Chapter Eighteen – Mackenzie
MACKENZIE
My phone went off with a text from my sister. Reading the message, I let out a small shriek of happiness.
Emily: Pulling up now!
I grabbed my jacket, threw open the front door, and nearly tumbled down the steps to get outside through the side door of the barn.
Emily and Doug had insisted on renting their own car and driving down from Missoula. They’d gotten in on the 30th, as scheduled, but it was late, and they’d wanted to spend the night in the city before heading to Hamilton this morning. I’d been itching to see her, but understood this was also a short vacation for them. So I gave them the gate code and directions on how to get to the ranch and the barn, and said I’d see them in the morning.
We both screamed when we saw one another, and Doug laughed as we ran, both of us nearly slipping on the lightly snow-covered walkway. Once my younger sister was in my arms, I let go of the tension I hadn’t even known I was holding onto.
Drawing back, I smiled at her. She looked beautiful with her light brown hair in a low ponytail, those brown eyes sparkling, and a look of pure happiness and contentment on her face. That was all I had ever wanted for her; Emily safe and happy.
“Holy cow, this place is insane. The ranch house we passed is beautiful!”
“That’s Merit and Dirk Littlewood’s house.”
Emily raised a brow. “Bradly’s parents?”
Laughing, I pulled her to me and hugged her one more time before we walked back toward the rental SUV.
“Yes, his parents’ house. Michael, my other boss, lives down in that house. It’s a beautiful Victorian.” I pointed past the greenhouse to the white home that stood in the distance. “This part of the farm was closer to what once was strictly the Littlewood Ranch, but the ranch and farm are basically now combined.”
“It’s beautiful, Kenz, I see why you love it here.”
Doug held out his arms and I walked into them, giving him a strong hug and whispering, “Thank you for taking care of her.”
“Always,” he replied with a squeeze before we broke apart. “I wish we could stay longer, but Em tells me you’ll be in New York City for a few days?”
I chuckled. “Yes, I’ll fill you both in, but let’s get your stuff and get up to my apartment. We can walk this way to the side door, so you don’t have to walk through the barn.”
“I’d love to go through the barn and meet Pickles,” Emily argued.
“Okay, then through the barn we go!”
Emily grabbed a carry-on bag and her purse, while Doug got both suitcases. I took them in through the barn so they could meet the animals. Doug instantly dropped the suitcases and went to Barkley and O’Malloy, another paint that Will had just brought back in from the pasture, where they’d been grazing all morning.
“What beautiful horses.”
“You know, I’ve never asked, do you like to ride, Doug?”
He flashed me a wide smile. “I love to, but I haven’t ridden in years.”
“We’ll have to fix that.”
The deep voice from the entrance of the barn caused the three of us to turn, only to find Bradly standing there. My entire body erupted with goose bumps at the sight of him.
“Bradly, I thought you were helping Brock set up things for the party?”
He smiled, and those dimples went on full display. I heard my sister next to me release a small gasp, and I knew how she felt. The man was breathtaking.
“It’s a good thing I’m in love with Doug,” she whispered to me, then giggled.
“Emily, Doug, this is Bradly Littlewood. Bradly, this is my sister Emily and Doug Mitchel, her fiancé.”
Doug reached his hand out to shake Bradly’s, then stepped aside so Emily could do the same. Instead, my sister hauled him in for a hug and said something to him that only he could hear. He grinned and nodded.
“I didn’t mean to intrude on you guys, I just wanted to make sure you got here okay. I’ll be back around five to pick you up for the wedding.”
“You’re sure Lily doesn’t mind two complete strangers attending her wedding?” Emily asked.
Bradly winked. “She absolutely doesn’t mind. She’s so over-the-moon happy that she’s getting married, I doubt she’ll notice any of us there. My aunt and uncle are hosting the reception and New Year’s Eve party at their house afterward.” He turned to me and added, “I figured I would pick you guys up and we’d drive over together.”
I nodded. “That sounds great.”
“I’m so, so excited!” Emily said as she clapped her hands. “I’ve never actually been to a wedding before.”
Bradly smiled at her, then focused back on me. “Do you need me to do anything or help with anything?”
With a shake of my head, I replied, “Nope. All we have to do is get these two settled and then get ready for a wedding and party to ring in the new year.”
He leaned down and kissed me gently on the lips. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
I fought the urge to pull him back to me and deepen the kiss. “Okay.”
Bradly’s dark eyes swung over to Doug and Emily. “It was truly a pleasure meeting you. I can’t wait to get to know you both better.”
“Nice to meet you,” Doug said with a wide grin. Emily bounced on her toes and waved as she called out that we’d see Bradly later.
Turning to face them, I couldn’t help but grin.
“He is insanely gorgeous!”
“Excuse me, I’m standing right here,” Doug protested.
Emily gave him a playful pat on the chest. “I still love you and think you’re the most handsome of them all.”
Doug grinned and lifted his chin. “Just making sure.”
I rolled my eyes and headed toward the back of the barn. Pickles came dashing out, and Emily and Doug both started to laugh.
“Oh my gosh, is that…pajamas with fireworks on them?” Emily asked, dropping down and hugging Pickles.
“Yep. He has some wedding ones too, but I thought the fireworks were too cute not to put on.”
“I cannot believe you have a pet goat,” Doug said as he gave Pickles some attention.
“Okay, we have so much to do! Let me take you up to the apartment so you can get unpacked. You can have the bedroom, I’ll crash on the sofa.”
“Does the sofa pull out into a bed? We can sleep there,” Emily offered.
Glancing back at my little sister, I shook my head. “Nope, just a sofa, and I don’t mind sleeping on it. I crash out in the living room more than I’d like to admit. You’ll be comfortable in the bedroom, and I promise it isn’t putting me out in the least.”
After getting up to the apartment, Mr. Whiskers quickly greeted everyone. He smelled both Emily and Doug, and must have remembered them, because he gave his meow of approval and moved to his kitty condo.
As Emily and Doug unpacked, I made us some lunch. Whiskers sat on the bottom of the bed and supervised. Every now and then I could hear him meow his input.
“All unpacked. What should I wear to the wedding?” Emily asked as she walked up next to me and popped a grape into her mouth.
Setting the plates on a tray, I grabbed a bag of chips and asked Emily, “Will you grab the drinks for me and bring them to the table?”
“Sure,” she replied as she swept up the drinks and beat me to the table. Her waitressing skills from high school and college were showing.
“Did you bring anything blue for Doug? Lily has the guys dressing in jeans and blue button shirts. Did I mention she’s pregnant? They’re due in June.”
“Oh, wow! That’s exciting. Blue…I did bring a light blue dress for myself, and I’m sure Doug has a blue pullover he can wear. It’s dark blue, though, like navy.”
“That should work,” I said, as I placed the plates at each seat and walked the tray back to the kitchen. “No real dress code for the ladies, so you can wear whatever you’ll be comfortable in.”
Doug walked out and made his way over to the table. “I can’t even believe I’m hungry after eating at the pancake place you told us about last night.”
“Paul’s?” I asked with a chuckle as I sat down.
Doug took a bite of the turkey and Swiss sandwich as if he hadn’t eaten in days. He pointed to me. “That’s the place! Damn, it was good.”
Emily nodded in agreement as she opened the chips and put some on her plate. “It was good. Now, enough of the small talk, I want to hear everything about your time together with Bradly.”
“Time together?” Doug said. “They’ve only known each other for what, six days now?”
I shrugged as I chewed my sandwich. “Those six days have been the most amazing six days of my life. I wasn’t even aware I was looking for him before he popped into the barn on Christmas night.”
“I don’t understand when people say there’s no such thing as love at first sight. If the heart knows, it knows. I had a friend who met a guy on a cruise—a four-day cruise, I might add—and they were married two weeks later. They’re still happy and expecting their first baby this spring.”
Doug nodded. “Jim and Linda, that’s right. I forgot they only knew each other for a short amount of time.”
“Wow, how did they meet on the cruise?” I asked.
Emily put her sandwich down and took a drink of the sweet tea I’d made. “They literally ran into each other when they stepped onto the ship. He helped her pick up the stuff that fell out of her purse. Then, get this, he was seated at the same table as her and her sister. He was on the cruise with his family. It was like fate stepped right on in and said you two belong together.”
“I feel like it was that way with us,” Doug said as he looked lovingly at my sister.
Emily reached for his hand and held it. “I feel the same way.”
I smiled. “I heard a saying once. Fate smiles at Destiny and the result is true love, or something like that.”
We spent the rest of lunch talking about my job at the farm, what it was like living with so much snow, the plans I had for spring, and the ideas I wanted to pitch to Michael and Merit.
“Will we meet Michael?” Emily asked.
“He’s on a cruise with Lou’s daughter. It was a two-week cruise in Europe.”
“Oh, wow. That must be amazing.”
“I’m sure it is,” I replied to Emily.
Emily mentioned they hadn’t had any snow in New York City yet, and she hoped that changed when I came to visit with Bradly. According to my sister, New York City was only beautiful when there was snow on the ground.
We had danced around the subject long enough when I leaned back in my chair and sighed. “Have you heard from Mom since your last call?”
Emily’s face soured. “Yes. She called me as we were leaving for the airport. Apparently, dickhead was out with his friends bowling. She’s so unhappy with that man, I don’t know why she stays.”
“She probably feels like she can’t leave,” Doug said. “I’ve seen so many women in the ER with obvious bruises and marks from their husbands or boyfriends, but most are so defeated or scared that they believe their own lies.”
I tossed my napkin down on the table. “That’s our mother. She only married him because she didn’t want to be alone after Dad died. He swooped in, made her think he was her knight in shining armor, then slowly destroyed her. I can’t feel sorry for her anymore, Em. I did it for far too long. I tried to get her help, then tried to help her leave after I left, and she turned on me—hard. I’m done.”
Emily nodded. “There was a lot of yelling. That’s one thing I remember all too well. I remember you coming into my room one time and telling me to hide under the bed. Her cries…I swear I still hear them sometimes.”
Tears stung at the back of my eyes, and I swore I would never shed another tear for my mother again. Pushing down the emotions, I shook my head. “Emily, I think you need to cut them out for good. It’s not healthy having that kind of hate in your life.”
“Thank you,” Doug said as he pointedly looked at Emily. “I’ve been begging her to step back. Your stepfather is vile, but your mother can be just as cruel, as you well know. The things she says about you to Emily…they make my skin crawl. And when Em tries to defend you, she turns on her. I nearly pulled the phone away a few weeks ago and told her to go fuck herself when I could hear her screaming at Em over the phone. And it wasn’t even on speaker.”
I laughed, but it was humorless. “I would say do it, but that would only cause more issues.” Turning to my sister, I said, “Emily, she’s never going to leave him. She’s never going to be the mom we knew when Dad was alive. He’s poisoned her, and the best thing for you to do is let her go. I had to, for my own mental health, not to mention my life.”
A small sob escaped from Emily, and she gave a small nod as her hand covered her mouth. Doug stood and drew her into his arms. He looked at me and gave a small shake of his head. I gave him a weak smile. I knew how he felt. Helpless to see someone you love, hurt so badly by the one person who should have done everything and anything to protect her.
I joined them, and Doug encased us both in his arms. Emily buried her face in his chest and cried. When she finally had control over her emotions, she stepped back, wiped her tears away, and looked at me.
“Okay. I’ll do what you’ve been asking me to do. I’ll let her go.”
My heart broke in two to see my baby sister finally letting go of a dream that would never come true—our mother would never be the mother we wanted or deserved.