32. Dawson

Dawson stared blankly at the TV screen as Bugs Bunny tricked Elmer Fudd into thinking he'd missed rabbit season. Looney Tunes was usually a surefire way to lighten Dawson's mood, but the cartoons failed to take his mind off Olivia.

He checked his watch and stared at his front door. She was going to try to talk to Anna again today. Was it a good sign or a bad sign that he hadn't heard from her yet?

Half an hour. He'd give her half an hour before he called to check on her. Maybe she hadn't showed up yet because she and Anna were having a long talk and patching things up.

Fat chance. Anna hadn't answered Olivia's calls or texts all week, and knocking on her door hadn't gotten her an invitation inside either.

All of Olivia's and his good intentions blew up like an ACME bomb when Anna caught them at the farm. He'd known the second he laid eyes on her that she was hurt.

Olivia hadn't fared well either. She'd barely eaten or slept, and the only thing she could think about was Anna.

Dawson muted the TV and turned his recliner to face the door. Crossing his arms over his chest, he settled in to stare at the space where he desperately needed Olivia to appear.

Intermittent glances at the TV told him half an hour had passed, and he unlocked his phone and called Olivia.

"I'm almost there," she said in answer.

Her voice gave nothing away other than she wasn't crying.

At the moment.

"I love you." His constant reminder had done little to cheer Olivia up lately, but he wouldn't give up.

"I love you too."

Less than five minutes later, her engine rumbled outside, sending Dawson to his feet.

He met her on the porch and held the door open for her. She walked through it without lifting her chin from where it sat on her chest.

Well, that was as much of an answer as he needed.

"How'd it go?" he asked as he closed the door behind him.

Olivia looked up wide-eyed as if she'd just realized he was there. "I'm sorry." She slid her arms around him and tilted her chin up to press a kiss to his lips. It ended all too soon as she stretched the fakest smile he'd ever seen and asked, "How was your day?"

"Peachy. How was yours?"

She tilted her head from side to side. "Could'a been better."

Dawson brushed a hair from her face before letting his thumb trail down and over the darkness under her eyes. He hated those shadows. "How'd it go with Anna?"

"Not great. She said she didn't want to talk about it yet."

"Yet? That's a new word. Is that hope I hear?"

Olivia let her forehead rest on his chest. "I don't know. All I know is I can't keep doing this to her."

"Doing what to her? You didn't do anything wrong. We were going to tell her. She just found out first. We didn't even know she was back in town."

"The way she saw us together." Olivia huffed and shook her head. "She must be so mad at me."

Dawson tilted her chin up. "Once again, we intended to tell her. We can't help our feelings. Even if you and I weren't together, I wouldn't be with Anna. She's nice, but we have nothing in common."

"Oh, like the dozens of things we have in common," Olivia muttered.

"We've been friends since we were kids. We take care of a farm together. We go to the same church and do pretty much everything together. That counts for a lot, Liv. And how was I supposed to spend any amount of time with you and not fall in love with you?"

Olivia's chuckle brought some life back into the stale air before she sighed. "I can't hurt my friend," she whispered.

"And I can't live without you."

Olivia's head whipped up, and she sucked in a deep breath. "I'm the one holding the knife here. I'm hurting everyone around me. I was keeping things from you. Then I was keeping things from Anna. Now my best friend won't talk to me."

"Second best friend," Dawson corrected. "I'm number one."

"I'm sorry."

"And you're forgiven. You had reasons for not telling me those things, even though you should have known you could trust me and we'd figure it out together."

"And I'm glad I did," she added. "Can we have a fun night? I just need to take my mind off things."

"Barn Sour?" Dawson asked as he lifted her hand above her head, coaxing her to twirl. "We can dance the night away."

"That sounds perfect, but I need food before dancing," Olivia said. The light was already gleaming in her eyes again.

"You read my mind. I could go for a ton of totchos right now."

Olivia closed her eyes and hummed. "And a cheeseburger."

Dawson tilted her chin up and kissed her. Every movement was soft and sweet, reminding her to savor the moments when everything was right in the world. "Your wish is my command, my queen."

Dawson parkedhis truck in front of the church on Sunday morning. Only four other vehicles sat in the parking lot. One belonged to the pastor, one belonged to Lyric, and the other belonged to Anna.

It was the second Sunday since the run-in with Anna, and Dawson wasn't about to let the Lord's day pass without the lines clearing up. Olivia loved going to church, and seeing her unease last night at the mention of the mid-morning service was where he put his foot down.

He said another prayer for the right words as he walked through the front doors of the church. Lyric waited in the entryway, dressed in a brown-and-gold dress that reflected the fall weather, pacing with her fingernails between her teeth.

When she spotted him, she dropped her hands and lifted her shoulders. "I can't believe I lied to get someone to church."

Dawson chuckled. "I'm sure God will forgive you. It's for a good cause."

"I know. I hate to see Olivia and Anna like this. It breaks my heart."

"And that's why we needed to do this."

Lyric shook out her hands and nodded. "You're right. Let's go."

Dawson took his place beside Lyric and followed her to the dining hall. "What did you tell her?" he asked.

"I told her I needed help with Baking Blessings."

"Nice one," Dawson said.

Lyric swatted his arm. "Shut up. I'm still not happy about lying."

If everything worked out this morning, Dawson would buy Lyric a cake this week for her trouble. He'd probably have the baker write "Thanks for lying" on it just to make her laugh about it.

They stepped into the dining hall, and Anna looked up from her phone. As soon as she spotted him, she lowered her phone to the counter beside her and looked from one side to the other like a cornered animal.

Lyric held up her hands and walked straight to Anna. "I'm sorry. I don't need help with Baking Blessings. Dawson asked me to get you here so he could talk to you."

Anna averted her gaze and inhaled a deep breath. "I get it."

Lyric threw her arms around Anna's neck. Lyric's dark hair contrasted with Anna's blonde hair as the women embraced.

"I love you," Lyric whispered. "Olivia does too."

Anna just nodded and stepped back. Her expression was resigned as she let go of her friend.

Lyric looked between Dawson and Anna. "I'm going to let you two talk." With a wink at Anna, Lyric stepped out of the dining hall, her heels clicking on the tile floor.

Dawson leaned back, resting his hands against the counter behind him. "Don't be upset at Lyric. She means well."

"I know. I've just been running from reality," Anna admitted. Her voice had almost no inflection, as if she were resigned to defeat.

"Olivia and I didn't mean to hurt you. In fact, I had no idea you were even interested in me."

Anna huffed. "And that was the way I liked it. It was just a…" She waved her hand above her head. "An infatuation or something. Nothing real. I just want to find a guy that treats me well, and I saw how good you always are to women. I kind of latched onto that."

"So, you're not interested in me, just a guy who is nice like me."

"Basically. It took me all week to figure that out though."

"You deserve a man who will treat you well. Don't ever settle."

Anna scoffed. "Have you seen the options out there lately? I'm creeping toward my thirties, and I haven't met a decent man in…a while."

"That's not true. There are lots of good guys around here. Still, I get that it's hard to find someone you're compatible with, attracted to, and who loves you back. Dating isn't meant to be easy. Figuring out who you're meant to walk through life with is a big decision."

Anna fidgeted with her fingers. "You and Olivia sure made it look easy."

Dawson held up a halting finger. "Wait a minute. You saw us for about point-two seconds. That's not an accurate representation of our relationship."

Straightening and propping her hands on her hips, Anna looked up at him. "You're telling me that your relationship isn't perfect?"

Okay, he really couldn't deny that claim. "It's only been a couple of weeks. Give us some time, and I'm sure we'll have a disagreement over…something."

In truth, he couldn't imagine opposing anything Olivia said or believed, but he was right when he said they would eventually have to face-off over something. Especially if they spent the rest of their lives together the way Dawson intended.

"Maybe you will, but…" Anna tucked her chin and shook her head. "I was so stupid."

That was unexpected. "Stupid how?"

"I had no idea Olivia had feelings for you. Real feelings. Not the silly ones I made into a big deal. I mean, how long has she been interested in you? I steamrolled over her with my own petty crush, and I never thought to ask about her. I'm the worst kind of friend."

Dawson held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. No one thinks you're a bad friend. In fact, Olivia is torn up over this. She's heartbroken that she might have ruined the best friendship she's ever had."

"If the two of you ever have an argument, she's supposed to come to me–her best friend–for girl talk. How can she do that when she can't even talk to me? I mean, she didn't feel comfortable enough to share her feelings with me. I'm supposed to be the one she runs to when a man breaks her heart. I failed her."

"You didn't. And for the record, she's never getting her heart broken. She wants a chance to apologize. We were going to tell you soon, but Olivia was terrified of what you might think. She respects you, and she cares about you. Also, she's going to need a lot of support in the next few weeks."

Anna sniffed and jerked her head up. "Why?"

Anna was one of the few who knew about Olivia's battle with endometriosis, and until Olivia was ready to share it with the world, Anna would be the one she looked to for support.

"She's having surgery in a few weeks for endometriosis."

"Again? I guess I should have expected that. It's been a while since her last one." Anna's brows pinched as she looked up. "Wait. She told you?"

"Finally. She didn't want to." He'd gotten past that little secret, realizing all of Olivia's reasons for hiding it.

"That's a big step," Anna said, biting her lips to conceal a smile. "I'm glad she told you."

"You and me both. I'm glad she's had you by her side all this time."

Anna brushed a hand over her blonde hair and sighed. "I'm so embarrassed."

"About what?"

"She probably liked you this entire time. If I hadn't been so mouthy about my perceived feelings for you, the two of you could have been together for a long time–getting engaged, married, and having…"

The color drained from Anna's face as she realized her poor choice of words. "I'm sorry. I know that must be a tough subject."

"It is, but I'm confident we'll make it through."

Anna's eyes went glassy as she smiled. "I know you two will figure it out. I'm so happy for you. Truly." Blinking back the moisture in her eyes, she squared her shoulders. "I have to find her."

Dawson checked his watch. "She should be arriving any minute."

Anna clicked past him in her heels before turning back to face him. "Thanks again for forcing my hand. I was planning to call her today, but I'm glad you came to me sooner."

Dawson tipped an imaginary hat. "My pleasure."

With that, Anna bustled out of the dining hall and toward the church entrance. Dawson followed her quick steps and rounded the corner just in time to see Anna barrel into Olivia and wrap her up in a hug that probably cut off her air supply.

"I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?" Anna asked, pressing her face into Olivia's dark, flowing hair.

Olivia caught sight of him over Anna's shoulder, and her eyes widened. Dawson gave her a big ol' smile and two thumbs-up.

"What are you even talking about?" Olivia asked. "I'm the one who needs to apologize."

Anna leaned back and shook her head hard enough to swing her hair from side to side. "No. We have a lot to talk about. Can we have lunch after the service?"

Olivia glanced at Dawson, and he gave her two more thumbs-up. He'd made lunch plans with Olivia already, but his hope had been to reserve her time in case things went well with Anna this morning.

"I'd love that," Olivia said, locking Anna in a rib-crushing hug.

Dawson had taken a leap of faith when he set up the meeting with Anna this morning, but everything had worked out for the good. Olivia had her friend back, and Dawson had a smiling girlfriend again.