by Ali Parker
“Your way of thinking doesn’t hold up, anyway. Say that Father did give me the ranch, the whole damn thing. You think I wouldn’t give you a piece of it to build a house, grow some crops and have a farm if you wanted to? I would give it to you in a heartbeat, any of you. It’s the Dawson Ranch, and it’s big enough to split between all of us, including Abi. You’re so worried about yourself, you didn’t give a thought to her, did you, or the rest of us. There is no need to worry about this Dylan. You are just letting that fester and it is erupting like a damn volcano the minute you start drinking. You need to let it go,” Wyatt said.
“I know. Okay, I know. I’m sorry,” Dylan said, sincerely. It was the first time he was sincere with his answers.
“The family doesn’t need this stuff anymore. How long before that behavior—from all of us—turns our business bad? No one will want to do business with guys that are brawling all the time. It’s selfish of us to be that way,” I said.
“I didn’t think of it like that. I thought my fightin’ was only hurtin’ myself,” Dylan said.
“No. It affects all of us,” Tanner said.
“Shit,” Dylan said, kicking the dirt with his boot.
We all stood there in quiet contemplation. We were waiting for all of this to sink in. We should have had this talk with him a long time ago, I thought. He was our little brother after all and he had been feeling lost. I should have gathered Tanner and Wyatt together that day I’d heard Dylan confess it when he was drunk. Maybe this whole jail thing could have been avoided. A little brother needed his older brothers.
Dylan looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. Finally, he had something to say, “Thank you brothers, for bringing me here. It’s good just to have it out in the open, and for y’all to know what I’ve been thinking and what’s been bothering me. Just hearing y’all tell me that it’s going to be all right, that we’ll always stick together and take care of each other is a load off my shoulders. A load I didn’t know I’d been carrying, but it’s been blowing up into fights every chance I got. I can see that now. It won’t happen again, I can promise you that.”
I looked at him and put my hand on his shoulder. Then looked to Wyatt and Tanner.
“All right then, we hear you. We’re not judging you, Dylan, we’ve all been like you to some degree. But the whole sheriff thing, it’s too much. We’re here for you no matter what, but we want you to think about what you are doing and how it affects the family. I sincerely believe that you’re going to stop and try to keep that temper in check,” Wyatt said, putting his hand on his other shoulder.
“Thanks, man. Thanks for believing in me,” he said.
“All right, bring it in,” Tanner said. We all laughed and fell into a group hug. I knew that this was good. This was different and I could feel a weight lifted off my shoulders as well.
“You know what, since we are here and the sun is already blazing,” Wyatt said, pulling out of the hug. We all looked at each other and big smiles broke out across our faces.
“Last one in has to shovel the shit out of the stables!” I shouted, and ran toward the quarry.
“Woohoo!” We all shouted as we ran down the trail to the granite rocks.
We all stripped off every bit of clothing and I jumped in first. I didn’t see which brother was in last, but it didn’t matter. The Dawson brothers were together. We had each other’s backs and we were enjoying a nice skinny dip after a difficult argument. It’s just how we did things.
32
Lydia Myers
I’d been doing a lot of thinking about the situation with Connor. I didn’t want to become someone that was visiting a boyfriend, or even a husband, in jail. That was not for me. I didn’t want my future to involve my significant other having to go bail his brother out of jail either. These thoughts had been going through my mind for a while, and therefore I was extremely anxious as I sat in my office. I was gathering my materials, and was supposed to go to the Dawson Ranch at noon to oversee the delivery of the furniture and get it placed into the correct areas. This was always my favorite part of a job, making all my work come together. I had been especially excited about this one, but now I didn’t know if I even really wanted to go.
“Hey, what time are you leaving to head to Safety?” Whitney asked, as she came into my office.
“I’m supposed to be there at noon, so not for a few hours,” I said.
She looked at my face and sensed that something was wrong. Right away, she came into my office and closed the door, then sat down on the chair in front of my desk.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“I’m just not feeling good about going out there. You know, with all the family drama and everything that they have going on. I’m thinking that maybe I should start separating myself from Connor, and the family. I just don't know. I do want to keep seeing him, but then I don’t. I just need more time to think about it,” I said.
“So, you’re not going to go out there?”
“Would you mind going for me? I could show you where everything needs to go. It’s really simple because it’s mostly a lot of big pieces. I have the layout and everything.”
“Are you sure? You’ve been so excited about this job.”
“I still am. I’m excited about the project, but I made the mistake of mixing pleasure and business, and now I'm paying for it. I just need a little more time. I could just make an excuse, like I’m not feeling well and don’t want to get anyone sick. It wouldn’t be a big deal, I don’t think.”
“All right, but I do think you should go. I’m not going to force you, though. I don’t have anything going on today anyway. Show me the design,” she said.
“Really? Thank you, Whitney. Thank you so much. I owe you big time.”
“Yes, you do,” she said, then winked at me.
I pulled out the designs and began to go through the living room placement with her, including the heirlooms and antiques. Then I went through the kitchen design, which wasn’t that hard since for the most part it was just curtains and decor things since the appliances had already been delivered and installed.
We sat in my office for two hours, drinking coffee and going over the plans. I gave her the contact information for the furniture delivery, which was a company that we used often, so she knew them already. When we were done, I felt relieved. I hadn’t talked to Connor since the Sunday phone call, and I wasn’t sure that I was really ready to. I didn’t think badly of him for not speaking to me since that day, I knew he was dealing with a lot and it had given me time to think. It was easier to think when he wasn’t in front of me, because when he was in front of me I was distracted by his good looks. And my extreme lust for him always pushed logic right out of my mind.
“Are you sure about this?” Whitney asked, looking at me.
“Yes, I am. I’ll go in and tell Janet that you are overseeing the placement, and I’ll make sure you get a cut of the fee. Thank you for doing this. Things are just a bit sticky right now,” I said.
“I can only imagine. I’m more than happy to do this for you in order to give you some space and time to think, away from Dawson Ranch. I’m here for you no matter what, you know that,” she said.
Standing up, I gave her a big hug. “Yes, I do know that. Thank you, Whitney.”
“Look at the time, I’d better get going,” she said, looking at the clock on the wall.
“Yes, it is a drive. Please give them my apologies and let them know that I wasn’t feeling well.”
“I’ll cover for you, don’t worry.”
She grabbed the designs off my desk and went to her office to gather her stuff. I sat down and pulled out my phone. I thought about texting Connor to let him know, but I knew that he’d immediately call and question me, and I wasn’t ready to deal with that just yet. He was expecting me and it didn’t feel good to not show up. But I needed some time.
A few minutes later Whitney waved goodbye and walked out of the building. I sat there realizin
g that I needed to make a decision about what I was going to do. I wanted to continue dating Connor, I really did. But I also didn’t want this kind of drama in my life, and I knew that cutting it off now would be better than later. But the problem was I was completely in love with him.
“I’m here! What’s going on?” I heard Janet shout as she walked in the front door. She did this often when she arrived in the office just to let us know she was there.
I took a deep breath and stood up from my desk. I would have to go to explain all of this to her, and that wasn’t going to be fun. I walked out of my office into the front room where she was putting samples away.
“Hey Janet.”
“Lydia, what’s new? Where’s Whitney?”
“She’s not here. She’s doing a client placement.”
“Oh good.”
“Actually, she’s doing it for me. I had her finish up the Dawson placement because I’m not feeling so well. I was actually just about to go home. I’ll make sure she gets a cut of my fee for taking over for me,” I said.
“Oh no. What’s wrong?”
“I think I have a fever coming on,” I said. “I’m really not well. I reviewed everything with Whitney though, and she knows the placement well.”
“Oh, that’s not good. You get yourself home so you don’t get us sick too. Take care of yourself,” she said, quickly walking away from me and into her office.
“Okay,” I said. I rolled my eyes and walked back to my office to gather my things. A few minutes later I was headed home.
It was true that I didn’t feel well, but it was a headache caused by everything that was happening, rather than a fever. But it was best that I went home anyway. I needed to have some alone time. I needed to figure out what I was going to do, and how I truly felt about things.
When I got home, I took a hot bath to calm my nerves, then poured a glass of red wine. When I was done I took a step that had been on my mind for a while. I started looking at commercial spaces for rent around the city. I wasn’t actually going to start my own business, but I wanted to see what was out there in case it was a possibility. But I found that when I was looking at the spaces for rent, it made me happy. It gave me something to look forward to, something that would be all mine. I was so into my search that I had completely forgot that I’d left my phone in my purse, and went to bed without even looking at it.
33
Connor Dawson
The talk with Dylan seemed to have helped already. He seemed lighter and happier around the ranch the rest of the day after we’d gotten back yesterday morning. It was good to see a smile on his face for a change, and even our father seemed to notice the difference and approved.
I was especially glad for it, because now I could focus on Lydia again. It had only been a few days since I had seen her, and I’d already missed her terribly. But today was the day she would show up with the furniture and get it all placed in the living room. I was very excited to see her again. She wasn’t scheduled to arrive until noon, but that didn’t stop me from looking toward the road every second.
“You get the water in the troughs?” Wyatt asked, coming over to my side as I let the chickens out of the coop.
“Yep. All good. I fixed the leak in the horse trough, too,” I said.
“Good. Dylan’s out in the barn today, shoveling shit. It’s his punishment from Father. He’s on shit duty for a month,” Wyatt laughed.
I started laughing hard. “That will teach him. It’s a shitty job.”
“Oh, now that’s original, Connor,” Wyatt said.
“Hey, I’m an original man.”
He grabbed a handful of chicken feed and threw it at me. I just laughed. I had a feeling that things were going to be back to normal around here and once all the furniture was back in the living room, it would really feel normal again.
“I’m gonna head out to the silos. Call me if you need me, there’s no way I’d hear you shouting,” he said, holding up his phone.
“Yeah, I got it,” I said.
I let the chickens out into the pasture while I held the bucket of feed. It reminded me of the time I showed Lydia how to do this, then later found out that she’d been playing me the whole time. She had let me feel like I was really teaching her something new, but actually she had grown up on a farm herself. I laughed to myself thinking about the fool I’d been. It was a good joke though.
When I was done with the chickens, I fed the goats, the horses, and the sheep, making my regular rounds. Feeding the animals was the first thing I did in the morning. Just then I heard a muttering in the distance, and turned to see Dylan pushing a wheelbarrow full of shit across the ranch. I started laughing. It was a hilarious sight. I grabbed my coffee thermos and climbed up the fence and sat down for a recharge moment. I unscrewed the red cap and poured a small cup of the steaming liquid and then set the thermos down on the fence post.
“I’ve noticed a difference in Dylan already. He really needed some tough love, and I’m glad you guys gave it to him. It’d really done wonders,” Abi said, as she came to my side while I sat on the fence of the sheep pen. We were both watching Dylan push that wheelbarrow.
“Yeah, sometimes we need that. Tanner has definitely done that with me before when I was being an ass,” I said.
“That’s just what we do, we look out for each other,” she said.
“So true, little sister,” I said with a smile.
“Do you know that Father is making him shovel shit for a month?” she asked.
I laughed. “Yeah, Wyatt told me. I’ve never heard anything funnier.”
“Abi!” our father hollered, sticking his head out the back door.
“Yeah, Father?” Abi shouted, walking toward him.
“I’m going into town!”
“Alright!” She waved.
“Keep an eye on Dylan. Don’t let him get out of his work!” he shouted.
“I’m on it!” I shouted back.
Father popped back into the house as Abi walked back toward me and grabbed the thermos from the fence post, taking a drink of the hot coffee.
“I’m going to take the horses out tomorrow for a hard ride if you want to come along,” she said.
“Maybe. Or maybe Dylan needs that. To give him a break from the shit detail, you know?”
“Oh, we’re going to have fun with his shitty job aren’t we?”
“It will never get old,” I said.
“What about Lydia? Has this whole thing with Dylan ruined things with her?” She asked the question out of nowhere and it startled me a bit.
“Shit, I hope not. But I don’t really know. Guess we’ll find out today, when she comes out to direct the placement of the furniture and all. But don’t be poking around and sticking your nose in it,” I said, pointing a finger at her.
“I’ll try not to. But remember, this is my project, so I kind of have to be there to make sure everything goes the way we had planned.”
“Right. There is that,” I said.
The sound of Father’s truck engine roaring to life caught our attention. We watched as his truck turned around and headed down the driveway and over the cattle guard.
“You know, I think Father was really hurt about Dylan spending the night in jail. That’s never happened before. Yes, you all have been in trouble, but it’s always been warnings and citations to pay off, not a night in jail. I think it shook him to his core,” Abi said, peering after his truck.
“Dylan’s damn lucky the sheriff went that route, instead of sending the case to the D.A.’s office. No telling what might have happened if that had been the case. Father is right to be upset, and I think we all had the same feelings about it. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel if it was my kid. I think Father is feeling his age a bit, too. He’s tired and doesn’t have the energy to put up with our crap anymore,” I said, drinking the hot black coffee.
“Hey, I’m young and I don’t have the energy to put up with the bogus shit y’all come up with either,�
�� she said with a laugh.
“Can’t argue that,” I said, with a smirk on my face.
“What time is it anyway? The furniture truck is supposed to be here at noon, right?” Abi asked, looking a little excited, though she tried not to show it.
“Yep, it’s ten till,” I said, looking at my watch.
“Oh look, is that them?” She started pointing down the road.
There was a large delivery truck coming down the road, followed by a car I hadn’t seen before. I furrowed my eyebrows together.
“Yeah, that must be it.”
We walked to the front porch together, ready to greet them.
I watched as the furniture truck pulled up close to the house. The black car parked in the driveway. The door opened and Whitney got out. Lydia was not with her.
Abi looked at me quizzically and shook her head, then walked out towards the car. Feeling confused, I followed.
“Hey, good to see both of you again. I’ll be handling the placement today, but don’t worry about a thing. I know where everything goes and have the designs right here,” Whitney said.
“Where is Lydia?” I asked.
“Oh, she wasn’t feeling well. She thought she was coming down with something, so she asked me to step in.”
Immediately, I knew she was lying. I could tell by the look on her face and think Abi could too. She cleared her throat and smiled at Whitney. “That’s fine. Come on inside and we can go over the plans,” she said, pulling her to the porch. I knew Abi could sense that I was getting upset.
Taking a deep breath, I looked at the furniture truck as the men got out and began to unload from the back. This was not good. Lydia hadn’t bothered to text me or even call to say she wasn’t coming. This was a drastic change of plans, and I knew it was because of the incident with my brother. Turning toward the barn, I angrily stomped my way out there.
Dylan was in there, still shoveling shit into the wheelbarrow. He was focused on his work and hardly even noticed that I’d walked in.
