Page 132 of Relentless

Knowing how much she loathed all things social media, Oakleigh pressed her lips together and raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Fine, I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” Paisley conceded. “I wasn’t in a good place, and Mom was being — well,Mom.”

Oakleigh knew exactly what she meant.

“You did what you needed to do,” Paisley said. “Mom and Dad needed to be called out, but —” her voice faded as she considered. “You left me to pick up the pieces, Oaks.”

Crew reached over and grabbed Oakleigh’s hand, intertwining his fingers with hers.

“I’m sorry, Pais,” she said again.

Paisley shrugged, directing her eyes across the dark pasture.

“You could have just texted me, though,” Oakleigh’s voice quivered. “You didn’t have to come all the way out here.”

“Oh, I can answer that!” Mia chimed in. “Harper reached out, and I —”

Oakleigh’s swiveled again. “She did what?”

Paisley gave a slight eye roll. “Yeah, Mom called Mia,” she said. “I guess she knew she’s the only one who’d ever pick up.”

“And then I pickedherup in the jet,” Mia’s voice bounced, “and here we are.”

Oakleigh’s brows pulled together. “— But why?”

“Who cares,” Paisley bit back. “Maeve gave us a big lecture all the way from the airport all about —”

“It wasn’t abig lecture,” Mia corrected with a deep eye roll. “You and Oakleigh are so alike sometimes.”

When they pulled up in front of the ranch house, the moonlight was glistening off of the snowy eaves.

Paisley tucked her arms to her chest.

“If Mom is waiting in there to talk — so help me,” she remarked callously. “Mia, you promised she wouldn’t be here.”

“Oh, Paisley,” Mia chided. “She’s flying out first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Not soon enough,” Paisley murmured, pushing open her door. “Let’s give these two some privacy.”

“Paisley,” Oakleigh stopped her. “There’s always a place for you here, if you need it.”

She gave her sister a sincere glance.

“Plenty of great snowboarding here, too — if you need a break from the beach.”

Paisley’s comforting, warm smile reached all the way to the corners of her eyes. “Thanks, Oaks.”

“But,” Crew interjected. “You will be awakened at the crack of dawn by the loudest, most obnoxious rooster—” he burst out laughing as Oakleigh gave him a dramatic gaping look at his sheer audacity.

Mia slid out of her seat, sighing as she gave the couple one last long glance. “You two are just perfect together.”

The young women bundled up tightly in the blustery frozen wind, and trudged up the porch steps. They opened the front door and disappeared into the warm glow of the ranch house.

“So that’s where Maeve was all afternoon,” Oakleigh commented.

“Yeah,” Crew grinned. “Couldn’t have done it without her.” He took off his seatbelt and leaned over to give her a peck on the lips. “And your mom gave me the whole idea for the proposal.”

The words flipped so casually from the cowboy’s mouth that the pertinent information nearly sailed past Oakleigh entirely.

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