Page 57 of Out of Place

Her eyebrows raise. “Well, I mean, maybe’s it’s kind of farm-chic?”

“You don’t have to try to make me feel better. I know they’re terrible.”

“I’ll let you two be,” Landon says and then faces me. “Sweetheart, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He leans in and kisses me gently.

Serena waves her fingers at him. “Bye, Landon.”

“Bye, Serena.” He gives her his most charming smile.

After he walks off, Serena says, “Olivia, that man is gorgeous! The pictures don’t do him justice.”

“I know,” I say, watching him walk away. “He’s pretty much perfect.”

“Oh my god. Look at your face! You’re in so deep,” she squeals. “I’m happy for you, Liv. You deserve a good man.”

Do I deserve a good man? I’m not sure if that’s true. But I couldn’t give Landon up even if I wanted to. He’s too good, but I want him. Every morning, I look forward to seeing him. I’m pretty sure he feels the same because he always finds a way to see me, even on his days off. The butterflies still haven’t gone away. Whenever I see him or his name pops up on my phone, my stomach does somersaults. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.

“Come on, your aunt said dinner was almost ready. Also,”—she grabs my hand—“what is going on with your nails?”

My last manicure from New York is long gone by now. I was able to watch a video on how to remove a gel manicure, and thankfully, Walmart had all the supplies I needed. My nails are bare and cut down pretty short, and there always seems to be dirt stuck underneath them. When I first got here, I hated looking down at my hands with my chipping manicure, but now I don’t care all that much. There are other more important things for me to worry about now.

Although, I gave in and bought some box color at Walmart. I had Landon help me do my roots one night, but that’s been the extent of my beauty regimen since I’ve been here.

“Yeah, there’s no nail salon in Thundersville. The closest one is in the next town over, and I haven’t really had time.” And I’m not sure my dad would qualify my nails as a necessity for me to use my credit card.

She gasps. “Oh my god. That’s terrible.”

“I know,” I nod in agreement.

“How are your driving lessons going with Mr. Hottie McHotterson?”

I laugh. “Good. I have to get forty hours of driving time before I can try to take the test. But we’re getting close.”

She claps her hands. “I can’t wait to have you drive me all around this cute little town.”

We link arms and walk to the house, where we have dinner. Thankfully, it’s not a mush casserole, even though I’ve gotten used to them. We eat the chicken, rice, and roasted carrots while chatting. Apparently, Dottie was in on the surprise of Serena coming. My parents called and asked if Serena could stay for a weekend, and she agreed. Honestly, I can’t believe my parents agreed to do something nice for me.

I tell Serena what I’ve been up to, and she tells me about all the parties she’s gone to and people she’s been hanging out with since I abandoned her—her words, not mine. She shows me pictures of the new dresses she just got. They’re beautiful, but I’m surprisingly not jealous.

Hearing her talk about all of this, I almost can’t believe I used to do this too. It feels like a lifetime ago.

I’ve seen the pictures on her social media of everything she’s been doing, and she always looks amazing. The last picture I posted was a picture Landon took of me. I was laughing, sitting in the pen with a few of our new baby goats. I had no makeup on, there were armpit sweat marks on my shirt, and I had Landon’s hat on because the sun was starting to burn my face.

Landon sent me the picture and told me how much he loved it. He even set it as the background on his phone. So, I posted it for all the world to see. It got over a hundred thousand likes, and people commented on how happy I looked and how nice it was to see someone like me doing something so normal. There were a few nasty comments, but there always are. I tried not to let those get to me.

The point is, my life has changed so drastically, and I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would.

After dinner, I wash the dishes as usual and ask Serena if she wants to watch Wheel of Fortune with us while we work on our puzzle. Landon has stayed a few nights to help, and we’re getting close to finishing it.

She looks at me like I’ve grown a second head before agreeing. We all sit down on the old as fuck blue couch in the living room and work on the puzzle.

* * *

The next morning, I let Serena sleep in while I get up to do my morning chores. She slept in my bed last night instead of one of the other guest rooms because we wanted to stay up talking like we used to. It was so much fun. I knew I missed her, but having her here has made me realize just how much.

I meet Landon and Camden in the milking parlor, just like normal. Landon kisses me and asks me about my night while we clean udders. I really should’ve woken Serena up for this. She would’ve gotten a kick out of it, I bet. I’m not sure if she’s ever even seen a cow in real life. I know I hadn’t before I got here.