Chapter Two
Olivia
Isaac’s hot! I can’t believe we have never met. I’ve been working here for a couple of years and have never met him. I’ve seen pictures of him around the house, but the man’s changed. I’ll ride Autumn for a while, ever since she injured her leg, she’s been a bit nervous about riding. Gareth, the vet said that I just need to give her time, but I can’t help myself. I hate seeing her this way. Especially when she was so vibrant before the injury.
I smile as I think about the way he was looking at me. Then again, Isaac’s out of my league. I’m penniless, which is why I’m working and living on Neil’s ranch. I never used to be when both of my parents had jobs working on the ranch. Things were just great on the surface. But Dad couldn’t stop drinking. One sip and he took to it like a duck to water.
If Dad hadn’t insisted on driving home after the party that night and ran his Mercedes off a bridge into a river thirty feet deep, then he would still be alive. However, I’m sure his drinking had become so bad he couldn’t function at work. I just hadn’t seen the signs. I was too caught up in thinking about going to college. Then again, that became a distant dream when I found out that my college fund was only something that dad talked about, but never set-up.
I turn around as I walk away, but Neil and Isaac are in a heated discussion. I found myself speechless in his presence. I wanted to say something, but then my mouth was shut firmly, and all I could do was think about his emerald eyes and dark hair. His features are the complete opposite of Neil’s, who has dark hair, but matching eyes. Maybe Isaac will stay for lunch, and I’ll get to know him better.
I love the ranch, especially the stables. The smell of hay and horses seems to have gotten in my blood. The barn with its arched entrance and wide lane down the center makes me feel the way I do when walking into a church. I get a spiritual boost.
Gee, I love Autumn, the chestnut colored mare that Neil gave me. She tosses her head up and down when she spots me. It’s her way of greeting me. My hand immediately goes to her forehead to scratch her. After a brief hug and a kiss on her nose I enter her stall, taking a brush and comb to her long mane. God, being around horses is one of the reasons I love the ranch. I think I like horses better than people.
As much as I’m trying to focus on Autumn, my mind keeps drifting to Isaac. I hope I get to know him better. I shake my head. Stop with your silly daydreaming. I quickly finish my rounds in the stables as I want to hurry back home, get changed and see if Isaac’s still around. I feel like a little school girl with a major crush on someone that I’ve just met. But there’s something about him, which intrigues me. Maybe if he stays for lunch, then I can talk to him about spending more time with Neil. I think that he misses his family, sometimes he just stands in the hall looking at their pictures, and Isaac is his only living relative.
“Okay, Autumn, you’ve had your brushing, and you’re good for the day.” I hug her neck as she bends it to look at me with her big brown eyes. “I hate to leave you,” I look at my watch and realize that it’s nearly lunch time. It’s amazing how time goes so quickly when you’re having fun and dreaming about your boss’s grandson.
“Autumn, I need to get going. I’ll catch up with you later.” I smile and leave her to wash my hands. I wonder if she does understand everything I say. Maybe Neil’s right, that we’re like sisters that were separated at birth, but there’s just one problem. She’s a horse, and I’m not. I laugh at his observation, and then I sigh as I think about leaving the stables. I know the real reason that I’m going to see Isaac isn’t so much because he’s lonely, but I am at the best of times. I walk across the manicured lawn to the back door of the house, thinking about the rest of the ranch hands, they think that because I live in the same house as Neil that we’re sleeping together. We have separate rooms, and Neil’s never treated me as more than anything but the daughter that he never had. This is the problem with small towns, the tongues start wagging, and everyone has ideas even if they have no foundation for them. I try and be friendly to everyone, but they treat me as if I have the plague or something. I smell the roasting chicken before I enter and soon forget about my loneliness. I catch Neil peeking in the oven.
“If you’re hungry, we can eat any time,” he says glancing at the kitchen clock. “The chicken’s done. It’ll only take me a few minutes to do the rice and broccoli?”
Great, plenty of time to have a quick shower and then I remember why I didn’t do all my chores. I wanted to see Isaac.
“Where’s Isaac? Isn’t he going to have lunch with us?”
“He had to leave. I tried to get him to stay but he refused,” his voice changes from being friendly to being cold.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” I want to say more, ask maybe why they were arguing when I left. But I know that it’s none of my business. Neil’s my employer and I’m his ranch hand.
“Yeah, I really wanted him to stay for lunch, but he does what he wants these days.” Neil sighs. “I don’t seem to know him as well as I used to. We were so close when he was growing up, but now he’s seems to have drifted away from me and the ranch,” he hesitates before saying it, “I think he has the same problem your dad had with the bottle.”
Oh, he likes to drink too much. He seems clean shaven and not the type. Then again I didn’t know that my dad had a problem until it was too late.
“I just thought that my dad liked having a drink after working. I never knew that it was more than that,” I feel stupid whenever I think back. It’s always clear when you look back at things to see the signs, but I was thinking about going to college, enjoying high school and worrying about whether my dad was a drunk never featured into it.
“I’m afraid it’s more than that,” he sighs as he sits down on the breakfast stool.
“Really?” I decide to forget taking a shower and just help Neil in the kitchen. I put the oven roasted chicken on the table. “It can cool a bit. The broccoli and rice are coming right up.”
“Good I’m getting hungrier by the second.”
“So, what exactly is Isaac’s problem?”
Neil sighs. “His drinking is destroying the company. I love the boy God; I love him. It just breaks my heart to see him struggling, because of the….”
He shakes his head for a minute as if he remembers something.
“Anyway, he’s just lost his way due to one tragedy after another. First, his mom dying of cancer. His dad and the suicide and then…anyway, I just need to help him.”
He’s missing out parts, I know about his son and his wife. So, there’s something else that must have happened to trigger it. I just don’t know what and without Neil telling me the whole story I kind of feel helpless.
“Sorry to hear that. I wish there were something I could do to help. I don’t like to see you disturbed, Neil. You’ve been so kind to me giving me a job and letting me live in your house.”
I put the broccoli and rice on the table, and we’re all ready to eat. I signal for him to sit, so he moves from the stool to the table.
“Well, there’s something you can do for me?” Neil says as he carves the chicken. “White meat or dark?”
“White,” I hold my plate near the chicken. “What it is that I can do, Neil?”
“Ah . . . Isaac needs someone to help him back on the right track.”
I tilt my head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“He needs a friend. I don’t think he has a friend in the city. I know that he has no one. He doesn’t even drive to work because he drinks too much in the morning. I was surprised that he made it this far without having a drink.”
“Wow, it’s that bad Neil?”
He nods, “That bad. But I think that you can help him.”
“Neil,” I smile. “Is that some hint?
Neil chuckles, “Well, you know that old saying, ‘if the shoe fits, wear it.’ He’s going to move back to the ranch for a while. I was hoping you would help me keep him busy when he’s here so he doesn’t feel the need to drink so much.”
“Neil!”
“No, no I don’t mean anything improper. Just go riding with him. Get him using the swimming pool again. Maybe get him to teach you to shoot pool.”
“Of course, Neil I’ll love to do that. The truth is I get sort of lonely here on the ranch. I always end up doing everything alone when you’re out with your friends.”
“I noticed that. Are they still treating you as if we’re an item?”
I nod my head.
Neil starts to slowly eat his chicken and says, “Well maybe it’s better if you move to the cottage at the back of the house. I just hated coming home to an empty home before, but since I’ve started being a bit sociable. I don’t mind it so much. Especially if Neil moves in.”
“Why should we make changes so that people don’t talk?”
He sighs, “Because we live in a small town. As much as we can say that they should mind their own business. I don’t want you to be lonely and unhappy anymore. I want you to have a social life and friends other than Autumn and me.”
“And Isaac?” I chime in.
“Yes, that’s all I ask. Just be his friend, he could do with one.”
I nod and change the subject, “Isaac doesn’t know what a great meal he’s missing especially the chicken sauce.”
It’s as though Neil has become my surrogate father. I enjoy meals with him. He’s always so calm and pleasant. The memories of my father at the dinner table are not so pleasant.
“Oh, I forgot to ask how Autumn is doing?”
“Neil, she is the love of my life since you gave her to me. I love riding her around the ranch.”
“When Isaac comes back then maybe you guys could go out for rides. He loves riding Buckskin.’
“Sounds good, I can’t wait for him to move in.”
He abruptly stops eating and says “Sorry, I can’t eat another bite, Olivia. I’ve had an emotional day. I’m going to head up for a bit and read, then take a nap. Thanks for keeping an old man company at lunch.”
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s my pleasure.”
Isaac’s a hottie. I bet he doesn’t have problems attracting beautiful women in Houston. I look forward to spending some time with him.
“Expect nothing, and you’ll never get hurt,” Mom used to say to me. I’ll take her words to heart when it comes to Neil. I’ll try to keep him distracted if that’s what Neil wants and besides it’s the least I can do for him. He’s given me a home and a job. Besides I could do with some company, even if it just happens to be a hottie like Isaac.