calling or texting first. I was sure by now the entire town knew that I was staying at Bentley’s. It could be my parents, my brothers, Bentley, or one of my other friends. Or it could just be a random person dropping off a casserole or plant as a homecoming gift.
Whoever it was, I knew that I couldn’t ignore them. They’d just keep knocking or come back tomorrow.
I stood and flinched when I did. The stabbing pain only lasted for a moment before a tingling numbness and dull ache replaced it. With each step I took toward the front door the ache got deeper. PT days were always tough, but after spending three days in the car, this one had been particularly brutal.
By the time I made it to the door, there were beads of sweat forming on the base of my neck. I was going to thank whoever was on the porch for stopping by and tell them I was tired and going to turn in early.
My eyes were cast down when I opened it and I was not expecting to see huge brown eyes staring up at me. A gorgeous golden lab was seated next to Olivia, who was carrying a large tote bag.
She smiled and, in that moment, it was like no time had passed at all. We were back in middle school. My hands grew damp, my pulse raced, and I couldn’t breathe.
Chapter 10
Olivia
“The key to success is to focus on what can go right, not on what can go wrong.”
~ Maggie Calhoun
Why in the name of Dolly Parton did Holden Reed have to be so damn good looking? It’s not fair, I thought to myself as I smiled trying not to show how affected I was by being face to face with him.
I couldn’t remember the last time that I’d seen him up close and personal and it was staggering the difference this view made.
After all these years, he looked exactly the same and totally different at the same time. The scar that cut through his right eyebrow that he’d gotten when he’d been helping unload a horse at the rodeo when he was ten and taken a hoof to the face was still there. His nose still had a bump in the center from being broken when he took a header over the handlebars of his ten-speed when he’d been racing Bentley and Travis across Old Man Spratt’s field. His eyes that were bluer than the ocean were still surrounded by thick, dark lashes.
But he did have some wrinkles at the corners of his eyes that hadn’t been there the last time I saw him. And there were also dark circles beneath his eyes that he’d never had, but I thought might be because of the pain he was in. But the biggest change was the beard that covered his strong jaw. I wanted so badly to reach out and touch it.
“Hi,” I finally managed to say.
“Hi.”
This was going well so far. He was speaking to me, at least. “I just wanted to stop by and welcome you to the duplex. Well, we did.” I dipped my chin toward Channing.
“Who’s this?” He looked down.
“This is Channing Tatum.”
“Hi, Channing Tatum.” Holden bent over to pet Channing on his head.
Channing ate up the attention and so did I. There was a reason that firefighters did calendars with dogs, and there were entire Instagram pages devoted to hot guys with dogs. There was something really sexy about the combo.
I was mid-swoon when Holden slowly stood back up. I watched the color drain from his sun kissed skin as he straightened. When he was fully upright, he held himself perfectly still as if even the slightest movement would be excruciating.
The nurturer in me was screaming to reach out and put my arm around him to support him, or to do something, anything, to make him feel better. But Holden had never been one that appreciated anyone fussing over him. Which was probably why he hadn’t let his mom come and visit him.
I tried not to let the fact that I could see how much discomfort he was in show on my face as I held up my secret weapon. “Can we come in? We brought dinner.”
At the mention and movement of the food Channing’s tail thumped against the wood planks of the porch.
Holden’s jaw tensed and his nostrils flared. It was obvious that he wanted to turn me away, but I knew he wouldn’t because that wouldn’t be