Chapter 3

“What do you have there, lil cub?” All of a sudden Ryker’s voice broke her reverie.

 “None of your business Ryker,” Caly said startled, trying to close the lid of the jewelry box and put the note away quickly. Before she could get it put away, Garrett snatched the note from her hand and ran to the other side of the kitchen. “Give it back to me Garrett, I mean it! It’s not yours! I’m serious! Give it to me!” She hollered at him and chased after him, he ran around the island in the middle of the kitchen as Caly desperately tried to take the note from him, but he held it aloft above her head. 

“Here, read it,” he said to Ryker as he ran past him.

“Ryker, no don’t --”

 “Here is a rose, for the prettiest girl I know, ---” Ryker began. 

 “What is going on here!” bellowed Gavin Everwood from the doorway. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks as silence filled the room. “I ask again, what is going on here?” he said in a lower tone. All of a sudden everyone began to speak at once. “Quiet! One at a time! Ryker, hand over what you have there, son.” 

 “Yes, sir,” he responded promptly, and walked over to Gavin handing him the note. Gavin began to read it, then immediately yelled for his wife. “Cecily! I need you now.” Cecily had just finished wrapping Calypso’s gift when she heard her husband holler for her from the kitchen. Oh no, what has happened, she wondered worriedly and quickly headed towards the kitchen. She rushed into the kitchen pushing past her husband who was blocking the entrance with his large frame, “What is happening? Is everyone ok?” Across the kitchen, Eli was standing next to the breakfast nook looking angry and confused all at once. Ardie was sitting at the table drinking his milk. Garrett was near the island in the middle of the kitchen staring at his feet looking guilty, and Ryker was next to Gavin in the same exact stance as Garrett. Calypso was standing next to him, face beet red, looking mortified and as if she was about to cry. All of a sudden, she bursts into tears, pushed Ryker out of the way and ran up the stairs to her room. Every single face in the kitchen looked contrite and chagrined. “Here,” --Gavin said quietly as he handed her the note-- “you need to handle this one.” Cecily reads the note and her heart hurts for her daughter’s sensitive situation. She looks up at the kids, “Really, boys? It’s her birthday. Did you really have to behave that way?” she said chastising them, already coming to her own conclusions about the situation.

 “We’re sorry mom,” Garrett replied.

 “Sorry, Mrs. Everwood,” responded Ryker.

 “Well, I didn’t do anything,”-- Eli quipped,-- “come on Ardie, I’ll take you outside and we can go find Mr. Tate and see the horses.”

“Horseys!” Ardie squealed.

“If that is ok with you mom?” He questioned.

 “Yes, go ahead, as long as you weren’t a part of this?”

 “I wasn’t, I promise.”

 “Way to throw us under the bus Eli,” Garrett shot off.

 “Y'all did that all on your own, didn’t need my help.”

His mom watched as he took Ardie’s hand, and they both walked out the back door of the kitchen. She spun around and stared daggers at Ryker and Garrett. “I’m not the one you need to apologize to.” 

“Stay here, do not go anywhere, I will be back shortly to deal with you two. Right now, I have to go upstairs and comfort a little girl whose older brother and his best friend made her cry on her twelfth birthday. You know how special this day is for a cub, this is a very difficult time for a twelve-year-old girl as well, not to mention her embarrassment about her first crush.”

“Ok mom, we understand, and we are very sorry. Please go and check on Caly,” responded Garrett feeling terrible, he watched as his mom left the kitchen and went to go check on Caly.

Just then, Eli came back through the kitchen door from outside and said angrily, “That was pretty crappy of ya’ll to do that to her!”

“We were just messing around with her, dude. We didn’t think she would get that upset about it. She’s only twelve and shouldn’t be thinking about boys anyways,” Garrett reasoned.

“Yeah, well, she really likes Travis, and he is just now getting the nerves to let her know he likes her too,” Eli responded, both angered and annoyed.

“And you’re ok with your best friend liking our little sister?”

“Yeah, I am! He's just a year older than her, and all I want is for her to be happy. You should want that too! She’s twelve, it’s normal for her to start thinking about and liking boys. I’d rather it be my best friend, than some Tom, Dick or Harry that we don’t know from another pack.”

“Well, I’m not ok with it! She shouldn’t be thinking about boys! I would never be ok with her liking my best friend and him liking her. That is just asking for drama and problems, and it makes things way too complicated. Come on Ryker, let’s go find that little punk and tell him he’s not allowed to like Caly,” Garrett said as he and Ryker headed towards the back door.