What the diplomat.
“Right,” William said as he nodded.
“Now you guys are together?” Monica asked, right as I took a bite of my steak.
I had about ten seconds of chewing to put together a rational thought. Yes, we were together; I didn’t think there was any point in denying it. Especially after William caught Riley and me making out in the stable.
I swallowed my steak, which didn’t sit right in my stomach, due to my nerves. Riley glanced at me, letting me take the lead.
“Yes, we are together,” I said carefully, gauging their reactions.
William kept a face of indifference, and his wife tried to hide a smile.
“And what are your intentions exactly?” William pressed.
“Whoa, isn’t that the conversation the girl’s dad is supposed to have?” Riley asked.
William looked pointedly at him.He can’t, you idiot,his gaze seemed to say.
Riley’s face fell for a moment, realizing his words.
“It’s okay,” I said, touching his arm.
I looked directly at William when I said, “I don’t have intentions, William. I like Riley. Deep down, I think I always have. My intentions are just to enjoy him.”
I kept eye contact, challenging him to question my intentions further.
“This has nothing to do with the farm?” he had the balls to ask me.
“What about the farm? Mine and Riley’s relationship has nothing to do with it.”
“I wasn’t sure…” he mumbled.
“Wasn’t sure about what?” I challenged him, almost rising from my chair in quiet anger.
“Well, when Riley and I got into it out on the front lawn, after his incident, I said you were better suited to run the farm. I thought maybe this was an effort to prove me right, to steal the farm out from under Riley.”
I had two very separate thoughts at the same time, and I thought my head might explode. I felt like the detonator to a suicide bombing vest. He had pressed my button, and I was just waiting, waiting for my own reaction.
He thought so little of me, that he thought I would step in and try to take this farm, that I would take what would belong to Riley when William was dead and gone. He thought so little of Riley that he thought he would fall for something like that.
Then I thought about how ass backwards this guy was. He had helped make my darkest moments in life just a little more bearable, and he thought I was betraying him by purposefully trying to sabotage Riley?
My face was red; I could feel it. Riley looked as mad as I was, and he was about to tell his father to screw off. I could see him selecting the words, handcrafting them to make them hurt the most, like he used to do to me.
I placed my hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“No, this started because you gave your son an ultimatum: he had to grow up or lose the farm. The farm is the only thing that’s ever been consistent in his life. He came to me when he was at rock bottom and asked for my help. The little girl that used to know the eight-year-old Riley still saw that kid in him. I saw his hurt, and I was willing to help. So I taught him things you never took the time to. I showed him how to handle horses, how to do barn work. I taught him how to build a relationship with a horse and how to be accountable, responsible. He’s been mostly sober, and he’s a man, no thanks to you. If you want to question anything, why don’t you question this? Do you love Riley or the idea of what he should be? Because I know my answer. I love him.”
Oh shit. Two more completely separate thoughts fought for attention in my brain. One, I was about to get fired for speaking the way I did to William. I would have to leave, and I wouldn’t be welcomed back. When I left here, I would walk to my trailer and cry my eyes out.
The other thought was that I just admitted out loud that I love Riley. I hadn’t even said it in private to him, and he hasn’t admitted it to me yet. I could have just wrecked that, too. My whole life could be wrecked with one angry rant.
I put my fork down on the plate, ready to excuse myself from the table.
Riley grabbed my hand to stop me from getting up.
“You really mean that? You love me?” he asked.
