Chapter 4
Cody
Ranching teaches you patience,
whether you wanted to learn it or not.
— Anonymous
The ranch fills with friends and extended family, all here to see my sister.
She’s only been gone two months—an eternity that passed in a blink.
She’s one of those people who lights up every room she enters, so the community gathers when she’s been gone too long—or maybe it’s just another excuse for a shared meal.
Pretty much nothing stops us from working our land and animals except a good potluck or barn dance.
“So,” McKenna says, standing on the porch, holding a plate of food and smiling over at Carli. “I have an announcement.”
Every eye is on her. Conversations still. This is it. She’s moving to California for good. My heart sinks into my belly. I knew it might come to this one day, but I still wasn’t prepared.
Carli’s beaming, though—as if she’s in on a secret. I don’t think her smile would be that wide and free if McKenna were announcing a permanent move out of state.
“My boyfriend, Westley … well, my fiancé … Anyway, that’s what my news is … He proposed before I left to come back to Waterford! We’re getting married!”
I stare at my baby sister while everyone around me whoops and cheers and people rush up the porch steps to look at her ring. She’s getting married.
The last Lawson is the first one to the altar. Not one of us boys even has a girlfriend, let alone a fiancée.
My smile dawns watching my sister hold her hand out for everyone and anyone to see, her face beaming with joy.
“Engaged?” I ask when I step up to her.
“Yes!” She smiles at me. “Isn’t it exciting?!”
“It is. I’m so happy for you, Mac.” I pull her into a hug, catching Carli’s eyes from over Mac’s shoulder.
“How’d he do it?” someone shouts. “Tell us how he asked you!”
The ruckus settles and McKenna, true to form, stands front and center at the top of the porch steps to tell the story of how Westley proposed.
As always, she captures the attention of everyone—people sitting in lawn chairs around the driveway, clusters of groups standing in the lawn, even guests inside the house come out to listen.
“So …” she smiles. “I should have known something was up when Westley slid into my DMs instead of texting like he usually does.” She looks around at everyone.
“He sent me a message asking me if I was free to come watch a day of filming at the studios. Again, not something he usually does, but I was so excited, I didn’t find it at all suspicious.
He even said, ‘Bring your camera. You can film content if you want while you’re here. ’”
Someone shouts, “And we know you and your content!” Everyone laughs.
McKenna’s face lights up and I feel like I’m right there with her as she relays the details of Westley’s proposal.
“So, I packed up my camera, retouched my lipstick, and headed into the studios in Burbank. I mentioned Westley’s name to the guy at the gate and he raised the thingy to let me on the lot.” She looks at Carli and asks, “What do they call that thingy anyway?”
Carli chuckles softly, “A parking gate arm, I think?”
“Yeah. That,” McKenna nods. “Anyway, when I got to his studio, a gaffer met me at the door. They waited for a break in filming and escorted me to a director’s chair right next to Westley’s.
It had my name on the back of it and everything.
I was so absorbed in the moment, I didn’t think twice about why they would have a director chair with my name on it! ” She laughs, her joy evident.
“The actors took their places, and a guy came in with one of those clipboard thingies and said the name of the scene, A Romantic Proposal, then he said, ‘All quiet on the set,’ and again, I didn’t put the pieces together, even though the clues were all there.” She shakes her head in retrospect.
I’m smiling to myself, picturing everything as she tells it.
“So the scene goes along, and at one point, the casting director walks over to me and says quietly, ‘One of the actresses isn’t feeling well, do you mind standing in just for blocking while we get the cameras set up?’”
“I was all too happy to help out, so I stepped onto the set and the cameramen adjusted their cameras and lights. Then the casting director walked over and handed me a script and said, ‘Our actress is just resting for a minute. Could you run her lines?’
“At this point, I was starting to have the tiniest inkling that something unusual was going on, but I still had no clue what it was. Westley stepped onto the set. He stood across from me and then he dropped to his knee. I figured, proposal scene. Though, I did wonder why he was standing in for an actor. Then he looked up at me, and said, ‘You’re the most unexpected gift, the love of my life, and the woman I want to spend forever with.’ I was just trying to focus on the scene, thinking Westley was playing a part, so I looked at my script when he paused, and all it said was, ‘Say yes.’
“I glanced back at Westley, down on one knee, this sweet expression on his face. And suddenly, the lights dimmed, a spotlight thunked on, shining on me and him in the darkened studio. When Westley said my name, that did it. I knew. I’ll never forget his words for the rest of my life.
He said, ‘McKenna, I love you. Will you marry me and be my leading lady for life?’
“I squealed and covered my mouth and then I said yes!”
McKenna glances around the porch and front lawn at all our guests, a broad smile on her face.
“And that’s it. Well, that and him putting the ring on my finger and all the crew celebrating our engagement with a cake they had brought in.
But then he had to leave for Iceland for six months, so we didn’t set a date yet. ”
McKenna’s friends gather around her, all hugging her and chatting.
My mom swipes a tear from her eye and softly smiles at Dad, who wraps an arm around her shoulder.
My brother, Luke, steps over and stands next to me. “Well, that’s that. Our baby sister’s getting married.” He stares at her, hands in his pockets, lips drawn into a line, his head slightly bobbing.
I nod. It’s going to take some getting used to.
“I’m happy for her,” I tell Luke.
“Yeah. Me too. It’s just crazy.”
My eyes drift toward Carli. She’s standing next to McKenna, smiling and laughing, her blonde braid shining in the sunlight. I have thoughts of her—thoughts I shouldn’t have.
“Yeah. It’s crazy.”
Guests lingered well past sunset. I grabbed a little sleep and came in for my shift at seven thirty.
We’re in the bay doing morning checks, but my mind is still only half here. Half of me is still on the ranch.
Dustin’s words snap me out of my spiraling thoughts. “Cody. Earth to Cody …”
I look around the bay and then at him. “Huh? … Okay. Yes.” I don’t know what I’m saying yes to, but over fifty percent of the time, yes is a safe answer.
Did I just space out? One hundred percent yes.
We’re just checking and rolling hoses—a job I could do in my sleep. And my mind is unhelpfully replaying the way Carli looked at me before I hightailed it away from her truck at the end of the night.
All evening I’d catch her looking at me or averting her gaze as soon as I glanced over at her.
When McKenna announced her engagement, Carli’s gaze met mine.
I don’t know what she was thinking. A flash of her in white filled my thoughts.
Then Luke walked up and I was abruptly reminded why thinking of Carli as anything but my sister’s best friend is strictly off limits.
The rest of the evening, Carli and I seemed to be in this silent dance.
She’d look, I’d glance away. I’d look, she’d smile shyly.
We’d both go to grab something and our hands would brush.
I have no clue what’s going on with her and we’re never alone long enough for me to actually approach her.
Not that I’d come right out and ask her anything. I can’t—so I won’t.
I run my hand down my jaw, looking Dustin in the eyes. His amused grin tells me this was one of the times my answer should have been, “No.”
His smile only spreads wider when he says, “Okay, yes?”
He raises a single brow. “You’re okay with posing solo out front of the station in your firefighter calendar outfit to raise funds for the upcoming pet adoptions?”
“Lack of outfit,” I mutter, referring to the shirtless poses we had to do in the name of charity. “And no.”
The bay fills with laughter from our whole crew. I’m the brunt of the jokes for now. We rotate on the skewer. The teasing rarely lands on Greyson, but the rest of us take our turns in the hot seat. It’s all in fun.
“So, you’re going back on your word?” Dustin goads me.
“What did you really say?” I ask.
“I said, let it drain,” he admits, pointing to the full hose at my feet.
“Oh, yeah. Right. I’ll do that.”
We let the water out of the hose and roll it back tightly, Dustin and I working in tandem. Then we load the hose neatly back into the bed of the engine.
“Cody? A word?” Captain says, sticking his head into the bay.
“Coming!” I say, grateful for the reprieve from the harassment of my crew.
“Have a seat,” Captain says. “And shut the door.”
Okay. This might be serious. He rarely pulls one of us unless there’s a concern. I run through the last few shifts, trying to pinpoint anything that could have gone awry.
“I’m going to come right out and say this,” Captain says.
My palms feel a little clammy. I rub them down my thighs, trying not to draw attention to the movement. Am I being reprimanded? Fired? Have I done anything out of order?
“A position opened up at the county level. Battalion chief. Sherman Hayes is retiring.”
I nod. Wait. What?