Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
COLTON
I’ve never been to a more tense dinner in my life.
Both of my brothers sit opposite me at the dinner table, while my parents each sit at either end.
Here I was thinking it was going to be a shit show the moment my father spotted me, but no—the second he saw me he went mute and avoided eye contact with everyone.
What’s actually making this dinner so tense is the way my mother is sitting with her arms folded, a plate full of food in front of her, staring him down like she’s plotting his murder.
My brothers and I glance between the two before looking at each other with eyes full of questions.
“Wyatt,” she says, making all four of us jump. “Aren’t you going to greet your son?”
My father side-glances my way, and mutters a rough “Hi”.
I sneak a look at my mother and find her still staring him down. I glance down at my plate of steak, mashed potatoes, and fresh farm veggies longingly, knowing nobody is eating in peace tonight.
My mother picks up her fork and knife and begins cutting into her steak, eyes never once leaving my father.
“He for whatever reason felt like he wouldn’t be welcome to come back home and have dinner with his family,” she says, a bitterness to her tone.
He definitely did not tell her the real reason I was gone, and now I feel even worse for staying away for so long when it’s clear I would’ve been welcomed back without a problem—at least by everyone but my father.
”What’s momma talkin’ about dad?” Cade asks, a frown forming between his brows.
“Yeah,” my other brother, Cooper, chimes in as he looks at me. “Why didn’t you feel welcome?”
I open my mouth to answer, but my fathers voice makes me freeze.
“Quiet,” he growls at me, pinning me with a glare.
Goosebumps run up my arm, and the memories of how angry he was with me when I chose surfing resurface. He spoke to me in the very same angry tone and told me to never come back.
My mother laughs, but it’s completely humourless, and I don’t know who’s scaring me more right now between the two of them.
“Imagine my surprise when I heard his own father disowned him for wanting to pursue surfing instead of working the ranch business.”
The room goes silent, the only sound coming from the steady tick of the vintage clock that hangs on the wall behind me. Both Cade and Cooper stare at my father in shock, their lips parted, while he just pins the table with his most menacing glare.
”You told us he was embarrassed of us,” Cooper murmurs. “You said he didn’t want anyone from his surf world to know he came from a family of ranchers.”
“What?” I breathe, my head snapping in my fathers direction. “Everyone knows I come from a family of ranchers. I’m not embarrassed by it.”
”Is that why you never called or visited?” Cade asks, looking at me now. “Because he disowned you?”
I nod. “He told me I wasn’t welcome back, and when none of you tried to contact me after I left I thought you guys felt the same way he did.”
My mothers sniffling interrupts us and we all look over, including my father, to see her completely red and blotchy as she dabs at the corners of her eyes.
“I don’t know what I did wrong to end up with a husband like you, Wyatt Harrison,” she says angrily, her voice shaking.
“To go to such extreme lengths and lie to us all, costing me years of time with my own baby boy, all because you couldn’t stand the thought of one of your boys not working on the ranch. ”
“Lainey—“
”No,” her firm voice cuts him off. “I don’t want to hear any of your excuses, Wyatt.”
She stands up, grabs her untouched plate, and walks it over to the kitchen before tossing it onto the counter.
“You best figure out how to fix what you broke because until then I’m not cookin’, cleanin’, or even talkin’ to you.”
She stomps out of the kitchen and up the stairs, and my father quickly abandons his half-eaten plate to rush after her, leaving me and my brothers sitting at the table alone.
Cade lets out a deep sigh before he stands, picking up our fathers plate and clearing it out before putting it in the sink. Then he walks over to our moms plate, wraps it in Saran Wrap, and places it in the fridge before grabbing three beer bottles and handing one to each of us.
“I think tonight calls for a drink or two,” he says before biting the cap off and taking a long sip.
Cooper and I do the same, before going back to eating our dinner. Ignoring the distant sound of our parents yelling at each other upstairs.
“I always thought it was weird that you’d be embarrassed coming from a family of ranchers,” Cooper says around a mouthful of food. “Like, why would any surfer care about what your family does?”
I scoff, because I vividly remember when the guys on The Rip Raiders found out I was the son of a rancher, they all started making farmer jokes about me.
But my friends in Saltwater Springs never cared, if anything Griffin and Koa thought it was cool and always asked if they could come out here with me and visit one day.
I’d never worked up the nerve to tell them I’d been disowned though.
The only person I ever told about that was Kairi.
“I was never the type to care what anyone thought of me,” I mutter, taking another sip of beer.
Cade smirks. “Ain’t that the truth.”
I roll my eyes. “Anyway, have either of you heard from Callie recently?”
“It’s been a couple months,” Cade grunts. “She just started her first world tour.”
“But she promised to come visit us as soon as she’s back,” Cooper adds before scarfing down the rest of his food.
“Did dad tell her the same story about why I left?”
Cade nods. “He lied to all of us.”
I sigh, disappointed in my father, and in myself for letting this reunion drag on for so long. I should’ve known my family wouldn’t have cut me off for choosing surfing. I should have known my father would spin the story to make me look like the bad guy.
“How long are you staying?” Cooper asks.
I shrug. “I was thinking a week if dad can handle it.”
“He has no choice now,” Cooper laughs. “Momma will kill him if he sends you packing again.”
He’s probably right.
“In that case, I’m heading to bed,” he says, standing from his chair and stretching. “Today was a busy day and there’s no way I’ll be up for much longer to enjoy this brotherly bondin’.”
“That’s alright,” I laugh. “I’m pretty tired too.”
“You’re staying in your room tonight, right?” Cade asks, a wary look on his face as if he’s scared I’ll run off again.
I nod. “You couldn’t pay me enough to go back to that shitty motel just off the highway.”
“Gross,” Cooper says, making a face. “I hear they have roaches.”
“I can confirm that is true.”
“I’ll grab your bag from the car,” Cade says, already heading for the door. “Coop, you load up the dishwasher before you get in trouble with Ma in the morning.”
Cooper groans but does what he’s told, quickly loading the dishwasher and tossing a pod in there before hitting the start button. Cade returns with my bag, handing it over to me.
“Think you’ll be up for an early morning ride?” Cooper asks.
“Can’t,” Cade says. “Got a busy day tomorrow.”
Cooper rolls his eyes, glancing at Cade. “I was asking Colton, Smartpants,” he says. “Not you.”
“Whatever,” Cade mutters, drying off his hands. “I’m going to bed.”
He pats me on the shoulder as he passes and makes his way up to his room.
“So, what’d you say?” Cooper asks.
“Sure,” I say. “Just knock on my door when you’re ready to go.”
“Will do.” One side of Cooper’s mouth lifts into a mischievous smile. “Get some rest, brother.”
He grabs my bag and carries it up the stairs as I follow behind him, and drops it down in front of my room door.
“Good night,” I call out as he walks toward his own room.
“Night,” he says back, waving his hand over his shoulder before walking through his bedroom doors.
I walk through my bedroom doors, stopping at the doorway as I look around. Earlier when I had come in for a change of clothes, I didn’t take a moment to look around the room—my nerves getting the best of me.
But as I look around now, so many memories are on display. My tie-down roping trophies from when I was a kid, to my surfing trophies as a teen are scattered along almost every surface, along with pictures of The Saltwater Shredders from our Youth Team days.
My prom photo is pinned to the wall, a harsh reminder that I went alone, along with several pictures of me and my high school friends before I transferred to a school in Saltwater Springs.
I walk over to my twin-sized bed and remove my phone from my pocket before taking a seat. The squeak of the old mattress catches me off guard, and I sit still for a moment trying to remember if it always did that.
I’ll definitely need to buy a new bed for this room if I plan to visit more often now, I think to myself before returning my attention to the phone.
Zero missed calls.
Zero unread texts.
I haven’t heard from Kairi since leaving her at that restaurant with Zale, and it’s starting to make me nervous. I want to call or text her and tell her all about my first day back at home and what I learned. But I refuse to be the first to reach out.
I told Kairi I want her to think long and hard about her feelings for me, and whether or not I’m who she wants to be with. So I’m not about to crash that inner-reflection time with my own family gossip. That can wait for when I get back.
But I’d be lying if I said I’m not nervous that she won’t pick me in the end. I keep asking myself if leaving her with Zale was a good idea, but I have faith that after the things he said to her she’ll realize that he isn’t the person for her.
I have faith she’ll realize that I’m the person she’s meant to be with, and I’ll let that blind faith carry me through the rest of this week until I get to see her again.
And hopefully by then, she’ll be ready to admit how she really feels about me.