Chapter 22 Emotionally Involved
EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED
“Iheard you had a lot of eyes on you today,” Clay said hours later.
Reenie was in the kitchen helping his mother with dinner. As much as his mother said she had it, Reenie insisted, then shoved him out the door to walk the property with Clay and his father, checking on the growth of new trees planted behind the houses.
“Who told you?” he asked.
His father was smirking.
“I went into town for a few things,” Clay said. “Four times, people stopped me, and twice they asked about the woman you were with.”
“What did you say?” he asked.
“I didn’t answer. They should know better than to ask me that.”
His brother wouldn’t think twice about ignoring a personal question about their family or telling someone point blank it wasn’t anyone’s business.
“Your brother doesn’t know how to answer,” his father said. “But we know you spent the night with Reenie.”
He sighed. Ford expected this to be the reason his mother kicked him out of the house. He hoped Reenie wasn’t getting asked too many questions.
“Do you have a problem with that?” he asked, looking at his brother, then his father.
“I don’t care who you sleep with,” Clay said. “You can watch your back.”
He snarled, and his father moved between the two of them. “Don’t start fighting. Clay meant nothing by it.”
“Yes, he did.”
“I did,” Clay said. “I don’t think she’s going to drug you in your sleep.”
Ford took another step forward and grabbed his brother by the shirtfront. Clay laughed, his father breaking them apart.
“Don’t be an asshole,” he said, shoving Clay. His brother didn’t move. Didn’t even get off balance.
“I could have you on the ground and unconscious in five seconds,” Clay said, smirking.
He knew that but trusted his brother wouldn’t.
“What did you mean by your comment then?”
“You’re emotionally involved. Just like you were twenty years ago. We all saw what happened when she was gone. It’s going to be worse now and you know it.”
“It was going to be worse whether or not I slept with her,” he said.
His father looked at his brother and nodded. They’d been talking about him and, as much as he hated it, he expected it to happen.
“Clay will shut up now,” his father said. “You know what you’re doing and if you need our help you’ll continue to get it. Just like we know the reason you brought her out there today.”
“If Clay knew that, he’d be telling everyone so they’d know too.”
“No,” Clay said. “I’m not doing that for you. It’d look off and you know it. People expect me to tell them to fuck off.”
Ford laughed. “True.”
“The trees are coming along,” his father said. “You’ll be harvesting some good crops this fall.”
“Mom will be happy,” Clay said. “She likes baking with our apples and not what is shipped here on the off season.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing not having people come here to pick,” his father said. “It’d bring more to the barn and the bakery.”
“Is Mom worried the business is going to lose sales with us not opening the orchards up again?” Ford asked.
“She’s always worried,” Clay said. “But we’ll figure it out. It might do her well to not work as much. Last year she was caring for Dad and being slower worked out. This year we’ve got weddings planned along with events. Some of those events want us to provide food.”
“So you’re making Mom work more?” Ford asked.
“I’m not making her do anything,” Clay said. “We can hire help. Reenie is there. Mom can have her working other hours. It’s months away and we’ll figure it out. There are more important things to focus on.”
Which just told him that his brother thought Reenie would still be here too.
That made him feel better.
“Let’s head back,” his father said. “I’m sure some of your siblings are here. Gale was coming early to help too.”
“Does Gale know where I stayed last night?”
“Everyone knows,” Clay said. “You don’t think there are any secrets in this family, do you?”
Not when he needed their help, he didn’t.
They walked past Reenie’s cabin, her car parked in the back. They were far enough away that the trees were on top of her, but she was set back further than the ranch and farmhouse.
“Are you putting a fence around the trees back here?”
“At some point,” Clay said. “It’s not needed now with it so close to the house. The front is fenced in.”
Which didn’t mean people couldn’t access the grounds from adjoining properties miles away.
He didn’t think anyone would. Locals wouldn’t at least, but tourists might go hiking and riding ATVs and ignore the postings of private property and stumble across the crop.
He was sure his brother would be on top of it.
“Before I forget, Reenie doesn’t want to talk about her situation today. Can we just have other conversations?”
He pulled his phone out. He’d forgotten to text Ash and Blaze. Gale would know because his mother would have told her.
“We’ve got a lot of other things to talk about,” Clay said.
“Like what?” he asked.
“Let’s wait until we get to the house and everyone is here,” his father said.
Clay was frowning at his father and Ford didn’t like that he might be blindsided.
He didn’t have long to wait though because the minute all of his siblings were there and they were in the living room, his father walked in.
“What’s going on, Dad?” Gale asked. “Mom said I had to leave the kitchen.”
Reenie and his mother were in there getting dinner ready, so whatever was going on, they were excluding his girlfriend.
That’s what she was to him.
“I want to talk about the business, the land, the property, and how it’s divided up.”
“Why would you do that?” Ash asked. “There isn’t anything wrong, is there? I thought you were working more.”
“He is,” Clay said. “But he’s being stubborn about this. I want it known, this isn’t my idea.”
There was tension between his father and oldest brother. Like there was when Clay was hardheaded as a teen.
“What’s going on?”
“I want Gale to put the mill in Clay’s name only. He put the money into the building, he’s running it. It’s his. We wouldn’t have it without him.”
“I don’t have a problem with it,” Ford said.
“Neither do I,” Blaze said. “I spend the least amount of time here.”
Blaze came back to the area because he loved it, but he worked way too much at the hospital to put time in on the farm if he had a day off.
“I’m good with it,” Ash said.
“I’ve never wanted to do much here,” Gale said.
“Looks like you’re outnumbered, Clay,” his father said.
“You’re not getting any revenue from the apples. It’s not right,” Clay argued.
“Dad, you know roughly what you made a year, right?” Ford asked
“Of course.”
“So either charge Clay rent, so that you get a steady income monthly that equals what those months of revenue were, or factor in a percentage of sales from the hard cider. Whatever works or is the easiest,” he said.
“I was going to suggest rent,” Gale said. “That’s only fair and it’s a business write off.”
“I wanted to pay rent and Dad wouldn’t let me,” Clay argued.
“Dad,” Blaze said. “Give some too.”
“Clay pays me a salary. He doesn’t need to do that. This is my land.”
“Enough,” Ford said, putting his hands up.
“Does anyone have any problems with what Dad is proposing?” There were only head shakes.
“Good. We are all in agreement. Clay and Dad, along with Gale can work out the details. No one is taking advantage of anyone. It will be fair in the end. At least I know that.”
“Me too,” Ash said.
“The same,” Blaze said.
“There, it’s done. Is there anything else we have to talk about?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Gale said. She’d lowered her voice. “I can’t believe you’re dating Reenie again?”
If his sister wasn’t grinning and looking so thrilled, he’d throw one of their mother’s pillows at her.
“You didn’t bug her about it earlier, did you?” he asked.
“Noooooo,” Gale said. “Cut me some slack.”
His sister’s head turned toward the kitchen. “She’s watching to make sure Mom doesn’t come out and rap her knuckles with the wooden spoon for talking about this now,” Ash said.
“Jerk,” Gale said. She didn’t hesitate to chuck a pillow at their brother.
“Enough,” his father said. “We don’t need Reenie to think your mother and I raised a bunch of animals that aren’t on four legs and your mother doesn’t need to pick up this mess when you’re all done wrestling.”
Ford stood up. “You guys are on your own. I’m going to help Mom.”
“And your girlfriend,” Blaze threw out there.
Even Clay laughed over that. A rare sound from the oldest of the family.
Walking to the kitchen, Ford saw his mother smirking and Reenie’s face red.
She turned to look at him. “Am I your girlfriend?”
“You are,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. His mother cleared her throat. “What? We aren’t twelve anymore.”