Chet
We made our way back to the ranch in the early evening. All I could think about as I drove was the feel of Arya’s soft lips on mine. The way she’d pressed herself against me as we’d kissed had been arousing, and I felt emotions that I hadn’t felt in years, though I didn’t want to dwell on those.
The fact was that she was as beautiful as she was funny; however, she came with just too much baggage. I wasn’t the right man for her. I didn’t know what it was to be a husband, let alone a father. Arya and Eloise deserved a man who was ready for the responsibility. I just wasn’t ready for kids. I didn’t have the money. I didn’t have the time, and I didn’t have the patience, even though Eloise was a doll.
I pulled up outside of the ranch and jumped out before Arya could open her door. I hurried over and opened the passenger door for her and my heart jumped for joy when she smiled at me in surprise.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said as she stepped out
“I did.” I bowed. “I’m a gentleman.”
“So you said, but now I’m not so sure.” Her cheeks were pink but her voice was playful. “Thank you for a really nice day today, Chet. I had a good time.”
“I’m glad,” I responded. “I had a great time as well.” There was a pause, and she giggled nervously. I wondered if I made her nervous. I took a step closer to her. “Do I make you nervous?”
“No,” she said quickly. She took a step back and bumped into the door.
“You okay?” I asked as she rubbed her elbow.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “But we should go inside. We don’t know who’s watching.”
“What do you mean?”
“We don’t know if your mom’s looking, or your dad, your brothers, or Olivia, or Eloise.” She dropped her gaze to the ground, looking a little guilty.
“What? You don’t want them to see us standing outside here?”
“I just don’t want them to know that we kissed,” she said.
I threw my head back and laughed. “Shouldn’t that be my line?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why?”
“I’m just saying Amelia is my mom and she’s the one that’s trying to get me married. If she knew that we kissed, she’d think that something else was going to happen. And, well, I don’t want to have to deal with that.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that.” Arya’s voice was suddenly sharp. “Nothing else is going to happen, anyway.”
I wasn’t sure what had happened. “Are you mad at me, Arya?”
“No, I’m not,” she said. “Let’s just go inside.”
“You sound like you’re mad.”
“Why would I be mad, Chet?” she snapped.
“I’m not upset that we kissed,” I said softly. “I just don’t want my mother to know that we kissed.”
“Why not?” she said.
“You’re the one that didn’t want them to know!” I was confused now.
“Yeah, because I was trying to protect you. But why don’t you want them to know?”
“For the same reason. Why were trying to protect me?”
“I just feel like…like maybe I’m not good enough for you,” she said.
“That’s not what I’m saying. I think you’re amazing and Eloise is amazing. She’s a sweet, adorable girl and she deserves to have a father figure. I’m just not in that position right now.”
“Okay, fine,” she said in a voice that said it was not fine. “Well, good for you. I’m going inside now.”
“Don’t be mad!” I made to grab her arm, then decided to let her go. We’d had a nice day and I’d ruined it with this conversation. I waited for her to go in, and then I walked inside and almost ran into Beau.
“Hey, what’s up bro?” he said.
“Not much,” I told him. “I’m just about to head into the shower. I had a long day doing work at the cabin.”
“Oh, yeah? What do you do?”
“Patched a couple places in the roof. What about you?”
“Well, I was on the phone talking to one of the lenders about one of the loans to build some more log cabins. It looks like we might be able to get two million.”
“Oh, that’s great,” I said. “Super exciting, so we can go ahead for sure then?”
“Yeah. I’m going to call a family meeting tomorrow maybe.”
“Sounds good.”
At that moment, Wyatt walked into the room. “Hey, what’re you guys up to?”
“Do I have to tell everyone today what I’m doing?” I snapped
Both Beau and Wyatt looked at me in surprise. “Anyway…” Wyatt said. “I just got off the phone with a family in New York.” He sounded excited.
“Okay,” I shrugged. “And why do I care?”
“Only because he’s a chairman at Goldman Sachs, and he wants me to train their horse.”
“Oh, that’s awesome.”
“You excited for me?” he said.
“Sure.”
“They’re going to pay me $50,000.”
“That’s amazing,” I grumbled. “Good job, Wyatt.”
“Thanks,” he said. “You okay, Chet? You don’t see as chipper as usual.”
“I’m fine. It’s fine. It’s just been a long day.”
“Oh, okay,” he said. “I thought maybe you’d seen the newspaper.”
“What newspaper?” Wyatt and Beau exchanged a look, and I caught Beau shaking his head slightly. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Wyatt said quickly. “Nothing at all.”
“Okay, fine,” I growled. I didn’t want to know, anyway.
I walked past them down the corridor towards my room. I could hear my mom and some of the women talking and laughing in the kitchen, but I kept on going. I wasn’t in the mood to make small talk with anyone right now.
I shut the bedroom door behind me, leaned against it, and took a couple of deep breaths. All I could think about was Arya and the fact that she was upset with me. It hurt. I’d been honest as I thought she was being, but obviously, she hadn’t liked what I had to say. I was a fucking idiot. I knew I shouldn’t have brought up Eloise, but I wanted to be straightforward with her. I didn’t want us to get into an entanglement that would make things complicated. I didn’t want Eloise to think that I was going to have a larger role in her life than I was.
I tore off my clothes and headed to the shower, swearing under my breath. I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t have many options. I wanted to be with her. I wanted to do more than kiss her, but I also didn’t want to complicate things. We’d had a really nice day. Yes, the kiss had been magical and yes, I wanted more from her, but I knew she wanted more from life than I had to offer.
Now was not the time to get involved in any sort of relationship, especially with a woman as special as Arya.