Chapter Fifteen
After dinner that evening, Olivia and Neil sat on the veranda finishing off his bottle of wine. Her head was a little woozy but she could still think straight, and she could certainly feel the tension between them that had been building since their conversation about a piece at a time, had unsettled her so. Despite the gnawing anxiety, the meal had gone rather well. Neil put on a sunny face and the conversation never veered toward the darkness that was seething beneath the surface. She knew the pleasant veneer would soon be ripped away—the sooner the better, she believed as she sipped her wine. As the meal continued, the long silences were increasingly frequent and each more difficult to endure.
“You know it’s going to be a good night, don’t you?” Neil finally declared.
