Love Wears A Stetson "Wyatt" (2 page)

“Oh it figures Carson, you always did take his side. Dad, tell them I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.”

“Sweetheart, you’re being unreasonable, let the boys take care of your car, for you. Why don’t you come in the house with me, and we can talk, while they take care of things for you.”

“Grrrrrr!
Unbelievable
!”

I just couldn’t believe my ears,
Kenna
actual growled at us, then stomped her right foot and ran up the stairs. I could hear her muttering to herself about bossy, arrogant men. The slamming of th
e screen door on the front door
got her point across loud and clear.

I took my Stetson off and ran my fingers through my hair and then replaced it back on my head. I looked at Carson and Jenna’s father, Jack just shook my head in frustration. Jack stepped over to me and placed a hand upon my shoulder in a reassuring manner.

“Wyatt, I think
Kenna
is going through a little rough patch right now. We’re all going to have to be a patient with her right now.”

“Jack, she’s been like this with me for thirteen years. You know
what;
I don’t think
Kenna
has come home for just a visit. I think she is moving back home, for good. Her car is loaded down pretty good, with what looks like all of her things. Did something happen? I thought she was happy living in California?”

“I’m not sure. Carson did
Kenna
say anything to you, about what’s going on?”

“Yeah, she told me some of what was happening. To make a long story short, her whole life has fallen apart, from what she’s said. You know her boss Mason, the guy she had moved in with last year. Well, six months ago, she found out the hard way, that he was still married and not divorced like he said. He had no intention of divorcing his wife. She came home one night and caught them in bed together. I guess they decided to give their marriage another go, without letting
Kenna
know about it.
Kenna
quit her job, because she couldn’t stand to face him again and moved out of his house that night. She has tried to find a new job, but the job market there, really sucks right now. She’s gone through most her savings.”

I listened to Carson and my heart went out for
Kenna
. She had been through so much and I was being all bossy with her. But with
Kenna
, for some reason since she turned the age of fourteen, it didn’t take much, for me to piss her off. To this day I still don’t have any idea why she’s so angry with me all the time. I’ve tried to be her friend/ adopted big brother, but for some reason that gig wasn’t working and hadn’t worked for years.

“Hey, Bro, snap out of it. You ready to go get
Kenna
’s car.?”

“What? Oh yeah the car. We’ll need to stop by my house to pick up the tow strap.”

“Well let’s get a move on then. We’re wasting day light.”

“Sure.”

“Okay, you boys be careful towing her car back. I’m going to go into the house and try to calm her down some.”

I watched Jack climb the stairs, take a deep breath like he was about ready to face a firing squad, open the squeaky screen door and walk into his house.

~*~*~*~

Twenty minutes later, we we’re securing the tow strap to the front of
Kenna
’s car. I couldn’t believe she had driven this old hunk of junk of a station wagon, all the way from California to Montana. Hopefully it was only a blown radiator hose and not something serious like a cracked head or blown head gasket.

“Wyatt, I don’t think she could have gotten much more in this car do you, let me put a few of these boxes in the back of you trucks, so I can somewhat see out the back window. I guess she didn’t want to see where she had been or something.”

After loading about a dozen boxes into the back of my truck, we were on our way. It was slow going, but a half an hour later we were at my mom’s place, parking the car next to the barn out back. We were finally finished unloading the car into the back of my truck. I leaned on the side of the truck, took off my Stetson, smack it on my leg. I wiped the sweat off my forehead, before I returned the hat to my head. I looked Carson in the eye, before I addressed him.

Carson can I ask you something, why does
Kenna
hate me so much? I’ve tried my best to be a good friend and second big brother to her. I’ve done my damnedest to look out for her, but all she does is
fight
me every step of the way. I’m at a total loss her bro, when it comes to figuring out your sister.”

Carson had the nerve to laugh at me. Soon he cleared his throat and collected himself to answer me.

“Wyatt, you’re kidding right? You really have no clue do you?”

“Damn it Carson, I wouldn’t have asked, if I already knew the answer.”

Carson cleared his throat again and looked at me with a duh look.

“Wyatt, I never thought you were dense, but really, I’m beginning to wonder about you. I mean seriously bro. How could you not notice, that girl fighting, literally to get you to notice her as a women and not a
child. All she has ever wanted
was for you to just see her and not your best
friend’s
baby sister. She has had a crush on you since she was about thirteen years old. Even when she was younger, she did everything she could to get your attention, but all you saw when you looked at her was that snot nosed brat, wearing pig tails and tagging along with us to make our life crazy.”

“What? No way!”

“Way, bro.”

I just stood there staring at Carson. How could I have missed all the
signs?
The thought of
Kenna
in any other way than my best friend sister kid sister, was never an option to me. I would have never thought of breaking that unwritten rule, of friends don’t mess with their Best friends sisters.

“Well that was then, Carson. What’s her problem with me now? I mean today, I was just helping her out and she went off on me”

Carson took off his Stetson and smacked me across the shoulder with it. I glared at him.

“What the hell did you do that for?”

“Wake up Wyatt, damn. It’s a clear case of same crap different day.”

“No it can’t be.”

“Well, you know, there is a way you could check and see if I’m right. You could start treating her like woman that she is and not my kid sister. You could even ask her to go out to dinner or something.”

“But she’s your kid sister. I’d be crossing that line.”

“Well bro, I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of you two fighting. If you want to ask her out you have my blessing, unless, you don’t have those sorts of feelings for her.”

I took off my hat and ran my fingers through my hair again, before setting it back on my head. Could I cross that line? Could I think of
Kenna
in a way that wasn’t like a kid sister? Hell yeah, I could. I could still feel her curves on my shoulder and back, as I carried her to my truck.

“Ok, bro I’ll try and treat her different and see if that works. If it does, then I’ll think about asking her out.”

After my long talk with dad, I went upstairs and took a shower. I was hot and sticky and just need to cool down physically and emotionally. After I was finished, I walked down stairs, wrapped in my dad’s terry cloth bathrobe. I sat at the kitchen table combing my still wet hair.

Dad walked over and placed a large glass full of ice and sweet tea in front on me. I took a large drink and enjoyed the way the ice cold, sweet liquid cooled my insides. I heard the screen door squeaky and then I was hearing footsteps heading toward the kitchen. The next thing I knew, Carson and ah hell…Wyatt was standing in the kitchen before me.

“Dad, you got any more of that sweet tea? It’s really hot out there.”

“Sure it’s in the fridge, you boys help yourself.”

Wyatt hadn’t said a word so far. I watched as Carson went to the fridge and load up two glasses with ice and then filled them with the sweet amber liquid. He walked back to Wyatt and handed him a glass. The kitchen was silent except for the clinking of the ice in everyone glasses. Wyatt seemed nervous and Carson, he just seemed to be amused about something. When Wyatt was done with his sweet tea, he set the glass in the sink, then reached into his pocket and then walked over to me. Stretching out his hand, I could see my keys wrapped in his fingers.

“Here’s your car keys
Kenna
. If you want Josh to take a look at it tomorrow, I’ll come back over and get them. If you want someone else to work on it, just let me know so I can open the gate for them to get into the back area. We have all your things in the back of the truck, would it be okay if I bring them in or would you like to do it yourself?”

I looked up at Wyatt and for the first time ever something was different about him. Gone was the bossy arrogant man of two hour ago. He seemed nervous and uncertain, which I found rather odd.

“Thank you, Wyatt. Oh and thank you too Carson. If you wouldn’t mind, you could just place the boxes in the living room. I’ve got to dig out some clothes, before I do anything. I can unpack the boxes tonight, when I get the chance.”

I handed the keys back to Wyatt.

“Here you might as well keep my keys. I would really appreciate it, if Josh could take a look at it and see if it’s worth fixing.”

“Okay,
Kenna
whatever you want.”

Wyatt took the keys, when I offered them and smiled at me warmly. Before I knew what I was doing and could stop myself, I returned his smile. Carson with a smug look on his
face
walked up to Wyatt and slapped him on the back. The look on Wyatt’s face was strange and seemed almost embarrassed.

“Okay bro, let’s go get my sis’s boxes brought in, so she’s not running around half naked. Sis, which ones has your clothes in them.”

“If you could just bring in the two suitcases first, that would be great. They have all my clothes in them. Thanks.”

“You got it.”

Carson and Wyatt walked out of the kitchen and the next thing I heard was the squeak of the screen door, as they walked back outside. I looked up at my dad and he had a puzzled look on his face.

“What?”

“I’m not sure, but I think that was the first time I’ve seen Wyatt and you in the same room together for more than two minutes and you weren’t at each other’s throats. It was kind of……..
freaky
.”

He walked out of the room chuckling to
him
as he made his way out the front door to help with the unloading of my things.

I thought about it and dad was right it was kind of freaky. Wyatt not being bossy and pigheaded was really strange. He had treated me like a……….adult, like what I thought and wanted mattered. What was up with that?

I heard the screen door and then Wyatt stepped into the kitchen carrying my two large suitcases. He stopped in front of me, but never put down the suitcases.

“Is it okay, if I take these up to your room?”

“That would be great, thanks. Let me show you which one it is.”

I got up and made my way to the stairs that lead to the second floor. I had only taken about five steps, when Wyatt cleared his throat. I turned around to look at him. He was looking down at the ground and he refused to make eye contact and wasn’t moving. “What’s wrong?”

“Ummmm,
Kenna
. Ahhhh, you might want me to go first. When you walk up those steps in that bathrobe it……..it leaves nothing to the imagination, when it blows out when you take a step.”

OMG! I could feel myself turning red from head to toe. I pulled the bathrobe close to me and put my back to the wall, to let Wyatt pass by. I cleared my throat.

“Wyatt, I didn’t realize it was doing that. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to give you a peep show.”

“Darlin, don’t be sorry, I’m not. It was the best view, I have ever seen.

He gave me a wink and passed by me on the stairs. I stood there for a moment trying to collect myself. Was Wyatt…… flirting with me? No it can’t be possible. I made my legs start moving and walked behind Wyatt up the rest of the stairs. I kind of knew what he was talking about now. Because right in front of my face was the best looking jean clad butt, I had ever seen. I was starring so hard that when Wyatt stopped I almost ran into him. I walked passed him to lead him down the hall and to my old room. I opened the door and stepped out of the way, to allow him to enter first. Wyatt sat my suitcases down and looked around the room.

“Wow this room is like a teenager’s time warp. Look at that there, your old homecoming queen crown and check out all of these posters on the wall. Is that Ricky Martin on that poster?”

He looked at my nightstand and stopped short. I froze in horror. There in a 5” x 7” silver frame was a picture of Wyatt. I had taken the picture, when Carson and
he
had graduated and Mary Lu Walker had thrown a huge graduation party at the ranch. Wyatt had been clowning around with me and was doing a muscle man pose, hamming it up for the camera.