Chapter 6
Henri took the next day to spend it how he wanted. It wasn’t to talk to family and friends, getting far more than enough of that the day before. All he had really wanted to do was take a nice long ride on a horse that he was familiar with and just go.
He started out early in the morning as the sun was coming up. It was his favorite time of the day. It was still cool enough to be comfortable. Henri was miles away from the ranch before he slowed the horse down enough to take in the streaks of pinks and oranges transforming the sky. There was nowhere else he would rather be than right there where he was, mind wandering to the weekend’s events and his date.
The thought of Mary made him smile and there was more to seeing her than he realized. It had become more in his mind because she was all he could think about the last couple of days. Henri was sure that it would wear off, like many new and good feelings do. She hadn’t even known it was him the night before on the phone and the very fact had shattered his self-esteem a bit. Henri had been out of the game for some time and even though he should have been focused on the beautiful moment he was in, he couldn’t help but think of the what-ifs instead.
Taking the long way home, Henri was happy to see all of his brothers together. It had been a long time since that had happened and though the subject of the conversation was always the same. The women they talked about were different now. Everyone had a wife except for Scott and Henri. There was an unseen and unheard pressure to change their ways and do what the other three had done.
“I still can’t believe you went down to South America and didn’t bring back a woman.”
Henri shrugged and didn’t say much. Marcel was taunting him and there was no use in making a case for trying to find a woman in those circumstances. Most of them couldn’t speak any English and his sheer size scared the rest. Henri had failed, but not all of it was from lack of trying on his part.
“It’s not as easy as you think.”
“Maybe not for you.” Marcel started laughing. He was one of the first to go down the path of wedding bliss and it looked good on him. Henri had never felt jealous of them for many reasons, but it was hard not to when they looked at him like that.
“We all can’t find our dream girl by accident.” As soon as Henri said it, he wondered if he actually could. Is that how it worked and was he in the midst of it and didn’t even know it?
“You need to spend more time with women and less time with the cows and I am sure it would happen.” Scott laughed a little at his own joke and Henri just looked at him like he was stupid.
Henri stood up and went to rinse the cup out to put it in the dishwasher. Every conversation the brothers had through the years, always turned into what it was now and Henri was not in the mood for the flexing contest. Instead of staying around the kitchen and gabbing, he went out front to get started on what the brothers were all together for in the first place. Gemma was going to be getting married in just a couple of days and they had all decided to make her something for her. While Marcel had wanted to build her a house, everyone else balked at the idea. Their sister did not want to live on the ranch. She had made that clear when she moved out a year before.
Paul and Scott wanted to get the couple a vacation, but in the end, Elna had suggested that they make her a greenhouse at the ranch. “So she can come and go when she wants, but come back more to water the plants.” It was a perfect example of the matriarchs say in the family and way that she tried to change the outcome with a little nudge here and there. So the men were doing as they were told, as they had so many times before.
It was supposed to be a small project but once Marcel got his hands on it, they were now building a greenhouse that she could live in as well. He liked construction far too much, more than the others, but like their mother’s ‘suggestion’ most were all just along for the ride.
“Hey, why isn’t Gemma’s fiancée here?” Scott thought that he should help as well.
“They have wedding stuff to take care of. This is just going to be our thing. Now stop whining Scott. I’ve see how you work and a few hours of honest work isn’t going to hurt you.”
Scott scowled, but several others chuckled. “You know what they say. The one who complains the most, does the least.”
“All I wanted to do was get her a damn ticket to an island somewhere, not this. So yeah, I am bitching.” Scott tried not to sound defensive, but he couldn’t help it. The last thing he wanted to do was work out in the hot sun for the next couple of days. Henri agreed with him, but he never made a fuss like Scott did. Marcel was done hearing the whining and wanted to get started with the project.
***
The project as it was called, no longer able to even call it a greenhouse anymore, was coming along fine and it had done the favor of helping Henri to stop thinking so much about Mary. It helped also that they were behind schedule and Marcel wanted it done before the wedding. Gemma had been up to the ranch a couple of times because Elna had stayed in town for the wedding, but the project was far enough away that she didn’t see it.
As the last day of construction was over, Henri got a call from Gemma to get back to the house. “I will be there in a minute Gemma. What’s up?” It didn’t matter, anything to get a moment of breeze on the back of the horse in the sun, but he did need an excuse when he bowed out of finishing work.
“You have someone here to see you. Henri, she is adorable.”
Henri smiled to himself, not needing to be told what he already knew. There was something about the woman that had drawn him in when she had first bumped into him at the airport. It had felt like destiny and the way his heart was beating harder in his chest told him that it was so. “Yeah she is. Tell Mary I will be there in a little while. Few minutes.”
“Okay, I will. So is she the one that you were going to call?” Gemma knew somehow that she was, but she wanted to hear Henri admit it.
“Yeah.”
“I knew it. Well I will get off of here so you can stop doing whatever it is you guys have been doing out there with all of your secrets. It’s not nice to leave me out of it.”
“Don’t act like you haven’t made someone tell you what we are doing. I know you better than that Gemma.”
She tried to sound innocent, but it was hard to do. Gemma had a pretty good idea of what was going on, but she didn’t admit to it. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
He just gave her a sound and then moved back to his horse. Hanging up with Gemma, he made his way back to the ranch after telling the guys his excuse. Everyone was hot and him leaving didn’t go over too well. Henri rode hard, loving the wind and he was there before he knew it. The ranch came in view and then the porch. Mary was sitting on the porch waiting for him and Henri could feel the excitement back inside of him. As he got off his horse and slid down to the ground, he saw the change in her eyes.