I’ve done my research on Cedar Creek Ranch, and on the website, it’s absolutely gorgeous. They took the photos against a backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, snow covered in the winter and with the sun dipping behind them in the summer, casting the sky into a beautiful rainbow of colors. Cedar Creek Ranch is a working ranch, but five years ago, they opened an event space which is on the huge property, but far away from any ranch work and the main house.
“Are we having breakfast? I’m starving,” I say, after I’ve showered and changed into leggings and a sweater. I dry my hair and put it into rollers while I do my make-up.
“We’re going to stop by the cafe on our way to the ranch,” Sienna calls from her room. The door between our rooms is open. “They have another event tonight so we’re catching them at a busy time but the coordinator said we can do a tour.”
My stomach rumbles at the thought of breakfast. I’m more excited about breakfast than I am about seeing my sister’swedding venue. The idea of her getting married is melancholic because suddenly it’s not going to be the three of us anymore. It’s going to be me and Sadie, and Sienna and Luke. They’re going to have a separate life that they make together and even though we will always be a part of it, there’s going to be a divide we won’t be able to bridge.
I can’t let go of the thought that I am losing my sister. My therapist would tell me I’m catastrophizing, like I always do. I need to focus on the good, like my sister marrying the love of her life, a man we’ve known most of our lives.
“I’m starving,” Sadie says, pushing in behind me. There isn’t enough room in the washroom for the both of us. “Has your butt gotten bigger?” She struggles to move in front of me.
“It’s definitely bigger than your pancake butt.”
Sadie moves again as I’m in the middle of applying blush. My arm jostles and the wand moves over my cheek, spreading blush everywhere. Sadie and I freeze, staring at the streak of red on my face. I meet her hazel eyes in the mirror and Sadie shrieks.
“Mom!”
She rushes out of the washroom as I follow her. “Look what she’s done!” I point to my cheek.
My parents, who are sitting in the chairs in our room, look up from their conversation and at my face.
“She was hogging the washroom!” Sadie complains.
“I’m trying to get ready!”
Sadie sits down on the armrest of Mom’s chair and tries to hide behind our mother. At twenty-one, she’s the youngest of us sisters, which means she gets away with a lot. Sienna is the oldest at thirty and like every eldest child, she’s the responsible one. Then there’s me, twenty-seven and the quintessential middle child, who always has to adjust.
“Girls, don’t fight,” Dad says, ever the peacekeeper. “Angel, why don’t you finish getting ready?”
I give Sadie the stink eye as I walk back into the washroom. Wiping away the streak of blush, I reapply my base. Once I’m done, I pull on my knee-high boots and take my hair out of the rollers and I’m all set.
We grab breakfast to go and pile into one car as Sienna drives us to Cedar Creek Ranch.
As we get closer, the road starts to look familiar.
“This is where Scarlett saw her cowboy,” Dad says, as Sienna turns the car down the same unpaved road I was running on earlier.
“Dad!” I exclaim, as my cheeks heat.
“Her wh-at?” Sadie and Sienna simultaneously, drawing out the word.
Knowing my sisters, they’re never going to let it go.
“There was a man horse riding in the field when I was out running,” I explain. “He’s not my cowboy.”
“There was very intense eye contact,” Dad chimes in from the back.
Oh my god! I look out the window to hide my face. The thought of that man still made me squirmy so I’d rather not think about him.
“He was very far away,” I say. “There wasn’t any eye contact.”
“Can you imagine if Scarlett finds the love of her life in the process of getting Sienna married?” Mom says.
I don’t know how I was born into a family of romantics. Don’t get me wrong. I like romance, I like the idea of falling in love. I wouldn’t be able to do my job if I didn’t. But I’ve been in love and just because someone says they love you doesn’t mean they won’t break your heart.
“I can guarantee you, I’m not going to meet the love of my life,” I tell them.
Mostly because I’ve already met him,I don’t add. I never really got around to introducing him to my family.
