Chapter 52
Chapter Fifty-Two
Olivia
I set down my turkey, bacon, and avocado sandwich. “So, let me get this straight, you two drunkenly convinced Jax to drive you all the way to Amarillo so you could track down Austin, and you caught him with another woman? You’re sure it was romantically?”
Callie nods emphatically, her eyes practically popping out of her head.
“Yeah, I’m sure of it,” Lauren says. “She was naked in his hotel bed. I swear it was like something you only see in the movies. He couldn’t even try to deny it.”
“What happens now?”
Lauren winces. “I called off the wedding, obviously, and he’s moving out. He says he’s going to live with his parents temporarily, but I hope he just moves to Amarillo to be with that girl. I don’t really want to see him everywhere in town now, and it’d somehow make me feel better if there’s at least some real feelings there. After being together for almost eight-years, I’d prefer he cheated on me because he found the real love of his life, not just because he’s a horny dude, or, I don’t know, that I just wasn’t enough for him anymore.”
“Lauren, no!” Callie bellows. The elderly couple at the table to our left pause their conversation to eye her. “Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Colt. Please enjoy your meal.” She gives a cheesy grin and a wave before leaning in toward Lauren, lowering her voice. “Don’t you dare think for one second that this is your fault or that you weren’t enough for him. If anything, he wasn’t enough for you. He just proved that with his actions.”
“Thanks, Callie.”
“I just can’t believe someone would do that to another human, especially a human as sweet as you.”
Callie waves down the waitress, turning to Lauren and adding, “I know what will cheer you up.” She orders us something called a gooey cookie.
“This might not be all that helpful yet since things are still fresh, but I think this could be good for you,” I say.
Lauren arches a brow, forcing me to explain myself. “When I asked you to come out with us the other night, you tried to tell me you had to get things ready for Austin to come home. Then a little bit before you and Callie left, you were talking about how you felt like you two had just been living parallel lives. It just seems to me like this can be an opportunity for you to live life on your own terms, not for anyone else. As someone who was constantly trying to satisfy other people all the time, I can tell you it’s exhausting, and it’s really freeing to finally escape that.”
She nods. I’m sure it’s a little early for her to hear all of this, but it’s evident she’s at least trying to give my words some thought.
Unable to tame my curiosity, I change the subject. “So, how did you convince Jax to drive you two all the way to Amarillo? If you left after his shift, it must have been at least two-thirty in the morning.”
“You should’ve seen it! Lauren has some sort of magical powers or something because she just batted her eyelashes at Jax, and he was like putty in her hands. I’ve never seen that flirt look so uncool. It was amazing!”
“Whoa.” I quirk a brow, turning to Lauren. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the way he teased you at the bar the other night, and he has a nickname for you.”
“Oh, stop! Jax is Charlie’s best friend. He’s always thought of me as an annoying little sister, and he only calls me Freckles because he knows I’ve always hated my freckles. He does look out for me when I need it though, especially with Charlie being in Los Angeles now. Hence him taking us to Amarillo.”
She flips her napkin inside out as she watches the waitress bring out the gooey cookie, which is a chocolate chip cookie served in a warm skillet and covered in a mountain of vanilla ice cream.
“I don’t even want to think about another guy right now. I’m still kind of getting over my last relationship. Besides, it’s going to take me a little while to trust my judgment again. I really thought Austin was the one. I pictured having babies together and taking care of Copper Hill together. I saw it all with him, and it came crashing down in just a couple of months.”
Callie covers her mouth with a napkin to hide the fact that she just took a giant bite of cookie. “You’re going to be okay. You’ve got us.”
“Yeah, and as long as I can help it, I’m not going anywhere, well except to get my stuff in San Francisco, but otherwise, you’re stuck with me.”
“Thank you.” Lauren forces a smile on her face. “Enough of that sappy talk. You have to explain what’s going on between you and Rhett. I saw him hanging all over you at the fundraiser, and I heard you two were out late in some field near Copper Hill last night.”
I want to keep comforting her, but I can tell from the look in her eyes she’s desperate for a change of subject.
Callie leans her elbows on the table, placing her chin in her hands and watching me intently. Picking up on what Callie is doing, Lauren joins in, innocently batting her eyes at me, waiting for me to fill them in. Unwilling to play into their hand, I spoon a melty bite of cookie, careful to get a good ratio of ice cream in the bite as well.
“What do you want me to say?”
“For starters, have you two kissed?”
“Yes.”
Callie lets out a shriek that makes Mrs. Colt turn toward us again. In an effort to appease her, Callie just waves cheerfully as she spoons another big bite of the delicious dessert.
“Wasn’t that obvious?” I ask.
“Yeah, but we still had to make you say it,” Lauren teases.
“I’ve decided I actually hate you two.”
They both laugh in unison, and I can’t help but join in. I haven’t had friends like this since—I don’t know how long it’s been. I don’t know if I’ve ever connected with other girls my age in the same way that I have with Callie and Lauren, not even Anna from college. They’ve just embraced me immediately, making me feel loved and free to be myself. I’ve been open with them about my anxiety and panic attacks, and never once have they made me feel ashamed. Instead, they just lift me up and tell me about their own scars too. It feels so good to have real friendship like this.
“How did it happen?”
I fill them in on how Rhett opened up to me. I’m careful not to get too detailed, even though Callie knows all about Rhett’s past. As far as I know, Lauren doesn’t, and that’s Rhett’s story to share. “Anyway, after he told me some personal things about himself, I let it slip that his honesty made me really want to kiss him. Next thing I know, he was pulling me in for the best kiss of my life. I’m telling you I thought Brady Mitchell from sophomore year of college was a good kisser. I was wrong. Rhett puts that boy to shame.”
“Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” Callie cries. I can’t help but laugh. She already knows most of this, but she is still genuinely acting giddy over hearing it all again.
“Have you said the “L” word to one another yet?” Lauren asks.
“Maybe.”
“I knew it! Oh my gosh! This is so great! So now what? Have you figured out the job thing yet? Are you going to keep living with him?”
“Rhett and my parents have both been super supportive. Rhett talked to someone on my behalf about a job and has offered for me to stay in the big house or the guest house, my choice. The cottage is ready, but I still haven’t been able to bring myself to move out of Rhett’s guest bedroom. I love being there with him. I can’t picture moving out.” The girls return my answer with more squeals. “All of this is sort of freaking me out though. I’ve spent my life trying to keep from being a burden, and here I am letting someone else try to take care of me again.”
“That’s not being a burden. Rhett wants to do that for you. It’s very clear from the way he looks at you, and the fact that he told you he loves you, that he wants you around for the long haul. Accepting help from other people doesn’t make you a burden.”
“Thanks, Lauren.”
“You will never be a burden to any of us,” Callie chimes in. “It’s best you learn that before you move here. We are all family, and we take care of each other.”
I give a soft smile, not knowing what else to say. I want that so badly, but I’m worried I don’t know how to get it. I’ve never had so many people caring for me and accepting me as I do right now. What if I mess it all up?
We finish the gooey cookie, scraping the bottom of the skillet for every last bit of chocolate, and pay. As we shuffle out of Sweet Mae’s Diner, I give Lauren a tight squeeze, and she rushes off, explaining, “I promised my dad I’d help him move the cattle into a new pasture this afternoon. With Austin leaving, we are a little short-handed.”
“We totally understand. Go. Get out of here. And tell Austin he can go to Hell!” Callie calls after her.
Lauren gives a shy smirk before turning to her truck, getting in, and speeding off out of the parking lot.
“That girl is always in a hurry,” Callie notes, a hint of affection in her voice. She turns back to me, and her smile falters. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just don’t get how you went from not liking her to treating her like she’s actually your friend.”
My words wipe the smile off her face. She chews on her lower lip before finally admitting, “I used to date her brother, Charlie. We started dating junior year of high school. He went to college in L.A., and I stayed in Texas for school. We did long distance for a whole year, and I thought the plan was for him to get his adventures outside of this little town and then come back, but after a year there, he decided he actually wanted nothing to do with this town… or me. It sucked, and I wanted someone else to blame. Lauren always seemed perfect. She had the perfect grades, the perfect boyfriend. She had it all, and she just swooped right in to clean up his mess when he left, so she was an easy person to blame. I never wanted to believe that it was just that he left because I wasn’t enough. Because then my parents left me too, and it was all just too much. I realize now it was dumb, but that’s why I didn’t like her before.”
“Aww, Callie!” I pull her in for a hug. “He doesn’t know what he’s missing. Your parents too. You’re absolutely enough.”
“Thank you.” She gives me a soft smile as she returns my hug. “I hope you know you’re doing okay. I know it’s scary to let people in and accept change, but you’re finding your way. You’ve got an incredible man who adores you, a loving family that has welcomed you here with open arms, and the best friends a girl could ask for.” She winks. “The rest will come, but you’ve built all of this on your own. You know what you’re doing. Don’t let yourself overthink things.”
A swell of pride rises in my chest. I’m doing pretty well. Three months ago, I never in my wildest dreams could’ve pictured this is what my life would look like, that I’d feel so happy and loved here in Roots, that I’d grow to tolerate the humidity and appreciate the flat plains of Texas, but here I am. I guess we all surprise ourselves sometimes.
When I get in my car, I pull out my phone and find an email notification. It’s from Morgan. I swallow my nerves and open it up.