Bashful Banker Read online

  She rested her hand on his. “But something’s wrong. What is it?”

  “It’s Olivia,” Fred said slowly. “She did the inventory and knows about the property. She’s asked why it’s not on the asset list and asked me about it. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—tell her about your plans. It’s not my secret to tell, and now she thinks I don’t trust her. She won’t talk to me.”

  “Oh, dear. That’s not good,” Mrs. Weston said as she tapped her chin.

  “No, it isn’t,” Fred said as he stood and shoved his hands in his pocket. He began to pace. He wanted Olivia to know he trusted her—he really did. He had absolutely no doubt that she would keep Mrs. Weston’s confidence just as he did, but it wasn’t up to him. But he also knew that Mrs. Weston was a kind person, and if she only understood his dilemma, she might help.

  Mrs. Weston rocked slowly in her rocker and seemed to be deep in thought.

  “Fred, this is a secret that Mr. Weston and I have kept for nearly two decades. It’s important to me that it’s a surprise for the kids.”

  “I know, Mrs. Weston,” he said. “And I’ve kept it completely confidential.”

  Mrs. Weston stood and crossed the porch, standing in front of Fred as their eyes met.

  “Fred, I’ve known you your whole life, and I’ve never seen you quite this worked up. Not even over Dani,” she said.

  He looked at his feet. “I’ve never felt like this before, Mrs. Weston.”

  She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. “It’s called love, son. And you’ve got it bad.”

  He patted her hand and gently squeezed it. “I think you’re right. She’s really special.”

  “I know I’m right,” she said as she squeezed his hand right back. She cocked her head and gazed at him for a moment. “Go ahead and tell her. You have my blessing, and thank you for coming to me first. You risked losing her for my confidence, and I will be forever grateful.”

  His heart leaped and he wrapped her in a hug. “Thank you, Mrs. Weston. She’ll keep your confidence and it’ll be just as big a surprise. I’m really grateful.”

  “I know you are, Fred. Far be it from me to stand in the way of true love,” she said as she headed back into the restaurant.

  Fred felt like he was walking on air as he sprinted back to the car. He couldn’t wait to talk to Olivia, to make things right. And he didn’t want to let another second pass before he did.

  When he got home, the house was dark and quiet. And smelled like pumpkin.

  He listened at Olivia’s door and heard her purring—he didn’t have the heart to wake her up even though his was about to burst.

  He sat on the couch for a moment to let his thoughts settle. Maybe it would be good to sleep on things, to settle down a bit. And to let her settle down.

  He knew he couldn’t sleep quite yet, and he paced a bit before his eyes fell on Olivia’s cowboy boots outside on the back porch. She’d gotten them pretty dirty, and if she wanted to wear them to the Halloween party—he had no idea what costumes she’d chosen for them—they’d need to be cleaned. That might be something mindless he could do before he went to bed, and actually, it was the least he could do to try to make things up to her.

  Chapter 18

  Olivia thought she’d been up all night but she must have dozed off a little, because she didn’t hear Fred when he came home. She hopped out of bed, anxious to talk to him but after she got dressed and hurried out into the kitchen, she was met by Mrs. Wharton.

  “Fred’s gone to the bank already. I told him I’d give you a ride,” she said as she handed Olivia a to-go cup of coffee.

  “Oh,” Olivia said, disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to talk to him right away. It made sense, though, because today was their last day to get the paperwork in order as the Halloween party was schedule for this evening.

  Her heart stuck in her throat as she reached the kitchen island. On the corner, on some newspaper, sat her cowboy boots—spotless and shining.

  “My gosh! How did you get them so clean?” she asked, her hand to her chest as she admired the handiwork. “They were filthy.”

  Mrs. Wharton smiled as she put soap in the dishwasher and started it.

  “I didn’t do it. Fred must have.”

  Olivia sat down slowly and felt awful. He’d stayed up late doing something really nice for her, and she’d been pretty snotty to him the day before. All the more reason to hurry up and apologize.

  She grabbed the files she’d brought home and stood by the door while Mrs. Wharton got her things together.

  “How are you feeling this morning?” Fred’s mom asked her as Olivia tried not to tap her foot while waiting.

  Olivia smiled and wrapped her scarf around her neck. “Great. I’m excited to finish up the project. Excited to get to work and excited to...”

  Her voice trailed off as Mrs. Wharton rummaged on the counter for her keys.

  “See Fred?”

  Olivia opened the door with a smile. “Well, yes. I am.”

  When they arrived at the bank, Olivia said good morning to Mrs. Green and headed straight for Fred’s office. He was hunched over a stack of files, wearing a red bow tie and looking quite handsome.

  “Fred, we need to talk,” she said as she strode in and closed the door.

  He held up his hands, a pained expression on his face.

  “Olivia, if it’s about the Weston project—”

  “It is,” she cut in. “Well, not completely about the Weston project. More about trust.”

  “Trust?” Fred said as he cocked a brow and clasped his hands behind his back.

  “Yes,” she said slowly, noticing the smile—and the dimples—on his face. They’d left on such bad terms. How could he be happy?

  “Okay, but I have something I’d like to say also. If I can.”

  He walked around the desk and took Olivia’s hands, guiding her to sit down in the chair next to him.

  “Olivia, I have been a banker all my life. I’ve held trusted information for people ever since I can remember. I’ve worked on projects with people before, but have never had someone ask me to hold a secret. Not quite like this.”

  “You haven’t?” Olivia asked as she squeezed his hands and waited for him to finish.

  “No. And I’ve never in my life had such a difficult time with divided loyalties. Mrs. Weston asked me to keep a confidence, and at the time I agreed, I had no idea how difficult it would be. How it would tear me in two.” He rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment.

  “Oh, I’m sorry that I pushed you, Fred,” Olivia said, her heart tugging at the anguish on his face.

  “No, no, you were right to. You were a full partner on the project and you had every right to know why I made the decision I did. If Mrs. Weston hadn’t asked me to keep it secret, I would have told you in a second. I trust you implicitly.”

  Warmth flooded her at his words, and she reached for his hand again. The idea that he actually did trust her—and the knowledge that she trusted him completely—had her smiling again.

  “You do?” she asked slowly?

  “Yes, I do. And when you were so upset that I didn’t tell you, I really had to do some thinking.”

  “Oh,” she said as she stood and walked over to the window. “What did you think about?”

  “Well, first I thought I’d ruined everything. Our friendship, our trust—everything.”

  “Oh, no, Fred. I realize—”

  He held up his hands as he walked over to the window and stood behind her.

  “Please. I hold all confidences, but I’ve never had to choose between two people that I care about. That one was new for me, and I did my best to fix it as soon as I could.”

  Olivia couldn’t take in a breath. She watched as he paced and shook his head. She wanted to ask him if she’d heard him correctly, but he was on a roll.

  “I went to Mrs. Weston and told her the circumstance. That her request had gotten between us, and she gladly gave her consent
for me to share everything with you.”

  He finished and stood before her, his smile tentative.

  “Olivia, I hope you can understand, and forgive me. I’ll fill you in on everything, and I’ll never keep you in the dark again.”

  “Fred, I certainly appreciate your thoughtful assessment of the whole thing. I had the opportunity to think things over as well, and realized that I shouldn’t have insisted that you tell me. I should have trusted that you were doing what you thought was best, and I promise I won’t put you in that position again.”

  Fred smiled and nodded.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Olivia said, her heart pounding.

  “Sure.” Fred took a step closer and looked down at her.

  She actually thought she might faint, but she had to get it out.

  “Did you just say that you were torn between two people that you care about?”

  Fred’s eyes grew wide, and color crept up from under his bow tie. He looked shocked, and Olivia was afraid he might run, or take it back.

  But he didn’t. His smile softened and his dimples deepened.

  “I guess I did.”

  “Oh,” she squeaked as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He sighed and rested his chin for a moment on her head before he leaned down and kissed her—and it was even better than the last time.

  She lost herself for a moment, but her eyes flew open at the sound of someone clearing their throat from the doorway.

  They stepped away from each other quickly, and Olivia looked around him to see Mrs. Wharton and Mrs. Green, both with tissues pressed to their eyes, smiling at them.

  She and Fred quickly exchanged smiles, and Olivia walked over to his desk and picked up a file, trying her best to pretend nothing had happened.

  “I’d better get back to work,” she mumbled as she smiled and walked past the two older ladies who had become her friends.

  They both gave her a hug on the way out and she smiled at Fred before she rounded the corner.

  Mrs. Wharton laughed. “Yes, we’d all better get back to work. We have a lot to do if we’re going to make it to the Halloween party tonight. You two will need to leave early to get dressed in your costumes. Mine’s all ready to go.”

  Olivia laughed as Fred looked like a deer in headlights.

  “Costumes?”

  “Yes, I bought you one, remember? If we get this all in order we won’t be late to the party,” she said over her shoulder as she headed back to her office, feeling like she was walking on air.

  Chapter 19

  Olivia was proud of Fred, as he didn’t complain when she’d handed him the bag with his costume in it. He didn’t exactly smile, either, but he didn’t complain, and she ran to her room to put on her Carmen Miranda outfit.

  She gently placed the hat on—bananas, oranges and all—and pinched her cheeks. She smoothed her long, colorful dress and put on some make-up, dark red lipstick included.

  She walked out into the kitchen and stopped short at the sight of Mrs. Wharton.

  “What do you think?” she said as she twirled in place, her cute little garden gnome outfit spinning.

  “You look great,” Olivia cried. “What do you think of this?”

  “I think you should know you have a basket of fruit on your head,” Fred said as he entered the room and frowned.

  “Oh, goodness, let me get my phone to take a picture,” Mrs. Wharton cried with a laugh and she ran to her end of the house.

  Olivia laughed and grabbed Fred’s hands.

  “You look incredibly handsome. A perfect fit with the sombrero and mustache,” she said, looking him up and down. His black pants, white shirt and colorful sash went perfect with her outfit.

  “I didn’t know you would really choose this thing,” he grumbled.

  “It was a very happy moment. I figured the plastic mustache might be good luck,” Olivia said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

  She pinched his arm so he would hold still while his mother took a picture—her first of her son dressed in a costume ever—and she tightened her arm around his waist. Mrs. Wharton teared up as she looked at the photo on her phone.

  “Thank you for this,” she said as she reached for her purse. “Olivia, you’ve done wonders with this boy.”

  “Hm,” Fred said as he opened the door for Olivia and his mom. “Don’t expect a repeat.”

  Olivia squirmed in her seat in the car the whole way, excited to see everyone dressed up at the party but especially excited for Mrs. Weston’s announcement. She hadn’t met all the Weston kids but she knew they were going to be thrilled. And all their hard work would make a lot of people happy.

  Fred opened the car doors for Olivia and his mother, and Olivia stared wide-eyed at all of the people. Fred and Mrs. Wharton tried to tell her who everybody was—Kelsi and Shane Clapper, dressed as Robin Hood and Maid Marian, with two beautiful little girls in tow—stopped to say hello for a moment.

  Fred introduced Joshua and Allison when they stopped by to say hello, and she overheard Joshua say to Fred, “Good job, buddy.” She wasn’t sure what he was referring to, but Fred sure blushed. She could see it even under his fake mustache.

  Dani and the man she assumed was her husband were dressed as race car drivers, and Jaclyn was dressed as a fairy! Simon, the man she’d met when she met Jaclyn, was dressed as a garden gnome, just like Mrs. Wharton. It all was a sight to behold.

  Mrs. Weston was dressed as Queen Guinevere and her husband as King Arthur—which Olivia thought was fitting for the “secret” part of the occasion. A cute little girl was dressed as Hermione, and Olivia noticed that the dog that had followed them home from the trail was glued to her side.

  She crossed the room while Fred went to get them some punch and smiled, kneeling down to pet the dog.

  “Hello. My name is Olivia,” she said as she smiled up at the girl.

  “Hello. I’m Vivian, and this is my dog, Rufus.”

  Olivia was thrilled that Rufus had found his home, and she hoped he was equally happy since Vivian had him dressed in a taco costume. The flyers they’d sent to Wade obviously had turned up an owner.

  “Oh, I’m happy for you that you found him. You must have been worried when he went missing.”

  Vivian cocked her head and looked at Olivia. “He’s my new dog. We put up flyers everywhere and asked around, but my dad said since the owners never came that I could keep him. Rufus came to our house and wouldn’t leave.”

  “What a happy ending,” Olivia said as she patted Rufus one last time and Vivian scurried off to bob for apples.

  Mrs. Wharton had secured them a table toward the front, and Olivia made her way toward it. She saw someone dressed up as Bigfoot, and then smiled even bigger at the second one and stopped short as she saw a third. She looked around the room and counted four—four!—and they were all sitting at the Weston family table, surrounding Kelsi, who laughed loudest. Her twins had fallen asleep in their stroller, and one of the Bigfoot characters picked up his baby—Olivia recognized it as Wyatt’s—who looked quite alarmed until his father started talking to him, and he broke out in giggles as he recognized his father’s voice. Another couple at the family table was dressed as a cat and a mouse, and Olivia wondered if that was Jess and her husband who ran the vet clinic that she’d read about in the ownership transfer paperwork.

  Olivia had a wonderful time looking at all the costumes, eating pumpkin spice bars and listening to the performance of a lovely woman—Laura, her name was—who Lily had arranged to come all the way from Nashville. She was marvelous, and Olivia thought she really should be a professional if she wasn’t already.

  The decorations were fantastic. Lily had really outdone herself, and she laughed and danced with Fred as many times as he’d agree to.

  Her heart pounded as Mr. And Mrs. Weston stood after Laura finished her last set and walked to the front of the barn onto a small dais. It was almost as if everything was in slow motion, and she felt Fred take her hand in his and squ
eeze as the Weston parents officially and formally turned the ranch over to their surprised children. They recognized their hard work, and went over all the improvements the kids had made in the past couple of years. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house by the time they were done.

  “We’ll be getting out of their hair once and for all,” Mr. Weston said as he took the mic from his wife after giving her a big hug, to much laughter.

  As they finished, there were hugs all around, and it took a while for everyone to calm down and realize that there was more.

  Mrs. Weston began by thanking Fred, Olivia and Mrs. Wharton for making this all possible so quickly. The three of them smiled and nodded. Olivia, for one, was thrilled that she could be helpful, and she knew Fred and his mother felt the same way after a lifelong partnership with the Westons.

  Fred reached behind the curtain and slid out the map of the property he’d had blown up and rested it on an easel before taking his seat again. Hushed silence fell as Mr. Weston continued and announced the transfer of the property, that the kids could use for homes or whatever they wanted.

  As the room burst into applause and all of the Bigfoots and their wives and the entire Weston family hugged each other, Fred grabbed Olivia’s hand again and pulled her outside the barn, into the cool, crisp night.

  She glanced over her shoulder back into the barn and felt as if love and family just radiated from it. This was a wonderful place, and she was honored to have participated in such a happy occasion.

  Fred gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him. He looked happy, she thought. And he should be. He’d done a very honorable thing.

  Her heart almost stopped, though, when he spoke.

  “Olivia, I didn’t tell you the whole truth today,” he said as he looked down at his boots.

  What could he possibly mean? He’d apologized, and so had she. And they’d kissed again. What could be wrong?

  “No?” she asked, not sure she wanted to know what he was talking about.

  “No. There’s more.”

  He glanced back into the room at the happy Weston family and all their friends.