Chapter Two
I woke up the next morning to the sound of a rooster crowing outside. The sun was just coming up over the fence on the property, and I decided to take a morning walk around the property. However, when I went to the kitchen, I couldn’t find my usual morning cup of joe. ”Sweet tea it is”.
I poured a glass and walked out onto the back deck to enjoy the sunrise. The sun was so bright I could see the small chicken coop near the fence line. Looking at it hurt my eyes, so I went to the stable, which thankfully was still covered in shadows. Hopefully, the horses were still asleep or just waking up for the day.
As I passed by the coop I let my fingers trace the worn wood. I kept on walking along the fence, and eventually I made it to the forested area with a beautiful meandering creek. If I took a left here, I’d eventually hit the Walker property. At least, I assumed the Walkers were still our neighbors. Their ranch was just as big if not bigger, but they focused more on sausage and bacon. They even raised turkeys once for Thanksgiving. Whereas our ranch produced milk, eggs, wool, and sometimes leather and beef if we lost a cow.
I took a deep breath and turned back towards the house. I know the memories that would come back if I went beyond the boundaries of our property. So, I went back inside, sitting back on the couch in the living room to finish my tea. My father passed me on the way out to take care of the land and the animals, and I waved a groggy good morning to him. Even as the world woke up around me, I was falling back asleep on the couch. I guess I wasn’t quite ready for waking with the dawn.
When I woke up again, my nose was full of the smell of food cooking. The clock on the wall told me that I had been asleep for another couple of hours, and as I turned around to face the kitchen I saw my mother cooking breakfast. I rubbed my eyes groggily, feeling ready for a nice, hot meal. I headed back down the hall to my room to get changed; I wanted to be ready to see my grandmother after breakfast. I was looking forward to catching up with her and I hoped that the nurse might even let me take her outside or something.
I sat down at the kitchen table across from my father who was reading a newspaper. It seemed he had already cleaned up from his early morning work. “A ranching superhero” I always say.
It wasn’t unlike any other typical morning I’d spent in that house when I was younger except, my older brothers were missing. So the house was eerily quiet.
“So, where are Jude and Brad?” I asked out of curiosity. Neither of my brothers kept in touch with me after they went out into the world. Of course, our age difference probably didn’t help either.
“Well, Jude moved out to Tennessee with a girl he met. She insisted on staying close to her family, and I think she’s a country singer of some kind. Nobody well known or anything, but she plays at that bar sometimes. What is it called again?” My mother looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully.
“Do you mean The Bluebird, Mom?” I asked with a chuckle.
“Yeah, that sounds right. Well, anyway, he’s crazy about her. They were actually here a couple weeks ago for a bit but then they went back home. And Brad has his hands full. I wouldn’t dream of asking him to take the time to come here, though he doesn’t live too far. He came out when we first put Grandma in the hospital. His wife is pregnant with twins, and he has his own farm that needs to be cared for.”
My eyes went wide when I heard my eldest brother was going to be a father and owned a farm. I couldn’t imagine him being so responsible. “Well, that’s a shocker,” I said, sitting up in my seat.
“He’s really grown up, Iris. I do wish you could see him. Heck, I wish I could see all of you together in this house again.” My mother was ready to get sentimental, but luckily my father stepped in this time.
“I’m sure they will all be here for Christmas this year. No need to cry in the eggs,” he said, turning the page on the newspaper. I watched my mother shoot him a look and place her hand on her hip before turning back around to the food she was cooking. I stifled a laugh. It was nice to be home like old times, hearing my parents bickering. But I’d barely been home yet, so there was plenty of time for it to go south. I just hoped it wouldn’t.
We laughed over breakfast, talking about my childhood and what it was like for me living and working in Denver. We talked about the snow and the heat. Then, we hopped in the truck again to head out to the hospital, to see my grandmother.
When we got there she was eating lunch. I noticed one of the nurses sitting by her bed; it looked like she was taking grandmothers vitals. “Well look at that, you’ve got some visitors Mrs. Young,” the nurse said with a smile. “She was telling me all about her granddaughter coming to see her the other day. I’m guessing you’re her?” the nurse asked, nodding towards me.
I smiled and nodded, making a bee-line for Grandma who was slowly chewing on what looked like, a very bad version of a bologna sandwich. That potato smell was even stronger which led me to believe it had something to do with the cafeteria food. Did all hospitals require that the food be disgusting?
I sat down on the bench next to her bed along with my parents to wait for her to finish eating. “So, is there any way I could take her outside somewhere or for a walk at all while I’m here?” I asked, hopefully. I so badly wanted to give her the best day I could and maybe get us some time alone where there weren’t machines, doctors and nurses all over her all the time.
The nurse looked thoughtful. “Let me go see what her doctor has to say about it, but she’s been doing pretty well this morning. As long as you stay in the hospital and we check her before you go and after you get back, I don’t think it will be a problem.” The nurse left the room to go get a hold of the doctor, and I did a silent cheer.
“How does that sound Grandma? You might get to get out of this room today!”
“It sounds perfect,” Grandma answered in between bites. It didn’t take long for the nurse to come back with good news. In fact, she gave the okay right away. Grandma was thrilled and swallowed the rest of her food whole so we could get a move on. It was a bit comedic.
The nurse helped me get her into a wheelchair so I could wheel her around and gave me directions to the roof garden that was attached to the hospital. “Just have her back in about thirty minutes so we can do her dialysis, alright?” the nurse requested with a smile. I nodded and wheeled her to the elevator with my parents trailing behind me. I wheeled her inside, but my parents didn’t follow.
“We’ll let you have some quality time with her. We’re going to take a look around the gift shop and maybe take a walk or something. We’ll be back in a little while,” my mother informed me as the elevator door slid slowly shut. I pressed the button that would take us up to the top floor and listened as the elevator creaked and groaned on the way up like it could give way at any moment. How I survived in a big city like Denver with a fear of old elevators and of planes I wasn’t quite sure at the moment.
We finally made it to the top, and I burst out at almost a run, ready to be free from the tiny space. The top floor was only a half floor with the rest of it being used as the garden. I headed for the door, picking up speed as my grandmother laughed. Then, we slowed down, going through the doors, and came out onto the old brick roof.
“Wow, this is so nice,” I commented, wheeling her out into what resembled a Zen oasis. There were fountains, bamboo and palm leaves everywhere with places to sit and a little walking path. There were a few others up there walking around, some hunched over in hospital gowns and others in wheel chairs like my grandmother.
“Thank you for breaking me out of there,” Grandma said, reaching her hand back to pat mine. “It’s really nice to breathe some fresh air. I just stopped leaving my room because they only let me walk around the floor I was on and then I had to be in a wheelchair. It became pointless. But this is great.”
“Well, I guess we’ll have to do this more often, then,” I said, leaning down to her ear before starting to push her down the path through the beautiful plants. I made sure to stay o
ff of the subject of her illness or the fact I had been gone way too long. But I could tell she was still as supportive of my decisions as she was the day I left for the University of the Rockies. She had been the only one who was happy about it, and thought it was the right thing for me to do.
“Hmmm, I think it may be time to head back down, Iris,” she said after a while. I looked down at my watch and gasped.
“Has it really been 30 minutes already?”
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” she answered with a chuckle. I laughed too and then gave a sigh as we headed back down to her floor. The nurse would be waiting to take her for dialysis. I kissed my grandmother and left her with the nurse before heading down to the ground floor. I felt like I needed a small snack out of the vending machine or something, and my parents still hadn’t come back.
As I stood there in front of the machine, trying to decide on my selection, I saw there was a man waiting behind me. I could practically feel him breathing down my neck. “You can go ahead if you know what you want,” I offered, stepping out of his way. “I’m just trying to decide between two things. I don’t have that many quarters.”
The man stepped forward, and I couldn’t help but notice he was very attractive. He had sandy brown curls poking out from under his white cowboy hat. He had on a tight jeans and a denim shirt. He was definitely a rancher. “You know, I can spare a few so you don’t have to choose,” he said, tipping his hat before bending down to pick up whatever he was getting from the machine.
I smiled at him as he handed me some quarters before stepping up and getting what I wanted; Cheetos and mini cookies. “Thanks,” I said, about ready to walk away.
“So, what brings you here?” He motioned to the walls around us, but I was pretty sure he meant the hospital.
“Oh, my grandmother is here and not doing so well. I came to spend some time with her. How about you?” I asked, continuing the conversation. It was a strange way to meet someone, but that was no reason to turn down talking to a good looking guy.
“Oh, my cousin came over and was trying to ride one of our horses. He fell off and broke his wrist. I brought him here.” I looked him up and down for a moment; his hair, his short and muscular build and his blue eyes looked so familiar. Then, it hit me.
“Hey, I know you!” I said, feeling proud of myself. “You’re a Walker. You live on the property next to us. I’m Iris Young.”
He chuckled and took off his hat, running his hand through his matted, long hair. “That’s who I thought you were. I’m Adam. I have to say I’m surprised you know who I am and are still standing there.” I gave him a curious look, searching in the back of my mind for a reason he might have said that. But I heard footsteps and then an angry voice come from behind me.
“What the hell is going on here?” It was my father. He had come up behind us, and he looked plain pissed. His face was bright red, and he couldn’t stop tugging on his pants like it was some form of intimidation or maybe a nervous tick. “What are you doing with my daughter?” That’s when it started coming back to me. Our families had never gotten along; it was mostly our parents and my grandfather before he passed. There was a well that ran under both our lands, and each family claimed it as their own. For some reason, that well had made them hate each other. I had never paid too much attention to it before, nor did I know it was still an issue.
“Dad, we’re just talking,” I informed him, feeling a little taken aback by the situation.
“No, you’re not,” my father said firmly. I was about to scold him, but Adam decided to back down.
“It’s alright, Iris. I’ll see you around, maybe. It was nice seeing you again.” He put his hat back on and walked past us with my father glaring daggers at him the whole way.
“Was that really necessary?” I asked, feeling appalled by the intensity of the encounter.
“Yes, it was. You need to stay away from him and the rest of his family. Young’s do not associate with or talk to the Walkers, Iris. You just forget about him, about all of them,” my father said with his finger wagging in my face like I was a little girl about to be put in the corner. It was a bit embarrassing, actually. I looked to my mother for support, but she just stayed back, letting my father handle the situation.
“Has it really gotten that bad?” I whispered to my mother as he finally backed off and we headed out to the car. All she did was look at me and nod. I shook my head in annoyance and got into the truck. We road silently back home, but all I could think about was figuring out why the feud over some well had become so hostile.
(3 Book Romance Bundle) "Escape to Vegas" & "Love, Forgiveness & Horseshoes" & "The Cowboy's Love" Page 8
