Coming home

chapter 10

Claire walked back into the kitchen, feeling like a new person carrying her sling. “Can you help me put this back on?” She had debated about even asking, but now that she had got her hormones in check, it didn’t seem like a big deal. Claire had this feeling of accomplishment, joy, and excitement about the future of the ranch. It’s amazing what a shower and new clothes can do for your mood, she thought. Besides, Luke seemed like he was being genuine and really just wanted to help, and what help he did give her so far did wonders for her attitude.

Luke finished pouring their coffee before he walked over to Claire and sat her cup down on the table in front of where she was standing. He reached out his hand, and she handed him the sling. Luke knew this was her peace offering because he knew she could have put it on by herself. The sling was a simple type. It had a cup where the shoulder went that stretched down to her bicep. The strap ran across the back to under the other arm and back around to fasten across the chest with Velcro. There was only one movement to get it off and not many more than that to put it back on. Luke was sure she requested this particular one just for this reason.

“There. Is it too loose or too tight?” Luke said, standing back, admiring his handy work.

“No. It’s fine. Thank you,” Claire said as she sat down at the table.

Luke only nodded while he followed suit and sat across from her. He knew if he made a big deal out of it, then the peace offering would go away. They sat in silence, sipping on coffee until Claire took a deep breath and was about to break the silence when James came through the door.

“Good ya’ll are both here,” he said while he walked to the coffee pot to fix himself a cup. “How are you feeling, Claire?”

“Fine right now. What’s up?” she said, trying to make him get to the point.

“It’s the fence,” James said, turning and leaning against the counter while sipping his coffee. This got both of their attention. Claire could feel her newfound hopeful attitude start slipping away. “Not only didn’t the cows roam back to this side, but the ones that were here aren’t anymore.” Claire instinctively started chewing on her bottom lip. Both men knew this tale. She had done it since a young child and Luke had even pointed it out to her once, but she denied it. She did this when she was deep in thought about something she couldn’t quite figure out.

“Why don’t we just wait another day?” Luke suggested. “I’m sure that yesterday evening's activities had something to do with it,” he said, eyeing Claire.

“That was my thought also,” James agreed. “Claire, what do you think?”

Claire stared between the two men, wondering if they were just trying to pacify her or if she actually got the point through to them that she made the decisions on this ranch. She had nothing else to do but also agreed with them. “That sounds good to me, but the other fences still need to be worked on. We can do the South Pasture today. It will be far enough away as to not spook the cows farther, and we will have a safe place to put them when they get back from the Smith’s spread.” Claire couldn’t give them all the credit for solving this problem. Besides, she had to prove to herself that she hadn’t lost all control of what was transpiring.

“Sounds good,” James echoed. “We will use the material we have on hand, and I’ll run to town tomorrow morning to replace it.” And with that, James set his mug in the sink and walked out the door.

When she turned back to look at Luke, he had a far off look. It was like he was trying to dredge up the past in some way, and that wasn’t going to happen. Not if Claire had anything to do with it. There had been enough of past feelings in the bathroom, and she wasn’t going to let him stir up her hormones again. “My meds are kicking in. I’m going to go lay down for a while. You don’t need to stay because I’ll be sleeping. I’m sure you have things of your own to-do, and you probably need to go check on Elizabeth or something,” With that, Claire left him at the table by himself.

It was only a partial lie. She was beginning to feel the pills take effect, but only in the aspect that the pain in her shoulder and head was subsiding a bit. Although it was probably just a matter of time that she would have passed out on the table just to have to be carried to bed. She was just beating the pills to the punch, so to speak. In reality, she laid there listening for the door to open and shut, marking Luke’s departure.

Claire must have dozed off before Luke actually left. She slowly started coming back to consciousness when she realized she was still listening for the sound of the door. Good thing she came to lay down when she did. The pills hit fast and hard, Claire thought while trying to gather her bearings.

Glancing at her bedside clock, she had been out for at least a couple of hours. She would have to find a way to deal with the pain without the pills. If this continued her two weeks to make up her mind about the ranch, it would go by too fast, and she wouldn’t be able to make an informed decision about her future. This injury had thrown a kink in her goal. She needed to get back on her feet before the two weeks were up.

Claire's stomach started growling, reminding her she hadn’t had anything in it but coffee for the last 24 hours. She hadn’t been lying when she had used the excuse of missing lunch yesterday. She made her way to the kitchen to try to find something even though she was sure the only thing she would find was the grocery list she made out yesterday. She had planned on running to town this morning to stock up.

When she entered the kitchen, she caught a whiff of something familiar. Something from her teenage years. There stood Luke sitting a bag from Pet’s Burgers on the table. He smiled a devilish grin at her and headed to get plates. Pete’s Burgers was a teen hang out back in the day. Everyone always ended up there on the weekends and any other time they could. Claire hasn’t had a Pet’s burger since then. She wondered if they would even taste the same anymore. She also wondered if Pete still owned it. Pete was old back then. At least she thought he was. She had never really given much thought to how old he was. His gray hair had made him seem old anyway, she thought.

Claire took her seat as Luke was placing the plates on the table. He began to empty the bags onto the plates when Claire noticed he had put a burger that had a heart drawn on it onto Claire’s plate. The symbol of the past hit her all at once as she looked up at him.

“Pete still remembered who ate their burger like that,” he said offhandedly. There was a big dispute back then about how many pickles actually went on a hamburger. Claire liked it a lot, and Luke liked none, so Pete always put a heart on hers. Pete had said the symbol was to remind her that she was going to end up with high blood pressure with all that salt. Well, she fooled them because her blood pressure was still perfect.

Claire couldn’t wait to dig in. Her stomach emphasized that with a loud growl, bringing an intensive growling look from Luke.

“When was the last time you ate?” he questioned.

“I don’t remember. I really did skip lunch yesterday,” she said sheepishly as she began to inhale the feast in front of her as best she could manage one-handed. Even though she probably could have eaten a leather shoe without any hesitation, the burger was just as good as she remembered. “Pete really out did himself once again,” Claire declared as she sopped up the juices from her burger with the last of her fries. She couldn’t believe after all these years that not only did Luke remember how she liked her hamburgers but that Pete remembered also.

Claire noticed Luke staring at her once she finally devoured her food and looked up. Feeling self-conscious, she grabbed a napkin and said, “What? Do I have it all over my face or something?”

“Nope,” he said, chuckling. “I just don’t ever remember you enjoying your food that much.”

“Sorry to offend you with my eating. I was starving. I hadn’t had time to stock the house yet,” she shot out.

“I noticed. I found your list, and once you were snoring, I ran to town to fill it and passed Pete’s and got hungry myself.” Then continued quickly when he saw her about to protest about him running an errand for her. “I will be going to pick Elizabeth up in the morning from a slumber party, and I can’t bring her here without her having something to eat. Besides, I got way more than you had listed. Don’t you eat junk food anymore?”

Claire shot him another look of discontent but only replied by saying, “I don’t snore, but thank you for the food. And Pete’s was a great choice,” She wanted to emphasize this by sticking her tongue out but caught herself just in time. She didn’t need to have the feeling that she was comfortable with him being here, but more importantly, he didn’t need to think she was comfortable around him. She couldn’t let her guard down around him. He surely would take it as an invitation, and that was the last thing she needed.

It took some convincing, but Claire didn’t plan on spending the rest of her day couped up in the house. She wanted to get out in the sun. The sun had healing powers. She wanted to go check on Chaos even though she was told Chaos had no injuries or mishaps from yesterday's events. She just had to see for herself. She also wanted to check on the progress of the South Fence, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen. Claire had to make a compromise for Luke to accompany her, though, which wasn’t exactly what she had planned, but he stood firm on that part. He claimed that she was still unsteady and that the effects of the medication she was on were still unknown to her. She finally gave in just to get out of the house.

Everything seems to be going fine. Chaos had no apparent defects and seemed to be doing fine. They met a couple of the boys on their way there and back and stopped to chat for a minute to see how things were going. The problem came when they were almost back to the porch when Claire got lightheaded and started to stumble a bit. Before she even realized what had taken place, Claire felt a strong arm around her waist, and she was off the ground in seconds and being carried.

“What are you doing?” she barely got out.

“You were falling.”

“No I wasn’t.” she denied.

“Yes you were,” he said in disbelief. “Are you actually going to deny you were going to fall and need help to save face? You do know that if you fall, then your recovery time is going to be longer, right? And the prospect of having to have surgery is going to increase?”

“I wasn’t going to fall,” Claire said through clenched teeth.

“Well, now we both know you won't.” Luke responded while refusing to relinquish her and carried her all the way to her bed.“Now stay put,” he said, finally depositing her on her bed.

“I can’t just lay in bed doing nothing,” she yelled at his back as he was walking out.

Claire was almost to her feet again when Luke’s booming voice sounded again, “I said stay.” He came back in pushing a cart with a TV on it. Claire felt like a defiant child who got caught doing something they knew they weren’t supposed to be doing.

“I’m not a child,” Claire stated as she crawled back in bed, making her statement fruitless. “Where did you get that at?” she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

I found it in one of the bunk houses and rented some movies while I was in town. Now, lay down and watch and rest for at least today,” Luke said, popping a disc into the DVD player and making himself at home in the chair that he seemed to claim as his resting place.

Reluctantly, Claire laid back and began to watch and soon felt herself caught up in the movie. This scene played out until it was time to eat again. Luke made them finger foods, and they watched movies until both fell asleep for the night.