Page 89 of Love Off-Limits
I dropped my bags at my feet and crossed to where she stood. I pulled her into an embrace, and she collapsed against me. I drank her in, filling my lungs with the smell of her hair, loving the way her body molded to mine. “Then give me a reason to stay,” I said. I kissed her temple, my hands splayed across her back. “But if I’m going to stay, it has to bewith you. I can’t just bide my time in the bunkhouse, working the farm and waiting for something I don’t even...” I sighed. “I have to do the next thing in my life. It’s time.”
She leaned back and brought her hands to my chest, her eyes down. I slid my arms to the small of her back and clasped my hands, cocooning her in my arms.
“Have you talked to your dad yet?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, a lot of reflecting.” She lifted her gaze to mine. “And I’m going to. Soon.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded. “I feel like I need to reconcile myself to all the potential things he might say before we have the conversation. He doesn’t need me to react emotionally, to take business decisions personally. So I want to be ready. One minute, I’m sure I am, but then the next, I think about actually letting go of my plans and how sure I was about everything, and then I feel lost all over again.”
Her head dropped back to my chest, and I held her as a painful realization settled in my gut.
Olivia was lost, but thefindingshe needed to do didn’t have anything to do with me. I could feel her caving, her resolve slipping as she melted into me. If I pushed, even the tiniest bit, she’d give me what I wanted. She’d let me back in.
But she’d done exactly the right thing in asking for time to sort things out. And right now, loving her meant giving it to her without argument.
I slid my hands up her arms and gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “You’re going to figure this thing out with your family,” I said gently. “With the farm.”
She shook her head. “I’m not so sure.”
“I am sure,” I said. “And when you do? I hope you’ll call me.” I pressed one last kiss to her forehead before backing away and retrieving my gear from the floor. “Goodbye, Olivia,” I said simply.
And then I turned and left.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Olivia
It’s not that I didn’t recognize the wisdom in Tyler leaving.
It was unfair for me to expect him to just sit around Silver Creek and wait for me.
Still, knowing he’d been on Stonebrook’s property, always close by, had filled a little part of me that I hadn’t recognized until he left, and now that he was gone, I keenly felt the lack.
The world was a little dimmer without Tyler in it. Which was why getting an email from him late Friday afternoon two weeks after the Vestry/Bradshaw wedding sent me into such a tailspin. It was the first I’d heard from him since he’d kissed my forehead and left me standing in the pavilion.
The message came into my work email, the one listed on the Stonebrook Farm website. My hands trembled as I opened it, my heart climbing into my throat.
Olivia—
Thought you might want to see the final wedding video for the Ethans. I’m pleased with how it turned out. They were pleased too. In fact, I just spent a week with them in Charlotte and they’ve offered me a job. It’s a good fit, and it’s all thanks to you. Thank you for thinking of me, for trusting me to do something I didn’t believe myself capable of. The video is attached.
You’ll find there’s also one more video. It’s nothing much, just a compilation of some of the shooting I did during my time at Stonebrook. As I edited and put it together, I thought of your restaurant.
I hope you don’t give up on the idea. No one should have to give up on what they feel passionate about.
If you have the opportunity to make it happen, maybe this could help with your marketing.
Thanks again for everything. Please tell Baby Penelope I miss her.
—Tyler
I opened the wedding video first.
Of course, it was brilliant. It was far more than just a linear recording of an event. It wasart. Clips of the Ethans talking about each other and of their families and friends talking about them were interspersed among key moments of the ceremony and reception, gorgeous shots of the farm, the expansive views, the decorations, and all the beautiful people who had attended the event. It was a love story—alove letterto the Ethans. I’d seen a lot of wedding videos, and I’d never seen anything like it.
I hesitated before opening the second video. I still hadn’t had my long-anticipated conversation with Dad. Seeing Tyler again and then dealing with the pain of him leaving had thrown me into a bit of a tailspin. I was slowly coming out of it, going through the motions at work, growing more and more used to the idea of working with Perry long-term.
