Page 14 of Aisle Be The Groom
I pulled into the driveway and parked in front of the main house: a large, two-story rancher built from hand-hewn logs started by my great-grandfather. Over the years, we’d added to the house, expanding and modernizing it while maintaining its original form as much as possible.
“We recently added a new barn and renovated the old one to accommodate the growing number of livestock. We have an entire section dedicated to horses. Matty prefers working with the cattle and spends most of his time in the north pasture or wherever there’s a cattle drive. He should be home tomorrow, so I’ll introduce you then.”
“Is he very different from Carter?”
“Very. Carter’s more like his mother. Matty takes after me.”
“I see.”
“But you’ll like Matty. He’s a solid guy, dependable and mature. Sometimes…” I shook my head. I didn’t want to bore him with family issues. My sons were two opposite extremes. I wanted Carter to be more concerned about putting down roots and being a part of the family legacy. But Matty, sometimes I worried he thought he had to do the job of two to make up for Carter not being around.
“Let’s take your stuff inside,” I said. “Much of the work is away from the ranch house, so you’ll find only a few ranch hands around. We have mealtimes together in one of the barns. If it’sscorching hot, we set out the tables outside. I’ll introduce you to everyone some other time.”
I got out of the truck and ignored my instinct to open the door for him. Instead, I unloaded his luggage from the back.
“Let me carry one,” he said.
“It’s cool. You don’t want to lose your grip on the food.” After the debacle with the spilled drink, he’d not eaten anymore, even though he’d mentioned how hungry he was. “The next time you see Dolly Mae, she will expect a rundown of everything you tasted.”
Ozzie groaned. “I’m assuming avoiding her is out of the question?”
“In such a small town?” I chuckled, leading the way to the large porch that wrapped around the house. “You can avoid her, but only if you keep yourself confined on the ranch, and then maybe not. She’s usually here for activities.”
“Activities?”
“Hmm. We like to have events in the barn. They vary, but it’s not unheard of for the whole town to wind up here on a Friday night.”
“Wow, that I have to see.”
I opened the front door and stepped back to let him inside the house. “This week we kept free because of the show Jessamine is doing, but next week we’ll have a potluck.”
“Carter should be here then,” he said softly.
“Yeah.” Carter. Remember him? The son you want to reconcile with before his marriage? I frowned. Time to regain all sanity. “Did you want me to show you around now or later?”
“I’m actually a little tired. If it’s not too rude, I might take a nap. The plane ride and the drive sapped my energy.”
“No problem.” Maybe the ride had messed with my head. Some rest and all body parts should function as they should. “Follow me this way.”
We climbed the wooden staircase, each step releasing a faint creak under our weight. At the top, to the left, was my bedroom, and to the right lay a long corridor with rows of doors leading to the guest rooms.
“Your room is at the end of the hall. It’s quieter there,” I said.
Ozzie followed me down the corridor, where I had hung family photos and antique hunting trophies, remnants of a time before my boys decided video games were more thrilling than shooting a deer.
I cracked open the door at the end of the hall and motioned for him to enter. The room was simple but comfortable. A large window overlooked the back pastures, where a few horses were grazing peacefully. A log bed with a quilted comforter took up most of the room.
“This was Carter’s room.” I set Ozzie’s luggage down by the closet. “The bathroom is through here.” I gestured toward a door on the far side of the room.
“Carter’s room?” His eyes were wide as he glanced around the room, where little personal touches had remained, a reminder of how little time he spent here. Ozzie turned to me, his cheeks red. “I don’t want to be a bother, but maybe it’s better to have two separate rooms.”
“Whatever for?” I shrugged. “I’m not a prude, Ozzie. You and Carter have been together for almost two years. I wouldn’t put you into two separate rooms just for appearances. Unless… that’s what you want?”
Did he really expect to sleep in a separate room from my son? What did that say about their relationship?
“No, this is fine.” But he wouldn’t meet my gaze. “I just didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m not. Hopefully, by being here, you’ll feel even closer to Carter.”
