Fear

Chapter Four

Mairi's phone buzzed against the wooden table, she flicked her curled hair out of her cream turtle neck jumper. She grabbed her phone and looked at the screen to see a message from Elijah. With a smile, Mairi grabbed her brown leather bag and rushed out her door to the elevator. While she waiting on the elevator, she checked to make sure she had everything in her bag before throwing in her phone and apartment keys.

She walked into the elevator and pressed to go down to the ground floor. Once the doors reopened Mairi rushed out and jogged over to the main door. She could see through the glass a large black Ford F-150, with Elijah leaning against it smiling as he caught her eye. 

He wore a cream coloured cowboy hat and a red plaid shirt underneath a thick worn brown suede jacket with cream fleece inside that was left loose. A pair of blue jean adorned his long legs held up with a belt holding a large oval bucket. He wore what looked to be timberland boots on his feet. 

"Hey," Mairi spoke as she walked out of the main door. 

"Morning." Elijah smiled back as he pushed off his truck before he turned and opened the passenger door for Mairi. She smiled stepped up and into the seat. Elijah took the seat belt and handed it to her to buckle herself up. He closed the door gently before making his way around the front of the truck to the driver side. Once Elijah settled into the truck he took off his hat and ran his fingers through his black hair. He reached behind them and place the hat on the back seats before pressing several buttons.

 As soon as the engine had been turned on, they were on the road. With a destination that Mairi did not know of. Elijah had decided to keep it a secret of what the day would consist off. They drove for around ten minutes just listening to the radio. It wasn't until they passed under a large gateway with a sign over the top saying William's cattle ranch. 

"This is your place?" Mairi asked as they drove down a dirt road. Elijah nodded his head softly while keeping his eyes focused on the road ahead. 

"Yup, been in the family for generations. When my folks passed it down couple years back they left for their retirement in the UK." He told her as an old wood and stone rustic cabin. It was a cosy looking home with a large stone fire on the corner of the building. A wooden porch wrapped around most of the house. On the right side of the house, it looked to have recently had an extension added on. It had a pointed roof with windows that stretched up the two floors. 

"It's stunning." She muttered in aw as Elijah pulled the truck to a stop in the middle driveway. Just of to the right was a large wooden barn with the main doors open. Elijah reached behind them to grab his hat before he opened the truck door and slipped out. He then moved around to Mairi's side to open the door for her. Mairi slipped out of the truck and thanked him. He shut the door behind her and guided her over toward the barn by placing a gentle hand on the curve of her lower back. 

"This is Johnny. My ranch hand that helps with the horses." Elijah introduced a young teenage boy who walked out of the barn with to saddled up horses in tow. 

"Hey," Mairi smiled to him as he grinned brightly back at her. Elijah walked past Mairi and towards the two horses. "And these two beautiful beasts are my pride and joy." He spoke with pride before taking their leads. 

"This is Elmer," Elijah introduce the horse to her right which was a grey horse with legs that faded to black. It main and tail both black with white hair flicked through it. "He is kind and really enjoys his adventures."

"And this," He said motioning to the other horse, "Is Bumblebee, or bee as we nicknamed her." The back half of the horse was crystal white with brown spots but at the front, she was a rich golden deep brown. "She is special, a snowcap appaloosa horse." 

"They are gorgeous." Mairi laughed with joy as she studied them both. 

"Bumblebee is who you will be riding today," Elijah told her as he handed her the lead. "Sorry I never asked, have you ridden before?"

"It's been a while, I did take lessons when I was a kid." She told him as she took the lead from his hand. "My mum's family was big on the equestrian thing. I stopped when I went to high school as I didn't have much time left for it." 

"I see, well hopefully as soon as you jump into the saddle everything will come back to you." He chuckled as he motioned for Mairi to saddle up. She put her foot into the stirrup and pushed to slightly while jumping to threw her leg up and over the tall horse. Johnny then quicked helped her readjust the straps of the stirrups so she sat perfectly. By the time they were finished, Elijah was up and sitting comfortably on Elmer. 

"You ready?" He asked Mairi who looked to him with the biggest grin on her face that she has had in a long time. 

"Yes," She told him as he pushed Elmer into a walk before a rising trot. Followed closely behind by Mairi. They made their way around the back of the barn to a thin bridle trail into the foresty behind Elijah's house. 

"So how did the Cattle farmer become Mayor of Whitebridge?" Mairi asked him curiously, normally its people mainly into politics that would go for such a position.

" I didn't like the way thing were being run by the last Mayor. He was old fashioned and refused to modernise the town." Elijah told her as he ducked under a low hanging branch. "I felt like it was time we moved out of the eighteenth century and into the twenty first. When I spoke to him, he made it clear he didn't want that. So I challenged him," Elijah smirked, "And I won." 

"I see. Is it not a lot having to deal with a ranch and a town?" 

"It can be. But I have loyal people who are more than happy to lend a hand where I need it." They feel into a soft silence before Elijah continued. "But if I had to choose between the two. I would always choose the Ranch." Mairi smiled at his statement. It goes to show that even though he loves this town, he loves his ranch even more. It stirred something deep in her chest, to see him so passionate.