Her hazel eyes go round, and she looks horrified to see us standing here. “Oh, Rhett! You scared me. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
She plasters on a smile, but I don’t miss the pain in her eyes before that smile reaches her lips. It breaks my heart to see. I am all too familiar with the burden she’s clearly carrying, thinking she has to deal with her pain alone. I just want to wrap her up in a hug.
Awkward silence falls over us, so I swoop in. “I’m Olivia. I don’t think we’ve met yet. It’s kind of crazy to think there are still people in Roots I haven’t met considering how small this town seems to be.”
“Oh, sorry! I don’t know where my manners have gone. I’m Lauren Rhodes. My family owns the ranch. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
I blush, and she quickly corrects herself, trying to make me feel better. “I’ve heard you’re putting on a fundraiser for Resilient Paws. That’s incredible! It’s about time Carol and those dogs get some real support. If there’s anything Copper Hill can do to help out, let me know. Maybe Austin and I could set up a booth to sell some tallow and steaks. I’d be willing to donate all the proceeds for such a good cause.”
“You would do that? That’d be amazing!”
“Of course. I’m more than happy to help out.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Well, I just came to—” She glances around desperately, “—to check the barn for my hat. I can’t seem to find it anywhere. Guess it’s not here.”
She rushes off, and I want to call her back, give her a hug, and ask her to tell me everything that she’s dealing with, but I don’t know this girl. She clearly didn’t want to be around us, so it’s best to just leave her by herself.
Rhett seems completely unaware of what just happened as he leads me out to our cars. I grab him by the wrist, stopping him in his tracks. “How old is Lauren?”
He scrunches his face as he thinks. “Umm, twenty-three I think? She’s a year younger than Charlie and Callie.”
I nod. “I’m surprised Callie hasn’t ever mentioned her before. She seems super nice.”
“Callie has always been pretty averse to associating with anything related to Copper Hill. I’ve learned not to press it. We all have things we prefer to keep buried in the past.”
Man, I want to ask Callie about that.
“So, what’s your big plan?”
Rhett presses his lips together as he realizes we both have our cars here. “How about we drop your car off? Then we can pick up Maverick and grab swimsuits.”
“Where are we going that we need swimsuits?”
“You’ll see.”
“Don’t make me wait to find out what we’re doing. The curiosity already killed the cat, don’t let it kill me too.”
“A little mystery won’t kill you. Just follow me home, and we can go from there.”
* * *
Thirty minutes later, we pull to a stop in Rhett’s truck. Maverick nearly leaps from his spot in the back seat into my lap as his excitement grows to be too much for him to contain.
“Mav!” I giggle. “You need to calm down.” Turning to Rhett, I say, “Curiosity is going to kill the dog too.”
“You’re so dramatic.” He rolls his eyes, but a smile is spreading across his lips.
I take in our surroundings. We drove down a gravel road for the last five minutes, and it has reached a dead end that doesn’t appear to lead anywhere.
“You just dragged me out into the middle of nowhere. I think it’s more than fair to ask what we’re doing here.”
“We aren’t in the middle of nowhere. You could throw a rock and hit the center of town.” He grabs my door handle and swings the door open for me.
“Are you ready to go?”
“I guess. Let’s see what Texas has to offer.”
