Joy and Tiers (17 page)

I still can’t believe I’m standing on Grandma Lydia’s front porch holding Tyler’s hand and she didn’t even get to meet him. The irony of it all makes me want to cry. We used to spend hours in her kitchen as she taught me how to cook and she would share stories with me about how a big brash oilman swept her off her feet. She told me she and Grandpa often fought like cats and dogs but the sweetest part of it all was making up. I think about how much my grandparents would’ve liked Ty’s straightforward approach to life. He and my grandpa would have gotten along famously. 

As we open the door, Ethel, my grandma’s bloodhound, a dog descended from animals long raised by my grandfather, greeted us like long-lost friends. “How are you doing, sweetie?” I say gingerly as I tried to duck to get out of the way of the flying slobber as she shakes enthusiastically at my presence. “Want to meet my friend Tyler?” I reach behind me to pull Tyler forward, but it’s too late as Tyler is already on his hands and knees in front of Ethel and has her enveloped in a full-body hug.

“Oh, look at you, you gorgeous thing!” Tyler exclaims. “I bet you miss your mama. But, we’ll take care of you now.”

“Tyler! Don’t make promises we can’t keep,” I chastise. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to the dog. For all I know, my dad might make her go to the pound.”

“Over my dead body!” Tyler declares forcefully. I swear my heart just did a somersault.

“We’ll have to see if grandma had any plans for her in the will. Knowing my grandma, Ethel will probably retire in better surroundings than most people. She might even have her own maid and butler,” I joke.

I grab Tyler’s hand and walk silently into the living room. Instead of collecting precious photographs and other artifacts of his childhood, my dad is taking an inventory of all the furniture and knickknacks. He’s double checking the value of them on eBay. The whole process makes me sick to my stomach. Before I can even say hello, I have to run to the restroom to throw up.

When I return to the parlor, all the men are sitting in the room. Everyone is glaring at each other and no one is saying anything. When Tyler sees me, he stands up. I smile at him when he does this because it’s such a quaint gentlemanly thing to do. Before I met Tyler, I can’t remember the last time a gentleman stood for me just because I entered the room. I give Tyler my hand and he starts to escort me to a chair. I interrupt him to introduce him to my family. “Dad, Carlton and Madison, this is my friend Tyler. Tyler, this is my dad, Carl, my brother Carlton and my sister Madison. My mother, Victoria, is around here somewhere.”

Tyler makes a move to tip his hat, obviously he’s forgotten that he took it off and left it with his coat in the foyer. He quickly recovers and sticks his hand out for a handshake. “Nice to meet you sir. You have a lovely daughter.”

My dad looks at me in shock as if he’s seeing me for the first time. “Yes, I suppose she is. It would help if she lost some weight. You can’t imagine the amount of money her mother and I wasted on fat camps when she was little. We always tell her it’s a matter of will power. It can’t just be genes because her mother is slim and so is Madison. So obviously, she’s just not trying hard enough.”

“With all due respect sir, I just paid your daughter a compliment. You should try it sometime. It’s a good habit to get into. I think she’s gorgeous without losing an ounce. But, even if I didn’t, I would never say anything like you just did; because it was uncalled for and downright rude,” Tyler challenges, the disgust clear in his voice.

I have little time to relish the praise Tyler has just heaped on me because my father draws himself up to his full height and gets in Tyler’s face as he replies, “Just what do you know about being a parent?”

“Actually, I don’t know anything about being a parent other than I would work really hard not to be the type of parent you’re being right now. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you need to act like a civilized human being to everyone including your own children. Personally, I feel like you owe her an apology for those snide remarks. But, that’s just me,” Ty replies confidently.

“Thank you, Cowboy,” I murmur under my breath. “I wish I was brave enough to do that more often.”

“You’re welcome, Gidget. That’s what I’m here for, right?” he whispers. I squeeze his hand in return.

“Where did you find this guy?” My dad asks snidely.

“Interestingly enough, I found him in another place where the guy was a bully. It didn’t end very well for that guy either,” I respond with a small smile as I remember how Tyler calmly, but assertively dealt with Kevin Buckhold for Kiera.

“The way I remember it, you were holding your own pretty well on that occasion too, Gidget. You were doing a bang up job of helping Jeff’s mom hold it together until the local police arrived,” Ty compliments me.

“What could Heather possibly do? She’s a disaster in a crisis,” my dad asserts.

“Sir, were you there?” Tyler asks evenly.

“Of course not,” my dad spits.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t comment on things you know nothin’ about,” Ty suggests. “Because, as a law enforcement officer I respond to a lot of emergencies and I can tell you that your daughter performed like a rock star. She kept a domestic violence victim calm and helped stop the situation from escalating further. She impressed me so much that day I wanted to keep her in my life.”

“Daddy, where’s mom?” I ask, eager to change the subject and stop the confrontation between dad and Tyler.

My dad answers, “She went to go find some decent food in this godforsaken place.”

I sigh and roll my eyes, “Really Dad? I could’ve made something. I’ve only been cooking in this kitchen since I was about three years old and I’ve got a degree from one of the top culinary programs in the nation.”

My dad crosses his arms over his chest as he shakes his head in disgust. “Don’t remind me. You could’ve gone to one of the top Ivy League schools and gotten a perfectly good solid business education like everyone else in our neighborhood, but you had to ‘go find yourself’ like some hippie. I hope you’re happy. I can’t even show you off to my friends because I have to explain to them that you sell food out of a truck like some huge tailgating party. When are you going to grow up?” he asks, his voice full of accusations.

I look up at Tyler, my eyes full of silent pleas. I have no idea if he understands. In fact, I’m not even sure what I’m asking. I just know I don’t want to have this conversation right now. I haven’t even had a chance to say goodbye to my grandma and we just got off a plane ride with more turbulence than the newest attraction at Disney World. If I can’t relax with my cooking, I just want to take a nice long bubble bath and collapse in the bed while reading a nice suspenseful Karen Rose book.

To my relief, it looks like Tyler has received my silent telepathic messages because he doesn’t rise to my dad’s bait. He merely shrugs and says, “Gidget, babe, you look tired. Why don’t you take a shower while I unpack?”

“You’re not sleeping with my daughter!” asserts my dad pointing his finger at Ty. I shake my head and roll my eyes as I blush, “Geez, tell me something I don’t know dad. Did I introduce him as my boyfriend? No, I did
not
. I introduced him as my friend. He’s not even my boyfriend. If you continue with remarks like that, he won’t
ever
be my boyfriend,” I state baldly.

Tyler brushes an errant curl out of my face as he says, “Gidget, I’ve faced down terrorists and insurgents, overprotective dads don’t scare me much.”

I grin at the expression on my dad’s face as he processes Tyler’s words. “In that case, by all means let’s go. I think I hear a bubble bath calling my name from here,” I quip.

The silence around the conference table at the lawyers’ office is deafening. My brother is looking at me with absolute disdain on his face. My little sister looks like someone slapped her. I can’t even venture to guess what my expression looks like. I know what I feel like and I wonder if it’s reflected on my face. I feel hollow. No amount of money will ever fix that.

“Did
you
know this was coming?” asks Carlton. “Is that why you brought your muscle with you? There’s no way I’m buying that he’s here because he wants to date you. The last guy you brought around was a total loser; he totally cleaned you out and tried to gain access to all of dad’s business holdings, remember? Maybe you brought this guy just to intimidate us. I looked him up online. There’s a picture of him floating around with his military buddies. He’s holding an AK 15 to the back of a woman’s head. So, are you sure about what kind of guy you’re letting in your life
this
time?”

It takes all of the discipline I’ve got not to let my eyes fly to Tyler for an explanation. Clearly, he has one. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be allowed to continue to serve in the military. So, I’ll have to put my curiosity on hold. I don’t want to give Carlton the satisfaction of knowing he might have unnerved me.

“I know exactly what kind of guy I’m letting into my life. He’s a decorated combat veteran who still serves in the military to save the lives of others. He’s received commendations from the Sheriff’s Department for his bravery and if I say so myself, he’s a pretty decent sous chef. To top it all off, animals and kids seem to universally love him.”

To my surprise, Tyler flushes under all this praise. I’m amazed at his reaction. It would seem to me he would be used to all of the hoopla by now. “Thank you Gidget,” he murmurs under his breath.

“So, how long have you known that Grandma was going to give you this huge piece of her estate?” Carlton probes venomously.

“I swear, I didn’t know anything about it. I just figured it would all go to mom since her sister died from MS. The only thing I knew about was that she planned to give some to the charity that fights Lou Gehrig’s disease. But even then, it was just a philosophical discussion. I didn’t know anything about what she put in any paperwork,” I clarify.

“Well, it’s abundantly clear that you were her favorite. None of the rest of us got $200,000 to do with what we please,” Carlton replies sarcastically.

Tyler looks up from the paperwork he is studying. “Actually, that’s technically not true. First, there are some conditions on the gift to Heather and secondly, those four Arabian horses your grandma left for Madison are worth way more than $200,000. Their pedigree is spectacular. The stud fees she can generate could be enormous,” Ty explains.

Carlton flushes bright red as he practically screeches, “Oh well, that’s just great! She took care of everyone else and forgot about me. Wonderful. Being the oldest child sucks. I should have been cute and adorable like you two.”

Tyler interrupts him as he says, “Carlton, man. Pull yourself together. I think you got more than you think you did. You got ownership of all leasing and mineral rights on your land. That means when the government or the gas stations want to pull anything from your land, they have to ask you and you can charge them a fee. It doesn’t seem like much, but by the time you multiply it by the number of gallons of oil that could be removed, it adds up very quickly,” he explains.

“Oh, it makes much more sense that grandma would give me the business related ventures. The girls don’t really need that kind of stuff,” Carlton reasons.

“Geez, not you too,” Tyler comments shaking his head. “What do they do, put it in the Kool-Aid out here? I bet you that your sisters are every bit as competent as you are. But, this isn’t the time or place for that conversation.”

Madison looks up at Tyler, clearly startled to be included in the conversation. “Umm, I guess I should thank you for that. But, you should also know you’re probably never going to change his mind. I’ve been trying for years to no avail. It’s like talking to a brick wall. Thanks for trying though. I appreciate it. Things must be interesting between you and Heather because she’s as opinionated as you are,” she states with a small, knowing smile.

I wait to see what Tyler says. This could be enlightening.

Tyler grins at Madison as he replies, “It’s the thunder and lightning that makes a summer storm interesting. Otherwise, it just gets you wet.”

Madison winks at Tyler as she says, “You make a valid point.”