The best laid plans of men get sideswiped by women (whether they are full grown or pint-sized)~~ Dad’s maxim #17
“Where is she?” Cale muttered, taking one last look around the tack room. Saddles, harnesses, brushes, and other assorted tack hung on pegs, but no kid sister hid under the shelves or behind the rack of saddle blankets. He hurried out the door and nearly plowed into his just-younger brother, Luke.
“Did you find her?” Luke asked.
Cale pulled off his Cincinnati Reds baseball cap and ran his fingers through his sweaty, dark-blond hair. “Do I look like I did?” He pulled the cap onto his head and frowned.
They exchanged shrugs and quickly crossed each other’s paths in an effort to keep their parents’ departure on track. The sooner Mom and Dad left, the sooner Cale could enjoy life as “king of the roost.” He checked the castle-shaped playhouse for the third time. Still no sign of the “princess.”
Maybe they found her and she’s in the house.
He bolted across the yard, only slowing to enter their white clapboard ranch-style home. He stopped at the doorway of his parents’ room to catch his breath.
Dad came up the hallway behind him, arching an eyebrow. Cale shook his head at his father’s unasked question, then followed him into the master bedroom.
“Carrie, don't panic,” Dad said, touching Mom’s elbow. “I’m sure we’ll find her soon.”
Mom raised a finger to her lips. Then she smiled and pointed to a pile of shirts and jeans lying haphazardly in the corner by the oak rocking chair. Those very same clothes had been neatly packed in Dad’s luggage last night.
She turned and nodded at the green Army duffel bag on their bed. When it wiggled, Cale realized the object of their frenzied twenty-minute search had been located.
Dad barked the young stowaway’s name. “Brandi L’rie Ryder! Of all the …”
Mom intercepted his path to their bed. “Shush, Wade, you’ll scare her.” Mom stood the bag on one end and pulled the thick green duffle down to reveal the fugitive.
Brandi’s straight brown hair spiked out of the braids Mom had fixed not an hour before. When Dad’s angry blue eyes locked on Brandi’s hazel ones, Cale saw the gears in her head turn to her always-accessible Plan B: tears.
In an instant, the hesitant grin morphed into a pout and Brandi’s eyes filled. She reached for Mom as teardrops cascaded down her cheeks.
The fierce look on Dad’s face changed to one of bewilderment as fast as the waterworks had begun.
Cale stopped himself before he laughed out loud, not wanting to catch the fallout of such a boneheaded response.
He had once seen Dad take on a bear without flinching, so it never ceased to amaze Cale how one four-year-old girl could make their gorilla-sized dad seem like a kicked puppy when she set her mind to it.
When her tears continued without a sign of stopping, Dad softened and swept the tiny girl up in his arms. “What are we gonna do with you, Princess?”
Brandi didn’t miss a beat. The tears dried quicker than spit on a hot griddle. She pointed to her own bright pink suitcase covered with silver stars waiting in the corner. “Take me wif you. I’m all packed.”
“I can’t leave her, Wade.” Mom covered her face with her hand and shook her head. “I … just … can’t.”
Cale tried not to groan. Aw, man, “the princess” is gonna torpedo all my plans.
YOU ARE READING
Ryding Through Troubled Waters
General Fiction19 year-old Cale Ryder is forced onto the fast track to fatherhood when his parents come home from their second honeymoon in caskets. Along with the family ranch, Cale inherits his 3 teenage brothers and his kid sister, Brandi, AKA "the princess."...
