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With his arm wrapped around my mom’s back, his hand settled on her opposite shoulder, my dad said, “No matter what happens with this expansion, Wyatt, I’m proud of you and the job you’ve always done at Westwood’s.”
God, that felt good to hear.
Until he said it, I hadn’t realized just how much I needed to hear it. And in a moment like this, when I was questioning how to do all the right things in a situation where I felt as though I was being pulled in two opposing directions, my father’s words meant the world to me.
“Thanks, Dad.”
The three of us walked out of the family room and made our way back through the house so I could leave. On the way to the front door, Jules stopped me and held out a container. “What’s this?”
“Cookies to take with you. It’s lucky for you I was paying attention and grabbed them, because I don’t think Tate or Cooper had any intention of leaving you any.”
I smiled, took the container from her, and wrapped an arm around her back to give her a squeeze. “You’re the best, Jules.”
“I know.”
“I’m looking forward to that cake on Saturday.”
She groaned. “Oh, I hope it turns out okay.”
“You’re so good at what you do. I have no doubt it’ll be incredible,” I said.
Grinning at me, she gave me half a hug with her one arm that was wrapped around my waist and said, “Thanks, Wyatt. Good luck with Rhea. I hope it works out well for you and that we all get to meet her.”
The moment the words were out of her mouth, I realized just how much I felt the same. “Yeah, me too.”
With that, I said goodbye to my sister and my parents, got in my car, and drove myself home. And on the way there, I found myself feeling a mix of nerves and excitement about what my run with Rhea tomorrow morning would bring.
16
RHEA
It wasn’t until I pulled into the parking lot at the spot where I met Wyatt every morning for our run and saw his car when all my emotions started to run wild again.
To say the last thirty-six hours or so had been challenging would have been an understatement. I was immediately flooded with dozens of questions all over again, namely what I should do, moving forward.
I thought I had it all worked out in my head before I went out to dinner with him, but when that hadn’t gone anything like I’d anticipated, it changed everything.
I’d gone from telling myself I needed to find a way to resist him and distance myself before that dinner to being completely blindsided by everything Wyatt had shared.
It wasn’t that I was having second thoughts about selling part of my family’s farm, but Wyatt’s family’s intentions and the promises he’d made to me about how it would be if we sold that chunk of land had me questioning if I was about to be too harsh to a man who didn’t deserve it.
Wyatt had made it clear he liked me. Granted, it was entirely possible this was all just part of his plan to get what he wanted, but if he stood to gain nothing and continued to stick around, why would I ever want to push a man like him away?
If we didn’t have this one thing hanging between us, and I was given the opportunity to learn about the kind of man Wyatt was just like I had for nearly a month now, there was no doubt I’d be interested in seeing where things could go.
Wyatt was the opposite of what I perceived him to be. He was kind, compassionate, and charming. Even if I’d tried telling myself I wasn’t going to allow any of that to cloud my judgment about the farmland, could I just pretend I wasn’t starting to feel better and better every time I was around him?
Did I even want to?
I’d spent a good chunk of my day away from him yesterday thinking about him and wondering if it was easier for him than it was for me. Did he think about me as much as I thought about him?
Of course, I started to question why that even mattered, and the answer I came up with was that I liked him. I liked Wyatt Westwood, and I really wanted him to like me back in the same way.
But I couldn’t tell him that, because I was terrified he could use that to his advantage and find a way to take my family’s land if I got caught up in him in a way that went beyond us merely being acquaintances who went for a run together every morning.
I pulled into an open spot in the parking lot, a few spaces down from where Wyatt was parked, and turned off my car. Just as I reached for the handle to open my door, it was opened for me.
My eyes lifted from the door handle to Wyatt’s handsome, smiling face. “Good morning, Rhea.”
