“Absolutely! I’d do anything for you two.”
“I think you’ll really like having our girl around. She’s beautiful and funny and so smart. You two could be great friends, or you know, more.”
Jack nudges Mandi in the side. “Mandi! Don’t make him feel uncomfortable.”
After everything I’ve been through in my twenty-six years of life, an insinuation like that would normally make me want to run for the hills. I want nothing to do with love anymore. I’d hate to open my heart up one more time only to find it shattered… again. But I don’t need to worry about falling in love with Olivia.
I’ve never met her, but the Parkers talk about her constantly and have shown me a million photos of her. Sheisgorgeous, but she has also refused to visit her parents for the entire two years they’ve been in Roots. Despite the way she keeps them at a distance, her parents still worship the very ground their daughter walks on. I could never love such a self-centered and cold-hearted person. I want nothing to do with her. In fact, I think the best solution is to just avoid her for the three months she’s here.
Mandi speaks again, drawing me back. “In all seriousness, I think Olivia could use a friend here. Maybe you could just look out for her since you’ll be so close.”
Jack swoops in. “Yeah, a friend could be just what she needs to make this easier. Olivia is having a hard time taking the leave of absence. She’s career-minded like her father, and she’s got her sights set on that senior promotion this fall.”
Part of me is inclined to say no. We are in the tail end of calving season at the ranch, and quite frankly, I want nothing to do with Olivia, even if I did have the time for her. But then there’s the part of me that is desperate not to mess things up with the Parkers, the part of me that is grateful to have them in my life, to have them care for me, even if it’s the littlest bit. That part wins out.
“I’ll have a lot going on this summer with the ranch, but I will keep an eye out for her.”
“Thank you!” Mandi bursts from her seat at the table and huddles me into her arms.
“Yes, thank you, Rhett. Again, I know we ask a lot. We just look at you like a son,” Jack adds.
How can I say no to that?
“When is she coming?”
“She will be here in about a week. She has to get all her affairs in order with work and her apartment and then she’s going to drive over.”
“I can’t wait!” I fake a smile while I mentally tally up the things I need to do over the next week to prepare the dingy old cottage for Olivia. There’s no way it’ll be ready in time, but I have to find a way to make it work because she’s sure as hell not going to wind up staying in my house.
ChapterThree
Olivia
Veering off the highway,I’m welcomed by a swarm of red and yellow wildflowers and field after field of tall grass. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how green the area surrounding Roots is as I’ve driven in. I always pictured Texas to be desert-like, with cacti and tumbleweeds, but instead, it’s luscious green fields and lots of leafy trees.
I turn right, following my GPS, and find a large white sign with italic font reading, “Welcome to Roots, Texas, where everyone wants to put down roots.” Cheesy. More dainty wildflowers make their home at the base of the sign. They truly are beautiful.
I still can’t believe my parents have been so supportive of me taking time off from work. They’ve always been so proud of me for doing so well in school and for getting a job at the Big Four. They bragged to all their friends about how smart their daughter is and how hard I work. My dad has walked a little straighter over the last two years knowing his daughter is going to fulfill the career aspirations he never could, but now that I’m so close to promotion, so close to the dream my dad and I have shared since I was a freshman in college, they decide some time off would do me some good. I don’t know what to make of that.
My GPS tells me to take a left at the light, but the little gas station on the corner is calling my name. I’m not ready to get to the cabin and start my life for the next three months.Three months!It’ll probably feel like three years out here.
I step out of the car and tap my card on the pump. The gas begins glugging slowly, and it promptly stops after only a minute. To be fair, I did just fill up half an hour ago.
I purse my lips. So much for stalling. A flashing sign in the window of the gas station shop catches my eye, and I suddenly have a strong urge to use the restroom. There’s no way I’ll make it to the cabin without going now. I whip out my phone to check how long the drive is. Four minutes. Yeah, Idefinitelycan’t wait that long.
I step through the door with my nose still in my phone and bump into a human brick wall. Disoriented, I slip my phone into my back pocket and look up to find a towering man in Wrangler jeans, a backwards hat, and cowboy boots standing in front of me. My cheeks flood with heat as I take him in. He looks to be about my age, with shaggy, chestnut brown hair curling out the sides of his hat. Stubble covers his jaw, and as I meet his striking emerald green eyes, I swear he can see into my soul.
“You’re Jack and Mandi’s daughter, aren’t you?”
I smile sheepishly. I didnotexpect the whole Texas cowboy look to work for me, but apparently, it is. Even with the questionable stains on his jeans and a smattering of dirt crusted on his cheek, I still feel a pull to this man.
Pinching myself with the hopes of urging my mind back to working capacity, I stammer, “Yeah, I—I am.”
“Welcome to Roots. It’s so good you were finally able to come visit. Your parents have created quite the life for themselves here. Everyone loves them, and they seem to be really happy.”
My insides warm the slightest at that knowledge. My parents had talked about getting out of the rat race while I was in high school, but they didn’t leave California until after I graduated college because of me.We don’t want to pull Olivia from school now. We can’t leave Olivia in the state alone when her anxiety is this bad.Now, they have the slower lifestyle they wanted, and apparently, they’re thriving. It’s nice to hear. I just wish I wasn’t threatening to get in the way of that again, but I guess I was stuck between a rock and a hard place because I could either come here or let them uproot their lives to come to me.
“I’m glad to hear they’re happy. It sounds like you already know, but I’m Olivia.” I offer my hand to him.
