“Back to what we were talking about earlier. What was wrong with your mom stepping in to help you?”
“It—got out of hand.” She’s still holding back. “Plus, it made me feel helpless. I felt like I had to start hiding my anxiety from her because it wasn’t getting better, and I could tell that it was killing her every time she saw me that way. I finally figured out the balance to let my parents go on living their lives after I got out of college, and I was proud of myself. Being responsible for another person’s happiness is a big weight to hold on a person’s shoulders.” Her face turns somber. “I never wanted to push them away, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
My heart melts for her. Olivia isn’t a bad person, and she’s not ungrateful either. She is truly driven by a love for her parents, even if it’s misguided.
Ready to be done with this conversation, I pick up our plates and bring them into the dining room. “I need to get to bed. Tomorrow morning is going to be hell.”
* * *
When I wake up at four-thirty in the morning, Maverick is nowhere to be found. There’s a sinking feeling in my chest as I imagine Olivia’s reaction when she wakes up to find out we already lost the dog. She’ll be crushed.
As I move quietly throughout the house, whispering his name, it hits me there’s one place I haven’t checked. I crack the door open to the guest bedroom and find Maverick sprawled out on Olivia’s bed. The two of them are practically spooning.
She’s already broken the only rules we had. Rule number one: don’t let him up on the furniture. Rule number two: don’t get too attached.
That dog is in love with her already, and the feeling is obviously mutual. There’s no way she’s going to be able to say goodbye to him without breaking both of their hearts. As for me, I definitely won’t let him up on the furniture, but it feels too late to avoid breaking rule number two. I hate to admit it, but I’m quickly realizing that rule actually has nothing to do with Maverick.
ChapterEleven
Olivia
“What doyou have planned for the rest of the day?” Mom asks as she takes the dirty dishes into the kitchen.
“Maybe I could just hang around here and play with the dogs? I can take all three of them on a nice long walk and tire them out for you.”
Hanging out with dogs sounds a lot better than hanging out with humans. Besides, Rhett has the day off today, so it feels a little weird to hang around his house. We’ve gone a whole week and a half living together without killing each other, and I don’t feel like breaking that streak.
Our schedules haven’t exactly aligned too much since he gets up before the sun, and I’m not even close to a morning person, but we usually eat dinner together. Then we sit in the living room so we can be in the same place at once for Maverick’s sake. Usually, I watch Dexter on the floor, so I can pet Maverick without breaking Rhett’s stupid rule, and Rhett does research for the ranch or pretends to read a book. I say pretend because it’s more than clear he’s getting sucked intoDexter,which gives me an immense amount of satisfaction.
“It’s Saturday. You should be hanging out with friends or something,” Mom says, pulling me from my thoughts.
“I don’t have any friends here.”Granted, I now live and co-own a dog with Rhett. Is that the kind of thing friends do together?
“Maybe it’s time you made some.”
“Does Maverick count?” I point to the dog at my feet, but Mom looks incredibly unamused, even though she thought he was one of the cutest things she’d ever seen when I first brought him over. He’s still warming up to her and my dad, staying at my feet constantly.
“No, he doesn’t count.” She flicks me playfully with a towel. “Have you spoken with Anna since you got here?”
“Yeah, we’ve talked twice.”
Dad walks into the kitchen at that moment, asking, “How’s she doing?”
“Good, but she’s unreasonably worried about me because of the whole leave of absence thing.”
“She isn’t being unreasonable,” Mom murmurs.
“Mom—”
“It’d be easier not to worry if you had friends here.”
“But—”
“Oh, you know what would be a great idea?” Mom turns to Dad, beaming. The look in her eyes makes me a little nervous. “We should call Rhett and have him take her out. He has the day off, remember? Plus, he knows this place like the back of his hand. I’m sure he could show you all the ins and outs of the town and all the cool places for you twenty-somethings to go.”
“I didn’t think there were any cool places to go in Roots,” I tease.
Mom returns my remark with a displeased frown.
