Chapter 3
Aspen
“There she is,” Zach greets me from the couch as I walk into our apartment. “How was your first day?”
I put my purse and keys down on the counter and try not to notice all the boxes that are still unpacked. “It was good. Learned a lot. The ranch is beautiful.”
“Yeah, it’s not bad.”
Not bad? Between the land, the lakes, and the mountains, it’s all stunning. Moonlight Ranch could potentially make this city girl like living in the country. I don’t feel like arguing with him, though. He’s got his own reasons for not liking the ranch, and I try to remember that.
“What did you do today?” I ask, grabbing a glass of water.
“Eh, not much. Finished unpacking my clothes. Grabbed some groceries.”
“Cool. Hey, how come your dad didn’t offer us the cabin by his house instead of helping get this apartment?
” I’ve been thinking about it all day. Not that I particularly want to live on the ranch.
At least the apartment is in town and makes it feel like I’m not in the middle of nowhere.
It just seems odd that Brooks wouldn’t have at least offered it.
“He did,” Zach says, like it’s obvious. “But I don’t want to live so close. And I know he’d just try to get me to work there if I was that close.”
“Would it be so bad to work there? It seems like a nice place. Give you a chance at a good future.” I try not to sound too annoyed that he conveniently forgot to mention that offer.
It’s something we should’ve discussed together.
I would’ve understood his reasoning, but it would’ve been nice to be involved.
He sighs and looks back down at his phone like he would rather talk about anything else than this. “I don’t want that life, Aspen. I told you that. The ranch is his thing, not mine. I don’t want to take over his stupid family business.”
“Right.” I can’t help but think about how sad that must feel for Brooks. His only son doesn’t want to continue on the family legacy that he’s worked so hard on. I wonder where the ranch will go when Brooks decides to retire.
“And trust me. You don’t want to live in that shit-hole cabin.”
“Really? It seemed nice.”
Zach looks up from his phone. “Did he take you in there?”
“Well, no, but we drove past it on our tour of the property. He says he has a lot of fond memories with you there, like camping out back when you stayed with him. Until you stopped…”
Zach huffs a laugh. “Yeah, we had to camp because that place is smaller than this apartment. It was fun at first, I guess, but it got old quick. It’s just one big room. There was no privacy. I hated being there.”
“Oh.” Honestly, it sounds kind of charming to me, but I didn’t go inside, so I can’t say for sure. I guess I need to trust Zach on this. “Well, I was just curious.”
“You’d better change. We’re having dinner with my mom tonight,” Zach tells me, changing the subject abruptly.
“I thought we were going out to celebrate.” I’m so concerned with the change of plans that I don’t have time to be offended that he told me I need to change. I think I look cute.
“We are. I talked to Mom earlier, and she wants to take us out to celebrate your new job.”
“Oh.” I can’t hide my disappointment. “I was hoping it’d be just the two of us.”
He finally gets off the couch and walks over to me and wraps me in a hug. “Sorry, babe. We’ll go out just the two of us another night. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.”
He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but he had no problem disappointing me. I take a deep breath and try to shake off the irritation. I’ve had a long day, and I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.
“That’s fine. Maybe next time just talk to me before you commit us to something?”
“Sure, babe. I can do that.”
He kisses my head and releases me from the hug. “Go get changed so we can go.”
I nod and head to our room to throw on a casual sundress. One I know Zach likes. I touch up my hair and makeup and then meet him back in the living room.
“Where are we going for dinner?” I ask as we walk down the sidewalk of Main Street.
“It’s this place called Roadside. It’s a little bar and grill. You’ll like it.”
We walk two more blocks before we’re standing in front of a small building with a crooked sign out front that says ‘Roadside.’ I try to be optimistic because Zach seems to think I’ll like this place, but my optimism fades as we cross over the threshold.
I was expecting (or maybe hoping) for a nice little restaurant.
What I get is a bar with a few tables and a large dance floor in the back.
The air smells of sweat and alcohol. Don’t get me wrong, I’m used to being in bars.
I’ve bartended at a few different places in Atlanta, but this place looks like it’s on its last leg.
I’m also a little nervous about the quality of food.
I wonder what about this place makes Zach think I’ll like it.
Lacey and Jason, Zach’s mom and stepdad, wave at us from a table in the back corner. Zach takes my hand and weaves us through the people waiting to get to the bar. We take a seat across from them at the table.
Lacey has always been nice to me, but I’ve gotten a sense that she doesn’t particularly like me.
I’m not sure what it is exactly, just the gut feeling you get when you can tell someone is being fake with you.
I’ve never mentioned anything to Zach about it because he has a really good relationship with his mom, and I don’t want to stir up any issues. It’s probably all in my head anyway.
“So glad you guys could make it!” Lacey says.
I smile politely like my grandmother taught me. “Thanks for the invite.”
“Oh, of course. We wanted to celebrate your first day at work. It’s not always easy to find work in a small town. I’m just sorry you got stuck working for Brooks.”
Jason huffs a laugh next to her. I guess he’s not a fan of Brooks either.
“Oh, it’s not too bad. Everyone seems really nice at the ranch.” I pull a sticky menu out from behind the napkin dispenser. I know that Zach’s mom and dad don’t really get along, but I’m not here to get in between their drama. Especially since Brooks is my new boss.
“I’m sure they are.” She chuckles. “They’re probably all brainwashed to love that ranch as much as Brooks does.”
“He’s proud of his property. You can’t really blame him, can you?” I ask, suddenly feeling like I need to defend a man I barely know simply because he’s not here to defend himself.
“I can blame him for a lot of things,” Lacey says.
I feel her eyes bore into me like this is a moment for two women to bond over their hatred for a man. But I don’t hate Brooks. I have no reason to. And I’m not going to bash him simply because they have a history I’m not involved in.
“I’m just grateful to get a steady paycheck,” I say carefully. “Zach is the one who suggested me for the job in the first place.”
“Right. Of course. And we’re happy for you. It’ll be good for you to have a job while Zach is becoming a police officer.”
It’ll be good for me? Am I a child? I don’t know if she realizes that 1) I’m two years older than Zach and 2) I paid for almost all his expenses and bills while he was finishing up his last year in college. I don’t need to be told how to be an adult.
But again, I don’t want to cause any trouble, especially at the dinner table. So I keep my mouth shut. “Yeah.”
We order our drinks and food. I go with the cheeseburger. Not exactly what I was hoping for as a celebratory meal, but it’ll do. It also seems like the safest option in this place. After we order, Lacey turns her attention to Zach.
“How has it been being back home? Have you seen any of your friends yet?” she asks.
“Yeah. I’ve seen a few of them.” Huh, that’s weird. He hasn’t mentioned that to me. Not that he has to tell me everything, but I would’ve thought it would come up in conversation. “Had lunch with Cory and Anders today.”
Why wouldn’t he have mentioned that when I asked him what he did today? It just seems odd. But I know now is not the time to bring it up.
“Oh yeah? How are they doing?”
“Good. Anders is getting into real estate,” Zach tells us. I have no idea who Anders is, so I just nod along.
“You know, that’s probably a good idea for him. That boy was always very convincing. I bet he’d be a good salesman,” Lacey laughs.
“Cory is with Melinda now.”
The laughing stops abruptly. “Oh.” Silence. “Are you alright with that?”
Um. What? What the fuck is happening? Who are these people?
Zach shrugs. “Yeah, I mean, he texted me a while back and asked if it was alright. I’m certainly not going to be the reason to stop them. Besides, I’ve got Aspen now.” He turns and smiles at me, but I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
“Sorry, who are these people?” I ask, not able to hold in my curiosity anymore.
Zach opens his mouth to answer, but Lacey beats him to it. “Melinda is Zach’s high school sweetheart. Lovely girl. I’m surprised he never mentioned her.”
Why on earth would my boyfriend mention his ex-girlfriend to his new girlfriend? He said things about an ex before, but I don’t remember him saying her name. And honestly, I don’t care to know. She’s an ex for a reason, and that’s good enough for me.
“I guess she wasn’t an important topic of conversation,” I murmur.
“And now she’s dating Zach’s best friend. Crazy how that works out,” she says as if she’s actually amused.
“Yeah, I’m happy for them,” Zach says. Of course he is. Why wouldn’t he be? He’s moved on, so she should too.
Thankfully, the conversation steers away from this topic. When our food is dropped off, I eat as quickly as I can so we can get out of here before any more of Zach’s past decides to pop up unexpectedly and make this celebratory dinner any worse.