Dirty Sweet Cowboy

“Hey, Simone,” I say through a forced smile. She flashes her thousand-watt one back at me, and I can’t help but notice she’s dressing more and more like Parrish. I’m starting to wonder if she’s stealing clothes from her instead of my sister and just forcing them to fit .

“Hey, you,” Simon says with a wink. “Your mother just told me that she’s planning a huge party for the opening of the new stables. Could I interest you in being my date ?”

Oh, no. No. No, no, no, no, no. Go away please .

“That’s a kind offer, Simone, but I don’t think I’d make a very good date. I’ll be super busy that night, chatting with possible investors and showing people around. You may want to ask around for someone that will be able to be a little more attentive .”

She pokes me playfully in the chest, and I feel my face start to reflect my annoyance, so I have to stamp it back down .

“Silly boy, I don’t mind if you’re busy. I just want to be the woman on your arm that night when you walk in, looking all handsome in your suit,” she says in a sing-song voice. A cringe starts to creep up .

“It won’t be that kind of party, Simone. You seriously may want to talk to one of the guys in town. I’m sure any of them would be more than happy to escort you.” I look at my watch. “Holy hell, would you look at the time? I need to get in there and check out the… uh… floors! But hey, there is Sid! I’m sure he’d love to give you some more quotes about the progress as of today .”

Before she can answer, I run into the stable and shut the door behind me. Parrish and my father look at me like I’m crazy .

“What’s wrong? Did you see a ghost?” my father asks without really look at me. He and Parrish are distracted by the extremely-expensive sliding stable doors, which they are staring at with matching levels of frustration .

I walk up to them and try to figure out what the problem is. “Nothing is wrong with me. What’s going on here? You both looked… pissed .”

Dad scowls at my choice of words, but Parrish just shakes her head. “They don’t fit. The keep sliding open on their own and I can see daylight through the edges. How the hell did this happen?” She kicks the wall and we all watch in frustration as the stable door slides open, just like she said .

I pull a tape measure out of my back pocket and check to see how much of a gap there is between the wall and the door. Then I measure the tilt of the frame. Everything is off. It’s only a few centimeters, but it’s enough to cause a big problem .

“Is it all of them? Or just this one?” I ask .

“All of them,” Parrish growls .

I sigh and rub my forehead. “Well, it’s not the doors. They are pre-measured by artisan craftsmen. But the only way that I can confirm that the frame of the walls is off is by having them pull out the doors .”

Parrish stalks off in the direction of Sid and his guys with a look on her face that says she is ready to scream. Dad just shakes his head. “You know, before we started this project, I thought she was tough. But running this build has turned her into a stone-cold killer. I pity those boys .”

And within seconds, we hear not Parrish yelling, but Sid furiously apologizing. Parrish’s voice has barely raised above a whisper, but Sid looks like he has seen a ghost, and like he might puke, simultaneously. Before Dad or I can register what is going on, Sid and all of the guys that work for him are outside of the stable, working double-time to pull out the doors so I can take the measurements. I’m actually flinching as I confirm that it’s the frame of the stable that is off, and not the doors. I turn around to tell Parrish, but I can tell that she already knows, because her eyes are flaming .

“How. Do. We. Fix. It?” Each word almost sounds like a treat. I can see Sid pacing nervously behind me .

“It’s fine. Seriously. We can add to and reinforce the frame, then reset the stable doors and reinforce them . In fact, Sid doesn’t even have to do it. I can do it. It’s really basic stuff, so they can keep working on the finishing touches on the rest of the stable, and I can cover this. All they have to do is pull the doors for me so I can work on it .”

Parrish’s face visibly relaxes, but she shoots Sid a scowl for good measure. “Are you sure? You don’t have anything else you need to be doing ?”

I shrug. “I mean, you can help me if you want to. I wouldn’t say no .”

Parrish laughs and looks at her phone. “So, I’m a builder now too? Fine, I’ll help. But I only have a few hours before I have to pick up Gracie .”

I nod and call over to Sid. “Okay, fellas. You get moving on finishing the interior stall doors. Dad, you check in with the electrician about the floors and make sure everything is running there. Parrish and I will start fixing the frames. And where the hell is Anna? She could be doing something, couldn’t she ?”

Sid clears his throat nervously and looks down at his feet. “I think she’s still asleep. We were out, um, late last night.” Parrish chuckles, and my father and I shoot Sid twin withering glares. I pull my phone out .

“Well, Sid , I guess I will just have to call her and wake her up. Maybe you should get to work, Sid .” My tone is obvious and he runs off. Privately, I’m enjoying having so much power over a guy that was older than me when we were in school and was kind of a jerk. But Parrish pokes me in the side .

“You can give him shit for messing up the build, but don’t hassle him about Anna. They really like each other, and if you scare him off, Anna is going to murder you in your sleep .”

I scowl. “Fine. But I’m not apologizing. Let him be scared for a while .”

Parrish rolls her eyes. “Fine. But you can deal with your sister when she finds out you’ve been hassling him. Now, can we get started on this damn frame ?”

* * *