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“He’s not,” Mom confirmed. “What he told you is the truth, but it took a minute for us to get to that point. Your dad didn’t exactly have the noblest of intentions at the beginning. He created a job for me at Westwood’s as his personal assistant when no such position ever existed before then.”
I smiled at the thought, liking his style. Now that I’d had time around Rhea, I couldn’t say I would be averse to doing something like my dad had, if she didn’t already have her ice cream shop. But any of the good thoughts I had about what my dad had done flew out the window when he said, “Hey, it was better than the alternative.”
“What was the alternative?” Tate wondered.
Mom didn’t hesitate. “I didn’t know any of this at the time, but he thought he could do something to show Gram and Pop that he was serious about settling down, about his future. And originally, he’d planned to hire me to pretend to be his girlfriend.”
The sound of both of my sisters’ gasps was the only noise that filled the room. For a long while, nobody moved, all of us staring disbelievingly and in silence at our parents. That’s when I said, “I thought you two said you met in a coffee shop.”
“Oh, we did,” Dad assured me, his eyes dancing. “These kids were running through the shop, ran into your mom, and knocked her over. She fell right into my lap.”
Mom tipped her head back to look up at him, a smile spreading across his face. Never ones to hold back their affection for one another, I was convinced my parents were going to start making our right there, but Mom revealed, “It was Christmas time, and your dad told me he wasn’t Santa.”
“Oh, that’s horrible.”
Quick to defend himself, Dad declared, “It was the biggest mistake of my life. And I rectified it immediately. Anyway, I’m not sure this is doing anything to help Wyatt with his situation.”
“Sharing this wasn’t about helping him with his situation,” Mom explained. “I wanted him to know that I think he’s doing the right thing by being up front with Rhea from the start.”
“Rhea?” Cooper repeated as though he’d completely missed Jules sharing that detail when our siblings had first arrived. “Is this about the Marks family farm?”
“That’s what I said when you guys all arrived,” Jules reminded him, a huge smile plastered on her face. “Wyatt took Rhea out on a date.”
“Great. Did that date involve you getting her to sign an agreement she and her family had reconsidered selling us a portion of their land?” he pressed me.
I shook my head. “I gave her specifics, but the reason I came here early was because I get the feeling we aren’t going to get the answer we want, and I was hoping for some advice.”
“There’s nothing you can do to convince her?” Liam asked.
I shrugged. “I’m trying to figure that out, but…” I trailed off, not entirely sure what to say in response to that.
The day my dad told us about the letter he received back, the one with that single-word response, I’d found myself motivated and determined to get the job done, to fix this. Now, I still felt like the same motivated and determined guy, but it was for a very different reason.
Unfortunately, as I sat there in the kitchen, looking around at my family, a wave of disappointment and shame washed over me. This wasn’t just about me and the way I felt, yet I was sulking to a degree, because I couldn’t get over the fact I wanted nothing more than to be able to take Rhea home last night, walk her to her door, and kiss her goodnight before I left. I had to think about how this would affect my family. “I’m sorry I’ve dropped the ball on this one. I can admit I’ve gotten a bit sidetracked on this, but I’ll get it figured out. I promise.”
Tate had moved himself to the stool where my dad had been sitting before, and he clapped a hand to the top of my shoulder. “I don’t think any of us have any doubts about that. You’re great at negotiation, Wyatt. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
Guilt moved through me.
I’d been thinking about myself in all of this, about what I wanted.
Of course, I wanted to do well at my job at Westwood’s and prove I could be trusted to lead the company once my father retired. But here I was, getting sidetracked by Rhea and the way I was beginning to feel for her.
How could I have allowed it to happen? How could I so easily forget what I was supposed to be doing for my family?
“Thanks, Tate. Look, I don’t want any of you to worry about this. I’ll get it worked out as quickly as I can,” I said.
While mostly everyone offered a proud smile or nod in return, an uncertain and concerned look washed over my mother’s face. I was going to ask her what was wrong, but once she realized I’d noticed her expression, she looked away.
And barely a minute later, my grandparents arrived, so I spent the next couple of hours enjoying my family.
But I couldn’t stop myself from having the occasional thoughts of Rhea popping into my mind.
I’d made my family a promise; I had to follow through. I just didn’t know how I was going to accomplish it without ruining all of the progress I made with the woman who’d captured my attention.
15
WYATT
