“You’re being too good to me, letting me off the hook.”
“Because you got upset about something you’re not ready to tell me about? Answer this – do you want to spend 24 hours with me or not?”
“I do,” she whispers. “It’s all I want.”
“That’s all I need to know, Liv. It’s all that matters.”
She's going to be here any minute. My mom knows something's up because, hell, I'm a basket of nerves.
Gertrude has made a big family breakfast and my dad's even agreed to sit at the table. He likes to be out in the stables in the morning, but I told him that he needs to meet Livingston. He needs to meet the girl that he's going to know for quite some time.
My parents must notice a change in me because they keep eyeing one another as if... well, as if I have something up my sleeve, which I do. I want them to know Liv because she's not just some girl. She is the girl.
I know yesterday was a lot, and for whatever reason, she didn’t tell me about her horse riding career – which, yeah, I googled her like her uncle suggested. And I found out that Livingston Young is more than a horse rider, she’s a fucking national-class competitor.
She's been everywhere, won blue ribbons and flower wreaths and crowns. I wasn't wrong when I called her a princess. She’s fucking royalty in the world of show jumping, a goddamn queen to be honest. But she must have had a reason for not telling me all of that, for keeping me in the dark.
"There's a car coming up the driveway," Otis says, joining us in the kitchen.
Dad runs a hand over his jaw. "I don't know what this is all about."
Mom smooths her cardigan. "Darling, your son has fallen for a lady and he’s invited her over, that's what it's about."
"Kind of springing a lot on us all at once, isn't he?" Dad says.
My mom smiles. "That's usually how it happens, isn't it? You meet a girl and everything changes?" She smiles, winking at my father. "If I remember correctly," she says to him, "that's how it happened for us, isn't it? You met me one spring day, and the next thing you knew..."
My father shakes his head, laughing. "What am I going to do with you, darling?"
My mom laughs. "Oh, there's plenty you can do with me."
My eyes go wide. "Oh God," I cringe. "I do not need to hear any of this." But my parents just laugh, and I groan, wondering what they get up to when I'm not around.
Forget that – I don't want to know what they get up to when I'm not around. I go to the front door and open it just as Livingston is walking to the front entrance.
"Wow, this place is beautiful," she says.
"You like it?" I ask.
"Yeah," she says with a grin, "it's a lot different than I was imagining."
"What were you imagining?" I ask, wrapping her in my arms, breathing her in, lavender and vanilla and heaven. Mine. God, this girl is everything. I kiss her on the cheek. I want to kiss her everywhere else and then some.
She smiles up at me. She licks her lips. "Thank you for inviting me."
"Thank you for coming," I tell her.
I pull back and I introduce her to Gertrude and Otis. Behind them are my parents. "And my mom and dad, Carla and Robert."
"Pleased to meet you," she says. "I'm Livingston Young."
"And I take it you're not from Whiskey Run?" my mom asks.
"No, I'm not. I'm from back east. My parents and I are from Williamsburg, Virginia."
"Oh, interesting," my mom says. "I wasn't expecting that."
"No? What were you expecting?" Livingston asks, playfully, following my mom into the dining room.
"I don't know," my mom says, looking back at me, "but I like it. Tell me everything about yourself. Ledger, you know, keeps his cards close."
Liv looks back at me. "Really? He does? I hear he doesn't come home too often."
My mom laughs. "Well, apparently that's going to change here pretty soon."
"Really?" Liv asks as we all take a seat.
We begin dishing up our brunch of sausage, French toast casserole, potatoes, fruit salad, and scrambled eggs. There's a whole feast here, and I just try to take it all in: the fact that Liv is here with my parents and they're making small talk like this is some normal thing we do. I'm hardly ever home and never like this. Never with a girl.
I swallow. I take a drink of orange juice.
Liv jumps right into the good stuff. “What did you mean earlier,” she asks the table, “when you said Ledger will be home more?”
I exhale.
"Just last night," my father says to Liv, "Ledger and I came to an agreement. He's going to take over managing the family ranch. He's going to move here next week."