Saddle up

Chapter six

I sipped on my coffee and hummed along to the radio on my way to the ranch that day. As I pulled into the drive, I noticed that I was much earlier than usual. I decided that I'd get to work  right away before Chase got there so we could both relax a bit in the nice cool morning air. I took one long last swig of coffee and climbed out of my car. Before I could take a step towards the barn I heard a voice from the house.

"Hey Jess, could you come over to the house a sec?"

I looked to see Brant seated on the front porch, coffee mug in hand. It appeared as though he either hadn't slept well or at all. Without a word, I walked through the lawn and up the steps to meet Brant who was now holding the front door open for me. I made my way inside and as Brant closed the door behind me, I felt his arm brush mine and my knees nearly buckled below me. This was the same feeling I had experienced the first day I started at the ranch. Brant interrupted my thoughts as he asked me to have a seat at the dining room table.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?", he asked. I could sense some sort of concern in his voice.

"Uh, yeah. Sure, coffee sounds great." I watched as Brant opened the cabinet, and reached to the top shelf for a glass. I could see the muscles working in his back through his t shirt and I couldn't help myself but to sneak a peak at his back side.

"Anything in it", he asked.

"Uh, just a little milk, I muttered. I watched as Brant made his way back to the table, placed the cup in front of me, and seated himself on the other side.

"Is everything ok?", I asked.

Brant made eye contact with me for the first time since yesterday before answering.

" I just wanted to apologize to you about yesterday. I didn't mean to make you feel like I was upset with you...he paused and swallowed hard. I just... Jess, like I told you before, you have a striking resemblance to Kels, and yesterday when you came outside in her clothes, I just..."

"Brant.," I interrupted, I understand. When you ran off, Chase explained everything to me. You don't have anything to be sorry about. Brant looked up from his coffee and nodded.

"About Chase, too. Brant started, he won't be here today, his gram fell and fractured a hip yesterday. He's going to stay with her at the hospital while she's under for surgery, so it'll just be you and I today. Is that ok?"

"Yes", I answered almost too quickly. I felt horrible for Chase, but I couldn't help the excitement I had from hearing that I'd be spending the whole day working beside Brant. It would give me a little time to get to know him better. 'Who are you kidding', my subconscious sneered. 'You're just happy to have the eye candy all day'

I shifted in my seat at the thought, 'yeah, that too'

"Alright, well we'll have a beautiful day to work with, today. 70 degrees and partly sunny. So we won't be dying of heat too much.", Brant said with what looked like a hint of a smirk on his face. That's the closest thing to a smile I've seen from him since I first started at the ranch. Of course besides laughing at me over the Ruth episode. "Once you finish your coffee, we can get going, maybe finish up early today so you can have some more time on a horse"

Brant and I worked well together, mostly because there wasn't much talking or goofing off like there would have been with Chase. Just the sound of Brant's heavy breathing as he threw hay bails effortlessly on the back of the quad cart. I couldn't help the bad thoughts that were rolling through my mind as we worked together. I had to continually remind myself to stop staring at him throughout the day. We chatted throughout our chores. Brant asked me a lot of questions like he was genuinely interested in getting to know me better. At about noon time Brant said he had to run into town for some supplies and asked if I'd be okay by myself for a little while. Once he was gone I finished up the rest of the work by myself. I sat down at the picnic table where Brant and I first spoke to one another and ate my lunch and enjoyed the sounds all around me. I truly loved it here. I finished my sandwich quickly and was ready to move on to my apple slices when I noticed Izzy peaking at me from the pasture. I snatched my apple slices up and headed over. As I neared the pasture, Izzy began to move away from me. I didn't make eye contact with her, I walked over to the edge of the fence and grabbed the hose as if I were going to fill the water basin, but placed an apple slice on top of the fence post. I felt Izzy watching me closely, and when the breeze picked up, she raised her nose in the air to the smell of the fresh cut apples. She made no attempt to move towards the apple though, so I began to take a few steps back. For each step I took back, she took one forward until she reached the apple, snatched it, and gobbled it up immediately. I moved towards the fence again and she again moved back. We played this game until every slice was gone, but each time, she allowed me to be closer as she ate. It wasn't trust yet, but it was certainly a start.