Work is the last thing I want to talk about.
The table is full and loud. Mac and Graham are arguing as usual. Fig and Lemon are discussing the dress Fig is planning to wear to some school dance. Bartlett is staring at his new bride, Abby.
Plum is looking at her grandpa Red like he’s the greatest man on earth which, well, in her eyes, he is. Rueben, Plum’s dad, is in the other room on a call and I'm wondering what that's all about, but I'm not rude enough to ask. Even though everyone at this table thinks I've turned into an asshole.
But there's all different kinds of assholes. Me? I'm just rubbing everyone the wrong way. It doesn't mean I don't know how to be polite.
And I hope it means Reuben is talking to some woman. God knows he deserves to be happy after the hell he and Plum have gone through.
Mom nudges me. “How are you doing? I tried calling this week and never heard back. You busy with work?”
“Work is going fine, Mom.”
“Is it?” she asks, taking a bite of her green salad. “Because your father said things haven’t been going so great at the lodge build site.”
I scowl, feeling like shit for bringing trouble to my mother’s life. That’s the last thing she needs. “Well, you don’t need to worry, Mom. It’s all good.”
“Since when have you fought with the newer guys on the crew?” Mom presses. “Used to keep to yourself if you were unhappy, now you seem set on making everyone around you miserable.”
“Annie,” Dad says softly from across the table. He never has to speak loudly to get her attention. I swear they have a secret language. “Maybe we should have a family meeting if we are going to gothere.”
Mom nods. “You’re right, Red. We should. We all need to clear the air. I only see Rye once a week. When else am I supposed to talk to him? God knows he won't come over any other time unless it’s a family obligation.”
Across the table I hear Lemon scoff. “Yeah, when you don’t come around, it means we pick up your slack.”
I run a hand over my beard, annoyed at the sudden shift in conversation. “Point taken, Lemon. Anyone else have something they wanna say? Family meeting can begin. Say whatever you want.”
All our lives, if there was something that needed to be said, my parents let us go for it—they preferred us talking it out, even if it felt harsh, rather than leaving things to simmer under the surface.
Unfortunately, right now, everything I feel inside is about ready to boil over.
“Yeah, matter of fact I do have a few more things to say to you,” Lemon tosses back, sour as ever. “Why are you so mad at us? What did we do to you?”
I balk looking at her, unable to answer. If I do, it will only make this worse. But me keeping my mouth shut pisses her off something fierce.
She rolls her eyes. We've always been fire and ice, oil and vinegar.
This is no exception.
Mac clears his throat, not meeting my eyes. “Dad needs you on the crew, Rye, with your head on straight. He counts on you. And you’re making things hard for us at work. The guys were mad on Friday with you hollering about—”
“Hey,” Bartlett says, cutting Mac off, always the peacemaker. “We don't need to do this. I'm sure Rye is just having a rough time, but everything will work out. Let's just eat this amazing food Mom made—”
Graham chuckles. As the brother who's right in the middle, he always seems to find situations funny even when they should be taken more seriously.
“What are you laughing about?” Mac asks him.
Graham groans. “I just think it's funny. Bartlett always wants to put Rye in his place. But Bart's not the oldest. Rye is.”
Mac drops his fork. “Well, if Rye wants to be the oldest, why doesn't he start acting like it?”
“Hey,” Reuben says, off his phone call, stepping in and taking Plum’s hand. “We’re going to take Hijinx out for a walk, that okay, Abby?”
Abby looks over and smiles at Reuben. “Sounds good. Thanks, Plum.”
The adults in the room understand that Reuben is doing his fatherly duty of getting his daughter out of this grown-up conversation, which is really more of a fight.
Part of me wishes Reuben would stay. He's the brother who’s usually on my side. But he always puts his daughter first. Because he's a Rough. He knows what really matters—family.