Chapter 12

                                    

                                          
CLEMMY

                          
Tonight I was supposed to be accompanying Patrick to Coach Perkin’s wake, but after everything that happened yesterday, that was the last place I wanted to be. Patrick text me non-stop last night, trying to apologize and tell me that he was just trying to protect the two of us, but I’m just not sure how I feel about what he is saying yet. This morning he called me while I was at work to make plans for tonight and I had to let him know I thought it was best if he went alone.

                          
He didn’t understand and even though he was trying to be calm in his responses to me, I could tell that he was really frustrated. He wants me to give him a straight answer as to what is going on with us, but I can’t do that. Rather than going to the wake, Vivi and I are heading down to my parent’s place for dinner. As expected, I’ve also been fielding calls from Mom. Although her words for Robbie were not near as harsh, she has never shied away from her opinion and certainly isn’t starting now.

                          
Port Ranch is still the place I call home even though I don’t live here anymore. Some years back, my cousins Jace and Deacon purchased the adjoining ranch in which they named the Alexander Ranch and it, in essence, doubled what my family owns. My dad, Mitch, and uncle, Granger run the Port Ranch side, and Deacon and Jace run the other side, but as a family, it is worked on together.

                          
Most of my family lives here too. The big house is the main ranch house that my great-great-great...something greats grandpa built. It has been renovated over time and is not a three story structure that lives up to the name the big house. My grandpa and grandma lived here until about a year ago when they moved in Granger and Britt. Grandpa Brian had to undergo knee surgery and Grandma Tracey’s back was really hurting her and it just wasn’t do-able for them to go up two flights of stairs each time they needed to go to their living space.

                          
My cousin Lyle and his wife Harlow still live on the second floor with their kids Lacey and Luca. Lacey was the girl that Harlow was pregnant with the same time I was pregnant with Vivi. The girls are part of their own little girl squad, much like their moms, I guess. Luca is two years old and pretty much his daddy’s twin.

                          
The third floor is mostly used for guest rooms now. When Graham and Prue come home, they typically stay there instead of with their parents. 

                          
There is another house that Aunt Britt lived in with her first husband, Max, and raised Jace and Deacon there. When Jace and Deacon purchased the new ranch, they ended up moving over there with their families. When Iris turned 18, she convinced her mom to let her move up there and once Laney finishes high school this Spring, she intends to move in with Iris.

                          
I drive past those homes and all the ranch buildings until I get to the manmade lake where my parents live. My brother Porter is out front with Landon doing whatever the two of them do. I turn off my car and the boys are already opening the backseat to get Vivi out. One thing I will never get tired of is just how loving and protective all of the boys and men in my family are with the kids.

                          
 I think the type of alpha men that exist in my family often get stereotyped as too manly to be involved with the kids, that certainly is none of the guys I know. All of us girls were raised in this way and I can’t see any of us ever falling in love with a man that isn’t as involved as our dads, uncles, cousins, and siblings.

                          
“Hey, guys.” 

                          
“Thought you had plans tonight,” Porter comments with his style of attitude.

                          
“Yeah, well, men suck so I’m here instead. Have a problem with that?”

                          
“Don’t mind him, Clemmy,” Landon tosses his arm around my shoulder, “Porter just found out today that he’s failing Algebra and he’s afraid your mom is going to get the call soon and his ass is going to get whooped.”