CHAPTER 10
OLIVIA
H unter’s discharged from the hospital a few days later, and although he has a long road to recovery, all is right in their world again.
I tried to go home when they returned, but both him and Savannah insisted I stay here a while and if I’m being honest, I’m relieved.
With Savannah being pregnant, Hunter needing round the clock help and the fact that the pair are ass over tit in love with each other, it only makes sense that her and Reign move in with Hunter permanently.
I’m happy for them. I can’t think of two people more deserving of love than Savannah and Reign, but I’d be lying if I said I’m not sad to be losing them. It’s been a long time since I’ve lived alone and it’s not something I’m looking forward to.
Savannah’s been a fixture in my life since I was nothing but a pre-pubescent teen. She stayed by my side during the darkest time of my life, pulled me out of the dark when it didn’t seem possible and gave me a home when mine was ripped out from under me .
At fifteen, I’d woke from a three-day coma to a world my parents no longer existed in. I was alone, scared and broken, physically and mentally. But then my best friend marched into my hospital room and swore that she wouldn’t leave my side. Savannah nursed me back to health, held me while I cried and soothed me when the nightmares were out of control.
I suffered with a serious case of survivor’s guilt. I blamed myself for my parents' death because had I not been at that party, they never would’ve been in the car in the first place.
It took a long time for me to realise that the only person to blame was the one that decided to get behind the wheel four times over the legal limit.
Savannah listened to me blame myself again and again. She never complained. Never tried to force me to get over it and move on. She sat by my side every day and let me feel what I needed to feel.
And then, I failed her.
I saw the bruises. The drastic change in her weight. I watched the light slowly fade from her eyes. Noticed that she was pushing me, and everyone important to her, away. Every time I questioned it, I knew she was lying. But I did nothing to stop it.
When I got the phone call from Savannah that she was in the hospital, I made a promise to never let anyone hurt my best friend or her baby ever again. I always knew the day would come that she’d move on from everything that Ryan put her through and finally open herself up to someone again, which is why I wrote the letter.
Hunter is now in possession of that letter, and as I watch him hobble his way around the family run jewellers in the next town over, clutching my niece’s small hand, I know there is no one more deserving of my girls than him .
“What do you think of this one?” Hunter looks over his shoulder with a raised brow while pointing at something in the glass cabinet.
I take a step forward and look at the white gold, princess cut diamond. “I think it’s perfect.”
Hunter beams. “What do you think, Princess?” he asks Reign, and she bounces on the spot with excitement.
“I think mummy will loves it,” she claps her hands which only makes Hunter smile wider.
That man is so gone for those girls.
I watch him silently as he tells the slightly balding jeweller that he’d like to buy that ring and almost choke on my own saliva when the man reveals the price.
I’m no stranger to money. I was left a hefty inheritance when my parents died, but I’ve never been the materialistic type. Spending money on jewellery and handbags has always been trivial to me.
I let out a low whistle. “That’s a lot of money, cowboy.”
Hunter turns to me with the biggest smile on his face, “She’s worth every cent.”
“Good answer,” I wink.
The jeweller hands over the ring and the paperwork and Hunter takes it, offering the man a polite thank you before the three of us head back to my car. Hunters smile doesn’t falter as he hobble-walks beside me and I begin to worry that maybe his face is stuck like that.
“So, do you know how you’re gonna do it?” I ask as I open the passenger door for him. He raises a brow with a shake of the head, clearly not enjoying losing his independence.
He climbs into the car with a grimace before answering. “Yeah. I want to be able to get down on my knee first, obviously. I’m planning to do it by the lake behind my parents’ house, twinkle lights, rose petals and all that shit.”
I nod my head, imagining it. “Sounds perfect. I will take her out for a pamper day. Nails, hair and all that shit ,” I emphasise the last three words with a smirk and Hunter chuckles before clutching his abdomen with a pained wince.
Reign dozes off in the back as we make the hour journey back to the small town we’ve called home for only a few months.
It’s insane how much can change in such a short period of time. Less than six months ago we were living on the outskirts of London, spent the majority of our days in traffic, and planning to move halfway across the earth to our dream home.
Now, Savannah is pregnant and shacked up with an honest-to-God cowboy on a ranch in small town America, and I’m about to be living in our dream home alone.
Maybe I should find a roommate.
I put that thought on the back burner as I turn onto the gravel road that leads us to The Calloway Ranch. Hunter grips the oh-shit handle with a groan as the car bumps over loose rocks.
“Sorry,” I say with a grimace.
“I think it’s ‘bout time this road was paved,” Hunter says through gritted teeth, and I give a small laugh.
There’s an unfamiliar car parked outside the main house as we pass but in the last few weeks people from around town have shown up with gifts and well-wishes for Hunter and Sav, so we pay it no mind as we continue towards Hunter’s place.
I park and climb out before opening the back door of the car and waking Reign. Hunter climbs out with a grunt and takes Reigns hand, leading her up the front steps .
I enter the house first, but as I step over the threshold a familiar smell hits me. My stomach growls, reminding me I haven’t eaten today, and I follow the scent into the living room with my nose in the air. “Do I smell spag-bowl?”
I freeze mid-step as my eyes land first on Sav where she’s curled up on Hunter’s sofa, and then on the man who looks completely out of place sitting beside her. “Mason?”
“Grandad!” Reign yells from behind me and my eyes burn as she rushes past me, leaping into the arms of the man that’s been like a father to me since I was fifteen.
Movement on my right has me pulling my gaze away from the pair as Elizabeth comes walking out of the kitchen and pulls me into her arms. “Hello, my girl,” she whispers, and I sniffle.
A weight I didn’t realise I’d been carrying releases from my shoulders as my best friend’s mum holds me for a moment before pulling back and running her gaze over me.
“Missed you.” Emotion coats my words and Elizabeth smiles softly.
“Missed you, too, darling.”
Savannah stands from her seat on the sofa, and we watch as she approaches a wide-eyed Hunter where he stands in the doorway. His deer-in-headlights gaze bounces between the four of us and she gives him a quick kiss before turning and introducing him to her parents.
I watch silently as words are exchanged between Mason and Hunter until my stomach growls again, reminding me that there’s spaghetti waiting to be eaten. I step forward and clap my hands. “Now that everyone’s been introduced, can we eat?”
** *
I close the front door behind me with a soft click and pull one of Hunter’s many fleece blankets tighter around me. The sun has set behind the mountains giving the air a crisper feel and blanketing the ranch in thick shadows. The faint sound of horses whinnying swirls through the air and I take a deep breath as I come to sit in one of the Adirondack chairs.
Before we moved here, I had no idea such peace existed. There’s something so enchanting about this place. The people. I love the fact that it’s so quiet. There’s no sounds of traffic. No people honking their horns because they’re in a rush to get from A to B. In fact, no one is in a rush here, period. Life moves at a leisurely pace in Rosewater Creek.
The only downside to all that time and peace, is it gives my mind the chance to run wild with every thought and feeling I’ve been able to block out with the fast life in London.
I’ve done a lot of thinking since being here. Wondering where my life would be now if my parents were still alive. Would I still be here? Would I have the bond with Savannah that I have now? Are they proud of me? So many questions I will never know the answers to.
In some fucked up way, I’m grateful that life turned out the way it has. Because even though I lost everything in the process, I wouldn’t have everything I have now if it hadn’t. I wouldn’t know these people. Wouldn’t be a part of this family we’ve created since arriving in Rosewater Creek.
I hear the deep rumble of Hunter’s laugh as the front door opens and Elizabeth steps onto the porch in nothing but her sun dress.
“It’s cold out here,” I tell her .
She gives me her usual warm smile. “Honey, doesn’t matter what temperature it is here, it’s still warmer than England.”
I laugh. “I suppose that’s true. Clearly, I’ve climatized.”
She takes the seat next to me. “What’re you doing out here?”
I keep my eyes out in the distance, watching as one of the ranch hands crests the hill towards the main barn on horseback. “I wanted to give you guys some time alone as a family.”
I feel her gaze burning on the side of my face as she turns to look at me. “You are part of our family, Olivia. Have been since the first time Savannah brought you home and introduced you as her best friend.”
Tears burn the back of my eyes, and I blink rapidly to keep them at bay. I take a deep breath before releasing it on a long exhale. “I feel like I’ve failed her so many times.”
“What on earth would make you think that?” Elizabeth asks me, her voice full of disbelief.
I shrug. “I failed to see what he was doing to her the first time. I was so wrapped up in my own shit that I was ignorant to the signs. And then again when he came back this time. He was here for so long and none of us realised. I almost lost them both.”
Tears fall freely now and my chin trembles as she reaches out her hand and grips mine in a crushing hold. “Look at me, Olivia.”
Her voice is stern, holding no room for argument and my eyes fly to hers. “None of that was your fault. None of it. It’s not Savannahs fault either. The only person to blame for Ryan’s actions is Ryan. You have stuck by my daughter’s side through every hardship she has ever faced. You have been there when it mattered most. Every. Single. Time. ”
Her voice shakes with barely restrained anger as she continues, “No one expects you to save them. That isn’t your job. Your job is to be there in the aftermath, to help her pick up the pieces left behind. And you have done that. If we were going to place blame on people for not seeing the signs, then I’d be blaming myself for the rest of my life because I didn’t see them either. She didn’t want us to see them, Liv. Don’t burden yourself with guilt for something you had no control over. Just be there for our girls, like you always have.”
Elizabeth pulls me into a hug and the dam breaks. I cry like a little girl on the shoulder of the closest thing I’ve had to a mother since I was a child. She holds me as I sob, releasing all the guilt I’ve been harbouring for years until the tears subside, and I finally feel like I can breathe again.
She pulls back and grips my face between her hands. “You are as much my daughter as Savannah is. We love you like our own, and you will always be part of this family. Do you understand?” she asks, and I give her a blubbering nod.
God, I’m a fucking mess.
“Good. Now, tell me about this place. I can’t wait to see what they do for Halloween.” I let out a watery laugh before sitting back and telling her all about this place that has quickly become home.