Chapter 1: Shannon
“Shannon, did you get everything on your list done?”
I nodded and looked back at father. It was lunch time and I brought him a couple of sandwiches and some tea for lunch. Amber was waiting out back with some towels because there was nowhere else I would want to be right now than at the swimming hole. The sun was scorching and we had breezed through our duties so that we could spend the heat of the day in the cool water. There was an old rock quarry on the Fisher land that had long since filled in. It was nice and cold because of how impossibly deep it was, making it the perfect place for such a day.
“Everything is done.”
“Well you and Amber don’t need to be running off just yet. There are still some things that have to be done for the party. It has been four years since Joel was home. You two should at least help get things ready.”
I knew he was right, but it was just so hot outside that I couldn’t stand it. For late August it was scorching. There was a time when I loved the summers, but as I got older they were harder to deal with. That or the Texas sun was getting hotter. Either way, all I could think about was the cold water in the quarry.
“How about we go take a quick dip and then we will go to town for whatever you want.”
Travis shook his head. He knew better than to send us that way. We would never come back, or if we did it would be hours later. It was hard to leave.
“How about you get the stuff on the list and then go?”
It wasn’t an option, more like the best I was getting. One of the only things I hated about staying on at the Fisher ranch was that my dad was now my boss. So even at nineteen he still got to tell me what to do. It wasn’t so bad, except in moments like this one when I really just wanted to get away. But I agreed, like we both knew I would and gave Amber the bad news.
“You shouldn’t have said anything.”
I sighed. Or course I shouldn’t have, but I had to. “Well, I did. So town first and then swimming afterwards.”
“Why do we have to go there?”
“Because Joel is coming home. Remember? Your mom wants to throw a party for him.”
“Is that today? I thought it was next week.”
I looked over at her before getting in the truck. “Why aren’t you excited?”
“If you had an older brother, you would understand. Siblings are more like a love hate relationship.”
I nodded and got in. I had always wanted siblings, so I just didn’t understand. There was something I loved about big families, but it seemed that those that were part of one didn’t particularly like to be. I remembered her brother vaguely. I moved to the ranch just a few weeks before he left. I remembered how handsome I thought he was, but he didn’t pay me any mind. I was far too young to even look at. Now he was back and I seemed to be more excited about it than she was.
“I hear ya, Amber. But either way, we have to go get this stuff. Your mom is throwing a big party from the looks of it. There is enough food on this list to feed the ranch for a week, so I am guessing she has invited a lot of people.”
Amber sighed and looked out the window. “Yeah mom always thought of Joel as the golden boy. Trust me, if you heard it as much as I did, he would make you sick too. It is all she ever talks about. Now dad is getting sick and Joel is coming back to save the day.”
“Man, kind of harsh Amber.”
“I know, but I am telling you. He makes me crazy. I feel like we are back in middle school every time he comes back. It’s just weird.”
“Well I will be there and I promise not to pay him any attention.”
She looked at me hopefully. “You better not. Besides, you won’t like Joel if he is anything like he was before he left.”
I didn’t say anything more. It was obviously a sore subject for her and there was no way I was going to tell her how hot I thought he was. He had been gone in the military for years and I could only imagine his hard body would be harder than before. I shook my head of the thoughts. She would kill me for even thinking it.
I focused on the road so that she would not see the look in my eyes. I didn’t want to rub it in. We went through the motions and three different stores before we found everything that was needed. Amber had been busy on her phone and since she wasn’t letting me see what she was texting, I figured I knew who she was talking to.
“Don’t tell me Mack is going to be there.”
She gave me a face and I knew then that he would be. “Why?”
“Because I think I love him.”
I sighed, “No you don’t. It’s all hormones with you two. You need less of that and more talking and you would see that he is just not the one for you.”
“Just because you are anti-love, doesn’t mean that I have to be. You are going to meet a guy one day that makes you forget all your senses. Just wait and see.”
I didn’t believe her, but neither one of us was in the mood to argue about it. I was hoping for a quick trip so that I could get in the water. We got out and I looked at the mile long list in my hand. Sighing, we got out and started towards the first store.
***
The list was even longer when I was going through the store getting it all. Amber wasn’t going to be much of a help since she was on her phone the whole time. By the end of it, I was exhausted and we were at the quarry. I had dropped the groceries off while she made her way towards the watering hole. There were a few other guys already down there with Mack when I got there. I knew Dale, but I did not know the other guy. Amber introduced us before I got in the water. The cold water made me forget everything else.
“So Shannon, what do you do here?”
“All the stuff that no one else wants to. They won’t let me train, so I pretty much do all the grunt work.”
“That sounds like it sucks.”
I looked over at Amber sucking face with Mack. “Sometimes it does, but it has its perks.”
His eyes were on me, but it was not the great views and the watering hole that I was referring to. Zeik was looking at me and I wondered then how he knew Mack. They probably went to school together, but I couldn’t help seeing the common ground they had as friends. They both seemed to be pervs.
“Amber tells me that you are planning on starting here?”
“Yeah, next week.”
“What are you going to be doing?”
“Learning to train horses. I had never really thought about it before, but the pay is good.”
I nodded and tried to pretend that I was happy for him. The truth was that I had been trying for months to get hired on as an apprentice, but Mr. Fisher didn’t believe in putting women in danger. He was an old time sexist and I had gotten used to it, but it still stung that he would hire someone off the streets before me. He didn’t have any experience. Zeik didn’t even like horses.
I started to swim off but he came in after me and swam beside me. I didn’t want to be rude, but he was not my type and I knew where the conversation was going. Where any conversation went with a man after enough time had passed.
“So are you single?”
There it went, I thought to myself. “Yeah. I’m single.”
“Do you want to go out some time?”
“Maybe once you get settled in. I got to go help with the party though. Nice to meet you, Zeik.”
He didn’t want me to go, but I pulled myself up on the side of the water. “When will I see you again?”
It took everything in my not to roll my eyes. “I’ll be at the party later if you decide to show up.” Telling Amber that I was taking off, I walked away from the friend not paying much attention and the man who was paying far too much attention.
Walking back to the ranch, I had thrown a pair of jean shorts on over my bathing suit, but everything else was in my arms. My clothes had gotten wet somehow on the beach, so it didn’t matter anyways. Running my fingers through my wet black hair, I was paying more attention to my hands, than my feet.
I looked up to see a man just as preoccupied as I was. I moved out of the way, but his bag almost knocked me down. It was one of those green/brown duffel bags that they had in the service. It was because of the bag that I took a better look at his face and realized that it was Amber’s brother Joel.
“Sorry Miss.”
“It’s Shannon. We’ve met before.”
His eyes looked up and we made eye contact. He had the most piercing blue eyes that I had ever seen. He was a lot better looking than when he left and way more muscled than before. Being in the service seemed to have done him some good. He looked fitter than ever, but it was hard to deny the distant look in his eyes as well. Joel looked like he had seen some things that nobody was supposed to see.
“Oh wow, Travis’s daughter?”
I nodded my head. What did he mean by wow? I can’t say that I wasn’t thinking the same thing, but it for a whole other reason. “Yeah. I had just moved here when you were about to leave.”
His eyes darkened and he looked down my body. “Well it looks like you have grown up. How old are you now?”
“Nineteen.”
I don’t know why I was so happy that he asked. Maybe it was because I was finally an adult. He just gave me this nod and started to walk away. It left me looking at him for a minute and then he turned around, catching me staring. “Do you know where Amber is? I wanted to surprise her.”
Of course I did, but there was no way that I was going to send him towards the quarry where his sister was. Not then with Mack there. No one liked Mack and I was sure that if Joel met him, he would come to the same conclusion as everyone else that met him. “I am not sure. Have you checked up at the house?”
“I just came from there.”
“Oh, well I am sure she will turn up once the party starts. Welcome home Joel.”
“Thank you. So is she drinking or something? Is that why you won’t tell me where she is?”
I nodded. “Not really like that, but she will be around in a bit.”
“If I go down to the quarry, what am I going to find?”
He was acting like her dad and I could better understand the comment about him being over protective. “Nothing.”
“Well then come with me.”
He was calling my bluff, but I knew he was going to go anyways. If I was done there, maybe I could stop the two from arguing about what she was doing. I mean she was as old as I was, so it wasn’t like she was a kid or something. “I will if you want, but I was hoping you could help me put up decorations.”
“For my own party?”
“Well it’s not much of a surprise now, is it?”
“I guess not, but I was really hoping to talk to Amber about something.”
“She will be back soon, trust me. She is fine. Now come on and let’s put all those muscles to good use.”