published: 2018-01-10T00:00:00+00:00

***

“No.” Fallon held up a finger. “Em,” she warned.

Bam! A snowball hit Fallon in the chest. Riley laughed. Owen had fallen asleep in Fallon’s bed. Fallon had been lured outside by the porch lights for a snowball fight. It didn’t take much to entice her outside. If ever Riley had witnessed a pathetic protest, it had been Fallon pretending that she had no desire to play in the snow. “I’m too old for the cold,” she had said. Riley wondered if any of the kids had bought the theatrics for a second. She certainly hadn’t.

“They’ll be out here for a while,” Olivia said. She closed the front door. “Coffee?”

“Sounds good,” Riley replied.

“This is her winter game,” Olivia commented. “Everything snow in the winter; everything water in the summer. I think she only wants kids so she can be one.”

Riley smiled. She took notice of Olivia’s wording and tone. She wondered if Olivia recalled the fact that she and Fallon were not a couple, and Emily and Summer were, in fact, children she shared with someone else. She liked Olivia. It was easy to see what had attracted Fallon to the woman. Beautiful seemed a deficient description for Olivia Nolan. Olivia looked more like a movie star to Riley than someone who worked for the government; unless she was playing a spy in the movies. Not that it surprised her. Fallon was attractive and charismatic. People were drawn to her. It made sense that someone like Olivia would be charmed by Fallon, just as Fallon would find Olivia captivating. That was the word she had been searching for. Olivia was captivating. She was intelligent, articulate, and quick-witted; all things that enhanced her good looks. She also seemed possessive, or perhaps it was protective of Fallon.

“So, how long do you think you’ll stay in Whiskey Springs?” Olivia inquired.

“I don’t have any plans to leave.”

“So, you plan to stay.”

“To be honest, I haven’t given much thought to it one way or the other. I needed a change.”

“Fallon mentioned that you lost your husband. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you. Yes, I did. It certainly wasn’t in my plan,” Riley said. She accepted a cup of coffee from Olivia. “Some things you can’t plan for; they just happen.”

“That they do,” Olivia agreed. “Plans are a funny thing,” she said. She looked out the window and sighed. “I’d like to think that we end up where we are meant to,” she said as she turned her attention back to Riley.

“Destiny?” Riley asked.

“I don’t believe in destiny, not one that’s preordained anyway. I think we have choices that change our destiny.”

Riley nodded. She had pondered destiny many times. It remained a difficult concept for her. She hadn’t chosen Robert’s death. He hadn’t chosen it either. Someone had made a choice and turned her life upside down. A man chose to get in his car after a bender and he crashed into Robert. There was the choice. Robert was gone and she was alone because of another person’s decision. Sometimes, you had no say in what happened to you.

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