BRIELLE
“BB!” I hear my little sister and spot her pink hair right as she comes out of the luggage claim. I really hate that she’s away at college, but I love that she’s out doing what she wants and getting a good education. Not to say that I didn’t get an education, but I just got a two-year degree. Britt got a four-year degree and now that is what Bev is doing too.
“BEV!” She crashes into me and I share a nice long hug with my little sister. “Love the shade this time!” I say, running my hand over her baby-pink hair.
Growing up she hated her blonde hair and always wanted to dye it. Mom and Dad finally decided one summer in middle school that she could. She went through every color of the rainbow and finally at the end of summer put in a permanent pink color. Mom and Dad were so pissed because it wouldn’t come out, from that moment on she’s always had pink hair.
Of the three of us, she had the lightest shade of blonde, so any pink color was noticeable. I was kind of jealous since my blonde hair didn’t take color near as well.
“Thanks, I just got it done a couple of days ago. I got it cut a little short than usual too.”
“I noticed,” I play with her long bob once again, “It first you, gosh it would be weird if you didn’t have pink hair at this point.”
“Please tell me that we can stop and get something to eat before we hit the road. I was a little late showing up to the airport and didn’t get the chance to buy any snacks.”
I take the handle to her rolling suitcase and loop my arm through hers with my other, “We can stop wherever you want, sis. I’m just happy to have you back for a little bit.”
“I’m happy to be back too!”
Bev picks a fast food burger joint for lunch, but we don’t take too long to eat. The drive back to the ranch is a few hours and I’m already exhausted from making the one-way trip. So anything At least I have some company this time and I get to update Bev on all the fun going on while she’s been gone. “So anything crazy going on at the ranch lately?”
“Not really. We did get new guests in today. Britt said their requests weren’t bad. They have a few kids so they want to go sledding since we’re expecting snow tomorrow.”
“Oh, that would be fun. They should go out behind the bunkhouses.” There was a decent-sized slope from the bunkhouses to the horse pasture. It was prime real estate for sledding.
“That’s probably where we’ll send them unless their kids are little. I didn’t ask Britt their ages.”
“Now I kind of want to go sledding too. I miss the snow.”
Bev goes to school in the south. The weather is mild in the winter, so she doesn’t have to worry about the snow, but all those fun winter activities she doesn’t get to do until she comes home for break.
“We should ask Granger if he’ll hook up the four-wheeler to a sled.”
Bev laughed, “Like the good ole days?”
“We’re older now, so he’ll say yes, right?” I chuckled, recalling a very specific memory.
“How old were you guys, like ten?” Bev asked.
“Probably something along those lines. I still remember he thought Mom was going to fire him when Brooke had her arm bending in the wrong direction.” I cringe remembering Britt’s broken arm. It was the only time I remember Mom yelling at Granger. My dad yelled at him all the time, but Mom always had a soft spot for that guy.
“Speaking of Brooke, she told me about our little guest.”
I give a quick glance over to the passenger’s seat, “Mitch?”
“Yeah, he still looking as fine as he was six months ago?” Bev wiggled her eyebrows.
“Bev!” I swat across the center console, “Did you forget that you have a boyfriend?”
“Yeah, but I’m not blind. Brooke said you didn’t want to know why he’s there.”
I shrugged, “I know why he’s there, I didn’t want her to gossip about it. He made a mistake and I don’t think we need to be giving him shit about it.”
“We wouldn’t do that. We’re used to all types of legal issues that send people our way.”
“I know,” my voice softened, “but he’s not just any other person, he’s Max’s brother.”
“So you’ve got a soft spot for him?”
“Maybe,” I admit. “It just doesn’t feel right gossiping about him I don’t know.”
“Oh my god!” This time it was Bev’s turn to swat my arm, “You have a crush on him.”
“I do not.”
“Right, because you just turned a shade of pink right now for no reason.”
I could feel the blush just thinking about Mitch, but I wasn’t going to admit anything to my sister. “Maybe it is just warm in here. I don’t have a crush. He’s not my type.”
“Too many muscles? Too much money? Not enough asshole behavior?”
I glare at her, “That was low.”
“Which one?”
“All of them. He’s plenty bit of an asshole though. He’s so like...raunchy.”
“Oh yeah? Tell me more.”
“You’re disgusting,” I groan.
“Come on, BB, don’t hold back. Tell me what he’s said or done that is so raunchy.”
“He invited me to take a shower with him within like a few minutes of him arriving at the ranch. He’s made comments about making me scream. He even said I could call him Daddy if I wanted.” Bev throws her head back laughing. “Why are you laughing? That’s just...ugh.”
“That’s just stupid shit guys say. “
“So you don’t think he means it? Do you think he says that stuff to everybody?” The better question is why did I care if he said those things to other people?
“I mean..maybe. I don’t know. I’ll need to talk to him first. Does he say those things to Britt or Brooke?”
“He’d never to Britt, that’s his sister-in-law and he’s got too much respect for Max.”
“And Brooke?”
I try to remember the last time I even saw them together. “I don’t ever see him talk to her, to be honest.”
Bev rubs her hands together, “Oh this trip home is going to be so good.”
“You’re enjoying my life crisis, aren’t you?”
“Oh shut up. This is not a life crisis. At minimum, you’ve got a guy who is being a bit of a raunchy flirt with you. Big deal, guys do that all the time. You just tell them to fuck off and go on with your life. On the other end, maybe he’s trying to hint that he likes you by getting a little rise out of you.”
“What is this, second grade?”
Bev laughed again, “You know men never really mature.” Well, she had a point there.
We were all sitting around the dinner table that night, waiting for Dad to finish the blessing so we could dig in. “And finally, Lord, thank you for bringing Beverly home safe for the next few weeks while she’s on break from college. Amen.”
Everybody replies with their own amen and then we dig into Mom’s French onion soup with roast beef sandwiches. This is Bev’s favorite meal and her request for her first night home. Mom slowly sautes onions for hours until it is ready to be made into soup. I hope one day I will be half as good at cooking as my mom is.
“So Britt, I heard that the family wants to go sledding after the snow,” Mom says to Britt.
“Yeah, they’re kids are elementary age and the city doesn’t have very good sledding hills and I told them I had them covered.”
“Mommy, we want to go sledding too!” Jase says.
Britt pats him on the head, “We can go, we just might not be able to go with the family that is here.”
“Hey Granger,” Bev chuckles, Remember when you used to pull us behind the four-wheeler?”
“Do NOT take the guests behind the four-wheeler!” My mom points a finger directly at Granger.
Everybody at the table laughs and Granger smirks just a bit, “I promise I won’t, Tracy.”
“I want to go sledding behind the four-wheeler!” Deacon exclaims.
“No, you don’t,” I laugh, “Just ask your mom.”
Jace looks over at Britt, “What happened, Mommy?”
“I don’t know if it was a hard pile of snow or a rock or something, but I hit it and went flying from the sled.”
“She soared,” Brooke reenacted with her hands, “Like I thought the FFA was going to fine us for air travel.”
“Yeah, well I landed directly on my arm and it bent the wrong way,” she rubbed her elbow.
“You broke it?”
“So badly, Jace, trust me, not worth it.”
Bev chuckled again, “I’m just saying maybe after a few spiked ciders, maybe it would be fun.”
Dad rolled his eyes, “I swear, Beverly, if I have to put up with your drunken shenanigans I’m going to buy you a plane ticket and send you back to college early.”
Bev gasps, “You wouldn’t do that to your baby!”
“I’ve got those two now,” Dad points to Deacon and Jace.
Brooke giggles, “You’re that replaceable, Bev. That’s got to suck.”
Dad pointed around the table, “You’re all replaceable, don’t forget that.”
We all laugh because we know Dad isn’t serious. He might rule the ranch with an iron fist, but it wasn’t like that with us girls. He was strict in his own way, but would always save the day if we needed him. The last thing we were to our dad was replaceable.
“Hey Granger, did you invite Mitch to dinner?” I noticed right away that Mitch wasn’t around, but nobody mentioned it until my mom finally brought it up.
“I did, but he said he was just making a sandwich tonight in his place.”
She frowned and seemed almost disappointed, “Maybe I should save some soup for her, you could run it down to him?”
“Yeah, I can do that.”
“Brielle could take it down to him,” Bev said without missing a beat.
I glare across the table at her and she just sticks her tongue out at me. Both Brooke and Britt as also grinning, which pisses me off because that means later tonight they’re all going to want to talk about him and I don’t think I’m ready for that talk. Not that there is anything to talk about anyway. I am not interested in Mitch Alexander at all.