Page 71 of Love for a Lifetime

Olivia nodded–a little too emphatically for the simple response. “Four is great.”

“Dawson!” Jacob shouted again.

Olivia looked at her watch and rested Betsy on the floor. “I need to get this put up. I have to be at Anna’s in fifteen minutes.”

Dawson rested a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll take care of it. Tell Jacob I’m cleaning up the kitchen and I’ll be out in a minute.”

She looked around at the leftovers on the table and counter. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. Go hang out with your friend.”

A small grin jumped on Olivia’s lips before disappearing again. “Thanks.”

“See you at four.”

Four couldn’t come soon enough.

18

OLIVIA

Olivia held up a button-up blouse and gasped. Each quadrant had a different material and pattern. Rhinestones were splattered over the entire piece, and fringe hung from the bottom. “Are you kidding me? Is this in style?”

Anna stopped shifting hangers of clothes in her closet long enough to look over her shoulder and laugh. “It’s not, but a boutique in New Orleans was trying to make it happen last fall. Toss that one into the donation pile, will you?”

Picking up the next one, Olivia chuckled. It was a tight-fitting sequined tank top that only belonged in a dance club. She held it up in front of her chest. “Does this one say ‘I’m a crazy chicken lady?’”

“No, but this one does.” Anna held out a fitted, pink flannel shirt with blue accents. “It’ll look great. Try it on.”

Olivia caught the top when Anna tossed it to her and laid it on the bed. “I can’t believe you have so many clothes. How could you possibly wear all of this?”

“Sometimes, I wear more than one outfit in a day,” Anna admitted, like it was the most normal thing in the world to go through so many expensive outfits.

Granted, her upbringing wasn’t the same as Olivia’s. Anna’s parents were a power couple, heading up one of the state’s biggest law firms. They’d won thousands of cases and had dozens of associate attorneys working alongside them.

Olivia? She was a farmer’s daughter. While Anna spent her childhood in piano lessons and country club parties, Olivia woke up with the chickens and sold vegetables at the local farmer’s market.

Their differences hadn’t kept them apart. They’d both decided in third grade to be best friends for life, and neither had wavered on that promise.

At least, not yet. Guilt tightened its rope around her throat every time she let her feelings for Dawson bubble up to the surface.

With the flannel on, Olivia held out her arms and did a slow turn. “What do you think?”

“Perfect,” Anna said as she reached for a camisole on a different hanging rack. “Wear this one under it, and pair it with your pink-and-brown boots.”

Olivia pulled off the flannel and folded it into the neat pile she’d started. Her chicken-lover Instagram was a fun side project, and while she didn’t make any money sharing cute and funny videos of her chickens to the world, Anna’s second job title was influencer. She’d made a great living before becoming an attorney.

Olivia’s Instagram wasn’t about her. It was about the cute chickens and the laughs. She barely showed her face. Still, Anna enjoyed sharing the mountains of clothes the high-end boutiques sent her. She picked out the more casual ones for Olivia to wear in the small moments when she made an appearance in her videos with the chickens.

“What about the olive pants from a couple of weeks ago? Can I wear something else with those?”

Anna perked up. “Those were so comfortable.”

“The softest pants I’ve ever worn. I want them in every color.”

“They’re two-hundred and fifty dollars a pop.”

Olivia gasped. “Are you serious? And I wore them to dance with my chicks!”

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