Olivia tears off a bite and hums under her breath.
“I will have to tell my family,” she says finally, voice low. “Soon.”
“I figured.” I wrap my hands around my mug. “However you want to do it, we will do it.”
She studies me for a moment. “You keep saying we.”
“Seems accurate,” I say. “At least for now.”
She blushes bright when I say this and I wonder why. Outside, snow starts up again. I pay the bill, and when we step onto the sidewalk, I tuck her hand into the crook of my arm without thinking. She lets me. Her fingers are cold. I don’t say a word, but I don’t let go either. It’s the gentleman thing to do.
Chapter 5
Olivia
It starts with a phone call I should have ignored. Mom’s voice bursts through the speaker like she’s conducting a board meeting instead of checking in on her daughter. “Married? Olivia, you can’t just drop something like that over voicemail!”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “It’s … recent. Love at first sight. What can I say?”
“Who is he? What does he do? Where did you meet him? Please don’t say one of those online dating apps. You remember what happened with the hedge fund guy who …”
“Mom,” I interrupt. “His name’s James. He’s the ranch foreman. It’s a long story.”
There’s a pause so long I check to make sure the call hasn’t dropped. Then, “You married the help? What about yourposition here in Manhattan? What about your apartment? Are you going to stay there with him?”
I close my eyes. “I married a man, mom. You need to slow down. James and I are still working out the particulars. It’s complicated.”
My sister Caroline’s voice joins in on speakerphone—of course. “Oh my God, Liv, tell me you’re joking. Grandpa’s foreman?”
I groan. “I can’t do this right now.”
“Oh, you’re absolutely doing this,” Mom cuts in. “You’re coming home for Christmas. Both of you. I want to meet my new son-in-law. And I mean in person. None of this ‘we’re too busy on the ranch’ nonsense.”
“Mom …”
“Tickets are being booked as we speak,” she continues, as if I’m not even on the line. “First class, of course. It’s the least we can do since we were not able to have a property wedding for our daughter.”
I hang up before she can say another word.
James is standing by the truck when I find him, hands in his coat pockets, watching snow drift off the roofline. He looks peaceful, which makes what I have to say feel even more criminal.
“We’ve been invited to New York,” I blurt. “Correction — commanded.”
He blinks. “New York City?”
“Mm-hm.”
He goes quiet for a long moment. “Never been.”
“Never?” I ask, incredulous.
He shakes his head. “Never had reason to. Closest I’ve come was Denver airport once. Didn’t much care for that either.”
I pinch my lips together to keep from laughing. “You’ve flown before though, right?”
He looks at me, dead serious. “Not unless you count getting tossed off a horse when I was seventeen.”
My brain short-circuits. “You’ve never been on a plane?”
