Chapter Eighteen
Sloan
It felt bittersweet to me when I was packing up that day. It was Friday afternoon and another week had officially come to a close. I wasn’t sure how I felt about going back home to New York. Part of me felt excited, and part of me felt sad. I’d gotten used to the lifestyle here. The early mornings. The rides on the horses. The long strolls along the quiet streets. I’d even miss the people, who were nothing like the hillbillies Victoria and I had assumed they would be. They were all kind and caring, and everyone seemed to go out of their way for one another. At first, I thought that they were just being nice because I was famous. But then I realized being nice was just in their nature. They were nice to one another, as well as to the film crew.
I saw Brady and his brother in the distance and thought I’d go and say goodbye for the day. I hadn’t seen much of Brady this week. We’d been shooting nonstop, and there hadn’t been much time to socialize. And I didn’t see him as much in between takes because he was mostly with Ryan. We spoke every now and again, but it was always different when it wasn’t just the two of us.
“Hey guys,” I said as I got there. The two of them were sitting on hay bales, and for a second the whole thing struck me as funny. “You both look like cowboys. Even you, Ryan,” I said.
Ryan chuckled. “This is what happens when you hang around Brady for too long. You start acting like him.”
“Tell me about it,” I said and grinned. “Well, I just wanted to say goodbye. It’s been a long week. How much longer are you here for, Ryan?”
“Tonight is my last night.”
“It is? Well, it was a pleasure meeting you. Pity I couldn’t have gotten you aside so you to tell me more about Brady.”
“Nah, Ryan wouldn’t have told you anything. He’s got my back,” Brady said.
Ryan laughed. “No, I don’t. One beer is probably all it would take. Hey, are you free tonight?”
“Tonight? Yeah. Why?”
“Come over to Brady’s place. We’ll have dinner. It’s my last night, and it’s not every day I get the chance to hang around someone famous.”
I chuckled. I looked at Brady, and he smiled and nodded.
I smiled back. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be there. But only if we can have steaks on the outdoor grill.”
“Deal,” Brady said.
I walked away grinning to myself. I hadn’t expected an evening with Brady. And hopefully Ryan would shed some light on some of the things that I found so confusing about him.
My driver dropped me off for dinner early.
“You’re early,” Ryan said as he reached over to kiss me on the cheek.
I grinned. “Yeah, I have to get here early,” I said as I snuck a look at Brady and then back at Ryan. “I once got to my riding lesson late and Brady sent me back to the hotel and told me to come back the next day.”
“What? You didn’t do that! Did you?” he asked his brother as we all made our way outside.
“She was two hours late and wearing a dress for horseback riding!”
“Still. To send her back and make her come back the next day? That’s awful.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Brady, you didn’t tell me your brother was so nice.”
“He’s not!” he said and laughed. “Red wine?” he said to me.
“I’d love some. Thank you.”
I sat back and sighed as I looked out at the wide open space. “You know, I’m going to miss this,” I said.
“You are?” Ryan said.
“You seem surprised.”
“Well, I just can’t imagine going from a place like New York to here. As much as I love it here, I’m not sure I could live here.”
“It’s not for everyone, that’s for sure,” Brady said. “But some people just fall in love with it.”
“Have you fallen in love with it?” Ryan asked.
I looked out again. “I’m not sure. But it has messed with my head a little.”
“So, how did the shoot go this week, by the way?” Ryan asked.
“It went well. Everyone is finally in the groove of this place. I think it took us quite a while to find our feet. Some more than others even. But we’re getting there. I think the movie is going to be amazing. We got this incredible sunset shot the other day. I have a feeling that’s the scene everyone is going to be talking about. I hope so at least.”
“That’s cool. And . . . uh, what about Blaire? She also enjoying herself?”
I chuckled to myself. I hadn’t known Blaire until we’d gotten to Wyoming. She was just a small role in the movie, so I didn’t get a chance to hang out with her all that much. But the more time we spent together, the more I liked her. She was a sweet girl. Very pretty, but normal-looking. Her best feature was most definitely her smile, which she seemed to offer easily to the world. I’d caught her and Ryan talking one day, and I got the sense that he liked her. But so far, neither of them had said anything about it.
“Blaire? She’s having a great time. But she’s the type of girl that always sees the best in everything. It’s a great trait to have. She’s a nice girl. I saw the two of you talking the other day.”
“Oh, yeah. I tried to meet everyone. Like I said, it’s not every day that you get to meet celebrities.”
“You should’ve invited her tonight,” I said. I wished I thought of it myself.
“Oh, I heard her saying that she had a dinner thing with the producer or something.”
“Oh yeah, I heard about that. Sounds boring. Pity. She would’ve enjoyed it here way more.”
“Yeah, pity,” Ryan said.
“Why, are you interested in her?” Brady said.
“No!” Ryan said almost a little too loudly. “She was just very friendly. That’s all. Anyway, stick to cooking the meat, big brother.”
Brady laughed. “You see what I have to put up with, Sloan? Now imagine growing up with a guy like this. Constant ripping me off.”
“Ha! You’re the one that’s older than me. It was me who got teased all the time. You should feel sorry for me, Sloan.”
I chuckled. In the short time that I had known Brady, I had come to know that it wasn’t easy for him to feel comfortable around people. But with Ryan, it was different.
“I wish I had a sibling. I’d take the teasing any day.”
“Oh yeah? Well, you can be my sister then,” Ryan said.
“Don’t do it, Sloan. You’re in for a world of pain if you do.”
I chuckled. “I’m sure I can handle it.”
“Well then, welcome to the family, sis.”
“It’s a pleasure to be here, bro. Ooh, I just realized that I now have an MMA fighter for a brother. I like this. You can beat up anyone that gives me grief.”
“Would you like me to beat up Brady? He’s taking too long with the food. I’m starving.”
“You’re in luck. The food is ready.”
We all sat around outside, eating the food that Brady had prepared. It was the same steak, salad, and fresh rolls that he’d made the last time I’d come over. He’d told me that it was really the only thing that he could cook well. But I didn’t mind. It was delicious. And Ryan was easy to talk to. He spent a lot of time talking about the fights and the training that he did for it, and Brady kept telling him to talk about something else. But I was interested and kept asking questions. Meeting Brady and Ryan had opened up two completely different worlds to me that I hadn’t known before. It made me realize how small minded I had been the past few years, and how much I’d lacked social interaction with different people.
“This was delicious; thanks, Brady,” I said.
“Yeah man, so good,” Ryan agreed. He couldn’t tease his brother about the food; there was simply nothing to tease about.
“Let me clean up,” Brady said and stood up.
“I’ll help,” I said.
“No, you will not. And Ryan, you won’t either.”
“I wasn’t going to,” Ryan said and laughed.
“Honestly Sloan, you’re my guest. I won’t take long, anyway. And I’ll bring out some coffees when I’m done.”
He walked off carrying all the plates, and I smiled at Ryan.
“He’s such a nice guy.”
“He is. I’m glad he’s had you to talk to these past few weeks,” he said. His voice went low, and I knew he didn’t want Brady to hear the conversation. “Between you and me, Brady isn’t the type of guy to bring a woman home. In fact, I’ve never met a girl before that Brady has spoken of as highly of as you. I was starting to think there was something wrong with him. In all the time we’ve known each other, I’ve never seen him with a girl. I mean, I know he’s had girlfriends and all, but he’s never introduced me to them.”
I sat back in surprise. I was the first girl that he’d allowed his brother to meet? That was quite something. I wondered what that meant. Perhaps he liked me more than he was letting on? Or maybe he didn’t mind getting close because he knew that I would be leaving soon.
“We’re so totally different, but we connect in some way that I just . . . I can’t explain.”
“Yeah, I can see that, actually. Although, something tells me that beyond the exterior, the two of you might not be so different after all. Now that I’ve gotten to know you, I think you’re very different from the girl that I met the first time.”
“Yeah, Brady said the same thing to me. Maybe I am,” I said and pondered the thought. Then I leaned into him, “Other than you and Grant though, he’s quite tight-lipped about your family.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all. He’s a man of few words, our Brady. Has he said anything to you about our father?”
“Nothing much, other than the fact that he works at a motorcycle shop and is part of some club or something. But that’s about it.”
“Really? Nothing else?”
“No, why?”
“Well, he’s just gone through a bout of cancer. He’s been in treatment and he’s better, but it was still a pretty big deal. Not that my father ever let it show, of course. But I knew how hard it was for him.”
“No, he didn’t say anything. Is Brady close to him?”
Ryan shook his head. “Not at all. Brady hasn’t spoken to him in years as far as I know. Even with this whole cancer thing.”
“What? Why not?”
“Well—“
But before Ryan could finish the conversation, Brady walked in. He looked at the two of us and shook his head.
“The two of you look like you’re up to no good. Ryan, I hope you haven’t been filling up her head with lies.”
“Me? I’d never do such a thing,” Ryan said and grinned.
I smiled and gratefully took the cup of coffee. The conversation changed into something more lighthearted, but the whole time I couldn’t stop thinking about what Ryan had said to me. Brady’s father had cancer? Why would Brady not visit his father if he was so ill? Why hadn’t he seen him for years? There was something that Brady wasn’t telling me. Something that he obviously didn’t tell anyone.