Page 99 of The Burbs and the Bees
He’s right. I didn’t, and I should have stood up to my father, never should have asked Jay to sneak out. “I was trying to make myself look better…at your expense. I shouldn’t have done that. Just like you shouldn’t have bet against me.” I fold my arms across my stomach and hug myself as bile punches into my throat. I fight back the tears. “You’re not at all who I thought you were.”
“Alyson, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just…” he begins, but I’m too upset to hear what he has to say.
“Whether you meant it or not, doesn’t change the fact that you bet against me.” A garbled laugh catches in my throat. “Honestly,” I say, pushing my words past the rawness in my throat, “I want you to leave.”
I take a step backward, and he reaches for me. “You need to listen to me.”
“I don’t need to listen to anything you have to say. Leave.”
He makes a move to come closer but stops when Dad steps into the kitchen. “I believe she asked you to leave.”
Chapter Twenty
Jay
It’s been one week since Alyson left, one whole miserable week with me staring at the For Sale sign on her yard. Yeah, I get it. She’s completely pissed after learning I bet against her, and I can’t blame her. I made the stupid bet; it was before I really knew her. Still, I judged her, expected the worst from her—like everyone else in her life. Even when all signs pointed that I’d sabotaged her property, she believed in me— She never once expected the worst. God, I am such a dumbass.
“You still moping, asshole?” Tyler asks.
I lift my head and take in the scowl on my kid brother’s face as he sits on the fence feeding Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. He rolls a strand of hay between his teeth and wipes his brow with the back of his hand.
“I’m not moping, and go ahead, call me asshole one more time, and I’ll give you the beatdown of your life.”
He snorts. “Asshole,” he says and jumps from the fence, squaring off against me. Ever since he found out what I’d done, he’s been itching for a fight, but I’m not going to give him what he wants. Even though I probably do deserve to have my ass kicked.
“She’s gone. It’s over,” I say and walk around him.
“You know that wa
s a pretty shitty thing to do, Jay.”
“Yeah, I know, and every chance you get, you tell me.” I step into the barn and grab a pitchfork to lay out fresh hay for the animals.
I guess Alyson just assumed we’d take care of the farm when she up and left in the middle of the night. She was right. At least she had that much faith in me. I wish I’d given her the same courtesy. Man, I really fucked up. When she first arrived, looking lost and vulnerable, I should have reassured her instead of jumping on a damn bet. Clearly, Charlie Miller was working with different information than I was when he tried, and succeeded, in convincing me he wanted to give me my land back. The bastard wanted my farm and used Alyson’s innocence to try to win it. I used her innocence, too, and she’s far too good for me.
Tyler pushes up the short sleeves on his T-shirt, exposing his farmer’s tan. “I didn’t want her to go,” Tyler grumbles.
Neither did I.
I shoo a few chickens from the barn and grab another bundle of hay. “I know,” I say, not at all proud of what I’d done. I caused so much damage, to everyone.
“You should go get her,” Tyler says, refusing to let this go.
With my patience thinning—the kid has been busting my balls all week—I say, “I am not going to get her.”
“Because she hates you?” he asks.
Yeah, because she hates me.
I shake my head. “Why don’t you tell me what you really think, little brother?”
“Fine, I will. You love her; she loves you. You were so sure she was going to fail at this, you bet the farm, but then she proved to be something more, and even though you needed her to fail, you’re still a good guy, so you helped her however you could.”
I exhale loudly and cut the rope on the new hay bundle. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up, but I’m not a good guy.”
“Yes, you are, and she knows it.”
“She’s too good for me, bro.”
