Chapter 11 – Gentry
eleven
GENTRY
I’d woken up this morning bright and early to an empty bedroom.
I shouldn’t have felt anything but relief, but many more emotions coursed through me.
I was more hurt than I’d like to admit that she wasn’t the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes this morning.
I knew that we shouldn’t be edging toward crossing that line and getting close again, but part of me wanted it more than I should’ve.
It was for the best. I had to keep reminding myself to stay away from her, even if I felt that same pull from years ago anytime she was near.
Instead of continuing with those thoughts, I did something productive and got ready for the day. I needed to get my schedule for the day from her father.
I made my way down to the main house, and the smell of coffee instantly assaulted my senses. I needed a caffeine drip just to get through today. I was emotionally drained this morning.
“Good mornin’, Gentry,” Lillian greeted me from her spot in front of the coffee pot, a to-go cup of coffee in her hand that she graciously held out to me with a smile on her face.
“Mornin’,” I grumbled, not sure of how good of a morning it would be.
I took the awaiting cup from her hand and took a sip. The hot liquid tasted of perfection. She always managed to make the perfect cup of coffee every time. She remembered how everyone took theirs. It shouldn’t shock me, but it never ceased to amaze me how she always got everyone’s right.
I leaned against the granite countertop and took another sip of coffee, waiting for Sawyer to arrive so I could know where he wanted me today.
Ainsleigh and her father entered the kitchen at the same time.
My eyes took her in as I took another sip of coffee.
She wore her long blonde hair up in a ponytail, and a blue flannel shirt that had slipped off her shoulder, revealing the tank top she had on underneath.
My eyes raked down her body and took in the sight of her tight jeans and the old cowboy boots before they drifted back up and took in the look in her eyes.
They were focused on her mother, but she looked as tired as I felt.
At least I wasn’t the only one who didn’t get any sleep.
“Gentry, glad you stayed and waited for me. Jasmine and Tawney called in today; they both have some type of stomach bug. I’ll need you and Ainsleigh to lead the treasure hunt they had planned for the kids,” Sawyer said before he walked over to his wife and placed a quick kiss on her lips.
I held in a groan. I wanted to argue with him, but I refrained. He didn’t need the added stress from my complaints after he’d had to readjust the schedule to accommodate the sick employees’ tasks.
“But, Dad,” Ainsleigh protested as she crossed her arms over her chest.
I looked away from her before I said something I shouldn’t in front of her parents.
The treasure hunts were something Ainsleigh, her brothers, and I usually tried to get out of. They tended to be something of a disaster and always lasted longer than they were supposed to.
“It’s fine, Sawyer. We’ll cover it. No problem,” I agreed even though I wanted to protest as much as she clearly did.
“That settles it. Ainsleigh, your mom will be around for when your friends arrive since you’ll be busy.
Make sure you message them and let them know your change of plans.
Y’all have fun today.” He smiled, and I swear that grin held a mischievous look.
The conversation with her mother last night replayed in my mind.
She probably had something to do with him sticking us together.
Sneaky woman. I wouldn’t out her. I’d play along with her game, but I wouldn’t give in to what she wanted.
Ainsleigh and I weren’t ever going to be an item again.
No matter how much her mother clearly wanted us to be.
She didn’t withhold her disdain and groaned before she took the cup of coffee her mother offered. She stomped past me and went out the back door of the house.
“Make sure y’all get the stalls mucked this mornin’ before you meet the kids at ten for the scavenger hunt,” her dad said as he walked toward the back door.
“Yes, sir,” I responded, knowing today was going to be a long one.
“Don’t let my daughter get one over on you, Gentry. You’re in charge today,” he said with a grin before he got on the ATV and headed toward his office building.
That just made the day more hopeful. Getting to boss Ainsleigh around might just make my day even better than I thought it would be.
I walked into the stables after bidding her dad a goodbye to find Ainsleigh at Sparkle’s stall. She was brushing down her horse as she fed her a sugar cube. She didn’t hear me approach to which I used to my advantage.
“Hey there, butterfly,” I whispered into her ear just as I stepped up behind her.
She jumped back into my arms and screamed.
“Dangit, Gentry. Must you always have to scare me,” she screamed as she turned around and hit me in the shoulder. She could still pack a mean right hook. The pain in my shoulder was evidence of that.
“But it’s just so fun to scare you,” I taunted while she went back to brushing Sparkle.
“Fun for you maybe. You scared me half to death. You probably shouldn’t call me that nickname anymore,” she suggested as she turned to face me.
She’d always be my butterfly, whether she liked it or not.
I’d started calling her that because when I’d first met her, she was chasing a butterfly around the field. The name just stuck from that day forward.
She didn’t need to know I still remembered how much she loved seeing different color butterflies. I’d leave pieces of paper in the shape of butterflies in her locker or in her notebooks. I loved seeing the smile cross her face knowing I was the one who’d left them. But that was then.
She put her horse back in her stall with a kiss to her nose. Sparkle nudged her hand and she laughed, grabbing another sugar cube and giving in to her demands.
“We’ve got to get a move on. We’ve got to muck the stalls in all the stables before nine so we can prepare before we have to meet the kids for the scavenger hunt,” I told her, enjoying the fact that I’d get to boss her around for the day.
“Great,” she sarcastically said. I could tell by her tone that she was loving having to shovel horse manure. Oh well, this was ranch life.
We finished the stables by the house quickly and moved on to the stables at the ranch.
All the ATVs were in use but one, so she had no choice but to ride on the back of mine.
Feeling her arms wrapped around me made me feel things that I shouldn’t.
Her touch always did things to me. I needed to get off this damn four-wheeler stat.
Quickly, but safely, I got us to our destination.
She hopped off the back just as I came to a stop, clearly affected by my closeness just as much as I was.
She stalked off without a word and went to go muck the stalls without a complaint.
We worked together in silence for another hour and a half until the stables were mucked and fresh hay was laid.
She wiped the sweat from her brow as she hung the shovel in its rightful place.
“You ready to get this show on the road?” she asked.
The look on her face told me everything I needed to know.
After sharing our grief last night that she still refused to name, she didn’t know how to be near me.
The feeling was mutual. I needed time to work through my thoughts.
I just couldn’t in good conscience make her sleep in a room that was a constant reminder of the person we’d both lost.
“More than ready, butterfly,” I said as I marched out of the stables in the direction of the office building.
Loretta, her father’s assistant, always had the scavenger hunts printed so the kids could check off items as they found them.
Hopefully this went quicker than the last one which took two hours.
She stomped past me as she huffed and beat me to the office building. I couldn’t help but watch her as she marched in front of me. After all the years away, she was still a spitfire.
“Good mornin’, Loretta,” she greeted as she walked up behind the woman and pulled her in for a hug while Loretta still sat in the chair behind her desk.
“Well hello there, sweet child. I’m so happy you’re back. Your daddy hasn’t smiled this much in years now that your home,” Loretta said as she patted Ainsleigh’s arm.
“Let me look at you,” Loretta said as she pulled back to check Ainsleigh over. She had been very close to Ainsleigh, and Ainsleigh often looked to her as a second mother.
Ainsleigh laughed at something Loretta whispered in her ear when she was done and sat back in her chair. I could only imagine what those two were talking about.
“You two ready for the kiddos? I heard this is the biggest group we’ve had for a scavenger hunt in a while seein’ as the kids are outta school for the summer now,” Loretta advised as she handed over the laminated scavenger hunt cards and the note cards for us so we would know the answers, as if we’d never guess.
One time Leo got one of the answers wrong, and the kids were none too happy.
I chuckled at the memory, causing them both to look over at me with a questioning glance.
“Just remembering that one time Leo got the answer wrong, and the kids weren’t happy; they couldn’t figure out where they went wrong and were off on a wild goose chase for hours trying to figure it out.” I laughed.
They both shook their heads and laughed as well as they recalled what I was referring to.
“Now out you get,” Loretta shooed us away so she could get back to her busy morning.
Sawyer had told me she was talking of retiring, but he wouldn’t hear anything of it.
She’d worked for him for almost thirty years, and he didn’t want to lose her.
But I knew after all the talks I’d had with her, when my grief got the best of me, that she longed to move closer to her kids so she could make memories with her grandbabies.
If she followed through with retiring when she planned, she’d be gone before the leaves started changing.
I followed Ainsleigh out of the office and over to the clubhouse so we could meet with the kids. Glancing down at my watch, I noticed we only had about fifteen or so minutes before they’d arrive.
We sat in a set of rocking chairs with a table in the middle on the wraparound porch.
Ainsleigh looked down at the scavenger hunt to see what we’d have in store for us today.
There were five different ones we rotated through—all of them I was familiar with—but Ainsleigh had been gone a while, so she had to familiarize herself with them.
“Want to make this interesting?” she asked as she finished reading through the ten questions.
Each question was related to something found on the ranch.
In order to move on to the next question, the kids had to get the answer correct.
If correct, they would find a flag at the next location.
At the final stop, they’d find the prize.
“Sure. What’s on your mind?” I hesitantly asked. Only God knew what was going through this woman’s mind.
“Let’s split the kids up into two groups. I’ll lead one, you’ll lead the other. Whoever wins gets twenty bucks,” she said as she looked over at me and held out half of the scavenger hunt papers and a note card on top.
“You’re on,” I said as I took the papers from her outstretched hand. I’d love nothing more than to beat her at this game. Just to have the bragging rights because the old Ainsleigh hated to lose, and I’d bet my checking account balance that tidbit hadn’t changed.
“I’ll take the first five, you take the last five, and we’ll meet back here in a few minutes,” she suggested. I nodded in agreement. We both got tape from inside at the gift shop counter and taped the clues for the next question in the rightful places.
While I taped the last envelope to the final stop of the scavenger hunt, I wondered if she'd set this up as a game on purpose so that we wouldn’t be together for the duration of the game for the kids.
If so, I was relieved, in a sense, that she was the one putting distance between us.
We couldn’t go back to the Ainsleigh and Gentry from before.
Even if my soul longed to be near her, I just couldn’t take the risk of my heart getting hurt again.