The smug look on his face tells me he thinks he’s hit a nerve. The truth is, he may have a little. I have no doubt in my mind that Olivia loves me and wants to choose me. My worry is that she’ll revert back to trying to protect me by doing something else stupid. My smile never wavers. I let out a natural, relaxed laugh and press on. “Like I said, you don’t know me anymore, Jason. And I’m not going to put the pieces together for you. I’ll just let you hang yourself with your own rope. Understand this though, I will go to war behind that woman.”

If he has any reply to that, he can say it to my back because I’m already out the door.

“Oh my God, that sounds delicious. Do you think you could share the recipe with me? I may have to try them for Christmas this year.”

“Gladly. I’m gonna miss making them with Angie and Justine this year, so I can even come here and make them with you if you want.”

My mom grabs Olivia’s hand in excitement. “Wonderful.”

Olivia just finished telling my mom about how she makes rosquillas with Angie every year to take to her family. Apparently, she normally gorges on them this time of year because the season is over and they always make a big batch for Christmas.

It’s nice seeing Olivia with my parents again. She was worried about how they’d receive her because of how things ended with us, but I told her that they were more upset that they hadn’t seen her in the three months she’d been back than about that.

Her fears subsided the moment we stepped inside my parents’ home and my mom wrapped her up in a tight hug. Tears sprang to her eyes when my dad told her they’d missed her, called her baby girl, and gave her a kiss on the temple. They’ve had so many questions about her life in the last thirteen years, but they’ve been careful not to bring up her dad since I texted them a heads-up about the situation. My dad gushed his pride for how far she’s come in the pros, and my mom wanted to hear all about North Carolina since she’s never been there.

Now, while she and my mom exchange recipes, I pull my dad aside to give him the details I’d left out in our phone conversation. I give him the full rundown of my encounter with Jason and he listens intently the whole time.

He lets out a low whistle when I’m done. “Whew, I knew that man was a cold motherfucker but that’s what he had to say about his own daughter?”

“Yep.”

“Some people shouldn’t reproduce. Okay, so what do you and Liv need? You’ve gotta be prepared for backlash.”