Page 52 of Relentless

“Choose your next words very carefully,” Oakleigh warned.

She wilted as Oakleigh whisked past her and went straight to work, catching up on the orders piling up on the counter. Audrey’s eyes glossed over with tears, resuming her place at the register.

Harper beamed with pride over Oakleigh’s firm hand. She considered how it was precisely the way she would have handled the situation. She was surprised that Oakleigh had kept her cool despite the rage she knew was brewing behind those expressive hazel eyes. Yet she found satisfaction in knowing the young woman hadn’t lost all her grit.

Sitting at a table in the corner of the shop, Harper quietly took heed of how Oakleigh’s charm brought a spark back to the weary faces of the frozen travelers.

The line moved quickly with Oakleigh at the helm, and eventually, she brought Harper her drink.

“Sorry for the wait, Mom,” she said, setting the mug on the table. “Audrey is a disaster.”

“Don’teverbe sorry,” Harper ordered. “You’re a Davenport.” Raising the mug to her lips, she took a long sip of thesteaming hot, black coffee. She clutched the warm mug until the feeling returned to her frozen fingers.

“Right, well—” Oakleigh replied, looking as though she were unsure if her mother’s statement was one she wanted to be proud of. “I better get back to work.”

“And Oakleigh,” Harper chimed, causing her daughter to stop in her tracks. “It’s like I’ve always taught you,” she reminded. “Handle your business.”

Oakleigh looked uneasy but nodded nonetheless. Turning back toward the register, all of her discomfort seemed to evaporate as she was immediately scooped up in the strong arms of her cute cowboy.

His blonde hair was tucked into a gray-speckled beanie cap, and his eyes shone with unbridled adoration.

Barely hiding the flash of envy, Harper allowed comparison to creep in. It had been longer than she could remember since any man had valued her that way.

Oakleigh practically melted into his arms, entirely at ease in his embrace.

“So it turns out I might have made a mistake,” she informed, her words muffled into his jacket. “All these people are here to see the church open, and they’re probably going to freeze.”

“Oh, Maeve told me all about it,” he chuckled, flashing his perfect white smile. “Like she said, we’ll figure it out.” He pulled her in close again as she wrapped her arms tightly around his middle.

Audrey came up behind them both. Her eyes were still red and puffy, but now she had a whimsical smile splashed across her face. She presented Oakleigh with a cup of coffee.

“Here you go,” she announced with an obnoxious wink at Crew. “Just the way you ordered it.”

“Thanks — I guess?” Oakleigh’s raised an eyebrow. “Is she ever justnormal?”

Crew smirked. “I think that is her normal.” He bit his lip nervously, watching her take her first sip.

Oakleigh began to sputter and cough, causing Crew’s eyes to widen with alarm.

“What in the —” Oakleigh choked, spitting an object in her hand. She fired a look at Audrey that could kill, causing the young woman to immediately wither away. “That girl is trying to kill me, Crew.”

His face went bright red, and sweat glistened on his brow. “It’s me, actually,” he winced. “I’m the one trying to kill you.”

Oakleigh lifted the coffee-soaked diamond ring from her palm with two fingers. “We talked about this, Crew,” she sighed.

June walked by with her vanilla latte and squeezed Crew’s shoulder. “Nice try, cowboy,” she acknowledged, her gaze bouncing between the two as her raucous cackle echoed through the shop.

“I could have choked to death,” Oakleigh stated, pulling out his palm and placing the ring firmly in the center of it. “Not a cute way to go — although it would definitely go viral,” sheacknowledged, putting her finger in the air to accentuate her point. “Notcute.”

He ran his hand over the back of his neck. “You aren’t too mad, are ya?”

A smile dashed across Oakleigh’s face. She wrapped her hands around him again and buried her head in his muscular chest.

Relief swept over the handsome cowboy as he kissed the top of her blonde head. “I’ll get it right, I promise.”

When they finally relinquished from their nauseatingly long embrace, Crew’s eyes connected with Harper in the dark corner of the cafe. “I think I’ll have a chat with your mom for a bit,” he ventured.

Oakleigh watched nervously as he began to turn in the direction of her mother. “Let me know if she says anything mean.”

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