"Seriously?" Scott scratched his hair as he strolled into the living room, he was overwhelmed with fatigue and sleep, it was six a.m and he had been bombarded with news of his ex mother-in-laws' visit. He never got along with her especially since she refused to tell him where She actually was all these years. Her mother was a retired flight attendant, supposedly sophisticated and perfect in every way.
"Scott, you sound like a person who just learned their pup died, do I detect a hint of disappointment?" Miriam Jamison asked mildly.
"Uh no actually, it's more of a surprise." He scanned his living room, it needed a little sweeping, Mark's video games littered the coffee table along with empty candy wrappers, the fridge needed restocking and the living room arrangement needed to be sorted out.
"Oh believe me I'm not flying hundreds of miles to surprise you, I'm coming for my grandson, how is he?" She asked curtly.
"Good."
"How about his academic records in a nutshell? That backwater town of yours lacks good education facilities and a private school, that poor child lacks the opportunity to expand his horizon." Miriam told him dreadfully.
Yeah, if only the poor kid was smart enough to actually go to a private school.
"I did consider private boarding school, but you know Mark's a big softy for home and the ranch."
"Did you just call that ranch a home?" She laughed. Whenever Miriam laughed it was usually at the other person's expense or in his case. "I'll be there in six hours and don't tell him I'm on my way."
She hung up the phone and he sighed.
"Yo, what's for breakfast?" Mark right on time walked downstairs dragging his backpack sporting a wild hair.
"Good news buddy, Miriam is on her way so I guess you'll have to put yourself together in the next couple of days while she stays here."
"Grammy? Oh sweet, please tell me she's bringing presents, Gram's like the Santa before Christmas." Mark said gleefully.
"Yeah, you love each other, clean up your room and get rid of all this stuff before I toss it in the trash." Scott told him. "Unless you wanna prove to Santa that you've been on the naughty list."
"Whatever." Mark mumbled.
"What was that?"
"I mean yessir." Mark said dryly.
Once Mark was out to school via a worker who had to get spare parts in main street. Scott cleaned up the house, vacuumed, dusted, moped, waxed furniture, it was the most exhausting one hour of his life. Maybe he would consider hiring a maid.
He gathered the workers right in front of the house. He heard someone mumble if they were getting a raise or something.
"Listen up, Miriam Jamison, my mother in law will be visiting for a couple of days here at the ranch." He announced.
Cue the collective murmurs and grunts.
"So?" He heard Chloe ask of course. Some looked at her while she folded her arms with a smug look. He groaned.
"You know the drill, be on your best behavior, and avoid eye contact, meanwhile I found a butt load of cigarettes by the orchard, might I remind you that smoking isn't allowed during breaks, we don't wanna risk a fire, and if you are caught, well, there will be consequences. That is all, back to work."
They dispersed in groups. Easton stepped forward with a concerned look. "You okay?"
"Peachy, hey, no matter what I do, there's no pleasing her."
"Maybe she'll finally tell you where Quinn ran off to? Probably some rich bastard." Easton joked.
"I appreciate your concern East, but do not interfere in my private affairs such as this." He said.
Easton smiled and tipped his hat. "You're the boss."
He hurries off to the canteen after that.
"Wendy, I'm gonna need to borrow some food stuff, just run down whatever you'll need to my desk, Chloe grab these for me." He took a couple of vegetables, some salsa, beef from the pantry and handed them to Chloe who was not amused.
Wendy stared. "OK, do you need any help? I can make dinner for Mrs Jamison before she arrives."
"Simp." Chloe fake coughed. Wendy sent a death glare to her. "Ah, my throat does feel a little dry."
"I can't ask you to do that." He said.
"You don't have to, I really want to help." Wendy offered.
"OK, just for tonight and no more, so I guess I've got that covered up." He said greatfully.
"You know I use to have a great mother in-law, man I even joined her scrapbooking club to please her, baked muffins for her on Sundays, and you know the usual shit." Chloe said as they walked into the house. "Man, I cannot believe I was a people pleaser, feels great not to care about people's attention or their feelings."
"And how does this affect me?" He asked as he opened the fridge and loaded it up with grocery.
"You're scared of this lady aren't ya?" She bit into an apple casually.
"Hey, don't eat...nevermind." He groaned.
"Jeez, you're as stressed as a new born calf, cowboy." She sat on his worktop.
"And obviously you were the star daughter in law before Johnny law caught up with you." He said.
"The perfect wife, infact I could give you the best dinner tip to suck up to your MIL's heart." She strolled towards him.
"What are you doing?" He asked as she leaned in closer, he could smell her perfume plus a whiff of fried chicken on her. She reached out to grab the pen he had in his back pocket of his jeans. She grabbed a piece of post-it note on his fridge.
"Three course meal, one dessert surprise, her favorite bottle of non-alcoholic wine." She scribbled fast, he leaned behind her to read it. She handed the paper to him.
"This actually looks great, thanks." He said.
"Don't mention it. Seriously." She cleared her throat.
Maybe I would need Wendy's help after all, I was a terrible cook, which Mark never fails to tell me.
"Gotta get back to work." She tells me and strolls out.
"Wait, Chloe, I'm actually clueless about any of this, Miriam is big on table servings, and I don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen—"
"You want me to help you cook? No way man, I mean, the nerve, first me make me work in the kitchen, and now you want me to cook for your scary relative?"
"If you would let me finish, I was going to add a ten percent bonus on your paycheck."
"Like that makes it better."
"Are you seriously turning this into a sexist discussion. Fine, perhaps Wendy would like the offer after all, the only decent worker I have anyway." He turns to the window. He heard the kitchen door slam.