Page 14 of The Best Friend's Billionaire Brother
Wyatt’s eyebrows knitted together as he thought back to that first year. Even his family hadn’t come toallhis events. A couple of them were upwards of eight hours away, and he didn’t remember Gabby being at all of them.
Mrs. Fredericks smiled. “I remember that. He was in…” she paused, tapping her mouth with her finger. “Oh, yeah, Fort Smith, Arkansas, not Oklahoma. There was no way I was letting you drive that far by yourself. I’d taken you to a couple of the ones in and around Dallas and Abilene, but that was just too much distance for my peace of mind.”
“You were at the event in Fort Smith?” asked Wyatt.
Nodding, Gabby fidgeted with the napkin next to her plate. “Um, well, your mom had a really bad cold, and your dad didn’t want to leave her. That meant no one was going to be there. It was the first time you were in another state. I—”
“But you were there? I never saw you.”
Stephanie scoffed. “I know. She made me leave before you could. To this day, I have no idea why she was in such a hurry to leave. We’d driven all that way, and she wouldn’t even say hello. It made no sense to me.”
Gabby’s face was now as bright red as her blouse. “I think we’ve reminisced enough at this point. Um, so, Dad, you said that there’s a pecan orchard. What did Bear think of that?”
Whatever they were talking about, it was white noise to Wyatt. Gabby had shown up for every event. Why had she done that? Theywerefamily, and the two of them were pretty close as kids. She was his little sister’s best friend and basically a sister. Still, as much as Gabby hated taking out the trash, to trade for that chore for six months? He had no idea what to think.
“All right, everyone, let’s settle down.” Wyatt’s dad’s voice boomed over everyone in the room. He’d taken his place at the other end of the table.
Bandit set the last tray of bread down and turned to walk out.
“Where do you think you’re going?” his father asked.
“W-w-well, sir, I thought I’d l-l-let your families have your meal in peace.”
Mr. West point to the chair next to Bear. “You may have put this meal together, but that doesn’t make you any less family. Park it, boy.”
Bear laughed. “I told you they’d have you eat with us.”
Bandit grumbled, “Sh-sh-shut up, Bear.”
Talk about a friendship. Bear and Bandit had been friends since Bandit moved to Caprock Canyon as a teenager. He stuttered a little, and that was all the ammo stupid teenagers needed to pick on someone. Cue Bear West. Of the things Wyatt’s brother hated—well, they all hated—was people being bullies. That type of behavior didn’t fly in their family.
Bear was captain of the football team, and he caught rumor of one of his linebackers messing with Bandit. Bear wore that guy out. That day, he brought Bandit home to eat dinner with them. From that point on, they were as thick as thieves. No one dared pick on Bandit ever again.
The guy sure could cook, too. Before his mom passed, she’d opened up a restaurant, and he’d learned from her. He’d tried to keep it afloat after she was gone, but it was a losing battle once the ranch died.
Wyatt’s dad cleared his throat. “Now, back to what I was wanting to say.” He looked at Bear. “We’re all proud of you and the work you’ve done here. This home is beautiful, and we all want to thank you for letting us invade.”
Waving him off, Bear shook his head. “Stop, Dad.”
Mrs. Fredericks added, “No, sweetheart. Your dad’s right. You did wonderfully. And we all get to stay together, which means your momma and I can sneak coffee together tomorrow morning.” She laughed.
Wyatt’s mom joined in with a chuckle. “If there’s coffee, I’m there.” She grinned.
“And, Bandit,” his dad continued. “Thank you for staying with us and cooking dinner tomorrow. I want you to know we appreciate you, and I’ll have my boys in there peeling potatoes. You just give the word.”
Gabby leaned over and whispered, “I’ve missed this.”
Her breath against his ear sent goosebumps down his spine. There was that weird feeling again. “It hasn’t been the same without you,” he whispered back. Now that he really thought about it, the holidays had been different without her, boring. He’d had no one to talk to. Yeah, he had his siblings, but that wasn’t the same.
Talking to Gabby always seemed to give him peace, and he was content when he was with her. The world always had a way of disappearing when they’d go off and talk. Stress would roll off him like raindrops on a tin roof. Things were always better when he was with Gabby.
The conversations soon dialed down to a hum as everyone fixed their sandwiches and ate. Every so often, someone would bring up an old memory from when they were kids, and everyone would get involved in retelling the story. Then the conversation drifted to high school and dating.
He’d dated a few girls in high school, but nothing serious like Carrie Anne. He couldn’t remember any of the girls he’d dated wanting to go fishing with him. Only one or two had ever come to his amateur rodeo events. After he went pro, he spent his first year focused on winning national titles so he could apply for the PBR, and it had paid off. After working on his skills, he’d applied and received his membership.
Not too long after that, he’d met Lori. She’d come to some of his events, but he was pretty sure she was just there to flirt with the other guys. At the time, Wyatt hadn’t really paid attention because she’d always been a bit of a tease. They were on and off for a year, mostly breaking up because she’d get tired of him being on the road. The last time, she’d made up with him and things were going well, or so he thought. Enough that he’d introduced her to his family and proposed to her in front of all of them. They’d been good a while after that. She seemed to be okay with him being on the road. Then…on a whim, he’d decided to surprise her, only to find her having dinner with another man.
It had broken his heart, but not as much as it should have. That’s when he wised up and broke it off. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, it had bothered him that she could say she loved him and then go around with another man.
