Page 128 of Opposites (Never) Attract
“Okay, let me give you the run down on a few things you need to know.” Harmony said.
“About Seth and the events he’ll be competing in?”
“No. About Carter’s kids.” Carter’s minivan, ahead of us on the road, swerved, and something flew out the window.
“Uh oh,” I said, remembering what everyone had said about those kids. “I hear they are…rambunctious?”
“Is that a synonym for monsters?” Bliss asked.
“They can’t be that bad,” I said. “They’re kids.”
“They’re motherless kids,” Amity corrected me. “And because of that, Carter can’t say no to anything. So, you’ve got a bunch of kids who think they can guilt their dad into anything they want, and they pretty much do.”
“Ethan and Mac have tried the whole it takes a village approach, to help raise them. But Carter doesn’t get it, I think. He just believes it all comes down to him and him alone,” Bliss said.
“They need someone to give them boundaries. Structure. Say no when it’s appropriate,” Harmony said. It seemed to me she would know, too, she spent the most time with them.
“What about Mrs. Walker?” I asked.
“She’s retiring,” Harmony said. “She’s all but said as much.”
“What about… remarrying?” I asked.
There was a beat of silence, and then the three of them collectively made noises like I’d suggested the unthinkable.
“Carter will never remarry,” Amity said.
“Lilly was his one and only,” Bliss said. “Which is a real waste of a good-looking man, if you know what I mean.”
“What’s he going to do? He can’t run the operation and be a full-time dad,” I said.
“Apparently, he put an ad in a few places looking for a nanny.”
“There you go, that’s a start,” I said, proud of my half-brother for reaching out of his comfort zone.
“Yeah, except, not a whole lot of takers want to work on an isolated ranch with three half feral kids. Okay, here we go.”
I’d always known the arena was outside of town, and every summer and fall there’d be a rodeo every few weeks, or big livestock auctions and competitions. But, I’d never come out here during one. The place was packed. Lit up like Madison Square Gardens. Cars parked in the grass. Tailgating. It looked…fun.
Beyond the cars, I could see lines of horse trailers up against the fences. On one side, there were metal bleachers that went up about twenty feet in the air. They were mostly full.
We parked next to Carter’s van, and I got out of Harmony’s truck just as the side minivan doors opened electronically and three children of varying ages burst out of the van like they’d been shot out of a cannon. There was a little boy running around in shorts and cowboy boots, with no shirt.An older girl, who was shouting at him not to go too far, and the smallest of the three with something large and stuffed tucked under her arm.
Carter hopped out of the driver’s seat and began chasing first the boy, then the little girl, all while the oldest was shaking her head like she was completely unconvinced her father could wrangle the two younger siblings.
“Should we help?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure if I stood a chance against them.
Tag’s truck pulled up beside us and Ethan burst out of the passenger seat and bee-lined for Harmony like he’d barely survived the fifteen minute drive out to the arena without her. But, there was only room for three of us, and I didn’t want to drive with Tag.
It would feel too much like a formal date we were never going to have.
Tag slammed the driver’s side door behind him and I did everything in my power not to look at him. Not to feel him in the air that touched my skin. Not to taste him in the air I breathed.
But, it was impossible.
“Hey, Sun,” he said quietly.
All I could do was smile and nod with a lame-ass half salute. After all, we were two adults and could be civil in this…separation.
