Chapter 27 Terry Falls into a Trap
Hallie had been receiving some frantic texts from her mama, and even though she replied to say everything was fine, Vivian still came out to meet them as soon as the truck pulled up to the family home.
“There you are! Are you all right, my baby?”
“I’m fine, mama.”
Her mother held her in a super tight hug.
“I am feeling kind of tired,” Hallie added, after being nearly suffocated, “Let’s go inside.”
Terry was helping set the table in the dining room, but she only had a spiteful glance for her sister.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” Sam said, emerging from the kitchen. “Heard you were in a bit of a scuffle. You two look fine, though. No broken bones? That’s my girl!”
“See, I told you news travels fast around here,” Hallie said to Luke.
“I was so worried when I heard about it from Travis’s mom,” Vivian said. “She was very apologetic. She says he probably started the fight. He’s always been a rowdy one.”
“He’s more than rowdy,” Luke remarked, “I’d say he’s a first-class jerk.”
“He didn’t do well in the bull riding event,” Vivian remarked, “I heard he only lasted a couple of seconds, so I guess he got punished for starting a fight when he should have been focusing on his performance.”
“Yeah, I’m not surprised,” Hallie said. “You should have seen Luke using his martial arts skills to teach him a lesson!”
“I’m glad you were there, Luke,” Sam said, “It’s so nice that Hallie has a boyfriend to protect her.”
“Uh, actually...” Terry remarked, lounging at the table in a relaxed pose, “Luke was the one who caused the fight in the first place by hitting on Travis’s girlfriend.”
Hallie wanted to punch her sister, but it wouldn’t help her case, so she simply gave her a death stare while standing stiffly in front of the dining room table. Luke put his hand on her shoulder, and she found it easier to relax.
“I don’t believe that,” her mama said. “It must have been a misunderstanding.”
“That’s right,” Luke said, “Travis is a very jealous guy. I saw him nearly start a fight at the dance last week because he thought someone was flirting with his girlfriend.”
“Wait a minute,” Vivian paused after putting down a dish of mashed potatoes. “Terry, you were there?”
“No, I wasn’t,” Terry said, swallowing hard.
Hallie was laughing on the inside, knowing that her sister had trapped herself by revealing that she was at the scene of the fight.
“Yes, you were,” Hallie said. “I was talking to you just before it happened.”
“You didn’t try to stop her from fighting?” their mama said. Apparently, she knew Terry all too well.
“Terry, you didn’t help your sister?” their father asked, his face clouding over in anger.
“The fight happened so quickly, and then they ran off!” Terry said. “What was I supposed to do?”
Vivian shook her head sadly. “I don’t know what’s the matter with you two, but I need this animosity to be over.
As I’ve told you, your father and I are going to retire soon, and we wanted to leave the ranch to one or both of you, but with the way you’ve been acting lately, to be honest, I’m not sure that either of you is capable of taking over the responsibility of running this place. ”
Terry gasped in horror. “What do you mean, mama?”
“If the two of you can’t get along as sisters, I’m not sure you’re mature enough to run a big ranch like this. We’ll have to give it to someone else who can handle it.”
Terry jumped up from her seat and hurried over to Hallie. Placing her hand on her heart, she said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you today. Let’s declare peace from now on?” She opened her arms to invite a hug.
Stunned and speechless, Hallie hesitated then decided it was best to follow along.
“Or at least, a truce,” Terry whispered into her ear as she released the embrace.
“Okay,” Hallie said. “I guess it means you’ll stop saying I look like a fat Charlize Theron?”
“I never said that!” Terry declared in righteous indignation.
Hallie gasped at her audacity at denying it when Luke’s voice poured soothingly into her ear, “In my opinion, you’re much more beautiful than Charlize Theron.”
“Of course you’d say things like that. You’re her boyfriend,” Terry blurted out.
Hallie couldn’t decide what she was enjoying more, the compliment from Luke or the fact that Terry couldn’t stop herself from being mean.
“Terry!” their mother rebuked.
“Sorry. You’re like an even more beautiful Amanda Seyfried,” Terry said with a saccharine smile.
“Too much, Terry,” Hallie said. “Too much.”