Page 100 of The One I Want
I hold up my phone. “My fucking father is once again trying to save the day.”
“Oh no,” she says as she guides both of us back to the couch. “Tell me everything.”
I do, which of course only makes me madder as I repeat what I just read.
“I mean, how dare he!” I yell, thankful that we seem to be one of the few in here for appointments right now. “Why would he do that?”
“Probably because, like he has before, he thinks the only way you’re going to be employed is if he helps you.”
“Which is bullshit. The only job I ever took that he set up was at his firm, and I didn’t make it a whole day. Unless there were more? Shit, there could be more.”
I slump down in the chair, wondering how much he’s meddled in my life that I didn’t know about. “Want to know what the fucking kicker of it all is?”
“What’s that?”
“When I told them last year that I wanted to be a content creator, they laughed at me. They fuckinglaughed. Said it wasn’t a real job. Then it wasn’t good enough. Now that I’m doing well with it—and by the way, making Magnolia a hell of a nest egg for her college fund—all of a sudden it’s not only a job that he wants me to have, he’s willing to help make it happen.”
I take a few deep breaths, trying to suppress my anger. Because half of me wants to get in the car and tell Whitley to start driving to Birmingham so I can properly tell this man to stay out of my life once and for all. Maybe more than half. A solid seventy-five percent.
“I know this is going to sound like a stupid question, but I need you to say it out loud so I know where you stand. You aren’t taking this interview, are you?”
“Hell no,” I say with no hesitation. “I like what I’m doing. And not to mention, that job would take me back to Birmingham. And I’m not leaving. I love it here.” I reach over and grab Whitley’s hand. “My best friend is here. A man that I’m head over freaking heels in love with is here. His kids, who I adore, are here. Rolling Hills is where I’m meant to be. And there isn’t a job in the world that could take me away from that.”
* * *
“Have the best day you can!”
Magnolia and I wave to the camera after she says what’s become the sign off to our videos. She said it once—no clue where it came from—and people went nuts over it. We now end almost every video that way.
What can I say, little Miss Mags was meant to be a star.
“Can we make another, Betsy?”
I fall back on the couch, exhausted from the day. “Girlfriend, I’m whooped. How about we order pizza tonight and have a good ol’ fashioned lazy night?”
“Can we get pineapple on the pizza?”
I scrunch my nose. She knows I hate that. “How about we get one for you with pineapple?”
“Yes!” she exclaims as she jumps on the couch.
Oh, to have her energy.
“What are we celebrating?” Wes asks as he comes back inside from playing catch with Hank.
“That I declared it pizza night.”
“Pineapple?”
I roll my eyes at the man I love. I knew he had to have one flaw. “You and Magnolia can split that one.”
They give each other a high five as he sits down on the couch, bringing Magnolia to his lap.
“Actually, before we order, I have some exciting news,” Wes says. “Emerson! Can you come down here for a second?”
Exciting news? I’m racking my brain, trying to figure out what it is. He hasn’t told me anything over the last day or so that I’d deem exciting. Now that I think about it, the only thing he’s told me is that Oliver found a date for Whitley and Jake’s wedding. The only way that would be exciting is if hewasn’talready in love with her. Which he is.
“What’s up?” Emerson says as she takes a seat on the floor in front of me.
