Tumbleweed

by Heather Huffman

  Take that, Ruth. Daddy agrees with me on something. I did have to acknowledge it was a little sad that even though my sister was hundreds of miles away, I mentally continued to vie for his attention and approval.

  Before either of us was ready for it, Aaron and I were both struggling to keep our eyes open, no matter how riveting the conversation was. Ethan offered for Daddy to bunk with him for the night and arrangements were made. Before long, we were all saying our goodbyes and heading home.

  With Daddy off to Ethan's for the night, Aaron and I found ourselves alone for the first time since that morning. He looked at me. I looked at him. What now? Fear, excitement, disbelief, freedom, exhilaration all wrestled for their place, and in the end, what won was a giggle.

  It didn't take much encouragement for Aaron to join in, and we collapsed into a heap of giggles on our couch. Our new home was ridiculously tiny. I had no dryer and my washer only fit on the back porch. I had been sprayed in the face by toilet water. But it was ours. Blue had run coons and squirrels all day and was now lying contentedly by the fireplace. That was a first.

  As the laughter subsided, I leaned back and sighed. From that vantage point, I had a fresh look at the bullet hole in the ceiling and giggles erupted anew. Bet that story would make it back to St. Louis, too. Not everyone gets shot at on their moving day. No doubt about it, we were definitely on an adventure.

  “So, what was your favorite part of the day?” I nudged Aaron.

  “Watching you get sprayed in the face by the toilet, most definitely.”

  “Thanks. Brat.”

  “That was a serious geyser.”

  “Yeah, well my favorite part was the look on your face when you realized there was no fridge or stove.”

  “Some mom. Aren't you supposed to be nurturing or something?”

  “Aren't you supposed to be respectful or something?”

  “Can't help my upbringing.” He deftly dodged my playful swat.

  “Go to bed.”

  “Way to pull the mom-card. No fair.”

  “Bed.” I pointed towards the room, exasperated.

  Once I had him all tucked in and prayers had been said, I realized I wasn't ready to sleep yet. Besides, there was a country summer night beckoning me outside.

  I clucked softly at Blue and pulled on my mud boots. Together we slid outside. It was weird. It felt a little like being at a hotel or something. Not like home. Not yet anyway.

  I closed my eyes and let it all wash over me, the smell of the horses and hay, the sounds of crickets chirping, the leaves rustling in the breeze. There was a set of wind chimes somewhere in the distance. Just the feel of this place was a balm on my restless spirit.

  “You're out late,” a deep voice rumbled surprisingly close.

  “Oh my gosh you scared me,” I nearly jumped out of my skin.

  “Sorry.” Ethan grinned in a way that told me he wasn't really all that sorry.

  “No you are not,” I chuckled. “But good effort.”

  “Not my fault you were sleepwalking.”

  “It's called enjoying a peaceful moment,” I informed him smartly. “So what are you up to?”

  “Checking on horses one last time. We've had a string of mountain lion attacks lately; just wanted to be sure everything was locked up.”

  “That's not funny.” I shifted uncomfortably despite my best efforts.

  “Unfortunately, I'm not messing with you.” He grew serious. “I lost my mare last week. Now I have an orphaned colt to look after.”

  “That's horrible. How did it get the horse and not the colt?”

  “She was a good mama.”

  “Oh the poor thing.” Tears sprang to my eyes at the thought of the brave horse giving her life for her baby. “I want to see him.”

  “We're not the only ones who've had a problem,” Ethan continued talking as he led the way to the stables. “Several farms have lost cattle. Conservation Department didn't believe it was cougars 'til someone shot one on the other side of Ava when it went for his stock.”

  “Don't they frown on shooting them?”

  “Generally…. Here he is.”

  “He's beautiful,” I gasped. He was a perfect, fuzzy baby. I couldn't quite tell his color in the dim light, and it would probably change anyway. There wasn't a lick of white on him, though. I was in love.

  “Want to give him his bottle?” Ethan didn't wait for me to answer but slipped off while I let myself into the stall.

  “Look at you,” I whispered as I held my hand out to the little colt. He hesitated for only the briefest of moments before taking a tentative step towards me. I let him smell my hand before gently cupping his muzzle. I ran my fingers down his neck, absentmindedly stroking him as I chattered away. “What color are you? I think you're going to be a grullo, aren't you? I like that. You're like a little tumbleweed.”

  “Tumbleweed. That's good. We should name him Tumbleweed.” Ethan leaned on the stall door and offered me the bottle.

  “That would seal the deal; I'd officially be in love.”

  “With me or the horse?”

  “The horse.” For some reason, his question rattled me more than I cared to admit. “Don't you have something useful to do?”

  “You're doing it.”

  “So what's the deal with Hobbes?” I chewed on my lower lip and concentrated on the task at hand. The colt seemed to be toying with it more than truly eating. I finally gave up and contented myself to rub him down while I listened to the even cadence of Ethan's voice.

  “Hobbes worked for Jim before I came along. He was always stirring up trouble, here and in town. Jim tried getting on him for being rough with the horses and Hobbes went crazy on him. Punched him in the stomach and took off. Next thing Jim knew, Hobbes had picked one fight too many in town and was in jail again. He brought me on after that. Hobbes' family was supposed to have moved his things out of that old cabin. I'm sure sorry about what happened today. I'm just glad you're okay.”

  “Wow. Does he still give you problems?”

  “Not much. Mostly bluster.”

  “But I'm not so great with bluster. I'm easily intimidated.” I furrowed my brow.

  “Somehow I doubt that.” He reached out to scratch the colt's nose.

  “So, let me get this straight. You don't pay squat. The place is crawling with murderous mountain lions and thugs, and the toilet apparently has an attack mode. Did I miss anything?”

  “I'm asking you to work a miracle with few resources,” he added helpfully.

  “Wonderful. I love a challenge.” I smiled and kissed the colt on top of the head. It was time for bed. Mostly because I wanted to be sure I was back in my cabin by the time Ethan retired for the night. I wasn't about to be left alone with the mountain lions.

  Chapter Three

  I had planned to sleep in a bit the next morning. I figured we'd earned it. But the first golden rays of the sun poured through the windows of the cabin, beckoning me to come outside to admire the sunrise. It was as if God had poured water colors on a canvas: Pink, purple, orange, rust, blue, and even white spread across an immense expanse of sky.

  I sucked in a deep breath then sighed. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. If someone had told me before that moment that the morning sky could humble me to tears and make me want to spread my wings and fly all at the same time, I never would have believed them. It looked a little like the door to heaven had cracked open just a bit.

  I stood there for a timeless moment, simply soaking it in.

  “Oh good, you're up.” Ethan smiled cheerfully and waved as he ambled my direction. I was suddenly keenly aware of my hair's tendency to become a rat's nest overnight. I quickly ran my fingers through it, for all the good it did.

  “Please tell me you come bearing coffee.”

  “Nope, sorry. I was wondering if you and Aaron would want to come to church with us this morning.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him no, but the sky beyond him beckoned me to go pay
homage to its Creator, so instead I nodded meekly.

  “Great. We leave in an hour. You can get ready at my house if you haven't found your brush yet.”

  “We'll make do.” I rolled my eyes and went inside to wake Aaron up. If the man was going to make fun of me, he could at least bring coffee.

  Aaron had been pretty good natured about me rolling him out of bed so early. Daddy even made it to church with us. The service was full of a vibrant energy I found invigorating.

  Lunch afterwards was pleasant. It was a touch like dinner, only I was more awake. The real shock came when Daddy didn't even try to fix my dryer. He just relaxed on the front porch of my little cabin with a glass of sweet tea, watching the horses graze in the field for a bit before declaring it time to head back.

  Don't get me wrong, I was happy to see Daddy relax for a change. I was also a little dismayed I didn't have a dryer.

  When Daddy left, I joined Ethan in the barn to see if he needed some help with anything. He handed me a bottle to give Tumbleweed, who again didn't seem too interested in anything besides the attention. When I mentioned it to Ethan, he decided it was probably time to wean him. I wished Aaron had been that easy.

  All in all, it was as peaceful a second day as the first day had been insane. I went to bed that night listening to a cicada melody with the wind caressing my skin. I was the luckiest woman in the world.

  Then came Monday morning. It started well enough. My alarm went off at 5:30, and I stumbled to the coffee pot, bleary-eyed as usual. I was greeted by another spectacular sunrise. I was in love with the sky here.

  I was also thrilled that my new uniform was a pair of comfy jeans and a t-shirt. I tied my hair back – equally happy there was no styling necessary. This was absolutely liberating. I didn't have to worry about a babysitter for Aaron since my office was in the stables across the yard.

  “Hey bud, I'm headed out.” I nudged him awake.

  “Hmmmm,” he mumbled.

  “Come say hi when you're up.” I ruffled his blonde hair. It was one thing I was glad he got from Jeff. It added to his angelic appearance.

  Coffee in hand, I ambled across the yard to catch my first glimpse of the stallion eating his grain in his stall. His head bobbed up for a moment as he checked out the newcomer. After deeming me less interesting than grain, he went back to his breakfast. He was an interesting horse. Sleek, muscular, solid, well-built and the palest gold I'd ever seen. He was almost white depending on the light. His ice blue eyes gave him an ethereal appearance.

  “Good morning.” I smiled at Ethan, who had beaten me there of course. “Traffic was a real killer today.”

  “Brutal.” He shook his head. “Wanna see your office?”

  “I'd love to!” I tried to keep the childlike glee out of my voice, but I knew I wasn't all that successful at it. My office, with walls and everything. No more gray cubicles or coworkers who didn't understand those gray walls meant you were supposed to pretend you couldn't hear what was on the other side. I had an office.

  An office packed to the gills with storage boxes and random stacks of paper, apparently. My heart sank as I looked around the room. It was a little comical and a lot overwhelming.

  “We started bringing stuff out of storage once we knew when you were coming,” Ethan explained when he noticed the look on my face. Apparently I was no better at hiding disappointment than I was at hiding excitement. “This place has gone through several different managers and each has had a different take on being organized. Your computer is on the desk somewhere. The username is ‘username’ and the password is ‘password’. You shouldn't have any trouble getting it up and running. I'll be turning the horses out if you need anything.”

  “You know, usually I find your drawl very soothing. It's doing nothing for me right now.” I resisted the urge to glare at him.

  “Sorry?” He raised an eyebrow and chewed on a chuckle. “I'll just leave you to it, then.”

  Ethan let the chuckle loose once he got out of arm's reach. I hadn't had the chance to ask him just what kind of timeline he pictured for this miracle he seemed to be expecting from me.

  I surveyed mountains of boxes and papers and dirty file cabinets and raised my eyes heavenward. “A little help here?” The sky didn't open with a host of cleaning angels, so I sighed and pried open the small window in the corner. At least I could allow a little fresh air in to remind me why I was here. Not exactly how I'd envisioned things, but there was nothing new with that.

  I plunged head first into the project at hand. I might not be in my sister Rebecca's league or anything, but there was enough of a perfectionist in me to be appalled at this mess. Papers slowly began to form several stacks. Bills – and boy there seemed to be a lot of those – sales contracts, stud contracts, purchase orders, pedigrees, employee records, crop yields, foal registries, taxes, bank records, partnership agreements… there were soon piles everywhere.

  The more I sorted, the more my head started to spin. Still, somewhere in all of it I started to wrap my brain around the business I was now a part of. The phone rang and I briefly debated how to answer it. Ethan hadn't really mentioned it.

  “Mountain View Ranch, this is Hailey.” I finally settled on something and hoped it didn't sound too stupid.

  “There you are,” came the exasperated voice of my eldest sister, Rebecca. “You didn't give anyone the number and you haven't been answering your cell all morning.”

  “Oh. Sorry,” I was a little startled to hear her voice. Her irritation cut through the tranquility of the place like a butcher knife through butter. “I didn't know the number. I must have left my cell back at the cabin. I'm not sure it gets coverage here, come to think of it. How are you? How are the kids?”

  “We're fine, fine. We miss you. How's the job? I wanted to wish you a happy first day. How's Aaron?”

  Shoot. Aaron. He'd never come in and it had to be close to lunch time. I was such a great mom; I'd forgotten my kid.

  “Aaron's fine. The job's great. A lot of work to be done, but it's great here.”

  “I'm glad he's doing okay. I worry about him being uprooted. Kids need stability.”

  “True, but they also need to roll with change, embrace it even. Learn to go after what they want and all that,” I defended.

  “Assuming they know what they want,” she volleyed back.

  “Good point,” I conceded. I wasn't ready to let this turn into a fight. I knew Rebecca hadn't called to start one; we just didn't see eye to eye on some things. This was one of them. “I appreciate the call.”

  “When will you be up to visit?”

  “I don't know. Gas is through the roof lately.”

  “Didn't you incorporate the cost of family visits into your salary package?”

  “Oh, Aaron needs me. Better go. Love you. Bye.” Wow, how many lies did that make in one conversation? It never failed to amaze me how stiff our phone calls could be. Somewhere in the back of my brain, I remembered rocking out to Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, scaring each other with ghost stories, and Rebecca making us start over when we were playing Barbies because she didn't like how Ken met Barbie. Where had those sisters gone?

  I shoved that thought aside and went to look for my kiddo. I found him following Ethan and talking a mile a minute. Ethan was patiently answering every question Aaron threw at him about this place and training horses. I was tempted to hang back in the shadows to see what I could learn, but Aaron saw me. His face lit up and he ran to give me a quick hug. I loved that he wasn't too cool to hug me yet.

  “Did you get some breakfast?”

  “Yep. I had some cereal.”

  “You hungry for lunch?” I checked my watch even as my stomach growled. “I'm starved.”

  “We could tell,” Ethan teased. I made a face at him.

  “Actually, I'm starved too,” Aaron agreed with me. I could always count on that kid's stomach.

  “Me too, I was just picking on your mom,” Ethan admitted. “You guys want to go into t
own for lunch? My treat.”

  “You're just trying to keep me from running away screaming after this morning,” I accused.

  “We're not leaving, are we?” Panic flitted through Aaron's eyes.

  “I'm just teasing Ethan,” I reassured him.

  “Great, then I don't have to buy you lunch.”

  “I didn't say that,” I pointedly reminded him.

  “Where to, then?”

  “Surprise us,” I shrugged. “Just let me grab my purse first.”

  I trotted over to the cabin to find my purse and decided to check my cell phone for messages while I was there. My adorable pink phone cheerfully told me it was searching for service. I shoved it in my pocket, determined to see where exactly I did get coverage around here.

  When I reemerged from the cabin, Aaron and Ethan had already piled into Ethan's pickup truck. As we drove the short distance to town, I couldn't help closing my eyes. The wind and the sun felt glorious. Ethan didn't seem any keener on being inside than I was because he grabbed us some burgers from a drive up and led us to some benches in the sun.

  “Everyone sure seems to know us,” Aaron marveled as yet another passing driver waved.

  “That's how people are around here, honey. They actually say hello to each other,” I explained as Ethan ducked his head so Aaron wouldn't see his grin.

  “That's nice. I like it,” he decreed. After that, he led the charge in waving at everyone who passed by. I was starting to wonder if he would ever eat his burger with all of the waving going on.

  I shouldn't have worried. Where there was food involved, my son would figure out a way to scarf it down. The burger, fries, and chocolate shake weren't going to do much for reclaiming my size eight jeans, but man it was a good lunch after the morning I'd had.