“Okay, so I might have done something that I should have asked you about first, but you know me, if someone shows up, I feel like it’s my duty to feed them.”
Well, now I’m a whole other level of confused. Maybe she ran into Willow. Her being at dinner wouldn’t be weird, though. Mom knows she’s here. Hell, she begged to stop by and visit with her, but I wasn’t sure how professional we were supposed to be, so I told her to hold off for now.
“You’re not making much sense, woman.”
“Well, Willow’s fiancé showed up to the ranch today looking for her, so I invited them to dinner.” She slowly spits out the last few words like she’s ripping off the metaphorical bandaid.
Making me speechless is pretty hard; I’m almost impossible to shut the fuck up, but after thirty-one years, my mom has done it.
My teeth grind at the thought of having to see Willow with another man. If I had to paint a picture of a living hell, it would be that. I thought seeing her here alone was hard, but now we get to add in Josh. Fuck that guy. It’s worse because he’s a total tool. I talked to him for a whopping thirty seconds and I was able to clock that.
“Honey, I am so sorry. Should I call and cancel?” she asks, her voice giving away how bad she feels. She would never intentionally do anything to hurt me, or anyone for that matter, so I try and deflect.
“No, it’ll be okay, Mom. I want her to be comfortable here and it’ll be nice to get to know Josh,” I lie through my teeth. His name tastes like shitty cow dirt on my tongue.
“Okay, if you need to leave early or skip out, I won’t be offended.”
“I’m a big boy, Mom. It’ll be okay.”
“Okay, well, I am going to get started on cooking. I really am sorry.”
“It’s all good, Mom. I’ll see you soon. Love you.”
“Love you too, sweetheart.”
The second the phone call ends, I drop the phone and run my hands through my hair. Thank God I was home for this call, because no one needs to see a grown man spiral over this type of shit. I need to man up. This whole thing is my fault; the least I could do is be a good sport.
I stand in front of my parents’ door and strongly fight the urge to turn around, tuck my tail, and head home. But I’m a Taylor man, and I have to face my mistakes head-on if I want to learn anything from them.
I walk in and scan the room. Aspen is talking with Willow and the City Slicker. Aspen has her professional face on, her smile so tight and forced, it looks painful. Her eyes swing to meet mine and she widens them. The best thing about being siblings is being able to talk without saying a word. The raising of the eyebrows was code for “this guy sucks”, and you know what, I couldn’t agree more.
Unfortunately for Aspen and me, Willow does not share the sentiment. So, I’m going to put my best boot forward and try my best not to shove it up his ass.
My mom turns around in the kitchen, seeing me. “Just in time, honey. Dinner is ready. Everyone, come take a seat,” she hollers loud enough for everyone to hear.
Like usual, my eyes snap back to Willow, knowing she will be feeling a little anxious herself. She has her hands clasped in front of her and she’s fiddling with her fingers, which means she’s got anxious energy she doesn’t know what to do with. It’s almost amusing how well I still know her, but it’s not. It’s sad.
My mom, ever the hostess, swoops in, ushering everyone to the table. “Here, you can take a seat. She puts her hands on the backs of the chairs she wants them to sit in and walks to the table, and my dad kisses her on the cheek before pulling out her chair. It’s fucking brutal watching them, knowing that was supposed to be Willow and me. All of us in this room together feels like I'm suffocating on what could have been.
I watch Josh take a seat, not even bothering to pull out Willow’s chair. This man wouldn’t know how to treat a woman if someonewrote a fucking handbook and mailed it to him. So, I guess I will just do it for him.
Power walking over to the table, I pull out Willow’s seat, making direct eye contact with him. “Here, let me get that for you, Sunshine.”
Both of their heads whip to mine so fast, I can’t help but smile. He glowers at me, and it brings me such a deep level of satisfaction that I’m worried there might be something wrong with me. But I want him to know I’m not as out of the picture as he would hope.
Willow looks between the two of us, utterly speechless, but then she pulls her lip into her mouth, trying to hide her smile, and I know I did the right thing. Maybe if anything, he will start to be self-conscious and treat her better out of fear of losing her.
She takes a seat in the chair, and I help scoot it in. When she looks away, I make sure to make eye contact with City Slicker one more time, and because I feel like being a dick, I shoot him a wink. That should make him feel about two feet tall.
I take a seat next to my sister and across from the happy couple. “Here, West,” Aspen offers as she passes the bowl of mashed potatoes to me, and I plop a big glob down on my plate and hand it across the table to Josh.
“Thanks.” His voice is as cold as ice. “Are these vegan by chance?”
All talks at the table cease and heads whip toward Josh.
Even Willow's face looks slightly distraught. “Since when are you vegan?”
“It’s just something that I’ve been trying. Is that not a thing around here?” He genuinely looks confused as to why we are all slack-jawed.
