“Well, I put my ex-girlfriend in that cabin because she needed a place to stay. I took a little walk-through today and realized that that place is absolutely not livable for anybody who has any ounce of respect for.”
Rhett's eyebrows shoot to the sky as he jerks his head back, “Why on God’s green earth would you put a woman in one of those cabins in the first place? You know they’re in shambles right now. Hence, fixing them up,” he chimes in. Once again, not wrong.
I throw my hands up, feeling like a complete idiot, “Well, I was trying to be respectful of her situation and give her some distance from me, but also, give her a place to live, and dumb nuts over here said it was livable.” I hitch my thumb over to Mav.
“Well, now that you know that it’s not, where is she gonna be staying?” Rhett asks, leaning against his pitchfork.
Reaching my hand around to the back of my neck, I give it a scratch, a little afraid of what they’re going to say when I tell them. “In my guest bedroom.”
Mav let out the biggest, loudest laugh that lets me know that I am completely fucked. Once again, not wrong. A little bit tired of being wrong today.
“On a scale of one to ten, how not over her are you?” Mav squints at me with speculation.
If I had something to throw at him, I would. Instead, I just throw him the nastiest glare I can muster up. Because that’s a truth that’s hard to say out loud. It’s hard for me to admit it some days. But now that she’s here, it’s like the worst decision I’ve ever made comes back to haunt me over and over.
He lets out a painful “ooof”. “It’s gonna be a long couple of months for you.”
“Yeah,” I say on an exhale, putting my hands back on my hips.
“Are you just gonna stand there all day or help us?” Mav asks, completely bypassing our current situation.
Not ready to let him off the hook, I snap back, “You mean like how you help me find a place for Willow to live?”
“It is not my fault you didn’t give me all the information; I didn’t know Willow was going to be staying there.” Mav flips me the bird and starts shoveling up hay again.
“So how did the rest of the walk-through go? You know, besides the whole ordeal with Willow‘s cabin?” Rhett asks. He should be in charge more. He’s the only one of us who really has his shit together. The older he gets, the more he settles into being the most responsible one of us. I wish I was more like him most days, instead I'm hell onboots, but I guess that’s what makes us all work together as a team. We each bring something different to the table.
“Went okay, we’ve definitely got a lot of work to do. It’s gonna be all hands on deck.” Walking to the water trough, I grab a hose and turn on the Spicket to start filling it up and topping it off.
“Why do I feel like I’m gonna be spending this summer working harder than I did before I retired?” Maverick asks, sweat drips down his temple from the exertion of throwing hay.
“At least one of us can be right today,” I joke.
“The good news is this will be entertaining, watching your ex-girlfriend boss you around all day. About time someone tells your ass what to do.” He shoots me a shit eating grin, and I spray him with the hose.
“Hey!” Mav says, as he flings a loose bit of hay at me.
Ignoring him entirely, I get back on topic. “Rhett does a pretty good job of that most days, and on the days he takes off, my dad takes over, so I think that job is pretty well covered.”
“So I take it your dad isn’t handling retirement well?” Rhett asks.
“Depends on the day. I get at least a text a day reminding me of something I should be doing. But I still feel like I am walking blind here. How can I feel so….” I search for the right word because I feel a lot of things about this all at once, “ill-equipped, for something I’ve done the majority of my life.”
“Come on, man, give yourself more credit. Helping out on the ranch and being in charge are two different things. If there is anything we can do to help, you just need to let us know,” Rhett says. He pats my shoulder as he walks by, setting his pitchfork against the wall.
“I know. I’d be dead in the water if it weren’t for you two. So not to get all weird and emotional, but I’m glad to be working with you guys.” I don’t tell them nearly enough how grateful I am for their help.Mav shrugs. “Hey, I’ve got an emotionally charged pregnant wife at work. I’m getting really experienced with it.”
Rhett and I both bust out in laughter.
“Let’s finish this up so we can head to the house for dinner, Mom’s cooking, and I'm starved.”
Everyone nods in agreement, ready for a fresh cooked meal.
Chapter 16
Willow
Isurvived my first few days of being Weston’s roommate, but only just. The whole house smells of his woodsy scent. I’m constantly fighting the urge to seek him out, but that’s the opposite of what I’m supposed to be doing.
