Chapter Seventeen – Colt
Colt
A few days had passed since Ensley and I had cleaned out Grady’s room.
The box of his things had been stored in the attic, along with his journal and the medical papers.
My mother had gone into Grady’s room and decided all the furniture should be donated to the orphanage in town, which gladly accepted everything.
A new bed, side table and dresser, as well as a desk, had been ordered for the room.
I could already see a certain lightness to my mother. In all of us, really. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. We’d gotten the answers we’d needed for ten years, though there was also the pain of knowing Grady hadn’t even given us a chance to help him deal with his diagnosis.
“What do you have planned for your second first date?”
I glanced up and saw Gatlin leaning against the doorjamb of my office in the barn, black cowboy hat shadowing his eyes as he smiled at me.
Standing, I held out my hand. “Gatlin, good to see you.”
He pushed off the jamb and reached for my hand. “Good to see you, too.”
“Honestly, it’s been a crazy few days; I haven’t had time to plan anything.”
He raised his brows.
“Are you here to help me?”
Gatlin just laughed.
I sat on the edge of my desk. “Let me guess. Ensley sent you.”
He pointed to his nose. “I’ve been sent on a very important mission to ask why in the hell you haven’t planned anything yet.”
It was my turn to laugh. “I sure have missed your sister.”
“You say that now.”
I let out a long breath. “I heard all about Caden’s first date with Lilibeth, and I’m not gonna lie, I’m not sure I can top that.”
Gatlin sat in the chair in front of my desk and removed his hat. Then proceeded to stare at me for at least two minutes.
“You staring at me isn’t going to make me come up with an idea any faster, Gatlin.”
He cleared his throat. “Okay, let’s think about this for a bit.”
“I have been thinking. I’ve been racking my brain to try to remember if she ever mentioned wanting to go somewhere specific.”
“We didn’t go on many vacations growing up because Dad was always working at the store or needed on the farm. We went on a few, but nothing that had Ensley declaring she loved it so much she wanted to go back.”
I folded my arms over my chest, my brow furrowing in thought.
“I’m not good at this kind of stuff either,” Gatlin huffed.
Giving him a look, I replied, “Yet your sister sent you on the mission.”
“A reconnaissance mission, nothing more.”
I shook my head and laughed again.
“Okay, so you can’t do a dinner-and-movie thing because Caden did that.”
Nodding, I said, “What about a picnic under the stars?”
He snarled his lip slightly as he bounced his head from side to side. “That’s okay, but I think you need to go bigger.”
“Hot air balloon to watch the sunrise?”
His head rearing back, he asked, “Have you forgotten she’s afraid of heights?”
“Fuck, I did forget.”
“Let’s see…she loves horses, the stars, mountains, lakes, anything outside.”
“You’re basically describing River Falls Ranch.”
Gatlin grinned. “I guess I am.”
Then an idea hit me. “Banff. It reminds me a lot of River Falls. One of the reasons I went was because Grady wanted to go, and the only reason he wanted to visit was because Ensley mentioned it years ago. What if I plan a trip up to Banff? Picnic under the stars, a beautiful hotel suite overlooking the mountains? A sleigh ride on the shores of Lake Louise.”
“Now that would be a first date,” Gatlin said with a wide smile. “What about your clients? And Ensley’s?”
“I think we can manage to slip away for a long weekend. I might even be able to plan it for this weekend, if I can contact everyone without her knowing.”
Gatlin’s brows rose. “If you can pull that off for this weekend, I’ll drop before you and declare you the king of first dates.”
Laughing, I stood and walked around to my chair. “If I’m going to pull this off, I need to make some phone calls.”
Standing, he slipped his black cowboy hat back onto his head and grinned. “And I’ll report back to my sister that you have, in fact, not started any planning to throw her off. If you need help calling her clients, let me know.”
I smiled. “Thanks, Gatlin.”
He tipped his cowboy hat as he said, “There’s a reason I’m her favorite brother.”
“I thought Caden was,” I quipped, and Gatlin snarled his upper lip.
“That’s a common misconception. I’m definitely the favorite.”
I held up my hands and replied, “I won’t argue with you.”
Gatlin nodded. “I always knew you were my favorite.”
Confused, I asked, “Your favorite?”
“Of all the guys my sisters have dated. I always liked you the best. Well,” he said with a shrug. “Except for that time you broke my sister’s heart in two. I didn’t like you very much then.”
I laughed, and when he raised a brow, I quickly cleared my throat and got serious. “To be fair, I didn’t like me very much then, either.”
Satisfied with my response, he gave a nod. “I’ll leave you to your planning. I do want to point out, though, this Thursday’s Thanksgiving.”
I closed my eyes and cursed. “Shit. I forgot all about that.”
Gatlin smiled. “That’s what I’m here for—to point out all the things.”
Shooting him a dirty look, I asked, “I’m guessing it’s important to be there for Thanksgiving?”
“Considering my parents invited your parents and you to attend, I’d say yes, it’s important to be there. You are trying to win points with the entire family, right? You know…the whole breaking my sister’s heart and all.”
Leaning back in the chair, I exhaled. “I’m never going to be able to get you to stop with that, am I?”
He shook his head. “Afraid not.”
I thought for a few moments and said, “I can make this work.”
Heading out of my office, Gatlin turned back and said, “If you actually make this work, I’ll drop the broke-her-heart reminders.”
Calling after him, I said, “It’s a deal!”
By the time Thursday came around, I had everything planned. We were flying out Friday morning and would be coming back to River Falls on Tuesday. I had three full days planned in Banff. Nearly four amazing days.
But right now, I needed to make it through Thanksgiving with my parents and the Wilde family. Once we arrived at Ladd and Vivanne’s, Ensley pulled me aside in the foyer. “I have to warn you about something.”
I pulled her close and kissed her. She melted into me for a few moments before breaking the kiss and gazing up at me. “What was that for?” she asked, with a lust-induced smile.
“I missed you, that’s all.”
“I just saw you yesterday.”
“I still missed you.”
She patted my chest. “That’s sweet. Now, back to my warning.”
Wrapping my arm around her waist, I said, “I’m all ears.”
“My mother and father have this new thing. Games.”
Confused, I asked, “Games?”
“Yes, like stupid, really silly games. I thought we’d talked them out of it for today, but after my grandfather and grandmother showed up with games of their own, it was back on.”
I nodded. “So, what kind of games are we playing?”
“Not the kind you want to play! So here’s the plan. Listen carefully.”
Once again, I nodded.
“If you see either of my parents or grandparents trying to get everyone’s attention, we need to slip out of the house—fast.”
“Just leave? Without even saying goodbye?”
She grabbed my shirt and shook me. “Colt, listen to me! I’m not talking Monopoly, I’m talking about group-activity type games! Like, how many little turkeys can you pick up with your mouth and put in the bucket with your hands tied behind your back! There’s even turkey bowling planned!”
My brows shot up in question, and before I could ask, she replied, “I have no idea what it is, I just heard Mom mention it. Last night, she made us practice football flick because it’s going to be my family against yours, even though you’re totally outnumbered—which, by the way, I did try to point out. ”
“Football flick?”
“You have to take a little plastic football and try to flick as many as you can into a cup.”
I smiled. “That actually sounds kind of fun.”
She shot me a warning look before she said, “It isn’t. Then, this morning, Mom informed me we’d be adding,” she closed her eyes, drew in a slow breath, and let it out in a rush, “the yam roll.”
“Yam roll…” I slowly repeated.
She waved me off but still answered. “You have to roll a raw yam across the floor with your nose.”
My mouth fell open.
“That’s not the worst of it. My grandfather brought one of those cornucopia things and brought corn on the cob, still in the husks, and said we can play hike the corn into the cornucopia—blindfolded!”
I shrugged. “If I’m being honest, that sounds kind of fun, too.”
She chuckled. “I guess it does.”
“A little bit of fun competition is good for the soul.”
Tilting her head, she asked, “Do you really want to get on your hands and knees and attempt to roll a yam across the floor with your nose? I promise you, Emeline’s chocolate lab, Moose, will most certainly try to hump you.”
My attempt to keep my laughter in failed.
“You think it’s funny now, but don’t say I didn’t try to warn you. Moose is nearly ninety pounds.” She turned on her heel and started away from me.
I followed her with a smile on my face.
Damn, it was good to be home.
“Colt,” Vivianne called out as she crossed the living room. She pulled me in for a hug, kissed my cheek, then said, “Go help the boys set the table, will you?”
It felt like old times as I made my way to the kitchen and clapped my hands. “I’ve been directed to help set the table.”
Caden glanced over and said, “Just like old times,” reading my mind.
Gatlin handed me the plates. “Here you go.” I started to turn, when he said, “Wait, there’s more.”
Caden walked over and put bowls on top of the plates.
“Don’t leave,” Gatlin warned, grabbing napkins and placing them in the top bowl. “Hold on.”
“If you put anything else on here, it’s all gonna fall. And what point are you both trying to make, anyway?”
“Just making up for all the missing years,” Caden said with a wink.
“Ahh, okay. We’ve got jokes. You know, I never did think either of you were very funny.”
“Is that why we never hung out in school?” Caden asked, looking thoughtful as he folded his arms over his chest.
I smirked. “If that’s what you want to tell yourself, sure.”
Gatlin snickered. “I thought it was because you didn’t like each other.”
Caden and I both frowned at him. “That’s not true,” we said at the same time.
“Then why?” Gatlin asked, shrugging.
Caden and I exchanged a look.
With a shrug, he said, “I mean, we talked, but you hung out with the jocks more.”
“You played football.”
“I did, but I was also dating someone who was high maintenance and demanded all of my attention,” Caden stated.
“We were good friends in elementary school.”
Caden’s eyes widened. “Holy shit. That’s right. We were! I forgot that we used to hang out together.”
“Do you remember the time we took the ranch truck and went for a joyride?”
Laughing, Caden nodded. “I do remember that. We couldn’t have been more than ten. I had to get a pillow to sit on to see over the dash!”
“I love to see you boys reminiscing about old times, but the table isn’t going to set itself. Gatlin Wilde, you help Colt right now! Honestly, asking him to carry all that in!”
Gatlin tried not to smile as he walked over and took some of the items off my pile.
As we walked out of the kitchen, I heard Vivianne say, “Caden Wilde, you may be a husband and a father, but I can still put you over my knee!”
Game night never happened, much to the Wilde children’s relief.
Instead, the evening was filled with love and lots of laughter as we took many walks down memory lane.
My mother and father told stories about when Grady and I were little, while Vivianne and Ladd shared stories of Caden, Ensley, Emeline, and Gatlin.
Even Gus and Nellie told tales about Ladd and his other brothers.
It was a great evening, and it helped heal a couple of my oldest wounds by being able to talk and laugh about Grady.
I know it helped my mother and father, as well.
“I still can’t believe you and Caden were little buddies,” Ensley said, as we stood on the front porch and watched huge snowflakes fall from the sky.
I wrapped my arms around her a bit tighter as I rested my chin on her head. “It’s so beautiful.”
She let out a soft, “Mmm-hmm.”
“Pip?”
“Yes?”
“I need to take you back to your place so you can pack a bag.”
Turning in my arms, she looked at me with a confused expression on her face. “Pack a bag for what?”
“For our first date.”
She laughed. “I need to pack a bag for our date?”
Smiling, I replied, “Yep. We leave early tomorrow morning.”
Ensley took a step back. “Leave for where?”
“Banff.”
Her mouth fell open. “Did you just say Banff?”
“I did. Don’t worry about your clients; Gatlin helped me find a farrier who could take care of the few we both had scheduled on Monday and Tuesday.
Since neither of us had anyone on the books for Friday, we’re good there.
We leave tomorrow and head back to River Falls on Tuesday morning.
We have three fun-filled days planned. Well, three and a half, if you count tomorrow. ”
She stared at me for a few moments, not saying a word. Then she shook her head and laughed. “Wait…Colt, are you being serious?”
I took her hand in mine. “Yes. You’ll need to pack some warm clothes, since I have a few outdoor activities planned.
We have dinner booked at a nice restaurant in town Saturday night, so you’ll want to pack something nice for that.
It’s a steak restaurant, but it’s one of those Michigan-star ones. They have three stars.”
“Michelin.”
“Michigan.”
Laughing, Ensley cupped my face with her mittened hands. “It’s called Michelin, not Michigan.”
I chuckled. “Potato, potahto!”
“You’re really serious, though? We’re flying to Canada tomorrow?”
I nodded. “We are, indeed.”
“What if I didn’t have a passport?”
“I asked your mother, and she said you did.”
Ensley gaped at me. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“I have a lot to make up for, and Caden’s first date was pretty awesome—but it can be outdone, and I’m just the man to do it.”
Her eyes glittered with excitement. “I can’t wait to see what you have planned!”
“Then let’s go get you packed up!”
She let out a small whoop of excitement, jumped into my arms, and laughed.
Hopefully, this happy moment was the first of many more to come.