by Maree, Kay
“Honey, I promise you, I am looking after me first right now. I am soul searching in the hope of finding what I need to do next. I can’t be in New York, so everything is so up in the air. Do I move back home to figure that out? I don’t know. I can’t add anyone else to that equation. I need to do what’s right for me and that isn’t Wyatt.” As I said the words, I knew that it was true. While I felt something there, the same thing he was feeling, now wasn’t the time to explore something new. I was a free spirit. Maybe it was time to use that and travel. Either way, Wyatt was a complication that was going to cloud everything. We needed to stay away from whatever was there.
“Okay, I will leave it alone then. As I said, you are both adults, free to do whatever you please. Just be careful.”
“I will, I promise.”
“Alright, well then let’s just focus on getting you a new phone, number and whatever else you need and forget this conversation.”
“Best idea you’ve ever had, Luce.” I smile and tried to show her I was fine. She told me on the drive about the cookout the boys were organizing. It sounded like a good idea to me. It would be a good welcome home for Jackson and way to merge their two families.
“The boys are handling the meat while I am taking care of desserts and Wyatt’s sister in law is doing salads and stuff.”
“Seems fair to me. When is it gonna be?”
“I don’t know, they hadn’t settled on a date when I left. I told them to give me plenty of notice so I could get a message while I am out asking me to pick up whatever I needed. You know what these boys are like.” I laughed. It was true, they had next to no patience when it came to a cookout. They loved it and always had. Even better if there was a bonfire and smores.
“Zach probably hasn’t done one in a while.”
“Nope, not since Jackson left. He had an excitement in his eyes that I haven’t seen in a long time.”
“I am glad he is back.”
“I think Pops is too.” She looked over at me quickly. “I don’t think I have ever seen him this happy having you all back.” I went to open my mouth, but she cut me off.
“I’m not saying move back home, Kris, all I am saying is you need to visit more. Though I get why you didn’t.”
“I can’t make any promises but one. I promise to try better this time.”
“That’s all we ask.” We fell silent as Lucy drove the rest of the way. Once we got to the shopping center, we went to the phone shop and got me a new phone and I brough a few prepaid sim cards. I knew it was overkill but I wanted to be prepared. I would give Michelle, Dad and Lucy all the numbers so they would know if it changed, he had found me. We grabbed a few other things while we were here, including some lunch and were about to head back when Lucy got a phone call from Zach asking her to pick up a few things for him and the guys while we were out, and that he would send her a list.
“Hope you aren’t in a hurry to get home.”
“Nope, I am good. I am just coming back to the ranch anyway.” We got in her truck and left the shopping center. Apparently, they needed a few things from the feed store and wouldn’t have a chance to go get them before it got dark. As we had to pass there anyway, it made sense for them to keep working and for us to get it. Lucy’s phone went off and she had asked me to check it for her.
“Just the list from Zach. He also said he called ahead so that it would be ready but just to double check that everything is there.”
“I wonder what that’s about. I know the vet was going out there to do an inspection on the cattle they are putting up for sale. Maybe Tory found something.”
“Would he have said anything if there was a problem?”
“Not now, he would wait until we were back.”
“Then put your foot down girl, so we don’t keep them waiting.” She chuckled and did exactly that. We reached the feed shop in no time, just as they were finishing up the order. After Lucy triple checked it, they loaded it up and got us back on the road.
About an hour later, we pulled onto the ranch and Lucy headed straight for the cattle yard. She figured that’s where they would be. As we pulled up, they came into view. Shutting off the truck, Lucy climbed out and moved to the back to open it up. Getting out as well, we got into the truck-bed and started passing them down everything.
“Kristine, welcome home.” My eyes fell on Tory.
“Thanks, Victoria, it’s good to be back.” I heard one of the guys mutter ‘oh shit’ under their breath. Victoria and I had gone to school together and more than a few times, I had been suspended for fighting with her. She always got away with it because I hit first but not without a lot of provoking from her. Lucy looked at me. She knew my feelings for this girl. I knew it was stupid considering we were grown adults, but tigers never changed their stripes. Turning my back to her, I jumped down from the truck. Opening up the driver’s door, I grabbed my things. “Luce, I will meet you in the house.”
“Okay, babe, be up as soon as they finish unloading this.”
“Kris?” I didn’t stop to talk. If she was here, then she was here for work. I didn’t want to give her the opportunity to get inside of my head like she always did. God forbid she picks up on something between Wyatt and I and it would be a trip straight back to high school for us.
Making it back to the house, I decided to focus on the girls. While we were out, we brought Avery a few new books she had mentioned wanting to save up to buy. We got them for her, but she had to make sure she helped out with her sister and do her chores through the week. We hadn’t left Ash out. We brought her a few bits and pieces for her that Zoey had said she would like. That kept them busy for the rest of the afternoon. I made sure they knew to thank Lucy when she came back in, which they did. She came and sat next to me after she cleaned up.
“You okay?”
“Eventually people are going to stop asking me that question.”
“Maybe so but not anytime soon.” She laughed and smacked her hand against my leg. Pushing herself back up off the couch, she went to get dinner started.
“Is she staying?”
“No, we caught her on her way out.”
“Oh, what a shame!” Lucy just laughed again.
“Just ignore her.”
“How many times was I told that in high school?”
“Almost every day.”
“Look how well that turned out.”
“Well then, what’s another nose job.” Rolling my eyes, I tried to push her out of my mind. Holding on to that was just a lot of wasted emotion. It was best to let it go which I managed to do, until dinner. Another night of Wyatt not being there and my imagination running away with the thoughts in my head. So much for letting that go.
Wyatt
It was a couple of weeks after floating the idea that we were finally able to make the bonfire happen. We had the visitors from Tennessee here the week after Kris and Jackson got here and it took a lot of work to get them ready to sell but we managed it. After the initial health scare from one of them, we thought it would all be over but thanks to Tory, we managed to stop it from getting to the others and only lost the one. After the sale, we could relax a little while we waited for the next truckload to get to us.
Toby had a weekend off work, so Kelsea made sure that she was off on the same weekend. Zach got us plenty of firewood for the bonfire we were having now that the weather was starting to get cooler. Keith and Zach had sorted the meat which was coming the morning of the cookout, Kelsea was sorting salads and stuff while Lucy handled desserts. The boys had bugged her for pies, so she was doing a few different ones.
I couldn’t help but wonder how much different this would be for me. It had been months since I quit drinking so this would be the first time being around people drinking since Ava had left. I don’t think I was going to drink this time around. I didn’t want some unresolved feelings to pop up. Especially with Kris around. I didn’t need alcohol to have a good time and I wouldn
’t be alone, some of us needed to not drink so we could watch the kids. Kelsea wouldn’t, in case she was needed at the hospital, Keith wouldn’t so Jackson, Zach, Zoey, Lucy and Kris could if they wanted to and Toby might have a couple. It wasn’t like we were rowdy teenagers after all. It was bound to be a chill night.
As I was getting ready for it, my phone rang. Seeing Tory’s name on the screen, I remembered the day Kris came home and she had been here. There was history there and it had me wondering what it was, but I hadn’t been around Kris much to ask the question. Sliding my thumb over the screen, I put the phone up to my ear.
“Hey, Tory, how’s it going?”
“Good, Wyatt, how are you?”
“Good thanks, can’t complain. What can I do for you?”
“Oh, I have been trying to get hold of Zach for something and he isn’t answering. I was wondering if you were with him?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not. He went up to the main house, Lucy needed him for something. Maybe try the house phone and see if you can get him.”
“Okay, thanks, I will give it a try. While I have you though, I have been meaning to ask you something.”
“What’s up?”
“I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go out for dinner some time.” Tory was gorgeous, I wouldn’t deny that. Any man would kill for a girl with looks that could kill, independent as Tory was and could hold her own. I just wasn’t one of them. We had nothing in common and couldn’t hold a conversation. We had been around each other enough to know that for certain.
“Tory, listen, you are great, but I don’t think that would be such a good idea.”
“Is it because of Ava? You know she isn’t coming back right? You need to let that go.”
“I’m not the one that needs to let her go. This whole town needs to move on, I have. It has nothing to do with her.”
“Then what is it?”
“As I said, I think you are great, I just don’t think it’s a good idea. I’m sorry.” I let out a small groan when the line went dead. Fuck’s sake. Throwing my phone on the bed, I pulled the towel from around my waist and pulled on my boxers. Taking a clean pair of jeans and left them open. Taking a white t-shirt from the draw, I pulled it on before taking one of my checkered ones from the hanger in the closet. This way, I could leave it open. Doing up my jeans, I took a pair of socks from the draw and sat on the bed to put them on. Getting up, I shoved my feet into a pair of boots and took my phone from the bed, putting it in my pocket in case Toby or Kelsea called on their way. Opening my door, I headed up to the main house to see if they needed help with anything. It beat staying down in my cabin until it was time.
Reaching the house, I was met by Kris opening the door.
“Hey, saw you coming. Zach asked could you go help him and Jackson with the firepit? They are trying to set the logs around it and need an extra set of hands.” I blinked at the sight of her and was stuck speechless. She looked amazing. Clearing my throat to remember where I was, I nodded.
“Sure, no problem.”
“You okay?”
“Yep, I’m good. I’ll just go help them.” Taking a step back, her perfume hitting me, and I swear I had never smelt anything so good in my life. Zach and Lucy had a porch that wrapped around the whole house so instead of going back down the stairs and around, I walked the length of the porch to try and compose myself before getting to the others.
“You needed a hand?”
“Yeah, please.” Zach motioned his head to the log in front of him. Moving to the opposite end, I crouched down and got a grip on it. On the count of three, we all lifted it and moved it to where Zach wanted it.
“Question… Why didn’t you just move the fire? It would have been so much easier.” I could tell by the look Jackson gave Zach and the blank look on his face that the idea hadn’t occurred to him.
“You couldn’t have said that before you moved it?”
“You didn’t give me a chance. Had you explained what you wanted to do; I could have tried. Let me guess, Lucy kicked you out of the house?”
“Maybe, how do you know?” I coughed back a laugh as Jackson shook his head.
“No reason.” I looked at the area and saw that we just needed to move the rocks and logs for the fire, and it would work just fine. “Let’s just move that and we are done, then you can sit out here until the girls are ready or you can go fire up the grill.”
“Thank you for having a brain, Wyatt. We would be screwed if Zach was here alone with me.” I couldn’t help but laugh as we got working on the new firepit. Once we were done, I moved to sit next to Zach and Jackson. They offered me a beer and I politely declined.
“Did Tory get a hold of you Zach?” He frowned and pulled out his phone.
“No, was she trying?”
“She said she was.” He shook his head.
“No, nothing. I’ll give her a call tomorrow to make sure everything is okay. Please whatever you do, don’t mention her name around Kris.”
“What happened there? Seemed very hostile toward each other that day. Don’t know that I have ever heard anyone call her Victoria.”
“That’s because no one does. It’s a long story, but Dad was constantly going down to the school with Mom when they were growing up because Tory would bait her into an argument and Kris being Kris would snap. We had one broken nose that needed surgery to correct it.”
“Do you remember when Kris started driving and almost ran her over because she refused to move from behind the car until she was done with her conversation.”
“How could I forget. Cops were called on that one. That was when Dad finally said enough was enough. They moved Tory out of the school then and put her in a private school ‘for her own protection’.”
“They were just pompous assholes.”
“Has she changed?”
“No, she’s still the same person. Honestly, if we had another choice for a vet, given the history with our family, we would use them.”
“I could give you a name if it made it happen quicker.” Zach raised a brow at me.
“Sure, get them out here for a meeting and we can definitely see. Any particular reason?” I let out a sigh.
“I turned her down today and just don’t particularly want to see her anytime soon is all.”
“Okay well set it up and we shall see.” I nodded and made a mental note to call Mitchell in a few days. The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Toby, Kelsea, and Lily. Getting up, I opened the door for Kelsea with a kiss to her cheek before getting Lily out of the car. Fist bumping Toby as I moved back around the car, he grabbed the cooler from the back, and we moved over to the others.
“Guys, this is my brother Toby, his gorgeous wife Kelsea and the adorable Lily.” They said hello before we were joined by the girls and Keith. Introductions went around and the girls, minus Lily, all gravitated toward each other. “Luce, where do you want the salads?”
“Just put them by the table for now. We can get them out of the cooler when the meat is done. You can move drinks to the other cooler if you need too.” I gave her a salute and moved over with Toby.
“You doing okay, bud?”
“I’m good. Nothing to worry about here.” He laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.
“Good to know. Now let’s all relax shall we.” I nodded and that’s exactly what we did.
Kris
I was trying not to make it obvious, but I kept looking over at Wyatt. He looked really good tonight and it made me want to follow through with the thoughts in my head I’d been having lately. The more time I spent back home, the more I realized that it was time to come back here. I had done what I needed to do in New York, I had gotten my name out there, so I had offers for work. I could do that from here though. If I needed to fly out then I could do it and be gone a weekend, coming home to my safe place. Going inside to get a drink, since we were out, I was joined by Dad.
“Have you told
them yet?”
“No, I don’t think I will either. Michelle has packed up my stuff for me, so I am just gonna fly home, grab my car and a trailer and drive it all back here.”
“You know I don’t like the idea of you going back there alone.”
“I know, Dad. I will be okay though. I will be in and out before he even knows I am there. I can’t ask Zach or Jackson to come and leave this place. I am not about to put Lucy or Zoey in danger or you for that matter.”
“Why don’t you ask Wyatt?” He gave me a look before disappearing back outside. Fuck. Hopefully no one else had picked up on that. He wasn’t why I was coming home; he would just be an added bonus. I still wasn’t sure we were right for each other, so I wasn’t going to jump into something. It would be awkward for both of us and tonight was a big step. It meant the merging of our two families. With a sigh, I took my bottle of wine outside and sat down with the girls. Kelsea had managed to get her daughter back from Wyatt so she could feed her. Hearing tires on the driveway, we all looked around, confused looks on our faces.
“Anyone expecting anyone?”
“No, everyone who should be here, is here.” Wyatt looked to Toby.
“Not one of your boys is it?”
“Should it be? Something you aren’t telling me?”
“No, just thought they might be looking for you.”
“I have a phone they can call me on.” He chuckled. Zach stood and moved around. He looked over at Wyatt who frowned.
“What are you doing here?”
“Wyatt invited me.” As Tory came into sight, every head turned to look at him. He was looking straight at me.
“No, I didn’t.” Wow. Getting up, I shook my head and went back inside, around through the back door. Me, Tory, and alcohol were not a good mix right now. Although lucky for her we had a doctor on the property. Kelsea followed me in not long after.
“Kris, where is the bathroom? Lily is wearing more of her dinner than she is eating.” I couldn’t help but smile at that.
