by Nicole Adams
“I wasn’t complaining. Not a bad start to the day after the night we had last night,” he said as we walked into the house.
“What wasn’t a bad way start to the day?” my dad asked, scooping a ladle of stew into the bowl.
“Oh, my early morning run. It makes me feel refreshed and ready for the day. You should try it sometime,” Charlie says quickly covering his tracks. My cheeks flushed. That could have been a very awkward conversation.
“Hhmmm. Come get some stew after all your hard work, I bet you two are starved. Try and keep this one in the bowl Faye,” dad says, laughing at his own humour.
“Thanks Dad. Making me feel like a princess, as usual,” I reply, getting annoyed.
“I’m sorry sweetie. I’ll stop now, I promise.” Dad hands me a bowl of stew.
The smell of beef gravy filled my nostrils. Grandma’s recipe. It’s the best. The way the flavours are absorbed in the vegetables and everything just melts in your mouth.
“How’s college, boys?” Dad asks to make conversation.
“Fine,” they reply together, sounding almost rehearsed, mouths full and oozing soup from the sides. Henry uses a slice of bread to save the soup from a napkin.
“What about you Faye? Have you chosen your major yet?” he asked as if he had no clue. The truth is I’ve always known what I’ve wanted to do.
“I’m majoring in zoology then entomology.”
“Oh yes, I remember,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. I think he likes me saying it because it sounds smart, or I say it funny.
“Wait, what is that?” Charlie asks holding is spoon out at me.
“The study of insects.” I reply.
“Of course,” he says, shaking his head as if he should have known. Henry and Dad look at him slightly confused.
“Why?” Henry asks me.
“Because, even though they are small, they are the largest group of animals in the world and hold the fate of the world in their tiny little hands,” I say, half joking.
“Right, anyway, after we finish, Faye I need you to muck out the stalls. Me and Henry are going into town to get the feeds,” Dad says, turning the conversation around.
“Okay,” I said, sullenly. Henry always gets the good jobs and I get lumped with the dirty work that no one wants to do.
“What do you want me to do?” Charlie asks.
“You can check the cows. Make sure their okay after the test. Take Faye’s horse. She’s a lot better to ride than Ranger,” Dad says, with laughter in his voice.
“Why? What happened with Ranger?” I asked.
“Damn near bucked him off! A bull came towards him and Ranger freaked! Good job this boy has a good grip,” he says, patting Charlie on the back.
“He’s not usually that bad! I’ll take him for a hack later. Try and see what’s up with him.” I continue digging into my stew.
“What do you think you are Faye? A horse whisperer? Besides you’re not exactly the best rider.” Henry shrugged gesturing to himself. “Where did you two go to anyway?”
“The meadow,” I replied.
“Wow, Charlie! She let you sit in the meadow with her? That’s a real honour! She must really like you, or she just wants to get into your pants,” Henry said laughing. I kick him hard in the shin under the table.
“Henry! That’s enough! I will not have talk like that at the table,” my mom shouts as she walks into the room. She was wearing her scrubs. “I’ve been called into work. They are really short staffed down at the hospital, so I will see you tonight.” She was already picking up her coat and handbag and kissing my dad affectionately on the forehead.
Mom used to be a nurse before we had the farm. The reason they bought it was so she didn’t have to work the crappy shifts and could stay here and help my Dad. So they could spend more time together. Now they hardly see each other. With my Mom barely home with her shifts, and my Dad working the farm, it’s hard to get schedules to match.
“Come on, Son. We have to get going if we want to hit the shops before they close,” Dad says, wiping his mouth and pushing his creaky chair away from the table.
“Alright. And don’t go eating that while I’m out. I’m having seconds later,” Henry says, pointing to the half full pot still on the stove and taking his bowl to the sink.
As I finish my bowl of stew, I look up to see that Charlie is sat at the end of the table waiting.
“Did you need something?” I ask.
“Oh, no, I just wanted to finish our conversation,” he says not really looking me in the eye.
“What conversation?” I ask, rather puzzled.
“About yesterday.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I reply, while trying to get the last ounce of stew out of the bowl. He was looking at me strangely now. I’ve never seen this look before.
“I just wanted to say… well… that what you did was really cool.”
“Thanks, but you said that already.” I raise my eyebrows, amusingly.
“I know. I just wanted you to know. You’re … a good friend… to Gilly,” he replies in broken sentences, looking down into his empty bowl.
“What?” I ask trying to delve deeper into his mysterious life.
“Ah nothing. Just being weird, I guess.” He laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
Two conversations in a day. Maybe Gilly was right.
“Are you okay? I mean you seem, well, not yourself,” I ask, moving from the table to wash up the bowls I the sink. Collecting his on my way.
“Yeah. I just wondered if you wanted any help after I finished with the cows,” he says, still sat in the same position at the table.
“You want to help me muck out the stalls?”
“Sure, I got nothing else to do,” he says, a little too upbeat for cleaning up horse poo.
“Okay, I best get started. I want to see what’s wrong with Ranger as well,” I say, grabbing my coat.
“Okay,” he says, following me out the door.
I’ve just finished the stalls and have started to prep Ranger when Charlie comes back from checking the cows.
“All finished?” he asks, jumping off the back of Lunar and popping his head around the stable door. He wipes the sweat from his brow.
“Yeah, just prepping Ranger. I want to see what’s up with him.” I finish doing up the buckles on the saddle. Ranger was one of the largest horses on the farm and the youngest. He was jet black with a white stripe down his nose and white socks above his shoes.
“Can I come?” he asks already heading back to Lunar. She was grey with white speckles and the quietest horse I have ever encountered. Unless there is a snake. Then she’s basically wild. Bucking and jumping, then bolts out of there.
“Knock yourself out,” I reply, elegantly climbing onto the horse and headed towards the meadow. Ranger felt a little tense but other than that was fine.
As we start, I feel nervous. Charlie’s been acting strange all day. I don’t really know how to act. Do I just tell him how I feel and get it out of the way? “Yeah by the way I’ve had the biggest crush on you ever since you started hanging around with my brother.” Yeah, right.
We ride across the meadow and up the track. The track was a loop made though the woods to ride the horses. Ranger starts to shake his head.
“Whoah, boy.” I lean down to stroke his neck. As I do, he canters off down the track. “Oh crap!” I shout pulling on the reins.
“Faye!” Charlie shouts.
As we get back to the meadow he begins to slow up.
“Are you okay?” he asks, once Ranger has stopped.
“Yeah, I think he’s just being boisterous. Needs more stimulation. Fancy a race?” I say, as I gallop away.
He starts catching up to me. As we near the stables I slow the horse down and walk him back. Charlie appears beside me, out of breath. “You know, you’ve changed a lot since I last saw you.”
“You think? Well you’ve changed too, I suppose. You need to buy a bi
gger jacket by the way. Poor girls won’t know what to do with themselves if you keep wearing stuff like that,” I say, with a giggle in my voice.
“What do you mean?” he says, looking at his upper body pulling his jacket to one side. He wants me to say it.
“You don’t know? You look like every damsel in distress’s fantasy. Most women are just waiting for you to scoop them up, give a romantic spiel, kiss them and ride off into the sunset,” I say whimsically. Oh god, I think I went a little too far. Did I say that whilst looking him up and down? I tie Ranger to the post.
“Most women? Do you come into that category?” he asks, jumping down off his horse, tying her to the post and stroking Lunar’s mane, flashing me his lady killing grin and cocked eyebrow.
“What?!” I say laughing. “Why does that matter?” I ask, and as if to answer my question he sweeps me off my feet, spins me around and then carries on towards the stables. “What are you doing?!” I say squirming. “Put me down! I have to put the horses away!” I shout through the laughter.
As we get in through the door of the stables, he throws me down onto the pile of fresh straw.
“What the hell was that?” I ask, still laughing.
“I gave you what you wanted didn’t I?” he said chuckling to himself and looking proud in a superhero stance.
“Well you missed out most of it, but you get the gist. Girls kill for this. Bet one of your girlfriends will love it,” I say, wiggling my brows at him. I know he sees a few girls in college. Henry doesn’t hold much back when he gloats. I start to get up out of the straw sweeping it off me.
“What girls?” he asks.
“Henry said. You guys “hook up with girls left right and centre when you go to parties in college,” I say mimicking Henry’s voice.
“He tries. I just like to watch him make a fool of himself.” Charlie replies, walking towards me.
“And you don’t try?” I ask rolling my eyes at him. “You’re captain of your college football team. It comes with the territory.”
“Well I have had my eyes on a girl for a while but the way she keeps diving into fires I think I might have to make a move, before she goes and kills herself, maybe climbing a tree to save a cat,” he says taking a step closer. I can smell the salty smell of sweat on his skin mixed in with a strong musky cologne. I breathe it in deeply. His hair messed up and arms rippling before me and I am stuck. I can’t move a muscle. I don’t know what to say and all that I can muster up is:
“I’m not really a cat person.” Congratulations to me. I win the award for most awkward teen.
He laughs and moves away slightly. “What?” he says with a giant grin on his face. “You’re so weird.”
Did I just miss my chance?
“Well you know me.” I say. “Never miss an opportunity.” Shrugging, a little defeated, going to move past him.
“Well I definitely won’t miss mine.” He says and comes close again. Closer than before. I can feel his breath on my face as he holds me in his hands and kisses me deeply. His soft lips feel so warm against mine. This feels good. Is it meant to feel this good?
Is this really happening? Can this be real? Am I really kissing Charlie Lawrence? Oh God. Palpitations. A tingling sensation fills my body as I start to lose myself in the kiss. A fire fills me up as I melt into him, pulling him as close as I can, trying to make the moment last.
I wrap my arms around his neck as he picks me up and sits me on the saddle bench not coming up for air. That is when I feel myself slipping. And not emotionally either. The rug he has placed me on is sliding off the bench and taking me with it.
With a large bang I end up in a pile on the floor on the other side of the bench. “Well that seemed like it was a great idea.” I say.
“I’m so sorry.” He says laughing at me once more. He offers me his hand to get me back to my feet. Pulling me close and kissing me once more. I run my fingers through his hair and down to his muscular shoulders.
In the background, we hear the crunching of gravel beneath tyres and the honk of a low horn rattles through the barn. We pull away from each other. “Oh, is it that time already?” he asks. “We should go,” he says letting go of me completely.
That was surreal. I pinch myself to make sure I'm really awake. I try to pull myself together, but I can’t get my heart to slow down. It feels like it going to burst out of my chest!
Dad and Henry come towards us with the bags of feeds. “Faye why are you covered in straw?” my father asked me.
“Charlie pushed me into it.” I said trying to act natural.
“Nice.” Henry says from behind dropping the bag of food to high five Charlie.
“Did you finish all the stalls?” my father asked.
“Yes, and I’ve ridden Ranger. He’s just being a teenager,” I reply.
“Great, could you start on dinner? Your Mom won’t be back til late and I need to feed the chickens and the pigs,” he asks pleadingly.
“Sure,” I reply, and head straight for the house. The kitchen was my favourite part of the house. It was all white with oak wood worktops on either side with a large island in the middle. It had French style glass doors that made the room that little bit more vintage. Plus, all the scuff marks really make the place look shabby chic.
At least it’s sort of a break coming in to cook. I pull out the pans to make spaghetti bolognese. Luckily, we have all the ingredients, even my secret ingredient.
Whilst I cook, I call Gilly to catch up with her.
“It’s bad, Faye, my Mom has to answer my phone for me. I can’t scroll, I can’t swipe! My social life is over!” She rants, pretending to whimper down the phone.
“I have some news,” I say, waiting for her to take the bait.
“Charlie declared his undying love for you with a bouquet of chocolates and a fountain of rose petals and you had a passionate…” I stopped her.
“I see you have a lot of time on your hands. Not exactly but you’re on the right track,” I replied.
“You kissed?” she asked tentatively, waiting for the answer.
“Yeah,” I reply with a cheesy grin on my face. All I hear is a scream down the phone.
“Trust me to be incapacitated and you get all the action! Oh God! What was it like? Did he say anything?” she asked, a million miles an hour.
“It felt really good. It felt amazing just being with him today. He didn’t really say much though after Dad and Henry came home,” I said stirring the sauce.
“Wait, so, does he like you or was he seizing an opportunity? You need these answers girl! Don’t come to me with half a story.” she sighs.
“What do I do?” I ask.
“Be chill, but find out.” she says. “Got to go now. Love ya.” “Mom! I need you to hang up the phone!” “Bye Faye!” she says. That was not helpful.
My bolognese is the best in this house. Not to toot my own horn. I use Grandma’s recipe with my own little twist. There was not one dirty bowl left on the table and even the leftovers were gone. It’s a good job I put Mom’s in the fridge ready for her.
The boys have already abandoned ship and are in the living room talking about baseball, leaving me to clean up. Every so often I hear an ‘As if’ or ‘That’s wrong and you know it.’ Who knew sports could be so argumentative?
“Need any help?” I hear a voice from the corner of the room.
“Bit late for that. This is the last one,” I say, holding the dish I’m drying over my head.
“You’ve really stepped up, you know that?” Dad started. “Not only have you taken on more roles on the farm, you cook, you clean. I might as well start calling you Cinderella, he said coming over and putting a hand on my shoulder.
“It’s fine,” I reply, not really knowing what to say.
“You deserve a break. That’s why I think selling the cows is the best move for us.”
“I know, Dad. You don’t have to explain it to me.” He gives me a hug and kisses me on the forehead.
&n
bsp; “You are my angel,” he says, mid kiss. “What did I do to deserve you? Now get in there I want you to relax all day tomorrow. I’m going to town, so you can do whatever you want. The boys are going hiking tomorrow. Might be nice for you to get out.”
“Dad, what the hell?” Henry shouts.
“Don’t be a jerk, Henry. She can come, it’s no big deal,” Charlie says nudging Henry. “You guys need some family bonding anyway,” he says elbowing him again.
