Chet
“So, your mama was telling me what happened with you and Arya,” my dad said, looking at me sadly. “I taught you better than that, son.”
“What are you talking about, Dad? I was helping her.”
“You know she needed a job.”
“She didn’t need to work at the bar. Come on, you know the sort of guys that work there.”
“Only Chip works there. That’s why he was hiring someone else.”
“I mean, you know the sort of guys that hang out there.”
“Uh-huh.” Dad paused, then changed the subject. “It seems like you got a lot on your mind.”
“I do. There’s so much going on here at the ranch. There’s so much we’re going to change. Wyatt’s training horses. We got the plans back from the architect for some of the cabins. I was speaking to someone in Seattle who thinks that they can start a marketing program for us there and in the California Bay Area because there are a lot of rich people in tech that want to come to ranches like ours and just hang out.”
“Okay, well that’s all good news, right?”
“Exactly. So I’ve just got a lot on my mind, Dad.”
“And that’s why you decided to interfere in Arya’s business?”
“Dad, you wouldn’t want Mama working at the bar, would you?”
“No, but she’s my wife.”
“Exactly.” I chewed my lower lip as I realize that I completely misheard what he’d said. “I mean, obviously Arya’s not my wife, but I look at her like family. She’s got no one else, and she and Eloise have—”
“You have a soft spot for them. I understand. But that doesn’t mean you can just go and meddle in her business.”
“I didn’t mess in her business. It’s not my fault that—”
“Son, we both know that Chip all of a sudden got ten thousand dollars. And I wonder where he got that from.”
“I don’t know where he got it from.”
“So you don’t have a deduction from your trust?”
“Not that I know of.”
“You forget that my name is still on the paperwork of all of you guys’ trusts, so I can see when anything over five thousand dollars has been deducted.”
Oh shit, I remembered now. My dad didn’t really care what we did with the money, and he wasn’t necessarily overseeing it, but he was still on all of the accounts, based on how the trust had been written up. “Okay, well, I mean, Chip wanted to go away for a little bit and I figured, hey, why not now?”
“Son, I get it. You like Arya.”
“No, I don’t. It’s got nothing to do with that.”
“Okay. If you say so. Well, I’m just going to say this to you, Chet. There’s such a thing as being protective, and there’s such a thing as being overbearing. Now, I don’t mind it if you’re protective of the woman that you love or your child or your sisters-in-law or your grandkids, but if you’re going to be protective of someone you don’t know that well, then you’re going to have to find out and figure out if that’s what they want from you. You’re going to have to figure out your role in Arya’s life.”
“What do you mean, my role in Arya’s life? I’m her friend.”
“But if you’re just her friend, then you’re going to have to listen to what she wants. You can’t dictate.”
“What does me being her friend have to do with me dictating anything? I’m not dictating anything. It’s not like you being married to Mom means you get to dictate her life.”
“No, it doesn’t. And I would never presume that I could tell your mother what to do, but we come to decisions together because we’re partners. You and Arya are not partners.”
“I know we’re not partners. I’m just trying to look out for her because she doesn’t know what it’s like around here.”
“Chet, she can figure out what she wants to do herself. Trust me, I understand your thought process, but what you did wasn’t right.”
“Well, I apologized to her and she’s still pissed, so whatever.”
“She has a right to be. She’s got a child to take care of.”
“I know she’s got a child to take care of, but we’re looking after Eloise too.”
“But we’re not family.”
“That doesn’t matter. We still love them all the same.”
“Oh, Chet. You’re a good boy and a strong man, but sometimes I do believe you’re my most obstinate son.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Dad?”
“I think you know what obstinate means, Chet. And if you don’t, go look it up in the dictionary.”
I chuckled. “Why does this remind me of when I was in elementary school and every time you said a word I didn’t know, you told me to look it up in the dictionary?”
“Because that’s what helped you win the spelling bee.”
“I didn’t win, Dad. I came in third place.”
“Third place is better than last place.”
“True,” I said. “Okay, I messed up. I get it. And I do understand where you’re coming from. I overstepped and I shouldn’t have. And I’m trying to make it better, but Arya’s so upset with me I just don’t really know what to do.”
“You’re going out to the log cabin tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah. I got to fix the roof. And Beau was saying he’d like me to see if I could renovate the kitchen.” I rolled my eyes. “Good thing there’s one brother who can actually do construction from the ground up.”
“Well, he’s not asking you to do construction from the ground up though, is he?”
“No, but…” I smiled. “I know. I’m just being a grouch. But yeah, I’m going out to the log cabin tomorrow. Why?”
“Maybe invite Arya to go with you.”
“What do you mean? Why would I invite her to go with me?”
“Maybe so you can talk it out.”
“Talk what out? She doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“Oh my God, son. Are you really that dense? On the way to the cabin, take her down by the creek and then maybe have a little picnic and apologize to her, this time more sincerely than I bet you apologized the first time.”
“Yes, Dad.”
“I mean, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. But I’m thinking you don’t want Arya to be upset with you anymore, right?”
“No, I don’t want her to be upset with me. How do you know?”
“Because I know anytime your mom is upset with me, I do everything I can to get her talking to me again. That’s the way it is when we care about the women in our lives.”
“She’s not exactly the woman in my life, Dad. She’s—”
“I know, I know,” he smirked, “she’s your friend.”
“Dad, please don’t go getting any ideas, and please don’t go telling Mom anything. I don’t want her to think that Arya and I are going to get together and I’m going to be the fourth son that’s getting matched up. You know that is not about to happen.”
“I know, son.” He looked thoughtful. “Why on earth would Arya choose to be with someone like you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, offended. “Why wouldn’t she be with someone like me? Why wouldn’t—”
“What do you care if you don’t want to be with her?”
“I don’t want to be with her like that, but that doesn’t mean that she should just jump into the bed with the first cowboy she meets.”
“Did I say that she was going to do that?”
“No, but that’s what you were pretty much saying.”
“No,” Dad shook his head, “I don’t think I said anything of the sort. But hey, I think dinner’s about ready, so we should go to the kitchen and see if your mom needs any help.”
“I think I’m going to go and wash up first,” I said.
My dad gave me a clap on the back. “Okay. And you best ask Arya tonight if she wants to go. Don’t just go assuming in the morning that she doesn’t have plans.”
“Okay, Dad. I’ll ask her after dinner.”
“Good, good, good.” He nodded. I hurried to my room and walked into the bathroom so that I could wash off my face and my hands. My dad’s words had made me pause for a few seconds. I hadn’t liked the knowing look in his eyes, and I hadn’t liked the fact that he’d commented on Arya getting a boyfriend. I mean, I knew at some point she’d want to date someone, but that point wasn’t now, was it?
I leaned against the door and thought for a couple of seconds. Did I care if Arya got a boyfriend? No, of course not. Not if he treated her well.
But I knew from the way my heart lurched at the thought that that wasn’t exactly true.
I did not want to see Arya with another man. I mean, I didn’t want her myself, I wasn’t ready to settle down and she had far too many responsibilities for someone like me, but she was cute. More than cute. She was beautiful and sexy. Under other circumstances, I definitely would’ve had her in my bed.
But she was a guest in my home, and I knew that Mom would absolutely kill me if I even thought about making a play for her.
Though if Arya wanted me to, I wouldn’t say no.