Page 36 of Buried Dreams

“What?” my mother whispers as Oliver goes to her and puts his arm around her shoulders.

“The community has banded together to help rebuild this,” Jensen explains and even I am shocked.

She turns in his arms and cries into his shoulder as he rubs her arm. “So we can start tomorrow?” Oliver asks, and he nods.

“Our supplier had everything in stock. I already got approval from the county to expand, so let’s say, we start tomorrow at six a.m.”

We finish talking to Jensen, and when he walks out, I look over at my mother. “This is going to be good,” I assure her, and she nods. “It’s going to be everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”

“Not everything,” she mumbles, “but it’ll be close.” I look at her, trying to catch her eye to see what she meant by that, but she turns her head toward Oliver. “We’re going to have a nice chat, you and I.”

“Oh,” he responds, “I can’t wait. Shall we get going so we can get this chat over with?” He slips his hand in hers and brings it to his lips. “Or how about I treat you guys to breakfast at the diner?” He pulls her out of the shop, and we head over to the diner.

We have a late breakfast and head home. When my phone rings, I look down to see it’s Autumn. “Hey,” I answer, smiling when I hear Landon in the background.

“Hey,” she says, “are you free tonight?”

“That depends. Does he have chubby hands and a gummy smile?”

“Sadly, no.” She laughs. “Our bartender called out sick. Brady has a baseball game with Wyatt, so I’m up to work.”

“Oh, fun,” I say. “Do you need help?”

“Yes, I need someone to help me not fall asleep.”

“Done, I’ll be there after dinner.”

“Actually, come early, and we can grab a burger.”

“Fine, twist my arm.” I laugh. “I’ll see you at five.”

“Perfect,” she says, disconnecting.

I take a shower before putting on a touch of makeup and sliding on the pair of tight white jeans I think I wore in high school. Putting on a white lace bra, I see the mark he left me yesterday on display, so I change it to one that is more of a bralette. I slide on the light peach, button-down, short-sleeved shirt, leaving the top four buttons open before tucking the front in and letting the back hang down past my ass. I grab my beige wedges before heading downstairs and finding Mom in the kitchen cooking. “Where are you going all dressed up?”

“I’m going to have dinner with Autumn,” I inform her. “By the way”—I kiss her cheek—“I started the dough for the donuts, so I’ll be up at around three to start frying them.”

“I’ll come and help you.” I shake my head as she says the words and I start to make my way to the door.

“I can nap when you leave,” she says.

“Don’t make me call Oliver,” I throw over my shoulder. “I’ll be back early.”

I opt again to walk to the bar instead of driving, missing the walks I’ve been doing these past couple of weeks. I get to the bar and see it’s not full at all, just a couple of tables lingering. I catch Autumn behind the bar. “Hey, what happened to everyone?”

“No tours today,” she explains, and I look at her confused. “We offer tours of the distillery,” she fills me in, “and usually, they always stay to drink and eat. But Monday is our off day, which means we have to depend on the locals. And, well”—she points at the tables—“that is what you get.”

“Well then, better for me.” I sit on the stool. “All to myself.”

“All to yourself,” she confirms and then stops talking when she looks up and sees ten people walking in with Charlie as the leader of the pack. “What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t think I’d let you work at the bar by yourself.” He pffts out, stopping in front of me and kissing my cheek. “Everleigh, these are my boys.” He points at the men following him.

“I’m Emmett,” the tall one beside him tells me. His blue eyes are striking, and his blondish-brown hair sticks out from the back of his baseball hat. They are all wearing Mustang Creek Ranch shirts. “I don’t believe we’ve met.” He smirks at me, holding out his hand.

“I’m Everleigh.” I extend my hand to shake his. “But we’ve met before,” I remind him. He started working for Charlie when he opened the ranch. Even though we only met a couple of times when I went out there to ride with them.

“Oh, I know,” he says, “I was just wondering if you remembered me.” He winks at me. “How are you doing, darlin’?” He pulls out the stool beside me as Charlie groans, and I laugh.

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