Chapter 21 #2
What was he missing here? Whatever it was, he was pretty sure he was about to find out.
Calvin pulled up in front of a beautiful farmhouse, in the early stages of renovations.
It looked new on the outside, white wooden siding, a new black roof and black window frames with planter boxes of fresh flowers under every window.
But the porch had seen better days, and the landscaping needed some work.
It looked like a proper home, though. One that was full of character and, more importantly, full of love.
‘Wes!’ Savannah yelled out as soon as she hopped out of the truck. ‘Your favourite family member has returned, come say hi!’
Then the front door opened, and everything made sense. Weston wheeled himself onto the porch, beaming with pride, and held his arms out. Savannah ran into them for a hug, and he planted a kiss on her head of curls, looking over her shoulder to grin at Marco. ‘Welcome home, Sav. Missed your face.’
‘Missed yours, too.’ She pulled back and whizzed around to face Marco, who was still standing there a little dumbfounded. He was trying so hard not to stare that he was coming across as more awkward than ever. But nobody else seemed to notice his moment of shyness except him. ‘Monaco, meet Weston.’
‘How’s it going, man?’ Weston offered a wave, snapping Marco out of it. He headed over and shook his hand, noticing he was the spitting image of Bonnie.
‘Good! Nice to meet you, Wes.’
‘Calling me by my nickname already? I like it.’
‘Savannah does it all the time when she talks about you, so it kind of stuck,’ Marco shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets.
‘Savannah?’ Weston smirked.
‘Don’t start,’ Savannah pointed a finger at him.
‘Nobody gets away with calling her that, not even us.’ Bonnie appeared at his side having left Calvin to get all the luggage out of the truck on his own.
‘Mars kind of decided on it when we were having a disagreement and there’s been no going back since. I think he’s called me Savi a grand total of three times since we met.’
‘What kind of disagreement would lead to you letting someone call you by your government name? You wouldn’t even let them read it out at your high school graduation,’ Bonnie frowned.
‘It involved an Oscar-worthy speech, a garage full of people and some god-awful advice from your daughter,’ Marco said. ‘And that’s all you need to know until I’m six beers deep and telling you my deepest, darkest secrets.’
‘Oh, cool. We’ll get the beers flowing and the campfire burning tonight, then,’ Weston laughed. ‘You can tell us how much of a handful Sav is when she’s got nobody to rein her in.’
‘You think he doesn’t try to take on that role himself?’ Savannah raised an eyebrow. ‘Marco can give as good as he gets, you know.’
‘Thank god you’ve got someone else to wind up,’ Calvin joined them, bags in tow.
Marco reached for them, hauling them up the steps. He noticed a ramp on the left side of the porch, which must be how Weston moved around. ‘Sorry, Calvin. Let me help.’
‘Get your hands off, De Luca,’ Calvin tutted. ‘You’re a guest.’
‘But Savannah said…’ Marco trailed off, watching his teammate try to hide her amusement.
‘Let me guess, she told you everyone chips in around here, huh?’
‘Yes.’ Marco nodded.
‘She’s full of shit. We have paid ranch hands for a reason; guests are treated like VIPs at our home. That means you’re fed and watered and your days are yours to do with what you wish.’
‘Oh, okay, thank you but only if you’re sure,’ he frowned.
‘He said he wanted to be a cowboy, Dad.’
‘That doesn’t mean he has to shovel horse crap, Sav,’ Calvin laughed and clapped Marco on the shoulder, rather aggressively. Their builds could not be more different, Calvin’s broad frame dwarfing Marco. ‘Give the guy a break!’
‘Yeah, Cowgirl, let me relax. Being chased around a racetrack by your determined little self is tiring, you know. Plus, I have to keep you in check off-track, too. Being a fake boyfriend is serious business, it’s not for the faint of heart.’
‘We both know the only one who’s doing the chasing is you,’ Savannah shot back, looking mighty proud of herself as she walked through the front door. ‘Welcome to our humble abode.’
‘We’ve sorted the guest bedroom out for you.
’ Bonnie rushed to reorganise the flowers on the coffee table.
He knew there must be clutter hiding somewhere in this house, because Savannah had told him in order to set up her racing sim they would need to do a big clear out.
But the open-plan living area which included a large kitchen and dining space looked pristine, which suggested they’d gone to an extra effort for his arrival.
‘Which one is he in, Ma?’ Savannah took hold of his case and started dragging it towards a long hallway.
This house seemed go on forever, but it was simple and homely, and he loved it.
No sign of marble floors, no sense that if you were to touch something it would shatter.
He wished he’d grown up in a place like this; scenery included.
‘The mountain room.’ Bonnie left them to it, tossing Weston an orange from the fruit bowl while Calvin continued bringing the rest of the bags in and leaving them by the entrance to the hallway, allowing them some privacy.
Marco trailed after Savannah who seemed to be very keen to get him into his room, and when she opened the door he understood why.
There was a huge mural on the back wall of some mountains, all dark and moody, accented with gold.
It was stunning. The rest of the walls were black, and the furniture was all dark wood with a huge beige rug covering the wooden flooring.
Although the décor was beautiful, it was the view from the window that was the real focal point.
A perfect view of the mountains the house was surrounded by. ‘Savannah…’
‘This room is my pride and joy. I wanted a project to distract me from the stress of contract signings, so they let me loose in here. I didn’t even have to beg them to let me spend my own money, this was mine to play with. Gave me a focus.’
‘You’ve done a stellar job. This is magnificent. Did you paint the mural yourself?’
‘No, a friend of Weston’s helped out. She’s an artist. She wants to design a helmet for me.’
‘You should let her. You have good taste.’
‘You would think they’d see my vision for the rest of the house and accept my help,’ she sighed.
‘But their pride gets in the way. In here, they can shut the door on it and go about their lives like their daughter isn’t constantly battling to take care of them and give them what they couldn’t give her. ’
‘Just do it without permission,’ Marco shrugged.
‘I have sent so many construction workers to the house when I’m not here, because they would shut me down in a heartbeat, but they won’t send a stranger away.
I got Weston’s bathroom refurbished and turned into a wet room two years ago, last year I had a lift fitted to the basement so he could go down to his man cave and play on his games console with his friends like the old days, before his accident.
’ She looked like she was going to cry. ‘I don’t think they can grasp how much money is sitting in my bank account. ’
‘Hey,’ Marco wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close, ‘it’s a parent thing.
Mine do the same thing even though my bank statements almost match theirs these days.
We’ll start clearing out the stables first thing in the morning, we won’t tell them.
Just pretend we woke up with this big idea, and then we’ll go out and buy everything we need and bring it back here.
They’re not going to argue with you while I’m here, right? ’
‘I don’t want to hurt their feelings,’ she sniffed.
‘Or maybe I just need to put my foot down. Force them to let me help them. I could give them so much if they let me, the house of their dreams. One that isn’t falling apart.
But it’s Weston, too. He hates when I do things that benefit him, like when I pay off one of his many medical bills or get him new equipment that improves his quality of life. ’
‘They’ve worked hard their whole lives and it’s hard to accept that they don’t need to exhaust themselves just to get by anymore.
They’re traditional and they have strong morals, that much is clear.
Your dad should be getting ready to retire, but he doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who will ever stop and take a well-deserved break. ’
‘He won’t,’ Savi laughed softly. ‘Weston would be out there with him if he could be.’
Marco ran his hands up and down her back in an attempt to comfort her.
He didn’t usually use that amount of physical touch to calm her down, but as they grew closer and therefore more comfortable with one another, he wasn’t so afraid to test the waters.
‘I’m really looking forward to getting to know your brother. ’
Savannah pulled back from his embrace, glancing up at him.
‘Thank you for not freaking out when you met him. I know I probably should’ve told you about him being in a wheelchair, but I don’t like to talk about it.
There’s quite a story behind it, but I’ll let him tell you.
I have a feeling he’ll open up to you about things that he usually keeps hidden from the rest of the world. ’
‘I hope so.’ Marco turned and faced the room again, hands on his hips. ‘Unpacking can wait, I want a tour of this place. Cows and all.’
‘It’s still early, don’t you want to go and get your cowboy boots and a hat?’
‘How is that even a question? Get moving!’ He darted out of the room ahead of her, nearly careening into Weston on his way. ‘Sorry, man!’
Weston brought his chair to a halt. ‘No worries. Where are you rushing off to? Decided the ranch life isn’t for you already?’
‘Quite the opposite. Savannah is taking me to get some cowboy gear.’
‘He’s been going on about it since we met.’ Savannah rolled her eyes.
‘Cool, can I come?’
‘ Really? ’ Savannah’s eyes looked like they were about to fall out of her head as she stared at her brother in shock. ‘But you don’t–’
‘We’ll take my car. Hasn’t been used in ages so it could do with being driven for an hour or two. Give it some oomph down the quieter roads, too. Get it going again.’
‘Wes, are you sure about this?’ Savannah seemed concerned and Marco stood there like a spare part, watching them have a conversation without words. ‘You haven’t been out and about in a while, and everyone will have missed you. You might get hounded by the locals.’
‘I’m in a weird mood which appears to be diminishing any fucks I had left to give, so yeah Sav, I’m sure.
You need cheering up, and that’s my job.
Plus, if you’re worried about people papping us all, we both know they’ll keep our secrets safe.
They always have. So, let’s go show Mr Monaco how we do things in Wyoming. ’