Page 20 of The Reason I Married Him
She squints for a second and then surprisingly says, “Wyatt?”
“Yup.” I chuckle. “I know, a surprise.”
She comes over to me, and just like Cassidy would, she pulls me into a tight hug. “Oh my goodness, it’s been so long. How are you?”
The screen door opens and shuts, a slam of wood slightly startling the group. We all turn to watch Aubree slink into the house. She’s clearly not as keen to see me, which doesn’t really surprise me. She recently lost her sister and has probably had so much on her shoulders. How I hope she won’t stay in battle mode once I talk to her.
Plotting gods, please help me.
Turning back to Hattie—I am a little fearful of Aubree’s anger—I answer, “I’m pretty good. How are you?”
“Good, great actually,” Hattie replies, all smiles, the complete antithesis of the woman behind me. A man comes up to Hattie’s side and puts his arm around her waist. When I focus on the man’s face, I’m floored.
Holy shit.
“Uh . . . dude, I know I’m just meeting you for the first time, but Jesus, you look a lot like Hayes Farrow.”
He chuckles and holds his hand out. “I get that a lot. George, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Stop that,” Hattie says, batting our hands apart. “He is Hayes Farrow.”
“No shit, really?” I ask, stunned.
Hayes shrugs. “That’s what it says on my birth certificate.”
I take a second and look at Ryland, then back at Hayes. Motioning my finger between them, I ask, “Wait, if my memory serves me right . . . weren’t you guys in a heated hate campaign between each other?”
“Ooo, I like the way you put that,” Hattie says. “A heated hate campaign.”
“Neighhhhhhh,” MacKenzie says as she pretends to gallop her new horse between us. “Chewy Chonda coming through.”
Chewy Chonda, now there’s a name for you.
“He’s chasing the spiders.” MacKenzie dances her fingers across the table, then Chewy Chonda stomps over them. “Die. Die.”
“Uh, hey, Mac. Let’s not say ‘die, die,’ okay?” Ryland says.
“That’s what Aunt Aubree says when she kills ants in the house.”
Ryland looks over at Aubree, who just shrugs her shoulders. “They need to die.”
“Aubree, come on,” Ryland scolds, but she’s unfazed.
MacKenzie bounces away and flings her body on the couch before rolling off it and onto the floor, where Chewy Chonda stomps all over her other horse. Man, I can only imagine how full Ryland’s hands are with her.
Bringing the conversation back to the adults, Hayes says, “We’ve recently solved our differences.”
“We did,” Ryland says, taking his eyes off MacKenzie. “Kind of forced to when Hattie fell for the enemy.”
“The peacemaker, huh?” I ask Hattie, who chuckles.
“You know, no one has called me that yet, but I will accept it.” She then turns to Hayes and presses her hand to his chest as she says, “This is Wyatt, Clarke’s brother.”
“Oh wow, hey,” Hayes says, offering me a handshake. “What brought you out here?”
“That’s what I was wondering,” Aubree says with a growl from the side. When I glance over at her, all I can think is . . . Yikes!
There she is, everyone, my blushing bride.
