“Oh, my God.” I said taking a second bite. “There’s bacon on this too. You were going to have bacon and chicken.”
“Yes, but my chicken sandwich with bacon has far less bacon on it than a BLT,” insisted Elm. “Look at it. You’re like eating, half the bacon in the diner.”
I folded my arms and frowned at him. Clearly, he was having fun with me and I was having fun with him.
“All right, you got me,” he finally said. “I do ten extra sit ups a day so I can have a little bacon. There. Are you happy?”
“Well, I have bacon, so yes, I am pretty happy,” I said.
It was a nice lunch with Elm. He seemed to get a little lighter with each passing day. The waitress, who looked like she worked in a greasy spoon for the last 100 years, gave us our check and we got back into the truck.
With the snowstorm past, the sun was melting some of the snow on the road. With the big trees and the shade in spots, it looked like it was still covered in snow minus whatever Teak had plowed away previously. Elm didn’t bother to run the plow going back up the hill. He would’ve been constantly raising and lowering it anyways.
“Did you guys ever consider Tanner’s offer?” I asked Elm. “Not that I’m suggesting you take it, but wouldn’t it be something to consider? I mean, you guys have a great company. You could move closer to a city and really expand. You wouldn’t have to go into the woods to get the trees, you could just buy them.”
“I’ve run the numbers and that’s probably true,” admitted Elm. “But we’d lose too much. For one thing, we’d lose the cabin. We can’t move it. I’m sure Tanner would have it torn down or gutted for a resort satellite or whatever he wants to build here. And the warehouse and workshop too.”
“Yeah, sure. I guess you could take the tools, but the buildings would stay,” I agreed. “But you’d probably be making more money.”
“I thought about it. I even brought it up in a few company meetings, but…”
“The other guys are against it,” I finished.
“We’re all against it,” said Elm a little quickly. “I only brought it up as a last ditch effort if we went broke or something. We could never give up the mountain. There’s too much of our lives up here. We grew up here, our parents raised us here. They built everything for us. How could we possibly throw that all away?”
“Sure, I understand,” I said. “I didn’t mean to offend you or anything.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m not offended,” said Elm. “Just know that the mountain is my parents’ legacy. We could never sell it. It’s our connection with them. Okay?”
“Sure, I get it,” I said. “I wish I had that kind of connection to my parents. Seems like what little I have of them is gone. My mother’s still alive, but I don’t know where she is. Your mother’s passed on and you seem closer to her than I’ll ever be with my mom.”
“Well, who knows,” suggested Elm. “Maybe someday you’ll reconnect with your mother. She’ll find you and come and apologize.”
“It’s a nice thought, but I doubt it,” I said. “I accepted that she’s been gone and I have to move on. I’ve always believed that since my family fell apart, that I could make a family wherever I was, you know? People do that, right?”
“Absolutely,” Elm agreed. “People pull together in hardship and in times of crisis.”
“Like when you guys helped me in my time of crisis,” I reminded him.
I placed my hand on Elm’s leg and he placed his hand on top of mine. I smiled at him and he smiled back. I felt, right then, like I was with family. Someone that would always protect me and take care of me, no matter what.
Chapter 12:
Ash
Having Lila at the cabin really brightened things up around here. My brothers were kind of falling all over themselves to impress her, but that was okay. It was good to get them out of their comfort zone. Elm, especially, seemed lot happier. The kid had a dark streak to him sometimes and I worried, but these days he seemed light as a feather.
On Friday morning, I was doing some work on a bed frame. It was for another couple. I was carving hearts and cupids on the side. It was going to be ready for Valentine’s Day next year if I shipped on time. It was then I got the idea I should officially ask Lila out on a date. Why not? We obviously all like her and someone needed to make the first move.
I took a coffee break and found the boys and Lila taking a break in the kitchen as well. Alder has made waffles that morning, so I guess we were all feeling a little full. A good cup of coffee was just the thing everyone needed to digest all those carbs.
“Lila. Fellas,” I greeted. “What’s the good word?”
“Coffee,” said Oak, downing his third cup of the morning.
I poured myself a cup out of the gray metal pot on the stove.
“Ya know, Lila, if you’re not doing anything tonight, I’d like to take you out to dinner,” I said simply.
“Sure!” she said excitedly. “The rest of you guys want to join us?”
“No, the date’s just for me and you,” I assured her. “I’m sure they’ll ask you for their own dates later.”
“Oh,” she said unsure. “If that’s okay with everyone…”
“Well, I did ask first,” I replied. “So will you go?”
“Of course!” she bubbled. “I’d better get back to work then. I don’t want to have to work late tonight.”
Lila danced out of the room, lighter than air. The guys looked at me. They seemed a little annoyed.
“What?” I said. “I did ask first. And don’t you all have some work to do?”
Oak, Teak and Alder grumbled, then they shuffling out of the room to go do something useful. Elm came up to me. As always, he had something to say.
“Listen, I have to talk to you,” he began.
“C’mon, brother,” I said. “I asked first and I am the oldest.”
“Not about that,” he dismissed. “Although, for the record, I can see the logic in your position. Besides, I already had lunch with her, so I’m not really sweating it.”
“You had lunch?”
“Yeah, that day I went down to the bank and Lila was checking on her car,” explained Elm. “We also ran into Tanner.”
The other brothers stopped to listen. Tanner was always a thorn in the side of us Barretts.
“What did that asshole say?” I asked, probably a little too interested.
“The usual. Wanted to buy the property. Told him no, but he insisted he get it somehow. He even tried to hire away, Lila.”
“Eh, doesn’t surprise me,” I shrugged. “We’re not going to sell and split up the family. Right boys?”
“Damned right!” agreed Oak.
“Yeah,” said Teak.
Alder just nodded.
“What did Lila tell him?” I asked.
“She told him no, of course,” said Elm, a little shocked that I asked. “She’s a good person, I think. Wouldn’t do that to us. Not that I told her everything, but I think she gets the message. And it doesn’t hurt that Tanner is just an unashamed douche bag.”
“That he is,” I laughed. “And I agree. I think Lila is a good person. I think she’s good for all of us.”
“Ash,” said Alder, tentatively. “You really mean it when you said we could all ask Lila out?”
“I do,” I said. “Woman like that only comes along once in a lifetime. Seems like she be woman enough for us all.”
“You mean like, marry her?” asked Oak. “Can we do that? All of us?”
“Not legally, of course,” said Elm.
We all gave him a stare.
“Not that I’m opposed to the idea, per se,” he said backing off. “It’s just that there are certain legal and logistical considerations. Plus kids. I mean, I think some of us would like to have kids.”
“We could raise them here, together,” said Teak. “I think mom and dad would’ve wanted that.”
“Well, I’m not sure they would’ve approved of the ratio,�
� admitted Elm. “It’s a bit unconventional, but if you guys are in, I’m in.”
The brothers agreed. Now it was official. We were wooing Lila together and I was on deck to start. No pressure if I blow this date, right?
“You’re taking her to Spanky’s?” asked Elm.
“Can you think of a better place?” I asked.
“No, it’s good call,” said Elm, strategizing. “Good food, good prizes. Not as romantic as it could be. Someone should really build a fancier place around here. Something with candlelight and nice tablecloths. Bet it would do well. I’ll have to go crunch some numbers.”
I rolled my eyes. Elm was always plotting and planning. And while I had no doubt a romantic restaurant would probably do well in these parts, I didn’t have time to wait for one to be built. I was wooing Lila tonight.
That evening, Elm let Lila off a few minutes early to get ready. Women loved to prep and preen. I did a little grooming to make myself more presentable. I was never much of a clothes horse, but I put on a new shirt and new jeans. I had a newer pair of work boots on. At least in this weather, I could justify wearing them.
When Lila came downstairs to get into the truck, she was a vision. Short skirt, heels and showing a bit of her perfect cleavage, she lit up the room with her smile.
“Shall we?” she beamed.
“Let’s go, girl!.” I said excitedly.
My brothers, now that we had a plan to woo her together, weren’t so antsy now. They wished us well as we left to get in the truck and drive down the mountain.
Spanky’s was a steakhouse on the outskirts of town. It was closer to the base of Tanner’s ski resort mountain. Some of the regular skiers would come down to get a steak and it was a good change from whatever the ski resort served. (I imagined, not that I have ever eaten in one of Tanner’s places. Wouldn’t want to get poisoned.) The servers dressed up as cowgirls, there were free peanuts and peanuts on the floor. It was a family place with lots of cool stuff on the walls. At least, I thought it was kind of cool and fun. I hope Lila did.
“Aw, this is neat,” she smiled upon entering. “I like a little Texas flavor.”
“Yeah and they got good steaks too,” I assured. “I don’t get down here often, but it’s nice to go out for a meal once in a while. You do eat steak, right?”
“Oh, sure,” Lila assured. “Once in a while won’t kill ya, right? Oo, and that’s a nice salad bar too.”
Spanky’s did have a massive salad bar, like a lot of steak houses. It included eight kinds of dressings, four kinds of greens and about fifty different toppings I couldn’t possibly name. Wasn’t much for that kind of food, unless it was garnish.
The hostess sat us down. On Elm’s advice, I had called to make a reservation. They had a little sign on the table that said “Reserved” which the hostess took away after we sat down.
“Here’s your table, Mr. Barrett,” she said. “Your server will be right up.”
“You reserved a table,” said Lila, sounding impressed. “Nicely done.”
Hmm, all this time and I had never thought to get advice from my younger brother. Maybe he does know something other than numbers.
“Anything you want tonight,” I assured her. “You just order it or ask. I’ll make sure you get it.”
“Really? Anything?” she said touching my arm.
“Well, you know, anything I can give you in a public place,” I laughed.
“What do you recommend?” she asked, opening the menu. “I like to go with what a friend has had before in a new place.”
“For me, it’s always the Chef’s Special,” I pointed out. “The chef gets different cuts of meat from around the country and puts together dinners. You can go wrong with that. Tonight is a New York Rib Eye with asparagus, potatoes and homemade biscuits.”
“I’ll take that and a salad bar,” she said decisively. “I’m sure that big thing will be wasted on me, but I have to try it.”
“I’ll try it too,” I said.
“You never ate at the salad bar?” she laughed.
“Nah, it’s usually just garnish for me,” I admitted. “But I figure I don’t want you to go up alone.”
“You need to eat salad once in a while,” she said. “It’s good for you. It won’t kill you.”
We ordered and the waitress set us loose on the salad bar. I got some greens, tossed on some fixings and tried to decide up on a dressing. Lila grabbed the giant pepper grinder.
“Look at this thing, it’s massive,” she laughed.
“Oh? You like massive things?” I joked.
“The bigger the better,” she blushed, stealing a glance downward. “Do you, uh, have a big pepper mill?”
“Huge,” I assured her. “And you just can’t believe the amount of pepper that comes out.”
“Well, I do like a lot of pepper,” she admitted, laughing. “I just hope the pepper doesn’t come out too early. You know, all that grinding and you can get premature pepper.”
“You definitely don’t want that,” I laughed.
We finished prepping our salads and went back to our seats laughing. Half the restaurant must’ve thought we were drunk, we were laughing so much.
“How’s your salad?” she asked.
“Killing me,” I joked. “Nah, it’s okay. It’s a nice change. Lighter stuff.”
“You should eat some roughage,” she lectured. “You cannot eat all meat.”
After eating our salads, the server brought our steaks. They were medium rare, the only way to eat a steak. Lila cut into her steak and noticed the juice running out.
“This looks really rare,” she said. “Are you sure?”
“Trust me,” I said taking a bite. “You’ll love it.”
“Maybe I should have it cooked more,” she wavered.
“The proper way to cook steak is to sear it on both sides and then lit it sit,” I explained. “The chef here knows that. If that was too rare, bloody juice would come running out because he didn’t let it sit. While it sit, it’s still cooking. Trust me.”
Lila took a bite, testing. Her eyes went wide.
“Mmmm!” she said in gleeful surprise. “That is good. You know your meat.”
She laughed.
“Wait, that sounded weird,” she giggled. “I feel giddy and we haven’t ordered any drinks.”
“You want some whiskey?” I asked.
“You don’t want to live long.” she joked.
The server came back with some napkins, so I ordered us to shots to sip on.
“Trust me,” I said. “It’ll go down easy.”
The server brought back the shots. I took a sip.
“See that?” I said. “Just sip it and take a bite.”
She did and enjoyed it.
“You are teaching me some bad habits, Ash,” she laughed. “How many more bad things are you going to show me tonight?”
“Well, as you know, I have an enormous pepper mill and I know my way around meat, so…”
“I’m a big fan of meat now,” she sniggered. “I hope I can get a taste of that meat sometime.”
We laughed like a couple of school kids at the table. The rest of the restaurant must’ve thought we were nuts. It was all in good, flirting fun. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted him. Tanner was approaching the table with his date.
“Aw, Hell,” I muttered under my breath.
“Ash, Lila,” he greeted. “Nice to see you both. Nice night for lovers, if that’s what you are.”
“We are kind of on a date here,” explained Lila. “So this is a bit private.”
“Me too,” gestured Tanner to a tall blonde girl in heels. “This is Julie. Wave hi, baby.”
“Hi,” said Julie a little uncomfortable. “Can we go sit down, Tan?”
“In a sec,” he said dismissively. “Seems private, but also seems rather public, which is weird to me considering.”
“Considering what?” asked Lila.
“It’s weird, Lila. I thought you
were dating Ash’s brother, Elm. You looked pretty chummy at the garage,” noted Tanner. “He had his arm around you like you were a couple or something.”
“I don’t see how this is your concern,” I said annoyed. “You’re kinda killing the vibe in here. Why don’t you go with your girl and get yourself a table?”
“Well, if you’re making a move on Elm’s girl, that doesn’t seem right,” said Tanner. “But then again, doing the right thing isn’t exactly your strong suit. Admitting mistakes or harm you’ve done to other people. Whatever happened to that, hmm?”
“Why don’t you just go, Tanner?” I said, increasingly annoyed. “No one asked you to come over here. It’s bad enough you bothered my brother, now you gotta go bother me on a date? What the Hell is wrong with you?”
“It’s fine,” assured Lila, sensing the tension. “Look, don’t you have your own date to attend to?”
“Normally, I would and I apologize,” said Tanner insincerely. “But you have to understand, the Barretts are no good. They play at being hard working simple folk, but they’re just out for themselves. Seducing a brother’s girlfriend, that’s just par for the course with these guys.”
Something in Tanner’s words made my blood boil. He always had a way of pushing my buttons. Against my better judgment, I slid out of the both and got in his face. I was already preparing myself for a night in jail after I cleaned his clock.
“Why don’t you get the Hell out of my face, Johnson?” I said sternly. “I don’t like it when people insult my family. You think just because you have money you can treat people like shit? Fuck you. I have half a mind to smash your face in.”
“What? What did I do?” said Ash innocently. “You wouldn’t hit a guy with a handicap would you? Look at me. I’m on a cane. Now I wonder why that happened. You tell that story to your new girlfriend or did you conveniently leave out that part of your past, huh?”
I looked away. Lila was going to have to be told the whole story. I wasn’t hiding it, but it was something I wasn’t proud of. Tanner sensed my discomfort and reveled in it. He got in my face and then backed away. For a second, I thought he’d actually through the first punch.
Loved by the LumberJacks_A MFMMMM Reverse Harem Romance Page 10
