Cowgirl Up 2 (Sequel) ✔️

Chapter Thirty Six

Blayze

I forced myself off the couch to answer the knock at the door.
Azlan and Zeus scampered back as I approached the closed wooden door.
Who the hell wanted to annoy me?
Can't a bloke just get a bit of peace while he tries to get his head together?
Obviously it wasn't Heath on the other side, because he would have just walked in.
It was after all his home.
With a sigh, I grabbed the handle and pulled the door open.
Standing on the worn welcome mat that Grace had placed in front of the door many years ago, was Isaiah.
What the?
I couldn't even remember the last time the man had rocked up on my doorstep.
Well, technically this place is Isaiah's.
The whole damn farm is his.
Guess I was set to be chewed out by Isaiah too then.
With yet another sigh, I let go of the door and stepped back, effectively wordlessly inviting him in.
"We didn't get much of a chance to talk last night."
Isaiah noted as he stepped into the small house I'd known as home for nearly nine years, removing his old grey akubra from his head as he crossed the threshold.
"No."
I agreed.
The thing was, Isaiah was an extremely nice man.
However, he was one of the few I'd found that could chew me out good and proper, leaving me feeling like I was about six inches tall if he really wanted to.
He hung his hat onto the hat rack beside the door, joining my white one and my black one, then turned to face me, sliding his hands into the split pockets of his leather sleeveless jacket.
Well, to listen to whatever he has to say, it would be good to crack open a beer or even something stronger.
But, even I knew it was a bit early for that, especially when I was busy trying to prove to everybody that I was done drinking like an idiot.
"Do you want... coffee or somethin'?"
I offered.
"Love one."
Isaiah agreed, nodding his head for emphasis.
I turned on my heel to head into the kitchen and make us a drink.

By the time I came back out to the lounge room some five minutes later, Isaiah had sat himself on the couch and was giving the dogs a scratch behind their ears.
I rounded the couch and handed him his drink.
Both the dogs immediately wandered off, finding places near the TV cabinet to lay down and watch us.
I joined Isaiah on the couch, holding my own warm mug between my hands.
"You don't look so crash hot."
Isaiah observed, leaning forward to set his coffee onto the coffee table after taking a lengthy sip.
I'd seen my face in the mirror.
My eye was already bruising a bit and it was pretty obvious I'd gotten hardly a wink of sleep.
"That's what happens when a guy doesn't sleep."
I sighed, leaning back into the cushions of the couch.
Isaiah shifted so that he was part way facing me.
"Also happens when a guy meets a fist."
I just shrugged.
He didn't need to know the ins and outs of who had hit me.
He didn't see me after Lukas came to chat with me, so he probably even thought it was him.
"I told ya some time ago I wouldn't meddle."
Isaiah noted.
Great.
This is where he go's against his word then.
I looked him in the eye, waiting.
"But there's only so long I can shut up for when you're back but you still look like shit and my granddaughter is still up at our house lookin' like she's suffered through three months drought."
My heart twisted.
It always comes back to Bailey.
Every one of them know's she's the best thing to happen to me, but also the thing to hurt the most when I fuck up.
I'm glad she's got people that love her properly, but it doesn't exactly make my case any easier.
I averted my gaze.
"We're workin' shit out."
I muttered.
Isaiah snorted.
I snapped my gaze to his face.
Isaiah laughed humourlessly.
"Maybe try tellin' that load of shit to somebody who hasn't kept their relationship afloat for forty-seven years."
I wanted to snap at him that with all due respect, my love life and that of his granddaughter's was none of his damn business.
But, maybe he actually had a point.
He and Grace would have had to have butted heads, hit rocky territory or lost faith over the almost fifty years of their relationship.
I on the other hand know next to nothing about relationships.
I sighed heavily.
"I screwed up... and... I don't know where she's at... or... if we can go back."
I admitted.
"Son, it ain't always about goin' back. As I'm sure you've learned, the past ain't always a good place. Relationships take work. Not just occasionally, but regularly. It's not always about grand gestures either. We all know, as much as you do, that Bailey loves you. But think about it from her perspective. You were in a bad place and you left and she didn't know if or when she was gonna see you again."
Instead of making me feel better like I'd hoped, his words punched me in the heart even worse.
It kills me to be constantly reminded that my shitty choices had hurt Bailey so much.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
It's not often I ask for help.
But, even I know when I'm out of my depth.
"You work your arse off to sweep her off her feet all over again."
That simple huh?
I frowned to myself.
I didn't even 'sweep her off her feet' the first time around.
We were of course attracted to each other and we'd fallen into what was comfortable.
That was it.
"As much as she's denied for the last ten years that she wants the flowers and the glitter, Blayze, she is still a girl."
Isaiah reasoned.
"I don't even know how to be..."
I didn't even bother to finish my sentence.
'Romantic' sounded so piss weak.
"The best advice I can give ya, is indeed think and plan where ya can, but on the most part, do what comes natural."
Natural?
How is romance, sparkles and butterfly's natural?
"You two need to work this out though."
Isaiah warned.
"Yeah, I know."
I agreed.
"Get out and get some of this early September sunshine."
Isaiah urged, jerking his head towards the outside world.
"It'll do ya the world of good."