Flutter-Field Ranch

Chapter 1

The weather was perfect, as perfect as a day in early May can get, and here I was sitting on the side of the road with my tool box resting on the ground beside me as I repair my 1995 Dodge Dakota Sport engine... and just barely getting it to cooperate with me.

"You stubborn junker..." I mutter under my breath as I finally finish the repair and carefully toss my tools back into my box

I grabbed my clean grease cloth in order to clean my hands as I walk over to my open window and try to start it up and am happy to hear the engine roar to life

"That's my baby... lets try and make it to our destination before you completely break down on me, okay Kota?" I speak to my truck in a kind manner as I grab my tool box, open the driver's side door and put my tool box on the passenger side of my bench-seat.

I close my door, secure my seat-belt and then roll up my window before glancing at the large manila envelope that contains all of the paperwork that I'd just gotten from the town's government offices... the one's that stated that I was now the proud owner of a very large section of land within the township. The biggest from what I'd been told... and apparently the most desirable, the secretary had warned me that a gentleman within town had intentions of trying to get me to sell my portion of land to him and that if I did, he'd have the largest section. From what I understood of it though, I own a complete half of the township, which to me was to much land and I wondered how my father had managed to get that much and sustain it... two thirds of the land that was left was the personal property of some rich family, the head of which wanted my land for it's beautiful view, and the rest of the land were made up of housing, businesses and establishments that helped the town stay afloat.

With all this in mind, I pulled my tablet from under my envelope, tapped a few buttons and saw my driving route come back to life as I pulled back onto the street from the shoulder. My tablet spouted out orders as I continued to drive toward my destination, and I was nearly there when my phone started to ring.

"Hello?" I answered distractedly as I make the necessary turn my tablet is nagging me about.

"Ms. Roark? It's Mr. Lawrence, your father's lawyer." The gentlemen's voice tells me and I immediately recognize his kind tone.

"Hello Mr. Lawrence, it's good to hear from you again." I say as I double check my next turn, "What can I do for you?"

"Ms. Roark, I was just checking in with you because I've just seen old man Matthews harassing some of the others in the office asking why he'd not been informed that you had arrived here... it seems he really is going to try and speak to you about selling." Mr. Lawrence tells me in a concerned manner.

"I thank you very much for the information, but I have no intentions of speaking to him about anything. I am currently about 10 minutes drive away from the property and unless he has a magic portal that can get him there in that time, I have no intention on even seeing him enough to be a polite neighbor." I reply in my distracted tone once more as I glance at my tablet for my ETA status, "Can you please tell me why I need to see the estate for myself? All that you mentioned about it is that my father's closest friend was taking care of things for the past several years and that she was all to relieved to know that she didn't have to be hassled by the Matthews because you were still trying to locate me."

"I'm going to let Ms. Clemons explain everything when you get there... she's really excited to see you again after so long." Mr. Lawrence informs me and I can hear his kind smile through the phone.

"I'm a bit nervous... I still don't think I'll remember her." I tell him softly as I realize that I'm gripping Kota's steering wheel just a little to hard.

"She's not worried about you remembering her... she just wants you to know that this is your home now and that she'll help you in anyway she can." Mr. Lawrence reassures me, but then I heard a disturbance on the other end of the line.

"Is everything alright over there?" I ask him, concern thick within my own voice.

"Mr. Matthews, if you give me just a moment, I'm just finishing up an important business call." I hear Mr. Lawrence on the other end and then his attention is back upon me, "Ms. Roark, I hope the property is to your liking and I'll be sure to stop by to check on you later today. Good-bye now dear and I hope you have a wonderful day."

"Good-bye Mr. Lawrence, thank you again for the heads up. I hope he's not too demanding of you." I laugh softly and I can hear his smile even though he merely repeats his good-bye and then the line went dead.

"Heavens bless Mr. Lawrence, he's done so much for me already, I can't believe he's taking time to distract someone for me even though he doesn't have to." I murmur the small prayer to no one in particular, because I didn't really know what my belief system to be, but I just felt like there was some energy up there actually listening to me.

A few minutes after getting off the phone with Mr. Lawrence, I found my destination, and turned onto the long dirt driveway... which had a large wooden archway that named the property Flutter-Field Ranch. I stopped for a moment, staring at the large sign, eyes wide with confusion and a decent amount of awe.

"Thought he said that it was a property...?" I half mutter as I continue down the driveway... which was lined with not only the fenced in areas for whatever animals they kept here, but perfectly placed trees also lined the drive, "Well, that's beautiful... good to know that they're well kept."

The further I drove down the drive, the more I was beginning to feel like I recognized this land, had lived on this land everyday of my life... despite knowing that I had been taken from it many years ago. It still felt of home, and it was welcoming me as I came back. As I drew closer to the end of the drive, I found the beloved 2-story house in which I had found myself dreaming about as a child, the memories locked deep within me except for when I was asleep. It still had it's wrap around porch, the swing that hang from the tree in the front yard... and it even had the small garden that had been my mother's still sitting off to the side and as beautiful as it always had. Several feet behind it, laid a slightly bigger building in the shape of an 'U' that, if memory served, was the building in which held rooms for all of those hired to help if they did not have a place to stay... I had no doubt that it was still connected to the main house and still had the second of my mother's garden still between the two buildings.

The barn was at the very end of the drive, the dirt path leading right up to the fence and gate that sat right in front of it... but my attention was called to the massive set up that sat between the house and where the row of vehicles sat along the drive way. People were bustling about trying to finish whatever project that they were working on, and as I parked my truck closest to the house, where most of the people would occasionally pause to look at me, I saw several of the young women rush into the house as everyone's excitement grew. I became rather nervous a I carefully turned off my truck, and realized that I wasn't in the best of shape to meet anyone... I had grease on my hands, my hair was all over the place from the wind blowing it about when I had been fixing the loose bits within my truck.

"Better get this ball rolling." I mutter to myself for the last time as I reach for my blouse and open my door at the same time... I stuffed my truck keys into my front left jean pocket, quickly pulled on my blouse but left it hanging open as I then grabbed the manila envelope, all before taking a deep breath and shutting my truck door.