Chapter 66
CHAPTER 66
CHARLIE
O n the morning of the fair, I was up extremely early, anxious about the amount of people we were about to host for the event. We would need to be done with the morning chores well before the vendors and those operating the rides started arriving.
Once they got here, it was going to be all hands on deck down at the fair. Deep in thought as I fed the cows in the barn, I didn’t hear someone walking up until they were right behind me. I turned to glance over my shoulder, expecting one of my brothers but seeing my dad instead.
I smiled and straightened up, lowering the bucket of special feed to my side. “Good morning, old man. What are you doing up so early?”
“I’ve woken up at four for so many years of my life that sometimes I still wake up then and just walk around the property. You look like you’ve been up for a while longer, though.”
I nodded and moved along to the next cow requiring this variety of feed, tipping the bucket over the trough and finding some comfort in the familiar sound of it hitting the container. When I was done, Dad came to stand next to me, hands in his pockets as he surveyed the cow.
“How’s she doing?”
“Good.” I smiled as I motioned at her udder. “The infection has cleared up and I’ve been monitoring her closely. She’s doing really well.”
“Good girl.” Dad grinned at her before turning back to me. “How about you? What’s on your mind, son?”
“Nothing.” I just felt like I was carrying a lot of weight around with me these days, but I was determined to brush it off with my dad. “You know, just the usual. It’s not anything to worry about.”
Dad snorted on a chuckle before he stopped trying to hold it back. “The usual, huh? You’re my child , Charlie. I know when something is wrong. Hell, I’ve only known you since you took your very first breath.”
Shit . I raked my free hand through my hair and shrugged, carrying the bucket around my dad to the next cow. “Working with Scarlett just hasn’t been easy, is all. She’s going out of her way to make Liv doubt how much she knows about me and our family, and she keeps trying to get me alone.”
Dad let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, I thought it might have something to do with that vulture. How’s Olivia taking it?”
I shook my head. “Honestly, I’m not sure. She seems to be okay, but how can she be? She’s being forced to work with a woman who makes me feel broken and used just for the fact that she’s been around. It’s definitely affecting Liv. I know it is, even if she’s been trying to be strong.”
“Scarlett is a mess, son,” he said. “She always has been. Whatever she’s trying to do with you and Liv, it won’t work unless you still have feelings for that woman.”
“I don’t,” I said immediately and vehemently, needing him to be as sure about it as I was. The last thing I needed was my parents worrying about shit that wasn’t even true. “I’m falling in love with Olivia and she knows that. I don’t give a damn about Scarlett. I just really don’t want her around. I don’t want her on our property or meddling in my relationship with Liv. I don’t want her talking about me or any of us like she still knows who we are.”
“Well, the only thing you can do now is to focus on courting Liv and doing your best with the fair. It’s too late to call it off, but it is still for a good cause. Otherwise, I’d have called it off as soon as she walked into the barn that day.”
“Same.”
Dad reached out and gripped my shoulder, his eyes steady and resolute on mine. “Scarlett only has as much influence as you allow her to, Charlie. Just don’t give her any leeway and this will be over before you know it.”
“Yeah, unless she manages to get inside Liv’s head somehow.”
He grimaced. “Best not to give Olivia any reason to doubt you, then. No matter what Scarlett tries, we know who she is. We also know that Olivia already feels like part of the family. That was never the case with Scarlett. We love Olivia. You love Olivia. She loves you. Don’t ever let her think otherwise.”
“You really never felt like Scarlett fit in?” I asked.
He laughed. “We only prayed for her, and that was just because she’s bat shit crazy.”
I chuckled and wrapped my arms around my dad to pull him in for a hug. “Thanks, Dad. You really think Olivia loves me, huh?”
He thumped me on the back and widened his eyes as he pulled away and nodded at me. “She loves you like crazy. Trust me. Just keep your head up. You’re a good man, Charlie. Olivia knows that.”
My heart lurched in my chest, but that blooming doubt had taken root nice and proper. “I hope you’re right.”
Dad gave me a reassuring smile as he started backing away. “Let’s just get through the fair, son. It’s all going to be just fine.”
I wasn’t so sure he was right, but I nodded and watched as he strode out of the barn toward the stables. As he left, I continued making my rounds with the cows, but I also directed my thoughts to later this morning when Olivia would be arriving with the camera crew.
Dad was right. I had to focus on her and courting her more than I worried about Scarlett and what she was doing. With that thought in mind, I finished up as fast as I could and went back to my house to grab a shower.
By the time I was done and had driven down to the fairground, Olivia and her crew were just arriving. Once again, I was amazed at the way she took control of so many people, directing them all in the right directions and overseeing things as they got set up.
As always, she looked incredible. Today, she had on blue jeans with a fitted white blazer, her boots on her feet and her hat on her head. Her dirty blonde hair tumbled out from underneath it, loose waves cascading past her shoulders.
It was turning into the perfect morning for the start of an event like a fair, not a cloud in the gray-blue sky as the sun rose higher and a light breeze rustled through the leaves. Dirt and grass crunched under my boots as I strode over to my girl, grinning as I watched her fire off instructions to the camera crew.
“Good morning,” I said when I reached her, not giving a damn about who was watching as I gave her a quick hug from behind, unable to resist the urge to feel her body against mine.
She let out a squeak of startled laughter and spun around, humor and something softer in her eyes as she looped her arms around my neck and stole a quick kiss. “Good morning, Cowboy. You’d better let me go now before those cameras start rolling.”
I grunted, tightening my grip on her waist as I stared into those gorgeous greens, alight with so much laughter and excitement that it eased the knot of tension I’d been carrying around in my chest. “Are you sure we have to wait until the fair is done before we talk to your father? I can do it as soon as he gets here.”
“If you’d like to guarantee that we don’t get his blessing, then ambush him with it today,” she said lightly. “It’s almost over, Cowboy. The fair is already beginning, which means we’re closer to the end than ever before.”
I groaned and dropped my forehead to hers, lifting my hands to cup her throat and letting my fingers drift into her hair. “Fine, but only because I really do want his blessing.”
She smiled. “So do I.”
After lingering for another beat, she smacked a quick kiss to my cheek and pulled away, winking before she turned toward the camera crew. “Let’s get to work, shall we? We’re going to get awesome footage out of this event.”
Leaving her to it, I took her advice and went to get to work myself, but Scarlett had arrived while I’d been greeting Liv and she was suddenly right behind me. Dressed completely inappropriately for both a fair and a ranch in stiletto heels and a skirt that was trying to be a belt, she smiled, her blood-red lips curving and her eyes hidden by gigantic sunglasses.
As soon as I was facing her, she started stirring the pot, reaching out to touch my forearm and speaking loudly enough to be sure that Liv would overhear her where she was talking to the camera crew. “Oh, how I have missed the ranch life. Charles, do you remember when?—”
“Nope.” I swiftly moved my arm away from her hand and shook my head. “This fair is not about you or what you’ve missed. I suggest you get to work, Scarlett. Surely, you must have something to do.”
I didn’t give a damn about her or our memories. I’d tortured myself with those for long enough. All I cared about were the new memories I would make with Olivia and those I already had.