Chapter 9 More Guarded
MORE GUARDED
“You’re early,” Nelson said to West and Braylon when they knocked on his door an hour later.
“We’re going to head home soon but wanted to check in,” West said.
“Have you heard anything else?”
He’d told Rob and Stan he wanted to be aware of everything the same as Braylon, but they’d gotten nothing but crickets last night.
“No,” Braylon said. “I’ll keep on it. We set you up with an Airbnb last night. You can move in at one.”
He held the roll from his eyes. He could take care of his own lodgings and had looked himself last night, but hadn’t found much. “Thanks.”
“You want to clap back at us,” West said. “But save it. If Mom finds out about this, and she will, I don’t need my ass handed to me that I didn’t make sure you were taken care of before I left.”
“I can find my own lodgings and have been for years.”
“On my dollar,” West pointed out. “Remember that. Consider this better accommodations, but you’ll have to fend for yourself. No cleaning lady, no room service.”
“I’m good with that right now,” he said.
Asking Kenzie to stay last night had less to do with curiosity about her life and everything to do with not wanting to be alone in that hotel room.
He couldn’t admit that. Or wouldn’t.
He equated it with falling off a horse and not hesitating to get back on.
There was travel with his job, staying in hotels was part of it.
No more flirting with servers. No more being so open about his life either.
He’d walk away from this being more guarded and the feelings didn’t sit well with him.
“Don’t let it change how you operate completely,” Braylon said.
“Hard not to, but I’ll learn from it.”
“Kenzie gone?” West asked.
“She left here an hour ago.”
“She stayed last night?” Braylon asked, his eyebrows high.
“I thought that is what you meant.”
“I meant heading back home,” West said. “Are you crazy?”
He sighed and moved to the living room to sit for another lecture rolling in. “She’s my wife.”
“Temporarily.”
West’s eyes landed on the cheap silver ring lying on the table where he’d dropped it. Funny how something he’d only worn for a day felt so damn hard to take off.
“I still like her. I told her to call me later. I want to know how it goes with her parents.”
“Do you think there will be an issue?” Braylon asked.
“They are old school by the sounds of it. She said her father is going to struggle with her divorcing. He doesn’t believe in it.”
“Does he believe in his daughter marrying and hooking up with a stranger while she’s drunk?” West asked.
His jaw cracked. He swore it did. His teeth even hurt as they ground together.
“Get that look off your face,” Braylon said. “West asked an honest question. You know nothing about her.”
“I’m sure you two found out enough. Fill me in then.”
He hadn’t wanted to look into Kenzie or her family. It felt intrusive. In the past, he’d done it with anyone he was considering spending time with, but the woman he’d married, he’d held back.
There was a vulnerability flickering behind her brown eyes, one she clearly struggled to hide. But she stayed by his side when walking away would’ve been easier.
And when she found out who he was, she could have demanded money to keep quiet. To be compensated for her troubles.
Instead, she was insulted it was even brought up.
“Everything you’ve told us she’s said to you is true,” West said.
“I didn’t think she’d lie about it.”
“She’s an only child,” Braylon said, opening his phone.
Must be to read the report he compiled. “Parents are Jacob and Missy Raye. The farmland they live on has been in Jacob’s family for generations.
They are struggling to keep it going. Missy works at St. Patrick’s as a secretary and has been there for fifteen years.
Kenzie’s social media is pretty quiet. Probably set them up when she was younger, but there isn’t much movement on it from her. ”
“She’s not a party girl and doesn’t seem to me the type to brag about anything.”
“You only know what you’ve witnessed this weekend,” West said.
“I know enough.”
“What’s your plan there?” Braylon asked. “She’s in debt up to her ears. She’s got scholarships, she’s smart and graduated in the top ten of her class.”
He didn’t want to know how his brothers got the financial information. He could have figured that all out without them.
“She’s putting herself through school. I’d think you’d both appreciate that. Something you did you like to remind the rest of us.”
West snorted. “We don’t rub your faces in it, but it’s different when you have to pay for it yourself.”
“So why are you judging her? Neither of you can say you’ve never been drunk or done something you might regret or could have changed. Maybe not West.”
“We aren’t judging,” West said.
“Could have fooled me.”
“I can’t figure you out, Nelson,” West said. “You got yourself into a jam and the smart thing to do is to get out of this as fast and with the least mess as possible, but something tells me you aren’t thinking the same way.”
“I don’t know. As I said, I like her. I feel for her and what she’s going through. I can sympathize with her too. She didn’t ask for this any more than I did. But I’ve got more support to fall back on than her. Doesn’t seem fair to me.”
“And you want to be that support for her?” Braylon asked.
West was watching while he talked, then looking at Braylon again. Something hinted that these two scripted what they were going to say to him. Or try to get out of him.
It pissed him off too.
“Yes. Just ask me directly and don’t beat around the bush.”
“Do you want to end this marriage?” West asked. “Or see what can come of it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You do,” Braylon said.
“It’s going to take time to end it,” Nelson said. “She can’t just drop everything and come here for a court date. Not until she’s done with school.”
“So you’ve got a month to work on her,” West said. “Is that what you’re saying?”
He sighed. There was no hiding from his family. “What’s the big deal? I’m looking at it like any other woman I might meet and want to get to know more.”
“Only you’re married to this one.”
“That’s right. So it’s not like I’m going to go looking for anyone else. And no, she’s not in a relationship with anyone. I asked her last night.” He put his hand up. “I know you won’t ask, but I’m volunteering. We talked. That’s it. She slept in the spare room.”
“You’ll be here for the week,” Braylon said. “How are you going to do the rest when you’re back home?”
“You made it work with Abby.”
“You’re not taking my jet back and forth,” West said, laughing.
“I’ve got a month. That’s how I’m looking at it. And she might not want to anyway and then I’ll know. You’re looking too far into the future.”
“Or you’re not looking far enough,” West said.