Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Louisa
The wedding was utterly magical.
I am worn out. But I can’t sleep.
What’s more, all I can think about is how happy Wylie and Olivia look together.
The two of them are spending tonight in one of the empty cabins on the property that Dani and a few other ranch hands have outfitted with the comforts of a five-star hotel as a wedding gift, I’m told. I can’t even imagine what that’s like. High thread count sheets? Champagne?
After today, if I were Olivia, all I would want was a nice foot roller and a bottle of aspirin.
I toss and turn for hours, thinking about what Ellis said to me.
Am I actually considering it?
I’m also thinking about that kiss on the cheek. The handkerchief. The small touches. The eye contact. And all the passive ways he makes me crazy. The way he looks in a tee-shirt. His crooked front tooth. His corded neck. His goddamn sexy hands.
And the maddening way he was supposed to disappear from my life after last night, but somehow he’s still in it, making me really, really into him.
It’s over. I know I’ll never be able to get to sleep tonight.
I pad into the kitchen to make some tea, where Curly sits at the kitchen table.
He looks up, and when he sees me, he rolls up the paper he’s looking at. Some sort of planning map. It closes too quickly for me to see what it’s a map of.
“What are you doing up? You hungry?”
He says it with kindness, though he has the gruff voice of someone who’s had a hard life.
“Can’t sleep. And no, just want some tea.”
“Have a seat. I’ll get it,” he says.
“I got it. Thanks.” I give him a grateful smile and head to the kettle, filling it at the sink.
“Ah, I get it. Olivia warned you about my tea.”
Curly looks up at me sheepishly. I shrug.
“Yeah. But come on. The microwave?”
He grunts and waves me off as I wait for the kettle to boil, then go to the pantry to find the peppermint tea that I saw in there earlier today.
“How do you know Ellis?”
“I don’t really. I just met him yesterday.”
Curly makes a noise like he doesn’t believe me. “He sure seems to know you.”
“What do you mean?”
I pour my tea and sit at the table across from him.
“Ellis is a good boy. I knew his mom pretty well back in the day. We used to run around together. He has the same look in his eye that his father used to get when he looked at his mom.”
I let the scent of mint fill my nostrils and consider this. “Ellis said his parents have been divorced and remarried several times over.”
Curly waves a hand in the air. “Yeah, but they always find their way back to each other. They have their problems, and no one’s perfect. Those two? They like their drama. Ellis is not like that. He’s been a pretty serious kid, even from a young age. He gave up everything to care for his grandma before she died. He’s been killing himself trying to keep that farm afloat ever since. If you ask me, he could use someone to talk to about it.”
I take all of this in, and none of it surprises me about Ellis.
I could sense he was a good man since I met him.
“I think you’re right.”
Curly fidgets with the rolled-up paper in his hands and briefly studies me. “You know, it’s gonna be pretty lonely around the ranch with Olivia and Wylie away on their honeymoon. You might get bored.”
I nod. “I can see why you’d think that.”
He stares at me for a long minute, then grunts an old-man grunt as he pushes away from the table and stands up. “Well, I’m headed to bed. The keys to Olivia’s car are on the table on your way out to the garage.”
I turn and stare at him. “Why are you telling me this?”
His voice echoes down the hall as he shuffles away. “I said, go on and get outta here. I’ll lock up after you.”
I sit there and sip my tea, wondering if the old man is having a stroke or a bout of dementia.
It’s not until I’m halfway through my cup of tea that I realize what Curly meant.