Page 94 of The Floral Arrangement

He shrugged, his eyes following Lottie as she sprang up and ran over to Ronnie, who was supervising the pony rides. Ronnie looked over to us, his eyebrows raised in question. Matt nodded. Ronnie smiled and handed Lottie a helmet.

“I’m sure there will still be some raised eyebrows and pointed comments, but if they agree upfront they won’t be involved then at least you’ll be able to shut them down by reminding them about the agreement,” Matt said.

Lottie was on a brown pony now, being walked around by Ronnie. She waved to us, grinning from ear to ear, and we waved back. I couldn’t believe she’d be turning eight tomorrow. My heart constricted. Mel hadn’t gotten approval to come back early in time for Lottie’s birthday, so it would just be my parents, Matt and me at her birthday dinner tomorrow night.

“I haven’t seen you this happy for years. Maybe ever. Don’t throw the farm and Olivia away because of your pride, Roz.” Matt’s voice was almost pleading. “I thought you were having a mid-life crisis when you decided to buy the farm, but now it makes total sense to me. You clearly love this place. I’ve never seen you so excited about work before. And the same goes for Olivia as well.”

A heaviness tugged at my chest. “There’s nothing to throw away where Olivia is concerned. We’d agreed it would all end when the investment paperwork came through, which would have been yesterday if Fred hadn’t found out about us.” I shook my head. “It’s over. The whole thing was a mistake. I should never have let myself get so carried away. I can’t even make business decisions clearly because this infatuation with Olivia is clouding my judgment.”

Matt turned to me. “Or the two of you are just madly in love and you care about her so much that you don’t want to do something that will hurt her.”

Love. For some stupid reason, the word sent tears welling in my eyes. I blinked them away, pressing my lips together. Matt was being ridiculous.

But the tears kept coming. A lump formed in my throat. Was it… Could it be possible?

If I did sell the farm, I’d have to move back to New York, find another job as a management consultant and start rebuilding my savings and my 401(k). I might never see Olivia again. Pain stabbed my chest at the thought.

I’d only really known her for six weeks—if you didn’t include that night at Pryde—but in that time, she’d helped me find my footing at the farm, learn to ride a bike again, get a whole new wardrobe, make new friends and business connections, develop a love of rom-coms and plan a spring festival. And not only that, but all of it had been fun. Fun in a way I’d never experienced before. I loved her kindness, her desire to make the world a better place, her sense of humor, not to mention our off-the-charts chemistry. What I felt for her was deeper, more grounded, than anything I’d felt for Sadie.

Fuck.

I loved her.

I looked around. At small children petting the animals, their faces bright, as their parents watched with indulgent grins. Dana driving a hayride full of families down the dirt road toward the orchards. Two teenagers holding hands, shooting each other shy smiles as they walked toward the petting zoo, home-made strawberry ice creams in their hands. Lottie, still high on her pony, chatting to Ronnie as she clutched the reins.

And I loved this farm.

It had only been six weeks but I couldn’t imagine my life without Olivia or the farm. I couldn’t let them go without doing everything in my power to keep them—even if it meant me putting my pride aside and begging my parents for a loan.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE

OLIVIA

“Earth to Olivia!”Blake waved her hand in front of my face.

I jerked, sending the water in the cup I was holding splashing onto my jumpsuit. “Sorry.”

“What is going on with you today?” Blake stared at me.

I blinked. Jenny, George and Hannah, sprawled out on the tartan picnic blanket under a large oak tree in Dockside Park, were all staring at me as well.

My body ached from our kayaking session. When Jenny had messaged this morning, asking if anyone was interested in a paddle followed by a picnic lunch I’d hoped the exercise and fresh air might clear my head. It hadn’t.

“Nothing.” If I told everyone, I’d start crying again. And it wasn’t just that. To give them the full story, I’d have to tell them about what was going on with me and Roz. Sure, I could leave that part out, try to skirt around it, but I was sick and tired of obfuscating, of only telling half-truths. It hadn’t exactly ended well with Fred.

I smoothed out the patch of picnic blanket next to me, brushing away imaginary crumbs. At least Dana hadn’t shown up. She was the only one who now knew the whole story, and I’d been so distracted yesterday I hadn’t thought to ask her not to mention what had happened to anyone else for now.

“Liv.” Blake’s voice softened. “You just spent the last hour paddling like you were being chased by a school of ravenous sharks, leaving us all in your wake, and ever since we sat down, you’ve been staring glumly at my shoes.” Blake wiggled her black sneakers. “I mean, they’re nice shoes. But not that nice. Something is clearly wrong.”

George tilted her head, looking at me with her brow furrowed. She’d been standing too far away at Novel Gossip to hear the discussion between Fred, Dana, Roz and myself yesterday, but she’d seen enough to text me later to ask if everything was okay. I’d brushed her off as well.

“I don’t feel like talking about it right now. Maybe later.” I looked over the blue expanse of river to the green, tree-covered hills opposite us. Perhaps getting out in nature, just by myself, would help. Roz and I had talked about doing the Breakback Ridge hike together next weekend. A lump formed in my throat. That wouldn’t happen now.

“Okay,” Blake said, grabbing a smoked salmon bagel from the picnic basket. “Well, can everyone make trivia night this week? With Roz, George and Hannah away last week and Dana missing the week before, we haven’t stood a chance against The Gran Masters. I’ve been reading up on politics, so I think we have a chance if we get the entire brain trust together.”

“We’ll be there.” Hannah squeezed George’s hand.

I nodded. I could always pull out at the last minute if I wasn’t feeling it.

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