25. Olivia

Olivia settled into the front seat of Lyric's car and scooted it all the way back. Opening her arms, she turned to her friend. "Okay, lay it on me."

Shaking her head, Lyric handed over a six-tier stack of trays full of canned spaghetti. "This is an awful idea. Asa will lose his cool if he finds out we did this."

"Look at you being a rule follower. I love it," Olivia joked.

"I'm serious, Liv. We'll get a lecture about vehicular safety. It could go on and on."

"I forgot you married a goody-two-shoes."

Lyric huffed and added another tray to the stack in Olivia's lap. "Says the woman dating Barney Fife!"

"Okay, I think that's enough for my lap. This is getting heavy."

Lyric grabbed another tray and stacked it on top. "If we're doing this, we're going all the way."

"That's my girl!" Olivia said.

"One more. Do it for the kids."

Olivia adjusted the stack on her lap. "Oof. I don't need circulation in my legs. It's fine."

"That's everything. I can't believe we stuffed all of it into one car."

A few churches in the area got together once a month to pack bags for the Fish and Loaves ministry. They delivered bags of food for some of the kids from low-income families to take home over the weekends.

Lyric's packed car was only a portion of the food they'd distribute this month. Olivia's stomach twisted every time she thought about what those kids would do if they didn't get meals sent home from school with them every weekend.

Lyric slid into the driver's seat and started the car. "You okay?"

Olivia wiggled beneath the stack of canned goods. "Five minutes. I can do this."

"I'll make it four," Lyric said as she merged onto the main road.

Olivia pushed a breath out. The stack was close to crushing her legs, but she'd done enough complaining already. "So, how's married life?"

Lyric's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as she kept her attention on the road ahead. "Absolute perfection."

"I'm so happy for you. Asa is an awesome guy."

"I can't believe this is my life. I married Asa, but I also got his whole family. Jacob is the best kid, and Betty is like…"

"The Mom you've been missing?" Olivia finished.

Lyric nodded. "But I'm glad my own parents are back in the picture. They're head-over-heels for Jacob, and it's just…I didn't think I'd have all these people in my life."

Olivia reached over and rubbed her friend's arm. Lyric had made a ton of mistakes in her life, and she was living, breathing proof that God's grace knew no bounds.

"Believe it, sister. It's real."

Lyric sniffed and placed a hand over Olivia's. "I couldn't be happier."

"How's it going at work?"

Lyric's new job as a police dispatcher allowed her to work with her new husband sometimes, which also meant she saw a lot of Dawson.

Everything seemed to find its way around to him these days. Olivia couldn't go to the grocery store without thinking about Dawson's favorite foods. She couldn't look at her chickens without seeing his goats. His Instagram videos always popped up first on her feed.

Not that she minded. She'd been running around like a cat on catnip since the camping trip, but her thoughts were always on Dawson.

"Work is great. I think I've got the hang of things now, and tomorrow is my first day on my own."

"That's awesome. Do you like what you're doing?"

"I do! It's difficult at times, but I love connecting people to the help they need. I know I'm not doing anything groundbreaking, but I love it when the dust settles and things work out."

There was no way on God's green earth Olivia was going to bring up the times when things didn't work out. She probably wouldn't make a good police dispatcher because she'd have a really hard time compartmentalizing the calls that didn't have a happy ending.

Lyric cleared her throat. "I'm really glad you and Dawson are giving it a shot. He's such a good guy."

There it was. The casual mention of the man who had her completely wrapped up in an all-consuming love.

They'd been official for less than a week, and she was already positively in love. The realization wasn't really a quick one. She'd loved him as a friend for half of her life, but opening her heart to his full affection was like turning on a light. Dawson was as much a part of her heart as her family, and that would never change.

It was love, plain and simple. Dawson made it easy.

"You have no idea. He's so good to me, but I think I love it more when I see him being good to others. That's weird, isn't it?"

"Not at all. I feel that way about Asa too. I think seeing him be a good dad is the most attractive thing I've ever witnessed."

Olivia's grip on the stack of food in her lap tightened. What was she doing? Dawson had no idea that he might be trading kids for a relationship with her, and she didn't know how to tell him.

The ride was silent until they parked in the church parking lot. Lyric rounded the car and started lifting trays.

"You okay?" Lyric asked.

"I'm fine. Why?" That was a stretch of the truth, but Olivia was getting used to impersonating a vault when it came to talking about the problems she and Dawson had in front of them.

Lyric shrugged. "You just looked a little green. Are you sure you're not getting sick?"

"Positive."

When only a few trays remained on her lap, Olivia stood with the last of the load and stretched. They still had the entire back seat and trunk to unload, and volunteers would be arriving soon.

She walked inside to put down the trays when her phone rang. Hurrying to the table filled with food items, she put the trays down and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Anna Banana.

Why did her gut have to roil whenever her friend called? It wasn't supposed to be this way. They were sisters–on the same team.

Not anymore. At least Anna wouldn't think that after Olivia gathered the courage to have the talk with her.

Olivia answered the call and pressed it between her ear and shoulder. "Hey."

"Hey." The greeting was flat and lifeless. "Have you seen Dawson's latest post on Instagram?"

Olivia raised her chin and looked around. The church dining hall was packed. The whole place buzzed with volunteers. She was the only one standing still, and she couldn't make her legs move for all the money in the world. She swallowed the burning in her throat and croaked out a hoarse, "No."

"It's a reel," Anna said. "He's asking the goats if they think TheChickenChick should give him a chance."

No. No, no, no. Olivia hadn't seen the reel, and she wasn't prepared for this confrontation. "I–I–"

"It has almost a million views," Anna added.

Olivia gasped. A million? He had to have posted it today because she hadn't seen it earlier.

"I didn't know about it. I've been picking up food for Fish and Loaves this afternoon, and I just haven't–"

Anna sighed. "I know you didn't have anything to do with it. I just saw it, and the internet is going crazy over it. Women are begging him to be their baby's daddy in the comments like he's the last man on earth."

Olivia stared at the blank wall in front of her. Comments like that weren't uncommon on his Instagram posts, but a million views on a video that connected them in a romantic way?

Lyric stepped back inside with her arms full of food. She stopped when she saw Olivia standing dumbstruck.

Anna laughed. "I know he's hot, but wow. I can't imagine throwing myself at someone like that. And publicly!"

Olivia took a half-breath. Anna was laughing. That was a good sign. "Um, yeah. Some of the comments he gets are wild."

Anna continued laughing. All of the hesitancy from a moment ago had dissipated like a vapor. "It really is funny. Some of the comments are tagging you and saying you're crazy if you don't take him up on it."

Great. Now she was having true chest pain. The thought of telling Anna the truth and being the cause of her heartbreak was enough to make Olivia's lunch revolt in her gut.

"And I know it's just farm stuff," Anna went on. "People really love those goats and chickens."

Olivia's week had been packed from beginning to end. She hadn't had a second to wash her hair, much less have a friendship-breaking conversation. She definitely wasn't prepared to spill the toxic beans over the phone and with an audience.

Julia Letterman stepped to the front of the room and clapped her hands. "Okay, everyone. Let's pray before we get started!"

"Do you have to go?" Anna asked. "I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you too."

The hollow words hung in the air as Anna disconnected the call.

Lyric stepped in front of Olivia with her brows pinched together and lifted. "Liv, what's wrong?"

Blinking past the paralyzing fear of the conversation that hadn't actually happened yet, Olivia rubbed the side of her face. Had they already finished the prayer? "It was Anna. She said Dawson had a reel go viral today. About us."

Lyric's eyes widened. "Did he say you were together?"

Olivia shook her head. "No, but apparently he was asking if I should give him a chance."

Sucking in air through her teeth, Lyric rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh, that's not good."

"Not good is an understatement. She sounded upset at first, then she was laughing."

"So she thinks it wasn't serious."

"But it kind of is. What if she'd found out that way? How am I going to tell her?" Olivia's voice was rising with her panic. "I'm not ready. I don't know what to do. I am terrified of her finding out from me or otherwise."

Lyric rested her hands on Olivia's shoulders. "Shh. Calm down. We'll figure this out, but right now we need to focus on what we're doing here."

Olivia looked around at the people working–doing what they were here to do. After a few deep breaths, the storm in her mind began to clear. She needed to be working anyway. It would distract her from the crippling fact that she was betraying her best friend.

"You're right," Olivia whispered.

Lyric pressed a hand to Olivia's back and gently nudged her toward the front of the room. "Grab a bag and forget about this. You'll have time to talk to her later."

Later. How much later could it be? The truth of their relationship was disguised as a joke and running rampant over the internet.

The phone in her pocket vibrated, and she pulled it out. Dawson's name and a photo of him holding Henry filled the screen.

Her chest heaved, and she silenced the call. They had plenty to talk about, but it would have to wait until later.