Page 21 of Wild As Her

Jack and I are not endgame. I don’t know what we are, but that’s not it.

Walker walks up and sets down a plate in front of me, and I smile at him, “Thanks, Walker.”

He looks between me and Violet and says, “What are you two talking about?”

Violet whispers loudly to him, “Jenna’s show.”

Walker groans, “I lost her as a bartender over this show. She was my best one other than Cash.”

Violet swats at him with her hand playfully. “Excuse me! What about me?”

Walker grins at her. “You’re not my bartender anymore. You’re my fiancée.”

I smile, watching them, then point my fork at her. “You two are adorable.”

“I know,” she breathes as she stares at Walker lovingly.

“I’m...gonna go,” he says as he backs away slowly and disappears to the back.

Ollie saunters over. “Hey, sis.” He takes my fork and takes a bite of my meatloaf.

“You know you could get your own, right?” I ask playfully. Although he knows I’d share anything with him.

“And where would the fun be in that?” he asks, handing me back the fork. He glances over at the door, and his facedrops as he murmurs, “Mom just walked in, and she’s headed our way.”

I drop my fork onto my plate. “You can have the rest. I’m not hungry anymore.” I start to stand and realize she’s standing right next to me now.

“I’m glad you’re both here. I have news. Big news,” she says excitedly, out of breath. My mom had me and my brother very young, and she’s only forty-eight. She wears her long brown hair in wavy curls and has her makeup done every time I see her. In fact, I have rarely ever seen her not dressed up and without make up. She’s not a jeans, t-shirt, and boots kind of woman. She’s always loved clothes, make up and shopping. It’s just her thing. We’ve never had much in common.

I stand here and stare at her and wonder why I don’t have a connection to this woman. She feels like any other person in the bar. Not my mother, someone who is supposed to be close to me. She’s clueless when it comes to me and my life.

“What?” we both ask at the same time. Me, partly frozen in terror because usually when she would have big news like this, it was usually that my father was back in town and they’d be reconciling, which happened often. He’d come back and everything would be oddly calm for two to three weeks. Then he’d start to pick fights with everyone, empty out the bank accounts, steal her car, and leave. By the time I was in fifth grade, we were on our fifth car.

I brace myself for whatever’s coming, and she says excitedly, “The bank sold the ranch. It’s a done deal, and it’s over. We can finally move on.”

My heart shatters into pieces in my chest. My stomach plummets, the breath in my lungs evaporating. I feel like I’ve been taken out at the knees. “What?”

She happily nods, not even reading my emotions, and says, “Isn’t this great?”

Ollie watches me closely and asks the questions he knows I want to know since I’m frozen in place.

“Who bought it?” Ollie asks carefully. But there's something off in his tone. Like he already knows who bought it, he's just confirming.

“There was some loophole the bank found. And they handled it. I don’t know, it doesn’t matter. We should celebrate,” she says, not even considering how upset I am.

I swallow and fight, the tears threatening to unleash. This can’t be over.

“Oh, and here’s the paperwork,” she says as she reaches into her purse and thrusts a folder into my arms. “Take care of this, will you, Cami?”

She turns, not even waiting for a response, and runs off to where a group of her friends are sitting. They all stand and hug her, congratulating her as if she has just won something.

Meanwhile, my heart aches in my chest. I look over at Ollie, and even he looks torn. And he hasn’t been as emotionally attached to the ranch as I have. But he knows how much this meant to me.

He reaches over and places his arms around me. “I’m sorry.”

“Why is she like this?” I ask, tears filling my eyes. “Heartless.”

“She doesn’t even care about us or our feelings.” I hold up the folder. “It means nothing to her. This was my dream.”

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