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Chapter 4
“It’s always fun to take a ride, thanks,” Mark said as he got off the horse and spoke to his friend, Luke Landry, who owned the mounts they’d been on.
“It’s good to get them back in shape. Most of these guys have been idle over the winter, and sometimes they’re a little spooky when you bring them out in the spring. You helped me out. I appreciate it.”
“Not a problem,” Mark said. “It’s always a bit more fun when they give you a little sass.”
“Not everybody thinks that way,” Luke said with a grin.
Mark raised his hand in farewell and walked out of the stable. A Saturday afternoon ride was just what he needed. He’d finished one job this morning, and rather than try to get started on something else with the few hours of daylight he had left, he’d answered Luke’s call and jumped at the chance to take a ride along the beach. There was something soothing about the waves and the horses and the promise of spring. It was in the air everywhere; he loved this time of year.
His phone buzzed his pocket as he hit the sidewalk, and he pulled it out, seeing it was his sister.
“Hey, Paulette. What’s up?” he said, nodding at Sunday and her husband, Noah, as they walked into the diner.
Great smells wafted out, and he thought about stopping.
Instead of that, he turned around and walked back toward the beach. Maybe he’d grab a bite at the diner after he got off his call.
As he turned, he saw Pam walking down the beach in the distance, and he thought that maybe she was heading toward the inn. It was faster if she walked around the pasture on the other side, but if she wanted to walk next to the lake, that was the way to go.
Maybe he could take her supper.
“Mark, you do know that you’re my favorite brother, right?”
“Stacy is not staying the summer.” He wanted to be firm about that.
“Mark. Please. She doesn’t have anywhere else to go. She... I know she’s a little spoiled—”
“A little spoiled?”
“Listen, I’m sorry about what she did to Bruno.”
“I know you’re sorry. The problem is, she’s not.”
“He ruined her expensive purse. I forget what kind of purse it is, but it’s like thousands of dollars. Seriously.”
“All right. That was a bad thing, but she left it sitting on the kitchen floor, right beside where he lays down. And he was trying to get out, but he’s old and couldn’t make it.”
“Can you guys just admit the both of you are wrong?”
Mark bit the insides of both cheeks. He didn’t think he was wrong. It was his house, his dog, and Stacy was a guest. Yes, his dog shouldn’t pee on her purse, but her purse wasn’t sitting somewhere it belonged, and just because Bruno did that did not mean that she could steal his dog and give him to the pound.
But arguing with his sister wasn’t going to fix any of that.
“I don’t know if I can get to that point, but I guess I don’t want to argue about it anymore. I just don’t want Stacy at my house.”
“Mark. Usually you’re the first person to volunteer to help. I already told her you’d be happy to have her living there this summer.”
They’d already been through this. Multiple times. And it was funny how Paulette could appeal to his soft side, because he wanted to be kind. He wanted to be someone that opened their house to anyone. But not Stacy. Anyone but her.
