“Not much.” Unless you counted obsessing over Olivia.
“Your birthday is coming up, do you have any plans?”
I’d never been a fan of birthdays, and this year I definitely didn’t want to celebrate. “I might be flying out to New York for some work.” I wasn’t scheduled to be there until two days after my birthday, but if it got me out of celebrating it, I’d leave early.
“Some work?”
“Yeah, an Old Spice campaign.”
“Oh, okay. Well, maybe we can have dinner when you get back. I can’t believe my baby’s going to be thirty.”
“Yeah, we can have dinner.”
“Do you think you’ll see Luci while you’re in New York?”
“No.”
A crease formed between my mom’s brows. “Why? Did you break up?”
“We were never actually a couple.”
“I’ll never understand the way things are with you kids these days. You don’t date, you just hook up. There’s never any labels. It wasn’t like that when your dad and I were younger.”
“Not everyone can have what you and Dad have. Not everyone wants what you and Dad have.” I’d been using that same defense since my mom started putting pressure on me about settling down. And even six months ago, I’d believed it. But now, now my conviction had slipped. I did want what my parents had. And I wanted it with Olivia.
“Have you seen much of Olivia since you’ve been home?”
“Why?” I heard the defensiveness in my tone. I hated that I snapped at people. I’d always struggled with that but since the incident, it had been out of control.
“You two always just seemed to have such a special relationship. Every time I’d see the two of you, it was like you were in your own little world. Your father and I used to bet on when you’d get together.”
“You bet on your child’s personal life.”
“You know your father, he bets on everything.”
My mom inclined her head to where my father stood with Mr. Briggs at the exact moment the two men were shaking hands having clearly wagered on something.
“I thought for sure when you hit middle school you’d get together. Your father thought high school.”
“It was never like that with us.” I managed to keep my tone even, but I could feel my shoulders getting tight with tension and defensiveness.
“Even after you left,” she continued, “I kept thinking that somehow, someway you two would end up together.”
“It’s not like that.”
My mom nodded then looked behind me. Her eyes widened. “So it seems.”
When I turned to see what my mom was referring to, I was glad my jaw was attached because if it wasn’t it would have hit the ground.
Olivia was walking up the steps of town square with Jake. Dr. Weston. My PT. Molly was with them, too, but Olivia was walking next to him and was holding flowers that I assumed were from him, which led me to believe that she was there with him.
Seeing the two of them was a physical blow. I felt like the wind was knocked out of me. What compounded the impact was that the two actually did make a cute couple. They looked like the quintessential quarterback and cheerleader. The Prom King and Queen. The two leads in a rom-com.
A sick feeling sank in my stomach. Had he referred me to her class because he was dating her, or trying to date her? Was he in love with her? Was she in love with him? Were the two of them going to get married and have babies?
“Are you okay?” my mom asked. “You look pale like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I have. The Ghost of Christmas Future.
The worst part was, besides the fact that they looked like cake toppers, I had to admit that they would probably be really compatible.
I wanted to throw up.
“I heard that Kenna offered to make you a pot roast.”
On an inhale, I forced myself to look away from the perfect couple. It was hard, like trying not to look at a car crash as you passed by. You knew that you were going to see carnage, but you still wanted to look.
“But you never got back to her.”
I felt like this was a conversation she didn’t even need me for since she had all the information. “I texted her back.”
I told her I was busy.
“She’s a sweet girl.”
“I’m sure she is.” I could feel my frustration building. Part of it had to do with people continuing to bring up Kenna. But mainly it was because Olivia was here with Jake fucking Weston.
All the years I’d been sure that someone would tell me that she was dating someone seriously or had gotten engaged it never happened. But now I had a feeling that it was happening, and I was going to get a front-row seat.
“I know that you’re dealing with a lot right now and concentrating on your rehabilitation, but one dinner wouldn’t hurt.”
“Yes, it would.”
“How?” She lifted her hands, palms side up. “How could one dinner hurt?”
“Do you hear yourself?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, this is the conversation we’re having after a text she sent me. Just think about what you’d be like if I’d actually agreed to have dinner with her.”
“Oh, well, you have a point.” My mom bit the side of her cheek as she stared down at her hands.
I recognized her expression. It was the same one she’d had when she’d come in my room before Homecoming freshman year and had told me that she’d accidentally washed my white football pants with a red sock and they were now pink.
“What?” I asked, feeling a sense of foreboding.
“I thought you just needed a little push, so I asked her to join us tonight.”
“You did what?”
She smiled, speaking through clenched teeth as she waved at something behind me. “I asked her to join us tonight and you are gonna smile and look very happy to see her because she is my guest and she’s walking over here.”
Great. So now not only did I have to watch Olivia on a date, I had to pretend to be on one as well. This night just kept getting better.
Chapter 22
Olivia
“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.”
~ Maggie Calhoun
I’d seen Notting Hill at least a hundred times and I knew it shot for shot. I was counting the minutes until the movie ended. As the montage began of Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant attending premiers, a wedding, and finally ending on the park bench where a pregnant Julia lays on Hugh’s lap as he reads a book and the melodic sound of “When You Say Nothing at All” plays, there was a countdown in my head: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…and credits roll.
That was my cue. Time to make a graceful yet expedient escape, er…um…I meant exit.
Jake had other ideas. “Is anyone up for some ice cream? I love the malts at The Spoon. I usually try and stop by there whenever I’m in town.”
“I would love a malt,” Molly agreed enthusiastically.
My eyes shot to her. She didn’t notice because the infatuation blinders she’d been wearing all night made it impossible for her to see anyone but Jake. I did my best to telepathically relay, “What the actual fuck?”
I’d known my twin our entire lives, obviously, and I’d never seen her drink a malt. For the last few years, she’d even claimed to be lactose intolerant. Was spending more time with Jake actually worth explosive diarrhea?
I would’ve called her out on it, but then what kind of wingman, or in this case wing-twin, would I be.
From the moment Molly and Jake met, I’d felt like the third wheel…on my own date. Throughout the movie, they’d leaned over me or behind me to talk. Sometimes it was a commentary about the movie, other times it was a joke or question. It was super-duper fun.
“I’m tired. You two go ahead.” I smiled as I stood and wiped the back of my dress off. Jake had brought the picnic but forgotten the blanket so we’d been sitting on the grass.<
br />
Molly started to get up as well, but she had assistance. Jake held out his hand to help her to her feet. Was it still chivalrous if the romantic overture was directed at the date’s twin sister? Food for thought.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Molly’s eyes were double their regular size as she bit the inside of her lip.
Nervous was not really an emotion I was familiar with seeing my sister display. That would actually mean she cared about what other people thought or were going to do. She didn’t. It seemed it took her hijacking my date to bring that out in her.
“It’s been a long week.” I smiled in what I hoped was a reassuring way. “I think I’m just going to head home.”
“We can drop you off,” Jake offered.
We. They were already a ‘we’.
“No.” I shook my head, hoping that the brave face I was putting on was a hell of a lot more convincing than it felt. “You two go and have fun.”
Part of me wanted to let him, let both of them, off the hook and call out the elephant in the room. They liked each other. My sister was willing to risk digestive issues to spend more time with him. And I didn’t blame him for being interested in my sister. She was much cooler than I was, and the two of them actually did have a lot in common. They were both gamers, something I knew nothing about. They were both obsessed with true crime, a genre I’d never found appealing. And the big one, they were both cat people. I liked cats, but was firmly Team Dogs.
If one good thing came out of this date, I mean other than Molly meeting her future husband, it was that I planned on adding finding out which side my potential suitors belonged to before agreeing to go on any other dates. In my experience, cat and dog people were different breeds. Or I guess, species in this case.
“Okay, if you’re sure.” Jake shifted his weight from his right to left foot, clearly uncomfortable.
“I’m sure.”
I’d never been more sure of anything in my life. Two hours of witnessing the blossoming of true love was my limit. I needed to check my bare arms for burns because I’d been seated in a Molly-Jake sandwich and the sparks had been flying between the two of them.
It had taken everything that I had not to leave halfway through the movie, but I didn’t want either of them to think that I was upset. I wasn’t. At least, not because of anything that had transpired between the two of them.
Of course the man of Molly’s dreams would just fall into her lap. That was always the way it seemed to be. Things just worked out for her. She’d always said that the less effort she put into something the better the result.
I wished that I could argue with her, but the proof was in the pudding.
And the pudding tonight was Dr. Jake Weston flavored. I could easily see the two of them getting married and having babies. Whereas I would still be pining after a man that was not interested in me.
And that right there, folks, was why I was truly upset. I’d had a front-row seat to the Reed family, which tonight had included Kenna Rogers.
I’d watched the two of them sit beside his parents, his brothers, and their wives. She fit right into the Reed family. The eightsome looked like they belonged on Christmas cards.
My heart slowly broke seeing her seamlessly weave into the group that I desperately wanted to be a part of. It wasn’t only Holden that I loved. I adored his parents, especially his mom. She’d always been so sweet to me. It made me feel physically ill watching what I was sure was a blossoming romance.
There was no way that he would’ve asked Kenna to join them at such a public event, which he had to know was going to get the entire town talking, if things with her weren’t serious.
Which begged the question: what happened to his model girlfriend? And more importantly, why hadn’t I been his rebound? And since I didn’t have the answers to those questions, the one I really needed to figure out was: why couldn’t falling out of love be as easy as falling in it?
As the crowd around us started to disperse, I knew that my window to make a break for it before someone stopped to talk to me was narrowing with every second that passed. And I could not handle small talk tonight. Tomorrow, I’d be able to face people again. Tonight, I just needed to go home, have a glass of wine, and throw myself a pity party.
“Okay, see you guys later.” I lifted my hand in a wave and started to walk away. Alone.
“Can you give us a sec?” Molly asked Jake.
“Sure.” Jake nodded, hesitating for a moment. Then he picked up the picnic basket and nodded toward the parking lot. “I’ll take this to the car.”
As soon as he was out of earshot, Molly turned back to me and her words rushed out rapidly like water through a dam that had just been broken.
“I’m so sorry. I really like him. I feel like shit. I don’t want to like him. And I don’t have to go tonight. I don’t have to go out with him any night. I won’t see him ever again if you don’t want me to. You’re more important to me than a guy I just met. But that’s the thing, it doesn’t feel like we just met. He doesn’t feel like a stranger. I feel like I’ve known him my whole life. But I have known you my whole life and if this isn’t cool…I mean I know it isn’t cool but—”
“Stop,” I interjected. “Breathe.” She hadn’t taken a breath since she started speaking. As much as I was enjoying seeing my sister so flustered, the last thing I wanted was a face to face with Holden and Kenna. I needed to get the heck out of there. “It’s fine. I’m fine. We’re fine. Go have fun.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t mean for this to happen. We’ve never liked the same guy before.” She shook her head.
“Our record still stands. I was trying to convince myself that I liked him, but you were right. I’m not attracted to him. There was no chemistry. And there obviously is between you two. Go. Have fun. Seriously. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
I started to turn to walk away but was stopped when Molly grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a hug. The gesture took me by surprise for a couple of reasons. Number one being, Molly had always been allergic to affection. Any sort of hug or embrace that we’d ever shared had been initiated by me and it had been quickly cut short by her. And second, well…, no I guess there was only that one reason.
“Thank you. I’m sorry.”
The only thing that surprised me more than the hug was the sincerity in her apology. Molly wasn’t one to admit when she was wrong. Sure, she’d throw out an “I’m sorry,” but if you read between the lines of it there were always classifiers with her apologies. She was basically saying that she was sorry I was being sensitive, not actually taking responsibility for having any culpability for her actions. I could count on one hand the number of times she’d said that she was sorry and meant it.
This was one of those times.
“It’s okay. Really.” I hugged her back.
When she pulled back she stared in my eyes, and I did my best to convince her that I wasn’t upset.
Finally, after several long seconds of her staring into my soul, she relented and released my arms.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” she said over her shoulder as she practically skipped in the direction Jake had headed.
Tears began to fill my eyes but I sniffed them away as I walked as fast as my feet would carry me away from the crowd still gathered in the town square. My house was six blocks away, and for the first four blocks my mind was blank, and I was just moving as fast as my feet could take me in camel wedges. By the fifth block, I lost a little steam. I was exhausted. I felt defeated. And thanks to trying to look cute, I had blisters on my feet.
So I did what any country girl worth her salt would do and I slid off my shoes. On a positive note, I did feel an immense amount of relief as I took my first step barefoot. It was the only silver lining of the evening. I was sure that things weren’t as bad as they felt right now. But I decided to start the pity party early and allow myself to wallow in my misery the rest of the way home.
I’d tried to put myself out there and the first real prospect I had becomes instantly smitten with my twin. And not only that, she reciprocated his feelings. Holden and Kenna were most likely officially dating. And since he lived next door to me, I’d know when she spent the night. Her Honda Accord was going to be parked in our shared driveway.
As I rounded the corner onto my street I heard a truck behind me. On instinct, I turned my head toward the sound. It was Holden’s truck.
I needed to move. That was the only answer.
Chapter 23
Holden
“Words have power, but actions shape lives.”
~ Maggie Calhoun
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Olivia was walking barefoot down our street. After the movie, I’d looked for her and hadn’t been able to find her. I was sure that she’d already left with Jake. But there she was.
My pulse sped as I pulled up into the driveway. Thoughts were whizzing around my head. What should I say to her? I wanted to ask her what was going on with her and Jake but I knew it was none of my business.
I opened the door and before I even made it out of the truck Olivia rushed by me not making eye contact. “Hey!”
“How did you meet Jake?” I’d planned on saying hi, but that came out instead.
She stopped before she made it to her porch and turned back to me. “You know Jake?”
I stepped out and shut the door. “He’s my physical therapist.”
“Of course he is,” she mumbled under her breath as she looked down at the ground.
I wasn’t sure why she’d said that, but I still wanted to know how they knew each other. “How did you two meet?”
“Um…on an app.”
“So, you two are dating?” I was ninety-nine percent sure that I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from her.
“No.” She shook her head. “We’re not…I mean, yes, we were sort of, but…now we’re not.”
“That’s too bad.” I tried not to smile, but the corners of my lip twitched. I felt like a dick for being happy that things hadn’t worked out between them. Especially since she looked upset about it but I couldn’t help my reaction. “He’s a nice guy.”
Educating Holden (Wishing Well, Texas Book 11) Page 14
