Chapter 21 - Olivia
O livia had been staking dahlias for hours to keep them from collapsing under their own weight, which would break their stems and cause them to become generally useless.
Who thought planting three hundred dahlias was a good idea? It couldn’t have been me. That would have been highly irrational, Olivia thought for the hundredth time that day .
But the anticipation of seeing the dahlia field in full bloom, representing every color under the rainbow, kept her going. She expected the flowers to transition from one-off blooms to an innumerable variety of breathtaking beauties in about two weeks. At that point, she was going to have a new problem on her hands—figuring out what the heck she was going to do with more than a thousand dahlia blooms each week, not to mention how she was going to harvest them.
Olivia paused to drink some water and check her phone. She had a ten-minute-old text from Aiden and felt the buzzy excitement now accompanying each text he sent—the sensation was beginning to feel familiar. They had been exchanging messages consistently since her birthday.
Aiden: I know this is really short notice, but I was able to get someone to cover my shift tonight so I can drive up for my dad’s birthday. Any chance I could convince you to come as my date?
Aiden: It's not the date I had in mind, but I promise I'll make that up to you soon.
Olivia waited to respond while she sifted through the onslaught of emotions that accompanied Aiden’s text. On the one hand, the idea of seeing Aiden and that he’d unambiguously asked her on a date made her giddy, but on the other? Dinner with his family? The image made her squirm because she felt like going to his parents’ home would be crossing lines that couldn’t be uncrossed.
Aiden: Ok, I know this is a lot to ask, but I’ll only be in town for the night, and I’d love to see you. It will just be us, my parents, Ellen and Tommy, and Ethan at my parents’ house. Very casual.
Bouncing dots appeared, so she waited for his follow-up text.
Aiden: The Ethan thing isn’t still weird for you, is it? It shouldn’t be. I think he’s dating someone, and he might even bring her.
This last piece of information did help, though it wasn’t a major concern for Olivia. Despite her discomfort at the thought of crashing a Wescott family affair, she was beyond eager to see Aiden. She’d had far too much quiet time to herself in the field, and her mind kept wandering back to their kiss. Well, in reality, it was like a tennis match in her mind, flipping back and forth between both kisses over and over again. That morning, when she’d glanced in the mirror, she had a dopey smile on her face. She couldn’t deny the infatuation tickling her sternum .
Ugh, why did I think a quiet farming life was a good idea again? Now I have all the time in the world to obsess over Aiden. I need a more social job ASAP—something demanding and distracting. Maybe it was time to call Jill about that waitressing job .
She was still holding her phone when it vibrated once more.
Aiden: Please? I'm not above begging. I promise it’ll be fun.
She exhaled and typed.
Olivia: LOL. Sure, sounds great! What should I bring?
Aiden: Nothing, just yourself! I’m leaving the Cities now. I should be there by 6 to pick you up, but I’ll text you my ETA when I get closer.
Olivia: (thumbs-up emoji)
Crap, thumbs-down emoji! Lines were about to be crossed. Her mom was definitely going to hear about this. Should Olivia just text her mom right now–control the narrative and all that? Or did it even matter? If the farmers were talking, half the town probably knew she’d left her birthday party with Aiden.
She had two hours before he arrived, and at that moment, she was covered in sweat and dirt. She needed to figure out what she was going to bring because, duh, she couldn’t go over to a…man-friend’s…parents’ house empty-handed in Gresham.
She dropped the dahlia staking supplies in the dirt. No time to clean up after herself. She grabbed some snips and frantically whipped together a market-style bouquet, stuck it in water on her porch, and ran up the stairs to shower and get ready. Seeing her running, Ms. Darcy barked and chased after her. It made her laugh, and she paused to cuddle and play with her pup for a few minutes. Afterward, she assuaged her guilt for abandoning Ms. Darcy with a rawhide and dashed into the bathroom.
Two hours later, nearly to the minute, Aiden's car pulled up the driveway. She checked her reflection in the mirror once more. She'd had to blow dry her hair, which had given it a little extra volume and a bit of wave. Turning her head from side to side, she liked the way the light brought out various shades of bronze and copper.
Look out, Julia Roberts. I'm coming for you.
She'd settled on a navy blue wrap dress and strappy brown sandals. For good measure, she'd put on her favorite necklace, a small rose gold locket her grandmother had given her, and slipped on her favorite bracelet, which matched the locket.
She greeted Aiden from her porch. He got out of his car and reached his arms above his head as if he were stiff from the long drive. As his arms stretched high overhead, his shirt rode up above the line of his waistband, revealing a few inches of his lean torso. Damn, he looked good . He dropped his arms back down to his sides and winked. His light blue button-down, navy jeans, and brown loafers fit his body perfectly.
“Hi.” Half of his mouth crooked up in a flirty grin she was beginning to think of as Aiden’s signature smile.
“Hi.” She leaned her hip against the porch railing, grinning back, before looking down at her toes, which really needed a re-polish. She curled her toes into her sandals, hoping he wouldn’t notice .
“You look beautiful.” He came closer and leaned down to kiss her cheek.
She leaned into his kiss and inhaled his cedar and clove scent. “Thanks, so do you.”
“Thank you for coming tonight. I thought about getting you flowers, but I wasn’t sure what the etiquette is for buying flowers for a flower farmer, so I got you this instead.” He lifted his hand to reveal a small box of chocolate truffles.
Olivia read the label, ‘Earl Grey Sea Salt,’ and smiled. “I must say, you have excellent taste.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled a big “pleased to have pleased you” smile.
“Let me pop these inside, grab my bag, and then we can head out.”
“Sure.”
In addition to a bouquet of hand-tied sweet peas, snapdragons, and strawflowers, Olivia grabbed a jar of her increasingly handy compote, remembering what Aiden had said about his mom having made it in the past.
On the way to Aiden’s parents, they made small talk about his drive from the Cities, the weather, and what she was planning for her CSA boxes that week. Olivia asked him about work, and he told her about a few of his more complex cases.
Aiden turned off the highway onto a paved road, heading toward Lake Susan. Olivia had been to Lake Susan at least once to go boating with friends in high school, but she'd never been inside one of its lake houses. While lakeshore property was fairly prevalent in Creek County, where Gresham was nestled, Lake Susan, in particular, attracted a lot of Gresham’s wealthier residents, including several doctors like the senior Dr. Wescott.
Driving around the edge of the lake, she took in the view of one large, manicured house after another, most sporting American flags along with a second affinity flag representing everything from The Minnesota Vikings to the U.S. Navy to Sweden.
Old feelings of inferiority that used to surface when surrounded by obvious wealth tried to sneak up, but Olivia shoved them back down. In her youth, growing up on a farm, she’d felt more average than special. Despite her best teenage efforts, she envied some of her wealthier classmates and all of their shiny new toys and expensive family vacations to Mexico or Hawaii each winter. As an adult, Olivia knew better, but she had to actively quiet her inner fifteen-year-old.
Aiden pulled the car into a short driveway and parked next to a black Tesla Model S. They stepped out, and he guided her toward a path along the side of his massive childhood home.
As they rounded the corner, the lake came into view.
Wow .
The distance from the house to the lake was at least fifty yards, which explained the short distance between the garage and the road. The Wescotts had optimized their nearly water-level lot for privacy and lake access. She’d been on enough pontoon rides with her father to know this kind of property, which didn’t require stairs to access the water, was significantly more valuable.
In the water, an expansive dock housed a speed boat, a pontoon, and two jet skis. In the opposite direction, the house was a wall of glass, doubtless to ensure every room had an optimal view of the lake. Olivia took a deep breath to slow her heart rate.
“Oh, there's Ethan,” Aiden said, pointing toward the patio.