You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 728

“We’ve always felt guilty about him,” Lydia said with a sigh. “Your father keeps saying Oliver’s distant because we failed as parents. He’s not wrong.”

She smiled at Patricia. “We used to worry he’d never want to get married. Thank goodness we have you, Pattie.”

When they got back to the Padilla house, the guests were still around. The sound of the front door caught their attention, and they stood up from the sofa as Lydia walked in. “Ms. Phipps,” one of them called out.

Lydia greeted them with an easy smile.

Someone glanced over at Patricia. “Is this your new sister-in-law?”

Oliver reached for Patricia’s hand. “Come here.”

He introduced her to everyone, and Patricia nodded politely at each name. When they finished, Oliver put his hand on her waist. “We need to talk about something. Want to go upstairs and rest for a bit?”

Patricia nodded. “Okay.”

The moment she left, the men on the sofa couldn’t hold back their comments.

Derek grinned. “Oliver, how did you land someone so sweet and well-behaved? You’re one lucky guy.”

Oliver laughed. “Getting tired of the wildcat at home? Should I record that and send it to Jenny?”

Jenny was part of their group too. She and Derek were childhood friends who got married at twenty-five. Now, seven years in, they were stuck in a rut. Problems kept piling up, but they stayed together for business and a bit of old affection. Divorce wasn’t really an option. They were at the stage where they were just tired of each other.

Oliver frowned. They’d only been out for a few hours. Shopping wasn’t that tiring. If she wasn’t physically exhausted, something must have been weighing on her mind. People always had things they couldn’t shake off.

He asked, “Did Mom say something to you?”

Patricia looked over at him. Her fingers traced his eyebrows, slid down his nose, and paused at his lips. She watched him, her voice soft and far away. “I was just thinking, is your stubborn streak really because your parents weren’t around much when you were a kid?”

Oliver didn’t expect that. “And if it is?”

She hesitated. “Then when we have kids, we need to do better. I wouldn’t want our child to turn out like that.”

Oliver was quiet for a moment, then suddenly laughed. “You’re already thinking that far ahead? Maybe we should work on the getting-pregnant part first.”