Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Olivia
I’m just starting to lock Rhett’s front door when my mom steps out of her car, watching me. Crap.
She stands there, clutching a baby blue box and wearing the same look on her face as when something juicy happens in one of her soap operas. “I just wanted to bring you a cinnamon roll from the diner as a little good luck charm for your first day.”
She’s trying, but failing, to pretend she’s not interested in what I’m doing with a key to Rhett’s place. As soon as I take the box from her and lead us inside the house, she asks, “What’re you doing here? Is Rhett home?”
She knows for a fact Rhett is working. I wish I could think of something else to tell her instead of giving her the satisfaction of knowing I’ve been living with Rhett, but since I can’t, I opt for the truth and hope she won’t bother me about how great Rhett is and how she knew I’d like him. That’s the last thing I need. I haven’t been able to get him off my mind all morning, which is rather useless when I can’t do anything about it.
“I knew you two would like each other. He’s so kind, and he’s handsome too.”
Taking a lesson from Rhett, I redirect her. “This cinnamon roll looks delicious.” It’s almost as big as my head and covered in a thick layer of cream cheese frosting. I put it in the fridge as I say, “Thank you.”
“What’d you end up doing yesterday?”
I pause, unsure how to answer. Oh, I just had a panic attack, and then Rhett showed up to comfort me, cook for me, cuddle with me, and make me confess all my secrets. Yeah, that’s exactly what I should tell her.
“Rhett got off work early, so we hung out.”
A smile bigger than the size of Texas spreads across her face.
“Don’t get too excited. We just watched some TV, and he cooked dinner. It’s hard not to acknowledge each other’s presence when you live in the same house.”
“But he clearly likes you or he wouldn’t be sharing his house with you.”
“He’s only sharing because he has to. The cottage won’t be ready for me to live in for a while. It worked out well for Maverick to have us in the same household too.”
I scratch Maverick’s ears.
“You’re getting pretty fond of the little guy, huh?”
“I’m just fostering him while I’m here. I can’t take him back to San Francisco. Rhett is going to take over when I leave, remember?”
“If you don’t go back, you won’t have to say goodbye.”
Again, I ignore her comment. “It’s great that you’re here, Mom. I have to leave in a few minutes to drop Maverick off at Copper Hill. He’s going to spend the day with Rhett because I have my counseling appointment after my shift at the café, but I wanted to talk with you.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s great.” I join her on the couch. “I was just thinking that maybe while I’m here, we could reinstate movie nights.”
“Oh, yes! That’d be wonderful! You just name the time and place. I’m pretty flexible, but it sounds like you’ve made yourself busy here already.” She grabs my hand. “I hope you’re letting yourself take a little break still. You should rest some while you’re here. Lord knows you’ll be busy again once you get back.”
I wave her off. “That’s part of what movie nights are for. They’ll be a good way to relax while spending time with you.”
She pats my hand. “I will take any time I can get with you. Maybe we could do this weekend? Oh, wait, I said you could pick. You just pick the day and call or text me, and I’ll make myself available.”
I glance at the time on my phone. “I need to leave now, but let’s plan on movie night this weekend.”
Mom pulls me in for a tight hug, and I allow myself to sink into it for a brief moment before I pull away. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay, have a good shift. And say hi to Rhett for me.” She winks, something I swear she’s never done in her life.
“Oh god! Please don’t do that.”
She snickers. “It’s just that your time together seems to be about more than just Maverick.”
“I really need to go, Mom.”
“Okay. Okay. I’ll take the hint.” She kisses me on the cheek and rushes out the door.
* * *
The moment the bell over the front door jingles, Callie leaps from her spot behind the counter of the café to wrap me in a hug. “I can’t tell you how excited I am that you’re here! It’s been so slow this morning. I need the company.”
She pulls back and returns to her spot behind the counter, ducking down and plucking a blueberry muffin from the glass display. She sets it on a plate. “I just baked a fresh batch of muffins this morning. Want to split one?”
“Did you just hire me to hang out with you or am I actually going to help you with work?”
“Would you be mad if I said I mostly wanted the company?”
“Not really.”
“Good.” She sits down at the same table we sat in when I first met her. “There are some chores I could use help with sometimes, but things don’t get too crazy around here since Roots is such a small town.”
I join her at the table, and she instantly pounces on me. “Tell me all about your day with Rhett.”
“What?”
“I’m dying to know what you two did all day together! I know Rhett pretty well compared to most people in this town, but even I don’t hang out with him. I want to know what he’s like in the wild.” She sets her elbows on the table cradling her chin in her palms, looking at me intently.
“That was a week ago. Are you serious?”
“Dead serious. Tell me what you two did.”
I take a moment to compose myself, carefully masking my excitement. “We got lunch at the barbecue joint in town. Best barbecue ever! Oh my god!”
“I know. Texas does a lot of things right, but the barbecue is definitely at the top of the list.”
“Can we also take a second to talk about the name? I don’t know whether it’s cute or disturbing.”
She chuckles as she tears a chunk off the muffin. “PorkScrew? It’s meant to be a pun, like corkscrew. If you knew the owner, Ray, you’d understand. He’s just the most wholesome old man you’ll ever meet.”
I eagerly take another piece of the muffin and take satisfaction in the feeling of a warm blueberry bursting when I bite down on it. “We also went to Copper Hill and rode horses. There’s this trail with an incredible view at the top.”
“Oh yeah, I know about it.”
“You do? How?”
Her guard seems to go up as she crosses her arms and says, “I know about everything in this town, which leads me to my next point: You and Rhett have been living together since before I met you. Why didn’t I know that sooner?”
“I haven’t exactly felt the need to broadcast that knowledge to people in town. My mom only found out this morning. How did you hear about it?”
“Rhett told me.”
“He did? When?”
“I don’t know, earlier this week when he came by. Anyway, how did this happen? Rhett wouldn’t tell me much.”
“It’s just because a pipe burst in the cottage.”
“You could’ve just stayed with your parents though, right? Did Rhett even suggest that?”
I open my mouth to tell her he did, but then I realize that was never something that was brought up. “To be fair, he knew I didn’t want to stay with my parents. That’s why I was supposed to stay in the cottage.”
“But letting you stay in a separate house on his property is a lot different than letting you stay in his guest bedroom. Who knew Rhett had a soft side to him anymore.”
“Soft side?”
“Yeah, he’s turned into mush since you came to town, adopting a dog and letting you move in with him.”
Then it hits me. “What do you mean ‘who knew he had a soft side anymore ?’”
My heart is pounding in my chest. Callie knows something I don’t. I can tell. I don’t understand why Rhett has been so secretive, and it bothers me to know I can’t get past those layers but Callie can.
“Rhett hasn’t dated anyone since he moved to Roots. He’s never even shown interest. I was beginning to think he is incapable of love, but maybe he just needed the right girl to come along.”
“Whoa, I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself. My relationship with Rhett is not even remotely romantic.” I shove a chunk of muffin in my mouth, trying not to think about the way he gently caressed me yesterday while I came down from my panic attack or the way he draped his arm around me while I laid my head on his chest. That’s totally platonic, right?
She gives me a knowing look. “He took you to the animal rescue on your second day in town just because he knew you love dogs. That takes planning and care. It even kind of sounds like a date to me.”
“He only did that because he wanted to apologize to me. We’d only known each other for a day and didn’t even like each other.”
“A simple ‘sorry’ would’ve been good enough, but that’s not what he did. What else have your interactions been like around Rhett? I’ll bet this isn’t the only time he did something nice for you.”
I blush as I think about the past week. He’s been making me coffee every morning. Between seeing Rhett and getting coffee, I’m suddenly a morning person. Two nights ago, he brought home a bundle of wildflowers for me to put in my room because he knows I like them. He said I should be able to make the guest room feel like my own space while I’m there.
“I’ll take that silence as all the answer I need. Tell me what else he did. I’m so intrigued!”
A little sunshiny ray of warmth lights up my chest. I haven’t had a good friend since college. I adore Anna, but we’ve drifted apart the last couple of years as life and work got in the way. I stopped making an effort. I stopped letting people in. I forgot how rewarding it can be to share your ups and downs with someone who genuinely cares. I make a mental note to call Anna tonight.
Giving Callie a shy smile, I fill her in on every little thing Rhett has done for me over the past week.
“ Shut up! Okay, Olivia, you are going to have to start giving me daily updates on your relationship.”
“Nothing is going on. You better not go around telling people any of this. The last thing I need is the town to start spreading more untrue things about me.” I also don’t need things getting back to Rhett. Who knows how easily he’d get scared off?
She swallows her bite of muffin and wraps her hand gently around mine. “I promise I would never play a part in telling people about your personal life, whether it’s true or untrue. I really like you. I think we could actually be friends.”
“I’d like that.”
“Great! Let’s be friends then. We should hang out soon! Next Friday, the Callahan sisters are playing at the Long Neck. I can take you out and then you can spend the night at my place.”
“The Long Neck?”
“That’s the bar in town. It’s actually called Long Neck Bottle, but all the locals just call it the Long Neck. On Fridays, all women get half off drinks.”
“Oh, that sounds great. I’d love that.”
As if I needed another reason to like this town, now I have a new friend and plans to look forward to. I plaster on a smile for the rest of my shift despite the thought that continues to linger in my mind: I have to leave everything I’m building here in just a couple of months.