Coming home

chapter 2

Claire was just stepping out of the house when the boys began arriving. This was going to be interesting. The ranch hands had changed throughout the years and many she didn’t know anymore. The few she did remember she hadn’t talked it in years. That, coupled with the fact that she hadn’t ridden a horse since she left for college, was what she decided to blame on this sudden anxiety she was feeling. This was so unlike her. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt anything but comfortable in her own skin.

Looking out over the horizon, she took a deep breath and started toward where the boys were gathering. That was how she was going to get past this anxiety feeling, one foot in front of the other. At least, that was what she told her patients. Maybe she shouldn’t be a therapist after all, because following her own advice seemed like a bunch of bullshit to her. She wondered if that was what they thought when she told them that? And then it happened.

Claire felt like she had been slammed up against a brick wall and had the breath knocked out of her, sending little shock-waves tingling down her nerve endings when she spotted Luke Brook standing there looking all fresh with that boyish grin of his. What the hell was he doing here? She hadn’t seen or spoken to him since the night before she left for college. It had been hard on her at first not to contact him, but the bustle of college life soon got busty enough that she just forgot that she had been pulled into his fake persona.

The years had been good for him. His teenage features seemed to have been chiseled into this rugged-looking man who stood just a breath away from her. His long, lanky legs seemed to have sprouted muscles, making him seem to be even taller than the 6-foot boy of her youth. His chest filled out and was much wider than she remembered. But his eyes, his eyes were the same pale bluish gray that she never could deny until that night. This only added to her initial shock and seemed to make her anxiety peek higher than before. When she did allow herself to remember, she only remembered him as the boy from her youth. It had helped her keep him in the past when he belonged. Never had she even attempted to picture him as a man.

Any hope that no one noticed her little episode was soon dashed as James launched towards her as if she was actually going to faint. “Are you alright, Claire?” James said in the loudest voice Claire ever heard, causing more attention to be drawn their way. You know, just in case anyone might have missed it, Claire thought. She would have been furious with him if it wasn’t for the genuine concern she had seen in James’ eyes. She tried to pass it off and mumbled something about missing lunch, which only made his concern look grow.

Claire turned toward the group of hands gathered to have all eyes staring at her. Summoning up the best confident voice she could, Claire decided to jump right into the problem at hand, “Okay. Tell me what we are looking at?” She should have guessed that James was going to be the one to relay the rest of the story, Claire thought as James stepped forward.

“The cows got spooked when a couple of trees went down. Lightning struck the big oak in the west pasture and took out a couple of trees on its way down. The trees fell across a good section of the fence that separates our land from the Smith’s spread. This means most of the herd is now on the Smith’s spread,” James reported. "And'” he took a deep breath to try to soften the blow, “There were six heifers, four calves, and the bull found dead near the base of the oak tree.”

The bull, Claire thought with dismay, That was the last bull the Roaming J had, which added more value to him than he was really worth. The shock of it left her speechless. Claire had to get it together. First things first. She had to come up with a game plan to get the cows back on their land, no her land. That was how she needed to start thinking. It was her land now and all these problems were hers and hers alone. Then it dawned on her, “Wasn’t the Smith’s putting their place up on the market and moving years ago? Who owns it now?” Claire asked, looking at James.

James looked down at his feet. How was he going to tell her? He didn’t know exactly what happened between her and Luke all those years ago. The only thing he knew was, one minute they had been all in love and the next, Claire was leaving earlier than expected for college. James was saved from having to possibly add to Claire’s dilemma when Luke spoke up. “No, it’s mine now.” And just like that, she felt like she had been thrown up against a brick wall again.

Today just seems to be one big ole spiral downhill. The realization that Nancy and Luke ended up getting married knocked all the breath out of her. At least he did do the honorable thing, but she should be way over the hurt of betrayal by now. “Any ideas on how to get the fence fixed and the cows back home?” Claire asked, thinking it would give her time to recover from what was supposed to be past demons.

“I’ve sent a couple of the boys to see how much material we need to fix the fence and a couple to check on what material we have on hand,” James said.

“And I sent out a few of my hands to check where your cows ended up on my spread when I got the call,” Luke said, as it really meant nothing to him. The cows are good where they are. They are contained and not bothering anything, so there is no logical reason to get them all riled up again. They may even roam back to the right pasture after they calm down. Me and James can get together on supplies and I’ll cover whatever ya’ll don’t have.“ when Luke saw she was about to protest, he continued,” That section of the fence benefits me as well as you and there is really no reason to have hands up all night in the wet trying to mend fences and dealing with moving the herd. We can start fresh in the morning and with everything needed.” Then he added to dismiss her. “Besides, me and James have already discussed it and it’s the most reasonable solution.”

Claire could feel her blood start boiling. Where did he get off? Sure, it was the most logical, but why did he deem it fit to dismiss her? And where was this logic years ago when it would have spared me pain? Claire took a deep breath and counted to ten before she reluctantly agreed but still insisted on checking the damage out for herself. Hopefully, it would bring the two men back to the realization that she was the one in charge and had complete control of the ranch. James tried to discourage her or at least told her to take one of the hands with her, but Claire stood her ground and refused. Besides trying to make her point clear, Claire had another agenda also. She needed to clear her head and maybe the ride would help her figure out why she was still so angry after all these years.