Page 90 of Love Off-Limits
As my mouse hovered over the email, I felt a certainty in my gut that whatever this was, it would send me careening forward on the path, whether I was ready or not.
Just open it, Olivia.I took a breath and clicked on the video, waiting while it loaded on my screen. It started with a shot of the farmhouse, slowly moving toward the barn in the distance, then it showed the goats grazing in the east pasture.
In a blink, it was my own face that filled the screen, talking about why Stonebrook was different. I immediately recognized the moment from the Saturday morning I’d spent in Mom’s soap studio teaching Tyler how to make soap. We’d stopped and hiked up to the ridge behind the orchard to see the view of the rest of the farm on our way there.
As the video continued, it showed glimpses of Mom in her kitchen, of baby Penelope frolicking through a field, of the apple trees heavy with developing fruit. Somehow, Tyler had managed to capture all the things that made Stonebrook special and edited into this magical portrayal of the place I loved with my whole soul. After the shots of the apple orchard, the video cut to a spread of beautiful fruits and vegetables piled in baskets at the edge of the kitchen garden. That shot was followed by the same fruits and vegetables on the gleaming silver countertops in the catering kitchen and a close-up of someone’s hand sprinkling salt over a sauté pan. The view widened and suddenly Lennox was on the screen. It washishand holding the sauté pan. He smiled wide as he cooked, joy radiating from his expression. “Oh, I miss you, Len,” I said, tears brimming.
Tyler had gone to see Lennox. Had tracked him down and made this happen for me.
The image of Lennox blurred, and words appeared on the screen.Farm-to-table dining...right on the farm.
When those words disappeared, the screen went black and the wordsJoin Usfilled the screen.
It was perfect. Inviting. Enticing. Visually pleasing.
And it reminded me of all the reasons why I couldn’t give up on my dream. All I’d done since Tyler had left was become complacent. I could work with Perry. I could give up my dreams of innovation and expansion. I could be happy with things as they were.
Except, none of that was actually true.
And that was why I hadn’t called Tyler. Because he knew that. He’d see right through my complacency to the hurt underneath. I restarted the video. Dad had to see this. I had to give him the chance to see my vision. And now that would be so much easier.
I wanted to call him. Hug him. Thank him. Kiss him senseless.
This man had left a job he’d had since he was sixteen years old. He’d left his best friend. His home. He’d taken a giant step into the dark without any clue how things would work out. And theyhadworked out. He had a job now, doing something he was obviously good at. He would be an amazing asset to the Ethans.
All I had to do was talk to my family. Behonestwith my family.
Annnd...risk the possibility of rejection from my dad. Which, I keenly realized, was the thing that scared me most of all. But what had Tyler risked? Everything. If he could do it, so could I.
I moved to my office door and called Perry’s name. He appeared in his office doorway, his eyes wide. “You okay?”
I turned and paced back into my office, knowing he would follow.
“What’s up?” he said. He leaned against my door and folded his arms.
“Close the door,” I said.
His eyebrows went up, but he moved into the office and did as I requested.
“When you called me out like you did that day in the barn, it was rude and condescending and completely unprofessional.”
His hands dropped to his hips, but I threw my hands up, stopping him before he could be defensive. “I recognize what I did wasn’t professional either, but Perry, I’m a grown woman with a graduate degree. I’m not your seventeen-year-old baby sister who thought it was fun to flirt with the farmhands. I contribute a lot to this farm. I know what I’m doing. I won’t claim to be perfect, but I deserve more respect, more trust than you give me. You minimized my contribution when you reduced me to some hormone-driven flirt. And you made me feel irresponsible for being interested in Tyler, made me think that somehow, I couldn’t be serious enough to run Stonebrookanddate him at the same time.”
“That’s fair,” he said. “I’m sorry. I was angry and worried about the wedding, but you’re right. You do contribute a lot. I shouldn’t have called you out.”
“Thank you,” I said, trying to drain the intensity from my voice. I hadn’t expected him to apologize so quickly. “Now I need you to watch something.”
I played Tyler’s video, moving to stand behind Perry so I could watch it along with him. When it finished, he sat perfectly still, his arms folded, one hand pressed to his mouth.
“It’s brilliant,” he finally said. “Tyler did this?”
I nodded. “I didn’t ask him to, but we talked about my idea enough that I guess he recognized my passion and wanted to do something to help. The Ethans just hired him to be on their creative team. They thought he did such a great job on their wedding video, they invited him to Charlotte and offered him a job.”
“It was clearly the right call. This is great work.”
I moved a chair from the other side of the room so it sat directly across from Perry. I didn’t want my desk between us for this conversation. “I need you to help me with this, Perry. I’m going to talk to Dad, but I don’t think I can convince him to let me do this if you aren’t on board.”
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He had his thinking face on—his forehead always wrinkled in the same way when he was giving something serious thought—so I sat back and not-so-patiently waited.
