Dear California (Martin Family Book 2)

by Brooke St. James

  She stared into my eyes with fear—like I was a bomb that might go off at any moment. "Liv, are we talking about the same person, here?" she asked cautiously. "The guy you met yesterday?" She emphasized the word yesterday to point out how ridiculous I was being.

  "I don't really care what you think about it, Tels. I don't owe you or anyone else an explanation for my feelings."

  "Sor-ry," she said dramatically as if she thought I was overreacting. She put her hand on my shoulder and stared into my eyes. She and I were usually in such a hurry that eye contact was brief, but this time she held me there, searching my eyes for some truth. "You're serious, aren't you?" she asked after a few long seconds.

  "Yes, I'm serious," I said.

  "She went to the hospital with a panic attack," my mom added as she came to stand closer to us.

  "I'm serious about making some changes," I said letting my sister see how sincere I was. "Even before I met Cole I already had my mind made up to stop traveling so much. We talked about you branching off and doing your own thing with the YouTube channel. I think it's about that time. I love you, but I'm just not cut from the same cloth you are."

  I waited to see how Estela would respond. I thought she might try to tell me to take a day to think about it, but she surprised me by saying, "I understand. I knew this time was coming. I just didn't know there would be a guy involved."

  I let out a little laugh. "I didn't either," I said. "This guy's got me all twisted in the head."

  "I thought he spiked her drink with a roofie," my mom said, since she just couldn’t let go of that idea for some reason.

  "Can we follow you hooking up with him so our subscribers can be a part of the breakup?"

  "We're still sisters," I said. "We're not breaking up."

  Change was hard, and I felt sad either way—sad at the idea of Estela traveling without me, and sad at the idea of continuing to travel with her. Sad or not, I knew I had to push forward with the plan to stop working with my sister. The change had been a long time coming; I just needed something to put me over the edge.

  "I'm not sure that I'm hooking up with him," I said, going back to my sister's question about documenting our hook-up.

  "What do you mean?" she asked me, looking at me like I was crazy.

  "I mean we sort of left it at I'll probably get in touch," I said. "I'm not sure what's gonna happen between me and him."

  She let out a sarcastic little laugh that made me ask, "What?"

  "You."

  "What?" I repeated.

  She gestured at me. "You're a mess. You're obviously in love with that guy. I saw something happen between you two when you met him on the sidewalk. Last night when I couldn’t get a hold of you to come with me, I got scared that he hypnotized you or something."

  I giggled dazedly. "It sort of feels like it," I said, smiling.

  "Did he?" my mom asked, causing me to laugh.

  "No, Mom. He's wonderful. He's handsome, and smart, and kind, and funny. We like the same music and jokes."

  "Where is he?" Estela asked.

  "He's in Louisiana," I said. I glanced at a clock but I knew he was already back home since the flight was only four hours.

  "Really?" she asked.

  I nodded. "He left this morning."

  "Is he gonna call you?" she asked.

  "I think so," I said.

  Her question made me remember that I hadn't looked at my phone since that morning. I took it out of my purse. I had multiple messages from different people, including two texts from Cole that had come in earlier that morning while he was still in Los Angeles.

  The first one said: "Be yourself and don't apologize for it." And the second one said: "You're so beautiful." I smiled, thinking of him typing those words. He wasn't the type of guy to shower a girl with compliments, and the text about me being beautiful made me smile.

  My eyes filled with tears when I saw that he attached the three photos I had taken with his phone before he left. The selfie where we were both looking at the camera, then the one where I was kissing his cheek, and finally, the one when we first kissed. I was amazed that they had all come out. I laughed and cried at the same time as I stared at them, thinking I really was a selfie professional.

  "What is it?" Estela asked, since she and mom had been watching me the whole time.

  I handed her the phone, and observed as she looked at the screen for what felt like forever. She finally glanced up, regarding mom first, and then me. Her whole demeanor softened, and a sincere smile crossed her face.

  "You should go to him," she said.

  Chapter 12

  Cole

  Cole's flight was delayed by an hour, which wouldn't have been a big deal, but this time, it was frustrating. If he would have known about the delay, he could have spent another hour with Olivia.

  He sat at his departure gate, feeling lost and defeated. He didn't even care about the business deal or that his trip to California had technically been a success. He barely even remembered that part of it. All he could remember was the time he spent with Olivia.

  Cole propped his elbows on his knees and put his face in his hands as he sat there staring at the carpet squares beneath his feet at the airport. He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, so he took it out, thinking it might be Liv.

  It was his mom. He answered it so he could tell her about his delay. "Are you headed home?" she asked, hearing him pick up.

  "My flight's running an hour late, but I should still be home in time for dinner."

  "Well, you might as well plan on coming by the hospital when you land."

  "Did she have the baby?" Cole asked.

  "She's pretty close. The baby will probably be here by the time you get back."

  "Are you already at the hospital?" he asked.

  "Yeah, we're all here except for your dad. He's coming later. Nana came with me, and your dad will bring Pops when he comes."

  "I'll bet Aunt Kathy's excited."

  "She's in the room with Alex. So is Wynn. I'm out in the waiting room with a whole group. Cam's here, and Amelia's got one of her little friends."

  Cole heard Amelia say, "We're not little, Aunt Debbie," in the background before he heard some shuffling of the phone. "Is this Cole?" Amelia asked. "Did you see that picture of you and Liv Torres on the internet?" she continued before Cole could confirm that she was speaking to the right person.

  She was talking louder than his mom had been, which made Cole sit up and look around, wondering if anyone around him could hear her.

  "Yes," he answered in a voice that urged Amelia to be quiet.

  "Did you really hang out with her? Was that really her who texted me?"

  "Yes."

  "Did you kiss her?" Cole had to think about how to answer that. He hesitated for a second before saying his cousin's name instead of answering her question. "Amelia," he said, like she should know better for asking such a question.

  This made her giggle. "You did!" she said, laughing.

  "Amelia," he said again, knowing she was in a crowded room (same as he was).

  "You should be worrying about your sister. The one who's having a baby."

  "I am worried about that," she said. "I'm up at the hospital waiting room right now." He could hear a smile in her voice when she added, "I'm also worried about my cousin dating Liv Torres."

  "Okay, Amelia, we'll talk about it when I get back," he said. He already felt frustrated about leaving Liv, and Amelia talking about it in front of everyone was doing nothing but making him angrier.

  "Is she your girlfriend, Cole?" she asked, sounding excited about the possibility.

  "Okay, Amelia, put my mom back on the phone," he said, trying to remain patient.

  "Hey baby," his mom said when Amelia handed her the phone.

  "Please distract Amelia from talking about me and that girl," he said.

  "We're all just waiting for that new baby," his mom said, trying not to be awkward.

  "All right, I'll see y'a
ll in a little bit."

  Cole sat there for a few minutes after he hung up with his mom. He went through his photos and looked at the selfies Olivia had taken of them in the car. He stared at them, thinking about how beautiful she was. He could see snapshots of their day together in his mind's eye—images of her smiling and laughing and making silly faces. He had done his best not to kiss her because he knew it would make things more complicated, but as he sat in that airport thinking about her, he realized he didn't regret it at all. If anything, he wished he had kissed her sooner. He decided to text her a few words along with the three pictures she took. He waited a few minutes to see if he would hear back from her, but he didn't.

  He turned off his phone and didn't turn it on again until he had touched down in New Orleans. He took a look at it once he got settled into his truck, which had been parked in the long-term parking lot. His mom had already told him where Alex was having the baby, so he was planning on searching for directions. He had a few missed calls from different members of his family, so he figured the baby had arrived.

  He was hoping there'd be a message from Olivia, but there wasn't. Cole thought about calling her on the way to the hospital, but he decided against it. He would definitely call her soon, but he wanted to give her a little while longer to respond to the texts since the proverbial ball was in her court.

  The hospital was close to the airport, anyway, so Cole didn't have a whole lot of time to think about it. He was driving, and he didn't even look at the calls or messages left by his family. He figured he would see them soon enough at the hospital.

  The nurses in labor and delivery showed Cole to the room where his family was waiting. His mom, dad, grandparents, and brother were there, along with a few family friends. His mom crossed the room the second she saw him come in. "They're thinking it'll happen any minute," she said, hugging her son. Cole hugged his mom before greeting everyone in his near vicinity with a handshake or half-hug. "Amelia tried to call you about something," his mom said after Cole acknowledged most of the people in the room. "She was all excited about some picture of you on the internet."

  "I know," he said. "We already talked about it."

  "I think this happened after you talked to her," she said. Debbie smiled and shook her head at her son. "She was all excited," she repeated.

  "She was freaking out," Cam said, agreeing with their mom.

  "She said something about a girl posting 'she loved you' or something," his mom said.

  Cole looked at his mom, and she nodded and smiled. "She's in there with her sister, or she'd be all over you right now."

  "She was really wound up about something," their grandpa stated as if adding his two-cents (whistling with every S he spoke).

  "Did something happen with you and that girl?" his mom asked.

  "Mom," Cole said, since it was an awkward time and place to ask such a question.

  "You need to look up her website and see what she said about you, Cole," his mom said, pointing at Cam who was holding a phone.

  "I'll see if I can find what she was talking about," Cam said, pushing buttons. "I can't believe you haven't seen it.

  Cole sat next to his brother, and watched from over his shoulder as he typed the words, "Liv and Tel," into his browser.

  "How'd you know it was called that?" Cole asked, pulling back to glance at his brother.

  "Because Amelia wouldn't shut up about it," Cam said, as if they'd already tried to explain that.

  Cole watched as the Google search returned results. There was so much information on the Torres sisters that he had no idea where to begin to see what Amelia had seen. Cam clicked on a few links, before holding the screen where Cole could see it.

  It was the three photographs he had sent her from the airport—the ones of their first kiss in the car. They had been edited and put together by someone who had a mind for design, because the series looked like a real photographer had taken them rather than being taken selfie-style in the front seat of a car. Cole got lost for a second, staring at the photos. He remembered what happened right after these were taken—remembered pulling Olivia into his lap. He smiled at himself for reliving the whole scene.

  "Did you read it?" Cam asked, drawing Cole from his thoughts. Cole shook his head, still staring at the shape of her mouth and the color of her eyes in the one where she was looking at the camera. "Scroll down on that," Cam said as if he'd seen it before.

  Cole used his thumb to read the caption at the bottom of the post, which said: "Liv's in love! We just need to help her find her man."

  Cole read it and then instantly glanced up at his brother and everyone else in the room who were staring at him like he'd been keeping some big secret from them. He couldn’t help but smile at their curious faces.

  "Did you all see this already?" he asked.

  Everyone nodded, which made him shake his head.

  "It said she wants to find you," Nana said.

  Cole put his hands up in a frustrated gesture because he hadn't heard from her since he sent those pictures. "She's got my phone number. I sent her those pictures from my phone, but I haven't heard from her. I didn't know she posted them."

  "Amelia did," Pops said. "Her friend was here, too, and they were both rattling on and on about it."

  "They sure were," Cole's dad agreed.

  "Why don't you call her?" Nana said, getting in on the action.

  Everyone sat there and waited for Cole's next move. He took out his phone and pushed the button to call Olivia since he said that's what he would do.

  "If she picks up, I'm taking it outside," he warned, glancing around at his curious onlookers. The phone rang five times before going to an automated message on her voicemail. It was so impersonal that he wasn't even sure it was Liv's. He glanced at the phone just to make sure he dialed the right number. He saw that her name was indeed written across the screen before hanging up and stashing his phone into his pocket.

  Cole's family was tactful enough to see that he wanted to drop the subject once she didn’t pick up his call. He said something about it being in God's hands before changing the subject to possible baby names.

  Alex and Jacob were waiting to learn the gender of the baby, so they had names picked out for both. It would be Lane if it was a boy or Lucy if it was a girl.

  They'd been talking about baby names and other non-Olivia-related topics for about thirty minutes when Amelia came bursting into the room.

  "Is he here?" Debbie asked since she was convinced it was a boy.

  "Not yet, they think within the next twenty minutes." She was staring at Cole with wide eyes the entire time she spoke, which didn't at all match what was coming out of her mouth. "Did you see it?" she asked, staring at him with an extremely expressive face—urgency, excitement, all the things teenage girls were good at expressing with their faces.

  "Yes," he said. "I'm the one who sent those to her. They were on my phone."

  "No, did you see the one she posted on Insta about three minutes ago."

  "How would I see that?" Cole asked, looking at her like she was crazy.

  "You download Instagram from the app store, and then you follow her, and then you can see everything she posts on there right when she posts it." She looked around since they were all staring at her. "I wasn't looking at Instagram, but Sophie texted and told me it was on there."

  Amelia held out her phone so Cole could see what was on the screen. There was a square picture of a handwritten note that had been scribbled onto a piece of notebook paper. It was small, so Cole squinted as he stared down at it. It said:

  Dear California,

  I'm leaving for Louisiana, and I don't know when I'll be back.

  Love,

  Olivia

  Chapter 13

  Olivia

  I posted a note on my Instagram account saying I was going to Louisiana. It was vague, and I knew it'd stir up all sorts of trouble, but I wanted it to be close to the phrase Cole mentioned. I knew it was close, maybe even exac
tly what he told me he wanted my note to say.

  I talked with my mom and sister for over an hour before Cole tried to call me. I wanted to pick it up, but I was hoping to publish the note first. Plus, I was absolutely petrified to speak to him. I was still a bit out of it from my whole hospital experience, and that combined with the major decision to travel to Louisiana had me reeling.

  I posted the note because my sister thought it would be wonderful and romantic if we took our followers along on my journey to find love and ultimately get phased out of the channel. I might have been more apt to go along with it on account of being in a dazed state after my panic attack. Either way, heading in Cole's direction made me feel more settled than I'd been since he left, and I really didn't care what I had to go through to get to him.

  Estela and I talked about how much of my privacy I was willing to give up during the process. We thought of a way I could communicate my whereabouts to Cole via social media, and see if he would show up to meet me at a secret location in New Orleans. She thought it was the best idea ever. The plan was to send Tyson with me so he could take pictures and video that we would make into an episode for our vlog. I didn't agree to it purely for my sister's sake. I knew if I truly wanted to be left alone after this transition, I had to go public with my decision to quit Liv and Tel. A love story just helped me to do it without offending anyone (including my sister).

  I was sorting out some of my travel plans when Cole sent me a text. It had only been a few minutes since I posted the note, and I assumed he'd already heard about it. I was shaking as I read his text. I had to steady my hand on the table to make it hold still. I blinked at the screen, focusing through my watering eyes. I was so anxious to read it that I could barely even see my screen.

  Cole: "I got your note. When you coming?"

  I smiled at the thought of him waiting for me. My heart felt like it might pound out of my chest.

  "Is that him?" my sister asked from the other side of the table. "What's it say?"