Flutter-Field Ranch

Chapter 8

Dinner was beyond delicious, the elderly women had made me sit down at the end of the table in the chair that my mother used to sit in. They had already set the table, were serving the others as they came into the dining room and the conversations that seemed to flow endlessly around the table had my heart feeling full even though I was too nervous to join in with the topics that were already going. A loud whistle came from Ms. Clemons as she gathered everyone's attention before raising her glass up only a bit dramaticly.

"A toast, to the return of a long lost family member who has finally found her way back home. Diane, you have only been back for a little over a day and already things have been more lively and better than they have been in a long time." Ms. Clemons tells everyone while staring at me kindly, "Your parents would be proud of all that you've done so far and I can't wait to see what you have in store for us... or the mischief I'm sure you'll get into because we all know how your parents were. Welcome back darlin!"

A cheer went up through out the entire dining room as everyone else raised their glasses and I ducked my head down a bit in embarassment because I didn't know what to say to how welcoming they had all been since I had arrived. This felt like home to me and I wanted it to stay that way.

"So long as I have all of you here, I can't wait to see what the future holds for us." I reply shyly as I raise my own glass to Ms. Clemons and see Drew smile as he helped him mother into her seat before taking the seat between the two of us.

When dinner was finished, I was once again shooed away from the kitchen and dining room by our elders. I smiled as I lifted my hands up in defeat and went outside for some fresh air as I caught up with Sam, Cole and Rachel to discuss the truck with the guys as well as check in with Rachel about anything that she wanted to discuss. Once we came to an agreement on the boys being able to take Kota apart so that they could rebuild my beloved truck from the ground up. They would only work on Kota on the weekends so long as their grades remained good as well as after they did their chores. If they held up their end, I would supply the funds and the parts required for them to fix Kota and then they'd get to drive Kota whenever they wanted to within reason since they were still in school.

I was sitting on one of the porch swings, watching the teens head back to where their families stayed, and where the rest of my extended family were all heading to bed... and I felt an ache in my heart as I wished, not for the first time, that my parents were still around. My thoughts running to how my mother would have explained everything about my Fae side so that I wouldn't have had to keep it a secret from at least one person. Images of my father running around the ranch with me, acting silly and showing me how to put in a hard days work with the horses... a life that I never got to have played out inside my head before I smiled sadly to myself and headed back into the house. I started working on putting my office spot together and was joined by Drew after he had apparently washed up because his hair was still a bit wet and he now sported flannel looking pajama pants with a tshirt.

Things were a lot easier to organize and set up with his help lifting things and putting them onto the two desks in the way that would work best for me. I also learned that we were going to need a better internet connection out at the Ranch and I was determined to get the best connection available for everyone, not just for work. Although I would have to have separate connections so that the work wouldn't lag with everyone using the internet... which was the current problem. After we set up the desk top, the printers and arranged the filing cabinets that I had gotten I was was beyond physically tired. Wanting nothing more than to get a shower before I unceremoniously throw myself upon the very soft looking bed that I glanced at wistfully. Drew headed into his own room as I grabbed my shower caddy along with my two favorite towels from the stuff I had yet to unpack.