Sadie
“Hey, guys,” I welcomed Olivia, Lucy, and Arya into my barn. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“You’re welcome. Of course.” Olivia looked at me with a warm smile. “Is everything okay?”
I looked at them nervously. “I’m kind of going out of my mind right now,” I told them, “and I really needed some girlfriends to talk to. It’s just all too much right now.”
“What’s going on?” Arya squeezed my hand. “I got worried when I got your message. Did everything go okay at the meeting?”
“It was fine. I met with Dominic and Tom Olivio. They’re the brothers that want to start the learning ranch, and I think it’s quite possible that we can go into business together, but,” I let out a deep sigh, “Wyatt showed up.”
“Oh, my gosh, Wyatt is everywhere.” Lucy laughed. “What happened?”
“He thought I was there on a double date.”
“With two men?” Olivia raised an eyebrow.
“Exactly. He thought I was desperate enough to go on a double date with two brothers to see which one would want me.” I rolled my eyes. “I mean, come on. Do you know how pathetic that made me feel?”
A smile spread over Arya’s face.
“What? It’s not funny.”
“I know it’s not. And I’m sorry, but I just think that it’s so ridiculous to think that any woman would deliberately go on a date with two brothers to see which one wanted her. Is he crazy?”
“I think all the Hamilton men are,” Lucy put in.
“You got that right,” I agreed. “I was pissed. I told him to get the hell out of there. Well, maybe I didn’t use those exact words, but he got the gist. And the worst thing is—” I paused.
“Uh-oh, what is it?”
“They did hit on me after he left!”
“Oh, shit. So, they did think it was a double date?”
“I don’t think they thought it was a double date because they knew I was there for a business meeting. But I think they wouldn’t mind mixing business with pleasure, if you know what I mean.”
“Oh, boy,” Arya said. “Why do men have to be like this?”
“Because they have dicks and balls.” Lucy shrugged. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be crude, but you know it’s true.”
“I know. Oh my gosh, I just don’t know what to do. I don’t want to work with them if they’re going to hit on me. But this is an amazing opportunity. I told them about how I wanted to start my own nonprofit, and that we could work in conjunction together. I even told them about you, Arya, that you’d be interested in taking the course. I just think it would be such an amazing thing to give women the opportunity to learn skills that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Not all of these jobs have to be done by men. In fact, none of them have to be done by men.” I was getting worked up about this now. “I mean, sure, men have done it for centuries, and we’ve always been the caregivers, but I think women have proved that they’re more than capable of doing it all.” I let out a deep sigh. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to go off.”
“It’s okay,” Olivia said. “You seem like you’re really upset, and I’m sorry about Wyatt. He’s a douche.”
“And, well, I kind of kissed him and that’s complicated everything even more,” I admitted in a soft voice. Olivia and Lucy shot a look at each other and exchanged a smile. “What?”
“Nothing,” Lucy said quickly. “But did you enjoy the kiss?”
“No,” I lied. “Well, yes, of course I enjoyed it. He’s a good kisser. He …” I let out another sigh. “It felt amazing. Okay? My heart was racing and my skin was on fire. And the way that his fingers touched me, I didn’t want him to stop. I wanted to have sex. And then he got all awkward and jumped out of the bed, and we just haven’t had a proper conversation since.” I rolled my eyes. “He’s being a fucking fool. I just don’t understand what’s going on with him.”
“I feel like you guys need to have an honest conversation about the status of your relationship,” Lucy said. “I know that might be hard, but I feel like maybe both of you don’t really know how to process what’s happened.”
“I just want things to go back to normal,” I pouted.
“But do you really?” Arya said, “Do you want them to go back to the way they were, or do you want an actual relationship with him? Do you want him to be your boyfriend?”
“Oh my gosh, I don’t know!” I whined. I sat down on a bale of hay and looked at them. The three of them stared back at me, their faces glowing with concern. “Okay, I’m going to be honest. Yes. I like him as more than my best friend. Yeah. I think he’s handsome. Yeah. I think he’s funny, and he’s fun. And I love his family. And of course, some part of me would love for it to be more. But the other part of me doesn’t know how that would ever work.
“And he’s Wyatt. He’s my Wyatt, and I know all the bad things about him. And all the crazy things about him, and all the other women that he’s been with. And he’s not the sort of guy that’s ready to settle down. I know that. I know him. He’s never been in a serious relationship. It’s not something he’s wanted. It’s not something he’s dreamt of, like me. I guess men are just wired differently. I don’t know that he could commit. And I don’t know that he’s interested in me like that, anyway.”
“Sadie,” Arya knelt beside the haybale and took my hand. “He kissed you. So we know he finds you attractive, at least.”
“Yeah, but do you know how many different women he’s hooked up with? I’m not sure he’s that fussy.”
“Yeah, but I have a feeling this was different for him,” Arya said.
Lucy and Olivia both nodded and sat down on either side of me. “I know it’s complicated,” Lucy said, “and I can’t even venture to tell you what to do, but we can brainstorm.”
“Well, I had an idea …” I looked around at them.
“What’s the idea?” Olivia asked.
“I was hoping that we could all go camping. I mean, I know generally, it’s a guy thing to do to go camping and hunting and thinking. But I want you three to go camping with me and just destress, you know. It’s something that Wyatt and I always did when we wanted to get our minds off of something that was bothering us. And obviously, I can’t go with Wyatt.”
“I’d love to go,” Lucy said.
“Me too,” Olivia said.
Arya looked unsure. “I would love to go, too, but Eloise …”
“I’m sure that Amelia wouldn’t mind looking after her,” Lucy said.
“I know, but I don’t want to take advantage of her kindness.” Arya winced a little. “I already feel like I have taken so much, you know? And I’m not even a member of the family.”
“I’m not a member of the family either,” I pointed out.
“But you’re like a member of the family,” Arya replied.
“I know, Arya, I know,” Olivia put in, “but I promise you, I know Amelia, and I know Ranger. And they love kids. Shit, half the reason why they wanted to get brides for Austin and Beau was so they could have grandkids. I think they want to get a bride for every single one of their sons.”
“Yeah. That’s very true,” I agreed.
“And I don’t know how lucky they’re going to be with the rest of the brothers because they’re all hardheaded.”
“You can say that again.” Arya rolled her eyes. “Chet was so condescending to me the other day. I had to tell him, ‘You’re not the boss of me or my father.’ Who does he think he is?”
“So … what’s going on with you and Chet anyway?” Lucy looked carefully at Arya.
I was curious myself. They really did seem to have a very interesting relationship, the way they bantered, the way that I caught them looking at each other. I often wondered if they had small crushes on each other, but when Arya spoke about him, it didn’t seem like she was interested in him in that way.
“I mean, he’s handsome and he’s nice, but I’ve got a whole life to take care of. And I’ve got a little girl to think of.” Arya shrugged. “And having a fling with a hot cowboy doesn’t weigh into that. Especially when I’m living in his parents’ home.”
“Trust me, I know what you mean.” I nodded. “A part of me thinks that, hey, maybe it would be fun to just have some hot sex of Wyatt and getting out of my system. But I don’t know that I could have hot sex of Wyatt and go back to the way things used to be. You know?”
“You definitely couldn’t,” Lucy said. “And I don’t mean just you. I mean no one. I think friends with benefits is a really bad idea because someone almost always gets hurt.”
“Exactly,” I said. “And I don’t want it to be me. Because out of me and Wyatt, it would definitely be me.”
Everyone was quiet for a few seconds.
“Well, I can ask Amelia if she minds,” Arya said. “When were you thinking about going?”
“I was hoping that we could go tomorrow morning.”
Arya’s eyes widened. “Tomorrow morning? That soon?”
“Yeah, I really need to get away ASAP. After the day I had today, I need to process everything. And, well, I’m still not sure what to do about Dominic and Tom Olivio. Should I keep going with my idea, knowing that they might hit on me?”
“Do you think either of them are attractive?” Lucy asked me.
“Honestly, yeah. They’re both gorgeous.” I nodded. “I can’t lie. They are handsome, and they’re hot, but they know it. They’re kind of cocky.” I wrinkled my nose.
“Okay. That doesn’t sound good, but I don’t know that they’re genuine like the Hamilton boys, you know? They’re players too, but they have good hearts. I feel like the Olivios are the sort of guys that would be like wham, bam, thank you, ma’am. And leave a note and $100 on the side of the bed.”
“Oh, that’s horrible!” Arya shook her head. “Yeah. Don’t even give them the time of day.”
“To work with or you mean to date?”
“Well, definitely not to date, but we need to brainstorm if you should work with them.”
“Okay. Maybe we should head back to the ranch now and then I’ll ask Amelia if she minds watching Eloise. How long do you think we’ll be gone?”
“We don’t have to be gone long. Maybe a night. So two days, one night. We’ll come back the following day in the late afternoon.”
“Okay,” she said. “And I’ll make sure Eloise is okay with that. She loves your family, but she’s never really been without me since her mom left, you know.”
“I know.” I touched her shoulder. “You are doing an amazing job, you know that, Arya? And I’m sorry this has been all about me recently, but—”
“Oh my gosh!” she interrupted me. “You’re going through a lot and it’s definitely not been all about you. You girls are like the best friends I’ve ever had. So grateful to be here with you all. I have always wanted a sisterhood. And I feel like I’ve really gotten that.”
“Me too,” I said with a grin. “I think so as well. Group hug?
“Group hug!” Arya said.
We all stood up and gave each other a big hug. I could feel the warmth and goodwill passing through us. Each of these women was wonderful, kindhearted, compassionate, and loving. Each of them was a true, kind soul, someone I was lucky to have as a friend. Many people couldn’t find one friend like these women, and I was lucky enough to have all three of them in my life. I was grateful that they had my back and that they were willing to come on this camping trip with me.
And I was grateful that I had someone to talk to about Wyatt because otherwise, I would drive myself absolutely crazy.
“Okay, is everyone ready?”
I looked around to see that Arya, Lucy, and Olivia each had a suitcase and a backpack, and I burst out laughing. “Guys, where do you think we’re going? We’re only going for an overnight camping trip, and I’ve got the tents and the sleeping bags.”
“But we need a change of clothes and makeup …” Lucy started laughing. “Okay, maybe I didn’t need makeup.”
“Girls, you’re not even going to need a change of clothes!” I pointed out. “It’s not like there’s showers and bathrooms out there.”
“Well, I thought we could bathe in the creek or something.”
“We can definitely go for a swim, but I wouldn’t count on bathing. Come on, guys, jump in.” I indicated my Jeep and they all got into the car. “I’m so excited for this. You don’t know how much means to me.”
“I’m excited too,” Arya said. “This will be my first time camping with just girls.” She made a face. “I know that sounds horrible, doesn’t it? I’ve gone camping before but only with boyfriends, and I just kind of tagged along when they went on hunting trips.”
“Oh, I feel you.” An idea came to me. “Actually, I was also thinking that along with the training ranch program, maybe I could set up something for women to do actual wilderness camping trips.”
“What do you mean?” Lucy said. “Don’t they have stuff like that?”
“Well, they have glamping trips, which yeah, it’s fine and it’s more luxurious, but every woman doesn’t need to be in luxury. Sometimes we just want to go out and do what the guys do. Just because we’re women doesn’t mean that we can’t rough it as well.”
“Well, I don’t love roughing it,” Olivia said, “but I know what you mean. I wouldn’t mind something like that.”
“Yeah …” I thought about it. “Maybe I could train women to work on a ranch and to become guides for all-women wilderness trips. That just came to me. I don’t know, is it a crappy idea?” I looked at the girls.
“I think it’s absolutely amazing,” Arya said. “I think that when we’re on this trip, we should focus on your business plans.”
“I agree,” Lucy said.
“Me too,” Olivia said.
“Yeah, I was thinking that I don’t want to talk about Wyatt on this trip, even though he’s the reason why I’ve been driving myself crazy.
“He might be the reason you’ve driven yourself crazy,” Arya said, “but he’s also the reason why you’ve decided to embark upon all these new career goals, right?”
“That’s true. If it wasn’t for my complicated feelings about Wyatt, I wouldn’t have started thinking about what I wanted to do for a career and where I wanted to take my life. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I still want to get married, and I still want to have kids one day, but that can’t be my be-all and end-all. I don’t want to be one of those women who isn’t satisfied unless she finds love.”
“Exactly,” Arya said. “I’m kind of in the same boat as you. I definitely want to get married and have kids one day, but I have other responsibilities now. And who knows? It’s going to be much more difficult as a single mom. I need to take care of me now.”
“Yeah, and I got you, Arya. I will definitely help you. I’m going to help get you some skills, and who knows? Maybe we’ll work together.”
“That would be absolutely amazing.” Arya’s eyes gleamed. “You’re awesome, Sadie.”
“No, you’re awesome, Arya.”
“Hey, what about us?” Lucy said from the back seat.
“You guys are awesome, too. You know that.”
Olivia spoke up. “Just because we’re engaged to Beau and Austin and doesn’t mean that we don’t totally understand where you’re coming from. And I know that I want to help in any which way that I can. I have some marketing skills, and I’d love to be able to assist you with this.”
“Me too,” Lucy said. “I want to help in any way that I can.”
“You guys are amazing. Thank you.”
“Oh!” Arya exclaimed. “I forgot to tell you all, but I accepted the job at the bar, and as part of the salary, I get to live in the apartment that’s above it.” She smiled. “I know it’s not much, but it’s a step towards my independence. I don’t want to rely on the Hamiltons for everything.”
I squeezed her arm. “Congratulations, Arya. That’s awesome. You’re going to be an amazing bartender, and we’re going to get you skills so you can do anything you want to do. The world is your oyster. And I’ll help you decorate your new place.”
“I’ll help you decorate too,” Olivia said.
“Me three,” Lucy said. “I love decorating.”
“Well, I don’t know that I’ll be doing much decorating,” Arya said. “I don’t have much money.”
“Hey, if there’s one thing I know,” I said, “is how to renovate and restore. We can go and find some cheap pieces and have them looking like priceless antiques or brand new. I got you.”
Arya beamed. “Thank you, Sadie.”
“Okay, girls, who’s ready?” I started the ignition and headed out of the Hamilton ranch.
“We’re ready,” Lucy and Olivia chimed in the background.
“I’m ready,” Arya said.
“Then get ready for the adventure of a lifetime!”