Oliver knocked softly on my door. It was nearly midnight. “You awake, sug? Can I come in?”

I tucked the diary I was writing for Dr. Gray away. “Sure.”

Oliver sneaked into my room, careful not to arouse the suspicions of my family. I bit the inside of my cheek. His white t-shirt framed his muscular body admirably.

“So, I take it from your performance at the morgue earlier today that you made some progress on the case. You spent most of the day with the detectives.”

He crawled onto the bed next to me. “I mostly just picked their brains. They don’t know nothing. What I did say about my partner is true. I’ve been working as Oliver Bellamy for the past few years in New Orleans.”

I brushed the hair away from his face. “I never thought of you as a detective, but you always had a good head for puzzles.”

“I will need your help to figure out what happened to Eli, sug. He was a good friend. He covered for me for years whenever I found myself on the wrong end of a slug.”

“Of course.” I stifled a shudder at the memory of Oliver’s dead body. “I’d hate to see you come across my slab again, even temporarily.”

Oliver winked at me, and I could feel my heart start to flutter. I wanted him to hold me, to kiss me the way he used to. I scolded myself for my schoolgirl thoughts. I couldn’t allow myself to get too close to him again. I didn’t want to get hurt again. “Still nice to know that you worry about me.”

He leaned forward and captured my lips in a soft kiss. I pulled back. “I’m sorry, Olly. I can’t.”

“S’okay. I won’t force you to, but please… Say you’ll help me bring Eli’s killers to justice.” He took my hands in his. “I need that beautiful, brilliant brain of yours.”

“All right, I’ll do it. For you, and Eliot.”

We stayed up most of the night talking and recounting old memories until we fell asleep. I could remember the nights we had spent together in Margarthe’s cottage, curled up under the blankets together in defense from the bitter cold. The blare of the alarm clock forced me out of my pleasant memories into reality again.

“Mornin’ sug,” Oliver rasped. He carded his fingers through my hair as he held me close. “Waking up to you is still the best sight in the world.”

“Well… good morning you two,” said Henry, when we came downstairs. “I would ask what you two have been doing but I think I can figure it out for myself.”

“We were just talking,” Oliver replied. “Sug, I’m gonna go take a shower then we can go in together.”

“All right.”

“I’ll be quick.”

“Nan… spill the tea. I want all the details.”

“Oh, Henry!” I opened the refrigerator in search of something to eat.

Henry situated himself at the kitchen bar.  His long fingers tapped on the marble countertop, itching for a pen and paper. “Come on, Nan. You are—”

“Watch it.”

“You are a timeless beauty who has been reunited with a long-time love whom you watched tragically die at the hands of the Nazis. Come on, Nan. It writes itself. Your love story is the stuff that legends are made of.”

I put the kettle on the stove. “I thought you were a crime fiction writer, not a romance writer.”

“I can learn.”

Oliver came down the stairs a few minutes later. “Shower’s free.”

“Thanks.”

I paused a moment on the stairs, listening as Oliver and Henry spoke. “Think she’ll ever forgive me?”

“Nan’s a wonderful woman. I’m sure she will.”

“I hope you are right.” Oliver poured himself a cup of coffee. “You were right about one thing. Ivy really is a timeless beauty. I’m gonna do everything I can to win her back.”

___

              Oliver and I went to a small apartment in Queens. He kept a protective arm around my waist as we ascended the trash-covered steps. A drug addict was sprawled over the stairs, the needle was still stuck in their arm. “Stay close, baby. This place ain’t your cushy penthouse.”

              “Why are we here, Oliver?” I asked even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

              He unlocked the door to one of the apartments. “This is home base.”

              Oliver disappeared into the back bedroom while I scanned the small living room area. The room was empty, except for a hot plate, a folding table and chairs, and a stack of hard, plastic totes where a small TV set sat. Newspaper clippings covered the green and yellow plaid walls.

              “You lived like this?”

              He shrugged. “It’s not so bad. We ordered take-out from the Chinese place around the corner a lot.”

              “Stakeouts seem more glamorous on television.”

              “All depends on who you’re staked out with.” He winked at me, and I felt myself flush.

              “What would you like me to do?”

              “Here.” He handed me one of the totes. “This’ll help us with the case. I’ll grab the rest.”

              “Right.”

              Bang. Bang. Bang.

              I froze. “What was that?”

              “Gunshots.” Oliver peaked his head out into the hall. “The rest don’t matter. Come on now.”

              We hurried downstairs to Henry’s waiting car. We drove back to the apartment, setting up shop at the family table. Oliver and Eliot were working undercover working with the Sarkisian Crime Family. Their investigation had brought them to New York a few days ago as part of their investigation.

              I stared blankly at the reports. I had seen the handiwork of the Sarkisian family come across my table, but I had never known the full extent of their cruelty: murder, rape, extortion, and weapons trafficking to name a few.

              “What’s with that look?” asked Oliver when he came back later that evening with our Chinese takeaway. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

              I stood on my feet and ran to Oliver, kissing him as hard as I could. He wrapped his arms around my waist, kissing me back. Reluctantly, he broke the kiss. “What’d I do to deserve this?”

              “I read the files,” I whisper, resting my head on his shoulder. “I don’t know how—” My voice broke. Hot tears streamed down my face.

              “Hey now,” he soothed. “What’s with the tears? You of all people should know that I can survive everything they throw at me.”

              “I can’t help… help it.” I took a calming breath. “I’ve seen what these people can do; what they did to you and your partner. It’s horrible.”

              Oliver set the takeaway on the dining room table and cleared up the files.  “Enough of this for tonight.”

              “What?”

              He picked me up with ease and carried me up the stairs to my bedroom. “If you don’t want to get involved in all this, I’ll understand,” he said, lowering me onto the bed. “Your safety and well-being are my top priority.”

              “It’s important to you, so then it’s to me.”

              Oliver blinked back the tears in his eyes. “My sweet Ivy…”

              I sat up, straddling Oliver’s waist with my thighs. He licked his lips. “Wait… I thought you wanted to wait.”

              “I’ve waited for you for seventy years…” I smiled before lifting my shirt over my head. His grip on my waist tightened. Heat flooded my core.

              “You are the most beautiful woman in the world,” he whispered, kissing my neck and chest. I whimpered softly. It felt good to be loved again. He rolled me onto my back, tugging his shirt over his head to reveal his sculpted chest. “I plan on spending the rest of forever showing you how beautiful you are.”