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“Do you think he’s drunk?” Miranda asked.
Dumbfounded, Olivia shook her head. “He didn’t slur.”
“Here comes another bus,” Natalie said as she handed Olivia a roll of raffle tickets. “Go get ’em.”
Still trying to work out the mayor’s change of heart, she made her way to the edge of the open-air beer garden to greet the newcomers. After handing out raffle tickets to what seemed like half the town, she realized the bus was still in the parking lot. The driver should have shut the doors and gone back for another group by now, but it remained parked with the doors open.
Figuring there was someone on board who needed assistance getting off, she began walking over, but Mateo’s dog appeared in the doorway.
He paused for a second, happily panting as he looked around. The moment he spotted Olivia, he turned into a multicolored fur flash as he sprinted down the steps and across the parking lot to her.
“What in the world are you doing here?” She knelt down to pet him, keeping her eye on the bus, figuring Luciana and her brood were about to debark, but no one did. Looking down at the dog, she noticed he had a brand new bright-yellow collar. A rolled-up piece of paper dangled from it.
Heart fluttering, she glanced up, looking for Mateo. He was the only who would send his dog with a note, but he wasn’t mingling in the crowd. Fingers shaking, she unhooked the note from the dog’s collar while dodging the happy guy’s licks as much as possible.
HI, MY NAME’S TROUBLE. MY PERSON IS AN IDIOT. CAN YOU HELP ME FIND HIM?
She bit her bottom lip to stop the quivering and buried her face in Trouble’s soft fur. Her heart was held together with weak glue and Scotch tape; another swift kick by Mateo’s boot and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to put it back together again.
Even though it was the last thing she should do, she looked up at the bus. The doors were still open. He had to be in there. Excitement, hope and a belief in happily ever afters pushed its way to the forefront. It lightened her footsteps as she walked toward the bus, the dog following behind.
But before she reached it, the driver closed the doors and the bus rolled forward on its return trip to S
alvation.
One by one, the butterflies fluttering in her stomach dropped dead as the bus pulled away. It wasn’t until it was almost out of the lot that she could see who had been hiding behind it.
Mateo stood alone in the parking lot wearing a T-shirt that read: I’M THE IDIOT.
Mateo watched four thousand expressions flitter across Olivia’s face, but she didn’t move. Okay, he was prepared for this. Mostly. Walking over to her with the caution of a man picking up a live grenade, he mentally prepared for the worst while hoping like hell things wouldn’t go FUBAR double quick.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve.” She crossed her arms and glared at him.
“I have to.” He got close enough to smell her strawberry body wash and feel the heat of her anger. Even with that, though, the electricity sparking between them could have lit up a Third World country. “You’d eat a less stubborn man for breakfast.”
Her lips twitched upward, but she recovered fast and returned to resting bitch face. “Am I supposed to find that charming?”
“I’ve never been accused of having a lot of charm. I’m pigheaded, grouchy and I say the wrong things at the worst time. Basically, I’m an asshole—but I’m your asshole.” Fuck. Brain, anytime you want to catch up with the mouth, that would be good. “That didn’t come out right. Hell, I don’t know what to say.” He shoved his hand through his hair, sucked in a deep breath and tried again. “All I know is that when I’m around you, everything is better. When I’m not around you, I’m like a wounded animal snarling at anyone who dares to come near. You’re beautiful and smart and you don’t put up with any of my shit. We work together. We always have.”
He paused, trying to judge by the look on her face if he was making any sense at all because to his own ears, he sounded totally unhinged. Olivia’s chin trembled and her nose had turned red. Her eyes were watery. He really was an idiot. He was fucking this all up, but he couldn’t stop talking.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that we belong together.” The words rushed out. “I love you, Olivia Sweet. I’m not the man you deserve, but I hope someday I will be.”
“You idiot.” Olivia stopped his rambling. “You already are.”
He pulled her close before she could change her mind and kissed her as Trouble howled his approval.
Chapter Fourteen
Six Months Later
The cabin’s living room was littered with women’s clothing, makeup brushes, hair tools and chocolate wrappers.
“This is so Sweet of us,” Olivia giggled, excited jitters bubbling up inside her even as she knew there was no place else she’d rather be than here where she belonged—and no one that she’d rather be with today, tomorrow and forever.
Miranda shook her head as she rubbed her two-weeks-to-go belly. “Ruby Sue said she expected it of us.”
“Really, it’s the most streamlined way to do this,” Natalie said, and tucked an errant hair behind her ear.
