The man’s total lack of hospitality pissed Jake off royally, no doubt about it. But at the same time, he could grudgingly understand it. If he were Robin’s father, he’d want better for her, too. Only Lear was overlooking one very germane and fundamental fact—Jake loved Robin. Yet that couldn’t make up for his feeling so uncomfortable at Blue Cross Ranch.
First of all, the place was immaculate, more of a castle than a ranch house. It was huge, sprawling along the banks of the river, with room upon room for which he couldn’t imagine the possible uses. He’d never seen such rich furnishings in his life. Overstuffed leather chairs and couches, chandeliers suspended from longhorns in the ceiling, gold-plated fixtures everywhere. He was so nervous that Cole might break something he could not afford to replace that he dogged the poor kid, whispering at him not to touch, not to sit, not to do anything.
Robin’s sister Rebecca—a very pretty woman with a soft countenance—took pity on Cole and borrowed him away from Jake for a while to take him down to the stables. Cole was eager to see horses, but even more eager to escape Jake’s vigilant eye.
Which left Jake with Bonnie and Robin. They talked about the work on Robin’s house, about Jake’s efforts to earn a degree. He felt slightly embarrassed that he was, at thirty-eight, just now in school, but Bonnie seemed quite impressed by it and applauded him for his determination. Her praise stood in stark contrast to his own mother’s conviction that it was too late for him.
When Rebecca and Cole returned from the stable—Cole’s face upturned in a rare wreath of smiles (“You can touch the horses!”)— Bonnie announced they should prepare for dinner, which would be served in the south dining room at eight. Jake felt a moment of panic; but Robin quickly informed him that he needed only a collared shirt as she showed them to the guestrooms. Guest rooms. Adjoining rooms connected by a huge bath he and Cole would be sharing. “If that’s a problem, I can borrow one from Dad,” Robin said about the shirt.
Jake quickly threw up his hand. “That won’t be necessary.” That would never be necessary. He would die before borrowing anything from Aaron Lear, especially a shirt.
Robin looked at Cole and frowned slightly. “Do you have anything but T-shirts?”
Cole shook his head. “No. That’s all I got.”
“Come on,” she said and took him by the hand, led him down the huge corridor, disappearing in a room beneath a large portal window. When they returned, Cole was wearing a salmon-colored button-down shirt tucked into his oversized cargo pants. He looked ridiculous, like a mango stuffed atop a cantaloupe.
But Robin seemed awfully pleased with herself, and smiled admiringly at Cole. “There are a few things various guests have left behind. It’s a little big, but it will work, won’t it, Cole?”
He turned a mortified gaze to Jake.
“Be sure and wash your hands,” Robin blithely continued, then glanced at Jake. “You, too. I’ll see you downstairs,” she said and left them to finish dressing.
Jake and Cole looked at one another.
“It’s pink,” Cole said helplessly.
“I know,” Jake said, just as helplessly, and the two of them stared at each other in dismay.
Jake somehow convinced Cole he could stand to wear it this one time, made a mental note to get the kid a white button-down shirt as soon as possible for emergencies such as this. They worked on Cole’s cowlick for a time, but both of them finally conceded there was nothing to be done for it. Jake was wearing a black polo, tucked into a pair of off-white Levi’s, which he hoped wasn’t some dress code faux pas. The two of them proceeded nervously downstairs, careful not to touch anything.
They had to wander around a bit to find the south dining room, past huge rooms with even more leather furniture and thick rugs and rustic furnishings that looked as if they had walked straight out of a magazine. “We already came this way,” Cole complained once. Yes, Jake knew that, but he wasn’t about to admit he was lost. It was the sound of polite, distant voices that finally led them to the right place, and they entered the room like two wayward children.
The room was paneled in white, the windows hung with heavy floral chintz drapes that matched the upholstered chairs. The table had been laid with china, crystal goblets of varying sizes and shapes, mounds of silverware, and real, honest-to-God linen napkins. Bonnie, Rebecca, and Robin, all dressed in expensive-looking summer dresses, were milling about a sideboard where there looked to be appetizers of some sort. Mr. Lear was seated at the table wearing clothes that instantly reminded Jake of Slickpants (save the baseball cap), his shoulders slumped, staring at a veritable pharmacy lined up in front of his plate. He glanced up as Jake and Cole walked in, gave Jake a cold once-over, then looked again at the array of bottles, scowling mightily.
Feeling extremely out of place, Jake put his arm around Cole’s shoulders and nudged him forward.
“Look who’s here!” Bonnie sang happily, hurrying over. She stopped mid-stride to admire Cole first. “My, don’t you look handsome!”
Cole blushed furiously.