Chapter 24
CHARLIE
The morning after the rodeo, I was up and on the ranch, still fantasizing about Olivia in that hat, when my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out, exhaling a deep breath when I saw my father’s name on the screen.
Overhead, the sun was crawling higher into the sky. Its early spring rays were only just starting to light the tops of the buildings in the distance. Nairobi snorted underneath me, stomping his foot as his tail swatted away a fly.
The morning held all the makings of a beautiful day. A day which would become even more beautiful later if Olivia agreed to go to dinner with me when I called her.
After I’d gotten home last night, I’d thought about that comment she’d dropped about the rodeo being a date and I’d decided that perhaps it was time to actually ask her on one. While the two of us together potentially spelled disaster, I’d realized that I was ready and willing to take the chance.
As my phone buzzed again, however, a slightly ominous feeling took root in my gut. Dad never called this early unless something was wrong.
Mornings on the ranch were for chores. We’d see each other in less than an hour for breakfast anyway, and that was when he discussed all the usual stuff that needed to be talked about for the day with us.
Fear coiled my insides. I slid my thumb across the green bar and brought the device to my ear. “Everything okay, Dad?”
“I need you to come to the house,” he said slowly, his tone ringing with disbelief that made it sound like he was shocked about something. “We need to talk.”
Hanging up before I could ask what the hell was going on, he clearly expected me right away. Otherwise, he would have said he wanted to talk to me about this later.
Without even thinking about second-guessing my gut, I tightened my grip on Nairobi’s reins and dug my heels into his side. “Come on, boy. Let’s go home.”
The colt shot forward like a bullet, his hooves hitting the ground in a rhythmic gallop that made him seem happy to be able to run freely without being reined in. For my part, all I did was sit tight and guide him in the right direction.
Glad that I’d decided to bring him out this morning instead of Cutie, I patted his side and dismounted him when we reached my parents’ house. “Great job, boy. Great job. I’ll see you later.”
Handing him over to a passing hand, I waited until I was confident he wouldn’t try anything with the youngster, who was newer on the ranch. Once I saw that the guy had him well in hand, I strode to the porch and found my dad waiting there for me.
Unlike other days, there was no sweet tea or coffee waiting for me.
An empty mug stood on the table next to Dad’s chair, which was also odd for this time of day.
Alarm bells blared in my mind as I ascended the few steps.
My heart thrummed with anxiety when I realized that the old man even seemed a little pale.
Although I knew that he’d noticed me arriving, he didn’t look at me, simply staring off into the distance with his elbows on his knees and his hands steepled, his index fingers against his lips. He remained in that position for a minute before he finally spoke.
“What did you do, Charlie?”
“Excuse me?” I frowned. “What did I do with what?”
“With Olivia,” he growled, gaze suddenly snapping up to mine.
He narrowed his eyes, searching for something I didn’t understand.
“I just got off the phone with Nathan. Neither of us know why, but she was clear that she is no longer willing to work with you. So clear, in fact, that she asked him to call me first thing to let me know.”
Confusion slowed me down, making my brain feel like it’d been covered in some kind of sludge. “What?”
“You heard me,” he seethed, his voice dangerously low. “So I’ll ask you again, Charlie. What. Did. You. Do?”
“Nothing.” I thought back to last night, the sludge making it difficult to think clearly, but I replayed every moment—up to and including her kissing my cheek before she took off. “I didn’t do anything, Dad. She was fine when she left the rodeo last night.”
“Then why is she refusing to work with you as of this morning?” he asked, eyes still searching my own. “Something must’ve happened, son. Women like her are resilient. They’re strong and they don’t walk away from an account like ours for no good reason.”
“She’s walking away?” I blinked hard, struggling desperately to understand just what the hell was going on. “Like, completely?”
Dad lifted his shoulder in a slow, confused shrug and shook his head. “I’m sure she’ll still be working on it from their offices, but she’s walking away from spearheading it from here. With us. Nathan said they’ll be sending someone else to cover our profiles and to get content.”
The news sent shockwaves through me and I lowered myself on the porch railing before I fell over. I shook my head repeatedly. “I don’t understand. Honestly, I have no idea where this is coming from. She really was fine when she left last night.”
She’d smiled at me. Kissed my cheek. Told me she’d love it if I called her so we could get together again sometime soon.
Dad rose to his feet, finally grabbing his empty coffee cup before bringing his gaze back to mine. “In that case, you need to figure out what happened and you need to make it right. I have no interest in working with some other employee from her firm.”
Her firm. Not Nathan’s anymore, but hers.
It was a subtle difference in the wording he’d chosen to use when referring to the company, but as subtle as changing just that one word might’ve been, the potential impact on the ranch was massive.
Dad didn’t want to work with another marketing firm, and currently, the person who would soon be in charge of said firm didn’t want to work with me.
What a mess.
Dad paused when he passed me on his way to get more coffee. “We only want to work with her, Charlie. She’s proven that she’s more than capable and the family has already grown to trust her. I like the approach she’s taken and I don’t want someone we don’t know crawling all over our ranch.”
“Yeah. I don’t want that either.”
I felt numb, though. Logically, I knew that Olivia was the best person for the job and that we needed her back, but I just couldn’t feel anything about it right now.
There was no worry. No panic. Not even frustration, anger, or annoyance.
What the hell happened?
As Dad walked away, I stood up and fled across the front lawn to the small stream that led down to the creek. Birds chirped and a breeze rustled through the leaves in the trees, but I was barely aware of it.
I felt strangely detached from the world around me. The shock was too consuming. Too great. Too sudden.
I stuck my hand into my pocket and pulled out my phone. Being shocked couldn’t and wouldn’t stop me from trying to fix whatever this was—and not only because my father had told me to do it.
I needed to fix this for myself as much as I had to fix it for the ranch.
The only explanation I had was that perhaps me asking if I could call her to see her again soon had urged her to cut ties professionally.
Maybe she was opposed to dating a client she was also actively spearheading a campaign for.
If that was the case, I was sure she and I could work it out. We could lay out some ground rules or something.
The fact was that I didn’t know how to fix it before I knew how it had broken, and the only way to find out was to speak to her. I hit the speaker button on my phone, far enough away that no one would overhear our conversation.
The ringing tone filled the air around me, but she didn’t pick up. When I reached her voicemail, I ended the call and tried again, and again.
Throughout the day, I kept trying to reach her, but by late in the afternoon, I’d come to the conclusion that she was definitely dodging my calls. The woman’s phone was practically glued to her hand, always nearby in case she needed to take a picture or record something.
In all the time I’d known her, I’d never seen her go hours without at least checking it, which meant that by now, she knew I’d tried contacting her. She hadn’t returned my calls because she didn’t want to.
As I mulled it all over, fear finally broke through the numbness of the shock. For the first time in years, I was actually worried that I might lose a girl.
I headed down to the barn, too agitated to go home even after a full day of work. Colt was there when I arrived, bailing hay and grinning at me until he noticed the expression on my face.
“Whoa.” He stepped aside and let me take over immediately. “You look like you’re in desperate need of blowing off some steam, bro. What happened?”
“Nothing,” I grunted. “I do need to blow off some steam, though. I’ll finish up here. You can go now.”
Colt didn’t push it, giving me a wide berth before leaving the barn without asking any further questions. I was grateful to him for it. I still had no idea what had happened, but even I knew it was probably better for them to avoid me until I managed to get a handle on it.