Page 100 of Love for a Lifetime

Anna laughed. “I know he’s hot, but wow. I can’t imagine throwing myself at someone like that. And publicly!”

Olivia took a half-breath. Anna was laughing. That was a good sign. “Um, yeah. Some of the comments he gets are wild.”

Anna continued laughing. All of the hesitancy from a moment ago had dissipated like a vapor. “It really is funny. Some of the comments are tagging you and saying you’re crazy if you don’t take him up on it.”

Great. Now she was having true chest pain. The thought of telling Anna the truth and being the cause of her heartbreak was enough to make Olivia’s lunch revolt in her gut.

“And I know it’s just farm stuff,” Anna went on. “People really love those goats and chickens.”

Olivia’s week had been packed from beginning to end. She hadn’t had a second to wash her hair, much less have a friendship-breaking conversation. She definitely wasn’t prepared to spill the toxic beans over the phone and with an audience.

Julia Letterman stepped to the front of the room and clapped her hands. “Okay, everyone. Let’s pray before we get started!”

“Do you have to go?” Anna asked. “I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

The hollow words hung in the air as Anna disconnected the call.

Lyric stepped in front of Olivia with her brows pinched together and lifted. “Liv, what’s wrong?”

Blinking past the paralyzing fear of the conversation that hadn’t actually happened yet, Olivia rubbed the side of her face. Had they already finished the prayer? “It was Anna. She said Dawson had a reel go viral today. About us.”

Lyric’s eyes widened. “Did he say you were together?”

Olivia shook her head. “No, but apparently he was asking if I should give him a chance.”

Sucking in air through her teeth, Lyric rubbed the back of her neck. “Oh, that’s not good.”

“Not good is an understatement. She sounded upset at first, then she was laughing.”

“So she thinks it wasn’t serious.”

“But it kind of is. What if she’d found out that way? How am I going to tell her?” Olivia’s voice was rising with her panic. “I’m not ready. I don’t know what to do. I am terrified of her finding out from me or otherwise.”

Lyric rested her hands on Olivia’s shoulders. “Shh. Calm down. We’ll figure this out, but right now we need to focus on what we’re doing here.”

Olivia looked around at the people working–doing what they were here to do. After a few deep breaths, the storm in her mind began to clear. She needed to be working anyway. It would distract her from the crippling fact that she was betraying her best friend.

“You’re right,” Olivia whispered.

Lyric pressed a hand to Olivia’s back and gently nudged her toward the front of the room. “Grab a bag and forget about this. You’ll have time to talk to her later.”

Later. How much later could it be? The truth of their relationship was disguised as a joke and running rampant over the internet.

The phone in her pocket vibrated, and she pulled it out. Dawson’s name and a photo of him holding Henry filled the screen.

Her chest heaved, and she silenced the call. They had plenty to talk about, but it would have to wait until later.

26

DAWSON

Deep twilight fell over the woods behind Beau’s garage as Dawson pulled up. Overtime was usually his friend, but he’d grumbled through the extra hours this week. Granted, it wasn’t as if Olivia had extra time either. They’d spent the last few days just missing each other at every hour.

He pulled out his phone and checked the time. She’d be working at the church for the next hour and a half.

Impulse had him pressing her name on the screen. The steady rings dragged on and on. His hand fisted and flexed where it was propped on the steering wheel of his truck.

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