Chapter 31
OLIVIA
“Excuse me, my attitude?!” I arched an eyebrow at him, lifting it as high as it would go and keeping it there. I crossed my arms defensively over my chest. “This might come as news to you, Charlie, but you don’t get to tell me what to d—”
“What you overheard was me telling Dallas how I felt at the beginning,” he said emphatically, speaking slowly and enunciating every single word as those blue eyes blazed into mine.
“If you would’ve stuck around, you would’ve heard me telling him how much things had changed and how much it turned out I’d been enjoying spending time with the city girl. ”
His eyes narrowed, fingers hooking into the pockets of his jeans.
His head canted, his gaze never leaving mine.
“The thing about eavesdropping is that once you start, you should see it through. If you’re really going to be making any decisions based on what you heard, it’s kind of important to know the context of what was being said and where the conversation went. ”
I blinked a few times, shock making me lower my arms back to my sides. I stared up at him. “Having me around wasn’t a nightmare for you?”
He scoffed. “When I first found out who you were and that you were going to be staying in my house, hell yeah, it was. You can’t tell me it was a picnic for you either, finding out after that night at Honky Tonks that I was an Anderson and that we were going to be forced into working together.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out. Although I would have loved to deny it, I remembered how I’d felt when I’d first pulled up to the barn for our meeting and realized that Cowboy Charlie was Charlie Anderson.
I remembered trying to get out of having to be the one who came to the ranch and how much it’d sucked knowing I would have to keep my hands to myself.
“I’m—I’m sorry,” I finally stuttered.
Charlie kept staring into my eyes, not making a move to come closer but not walking away either.
“Dallas is the only person in this world, outside of you, that I sometimes open up to. That night was the first time I said any of what I’d been feeling out loud, and you overheard the wrong part.
You overheard the part I’d already told you.
I didn’t want to work with you at first, but that was before I got to know you. ”
A slow smile ghosted across my lips. “So, you’ve been enjoying having me around?”
“Well, I was,” he said with humor suddenly sparking to life in those eyes. “Much, much, much to my own surprise, I ended up liking having you here.”
I smacked his arm and laughed, and he chuckled as he rubbed it. “You can be a real ass, Olivia Walker.”
“You have no idea.” I let out a quiet sigh through my nostrils. The relief sweeping through me was overwhelming.
Charlie inclined his head toward the stables. “Should we go check on the goat? It wasn’t just a plot to get you out of the house. I really do need to go make sure she’s okay.”
I fell into step beside him, suddenly feeling silly for how I’d been treating him since the rodeo.
Especially since I’d known all along that I didn’t have the full story.
In retrospect, I probably could’ve let him explain it to me when he called the very next day or I could’ve confronted him about it that night, but the truth was that I’d been too hurt.
What I’d heard had cut too deep. I still couldn’t quite describe my feelings for the guy, but every word he’d said that night had stung me in places deep inside that had never felt pain before.
Besides, at least now he knew that he would never get away with talking shit about me. No one would. I didn’t take betrayal lying down, and I wasn’t some pathetic little princess who flung myself on a bed and cried until Prince Charming was nice to me again.
Charlie and I walked into the stables where the goat was evidently being kept. The sound of soft scraping and grunts filled the air. I frowned and glanced up at Charlie, whose eyes went wide.
Breaking into a run, he raced over to the stable with the goat in it and threw the latch open. “She’s in labor.”
“Shit, where’s my phone?” I started patting my thighs and ass automatically to check my pockets, then remembered I didn’t have any.
“Forget the fucking camera crew and get in here,” he snapped as he disappeared into the stall.
I shook my head, finally remembering that my phone was in my jacket’s pocket. “I can’t forget the camera crew. They need to be here for this.”
“The mother needs a calm, quiet environment,” he said as he reappeared, stalking over and grabbing my hand to pull me with him. “Just help me, okay?”
My head started nodding without my permission and my breathing quickened. In the midst of my freak-out, I managed to fire off a quick text to Dave, then looked back at Charlie with eyes wider than ever.
“How am I supposed to help you? I’ve never birthed a goat before.”
He smirked as he rolled up his sleeves, standing in the middle of a brightly lit stable with hay under his feet and the mama goat bleating and pawing at the floor beside him. “There’s a first time for everything. A good place to start would be taking off your jacket and getting rid of those shoes.”
Nodding wildly, I kicked off my heels, not really knowing what I’d been thinking when I’d put them on for a day on the ranch anyway.
Then I shrugged off my jacket. Letting it drop to the hay, I tried not to think about how much it had cost and how it was probably ruined now, and took a step forward, my gaze locked on Charlie’s calm, confident blues.
“What do you need from me?” I asked, drawing in a deep breath before I descended into a full-on panic attack.
Charlie offered me a reassuring smile, keeping his voice measured, soft, and even.
“There’s a cabinet right outside. On the top shelf, you’ll find iodine, a metal bowl, scissors, and a baby bulb syringe.
I need all of that and some water in the bowl.
” I nodded, but as I turned to leave, he gently called me back.
“We need a bit of water for her first. Use that bowl in the corner.”
I spun to see what he was talking about.
I made my way across the stall to pick up the water bowl and brought a smaller bowl filled with feed just in case.
After setting both down, I did my best to mirror Charlie’s calm, leaving the stable to find the cabinet exactly where he’d said it was—right outside the door.
Relieved that the Andersons were so organized, I opened the cabinet and collected the supplies he’d mentioned, and by the time I got back to him, something shiny and wet was already emerging from the poor goat.
“Oh!” I gasped and almost stumbled backward as I stared at it.
Charlie chuckled quietly and motioned me over with his free hand. The other had a glove on it and he didn’t look away. I supposed there was a baby goat in there somewhere.
“Nature will take its course, Liv. Don’t worry.” He took the supplies from me, then waved me closer. “Go comfort her. The kid’s almost here. She just needs to give us one more big push.”
Comfort a goat. Right. Of course, I know how to do that.
Making my way around him and the mama goat, I knelt down with my knees on the straw, brought my hand up to her neck, and looked into her wide dark eyes.
“You’re going to be okay. This must be terrifying for you.
If I’m being honest, it’s a little terrifying for me too, but we’re going to get through it.
Together. Charlie knows what he’s doing. At least, I think he does.”
She let out a sound that was somewhere between a bleat, a grunt, and perhaps a goatish groan, and a minute before the cameras arrived, she gave that last push he’d needed.
Charlie chuckled. I couldn’t look at what he was doing but I heard soft clattering of the supplies I’d brought him in the metal bowl, so I knew he was doing something.
Meanwhile, I kept stroking the mama. “Congratulations. I’m sure he’s beautiful.”
“It’s a girl,” Charlie said happily, on his ass on the hay. He finally lifted the little goat so I could see it.
My heart was pounding in my chest, but it fluttered at the sight of the tiny, newborn creature and I smiled, surprised to find tears pressing at the backs of my eyes. “Oh wow. That’s…”
He lifted those blues to mine and our gazes connected for just a moment before Dave appeared in the doorway, camera at the ready. “Did we miss it?”
“The birth? Yes,” I said quietly, finally breaking eye contact with Charlie to look at Dave. “Keep it down and calm, okay? Since the baby has already been born, I think it’s best if we get our shots of her in the daylight.”
Dave sighed but nodded, and Charlie smiled at me. He reached out to comfort the mother, patting her gently, and he looked into my eyes. “Thank you.”
“You were right,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “She doesn’t need the disruption of having cameras all over her right now. She just became a mother, for heaven’s sake.”
Frankly, I’d decided to get our shots tomorrow for my sake as much as for the mom’s.
All I wanted right then was to be able to enjoy this moment with Charlie.
Both of us had a hand on the mother and he was trying to help the kid get to a nipple, but he barely seemed to need to look at the goats to know what he was doing.
Mostly, he kept bringing his gaze back to mine. I smiled, feeling that familiar connection between us sparking like an exposed wire. I liked him so, so much, and the realization of just how much was a little intimidating.
How could I go from hating him to being all heart-eyed in a single day?
“Well, I might’ve missed the birth,” Dave said softly from the door, startling me since I’d thought he was gone.
When I snapped my gaze to his, I found him smiling at us, camera still aimed in our direction, but the telling red light was nowhere to be found.
“I got a good shot of you two taking care of the goats together. People are going to love it.”
Charlie sighed, but he wore a small smile that told me he wouldn’t hate it if that shot made it into the video. As for me, I had a feeling I was going to be getting that shot printed and framed for my wall.
This had been an experience I was humbled and honored to have been a part of, a moment I wanted to look back on every single day.
This was Charlie’s life, and for as long as he was in mine, I wanted to remember that, no matter the noise about the ranch or even their billions, these kinds of miracles were what he was all about.