Chet
“So, Chet, I just got some interesting news.” Wyatt walked into the barn.
I looked up from the hay I was baling. “Oh? What’s that?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He grinned.
“Seeing as you’re the one that walked into the barn and told me you had exciting news, I couldn’t give a fuck, dude.” I shook my head, annoyed. I hated it when my brothers weren’t straightforward. “What’s going on?”
“Well…” He paused dramatically.
I rolled my eyes. “I think you’ve been hanging out with Sadie too much. Dude, I don’t have time for this high school show. Either tell me what you wanted to say or go and find a cow to milk.”
Wyatt laughed then, and the sound infuriated me. I wasn’t in the best of moods. “I just got the news that 12 Point Buck Bar is going to be closed for the next month.” He spoke as if he were delivering a speech on national TV, and I froze.
“Oh?” I said, feigning a composure I didn’t feel.
“Yeah, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“Nope.” I pitched another forkful of hay, not making eye contact.
“Well, now that it’s going to be closed, it turns out that Arya and Eloise can’t move to the apartment above the bar.”
“Well, that’s a shame. But what’s that got to do with me?”
“Turns out that the owner, also known as Chip, has decided that he’s going on a vacation to Europe.” Wyatt cocked his head. “You really couldn’t stand to see her go, could you?”
My stomach sank, but I kept baling the hay. “What are you talking about? See who go?”
“Chet, are you really going to pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about? You’re not that good an actor.”
“Exactly. I’m not a good actor, so that’s why I’m saying I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I pressed my lips together.
Wyatt laughed again. “Dude, you absolutely suck. You know that, right?”
“What?” I turned around to face him. “It was a stupid idea for her to go and live on top of a bar with a little kid in a town she doesn’t really know. And what was she thinking, working around the horny idiots that live around here?”
“You’re one of the idiots that lives around here.”
“I am not an idiot. And I’m just looking out for her best interests.”
“Dude, did she need you to look out for her best interest? Plus, she has Mom and Sadie and Olivia. They all said they’d help.”
“Yeah, well, they can help from here.”
Wyatt gave a low whistle. “You’ve really got the hots for her, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t have the hots for her. I’m just being protective like I would with Sadie. She’s like a younger sister.”
“Dude, really?” Wyatt scoffed. “I don’t know who you’re trying to fool, but you’re not fooling anyone.”
“What do you mean, I’m not fooling anyone?” I folded my arms. Sometimes Wyatt really acted like a superior asshole. He was my brother and I loved him, but he sure knew how to get on my nerves.
“You’re calling Arya your younger sister.” He threw his arm around my shoulder.
“I’m not saying she is my younger sister. I’m saying that I’m looking out for her as if she were a younger sister.” I brushed his arm off me.
“Uh-huh. And would you want to bone your…” He grimaced. “I can’t even finish the sentence. It’s just disgusting.”
“Look, Wyatt, are you going to help me here, or are you just going to talk shit all day?”
“I think you really need to have some honest conversations with yourself,” he said. “And by the way…”
“Yeah, what?”
“I have a feeling Arya’s not too happy with you.”
“Well, what Chuck decides to do with his bar has nothing to do with me.”
“Uh-huh. I’m just letting you know as a heads up.”
“Anyway, how do you know the bar is closed and Arya is upset?”
“Because Sadie told me.”
“Okay, and Sadie knows because?”
“Because Arya told her, and she’s really upset and she doesn’t know what to do. She was really looking forward to that job and that income. And now you’ve ruined that opportunity for her.”
“I haven’t ruined anything.” I rubbed my forehead. I was starting to feel guilty.
“She’s not going to get a paycheck. Yeah, she’s staying here for free, but I’m sure she needs money to buy stuff for herself and Eloise. And now, she can’t afford to buy anything.”
“Well, what does she need? I’ll get it for her.”
“Don’t you understand, Chet?” He sighed. “I’m the youngest, but I feel like I’m the smartest out of all the Hamilton men.”
“Yeah, right.” I snorted.
“No, I’m not. But she’s not going to come to you if she needs money for, I don’t know, tampons or lube or whatever.”
“Why would she need money for lube?” I snapped. “You’re an idiot, you know that right?”
“I’m just saying. Who knows? If she goes on some dates—”
“There’s no date that she’s going on. And trust me, I would know.”
“How would you know if you’re not interested? Oh, I guess because you’re being the protective big brother. You want to make sure she doesn’t date any assholes.” Wyatt put his hand on the barn door. “You know, I had a thought.”
“Yeah? What’s your thought?”
“If you’re her brother, then I’m her brother, too.”
“Your point being?”
“Well, if I’m being protective of her and I don’t want her to date a jackass, you know what that means?”
“No, Wyatt, but I’m pretty sure you’re going to tell me.”
“It means that I wouldn’t let her date you.”
“Excuse me?” I glared at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you’re the biggest asshole in the valley, dude.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You’re a player. You’re a ladies’ man. You’re a—”
“Wyatt, if you’ve got nothing else to say, then I suggest you get out of here.”
“Uh-oh. I think I’ve upset you.” He pulled a mock-innocent face.
“I can’t believe that Sadie thinks you’re mature enough to be her husband.”
“Oh, Sadie knows I’m mature enough. And I’ve got several other things going for me, thank you very much.” He doffed his cowboy hat and took a quick bow.
“Dude, and you’re calling me immature?”
“No, I’m just saying. Sadie knows what she’s getting with me. She’s known me my entire life. Arya, though? Well, she has no clue the sort of guy that you are. But I think she’s starting to get to figure it out, and I’m pretty sure she’s not happy about you getting her fired before she even started her job.”
“I didn’t get her fired. It’s not like she can’t start in a month if she still wants to.”
“Ah, so you admit it.” He grinned. “I knew it.”
“Whatever,” I grumbled. “…Is she really pissed?”
“She’s really upset, dude.”
“Fine. Let me go and talk to her. I mean, I didn’t think about the fact that maybe she didn’t have any money. And yeah, I understand that she wouldn’t want to come to us for money or anything, but she could’ve just said whatever she needed. I mean, I’ll take her to the store and get her what she wants. Tampons, whatever.”
Wyatt chuckled. “You’re absolutely clueless, aren’t you, Chet? I think you need to go and talk to Arya because I have a feeling that you are not in her good books right now.”
“I know I had to get into her good books, though.” I winked at him.
He groaned. “I thought you said you weren’t interested in her like that.”
“I’m not. But hey, if she’s interested in me like that, who am I to say no?”
“Dude, you are a pig. You know that, right?”
“Nah, I don’t think so. If anything, I’m more like a stallion.”
Wyatt laughed and shook his head. “I wish I had a video of you right now because I’d play that at your wedding and then your wife would leave you.”
“Well, joke’s on you, Wyatt Hamilton, because I’m never getting married.”