CountryCore Series: The Ranch Hand (WLW)

Chapter Twelve

Hayley played with the place on her hand that Chris had brushed her lips across. She had been in Raleigh for five and a half days and sat in her old bedroom. Staying with Ben had its obvious perks, but it was just another attempt at avoidance and that was not the reason for which she had journeyed there. She had visited her mother and father on the first day back in town, but hadn't visited since and that wasn't the best decision, obviously.

Everything about her room seemed a farce. The medals that lined her desk were from sporting meets for things she had never truly excelled in because of her asthma. They read "Most Valuable Player" or "Most Likely to Succeed". Succeed in what, she had no idea, but it was all wrong.

They were glorified participation trophies, if you could call what she did participating. If she'd gotten them from her work on the ranch, it'd be a completely different feeling. Of that she was sure.

The canopy over her bed was made of pink and purple lace fabric that had been pushed to rest behind her headboard. It was the exact opposite of the colors she regularly wore, but blended well with the colors of her room. The walls were a shade of lavender and each foot held some kind of mark or indention from the many times she'd shown her anger as a child. It was all so adolescently flawed.

When she left home, carrying nothing but her aspirations and a single suitcase, her thoughts had been so immature. She may have been headed toward her dream, but for the wrong reasons. Even when telling Chris of her past, however brief the description may have been, she'd thought to go to her parents to prove them wrong. How childish she had been... It was only once she was in her old room, left with only the company of things that used to feel so intimate whose true value she never saw until that moment, that she was faced with the cold hard truth. It was time to grow up.

Running away from her problems was what led her to this point in her life. They'd also led her to Kilgore Ranch, to Chris, but were done in such an arrogant and youthful manner. Being in her parents home had shown her the ultimate truth no matter how unfathomable it may have been to her had she thought of it when she left. She needed to tell her parents her life was good, show them that she was okay, but make sure that even with their past, she loved them. Even if they didn't love her the same way.

She stood and pulled out her phone to check it for the thirteenth time that afternoon, then rolled her eyes at the fact that she was keeping track of that number. Still no calls or texts from Chris. She was keeping true to her word and giving Hayley the space she needed to get this all taken care of but...there was also this ache in her chest to call her. Just hearing Chris' voice for even a second would cease this nervousness in her body and mind and give her the strength she needed.

That said, she admired Chris telling her not to call. It wasn't necessarily a command she felt was really targeted toward her. The look in her eyes said she was trying to convince herself more than Hayley, but nevertheless, she would follow Chris' lead.

She pocketed her phone, resisting the urge to look at the photos she'd taken while home on the ranch, then opened her bedroom door. It was time.

She descended the stairs hearing a familiar voice fussing at someone in the kitchen and sighed at what she knew she'd be walking into. There stood her mother next to Maria. She was shaking her finger in her face and going on and on about calories this, calories that. However, when Hayley's name came up in the mix she knew she had to put a stop to it all.

"What's this now?" Hayley asked, trying to remain as blase as possible not to reveal the fact she'd been eavesdropping. "What about me and calories?"

"It's bad manners to listen in on others' conversations, dear. Like I have just explained to Mrs. Garza here, if she wants her paycheck this week, then she needs to follow my explicit instructions." Her mother told her as she continued to glare down at Maria. "Is it really so hard to follow even the simplest of instructions? If I say no to a dish, then it's a resounding no throughout this entire house. The ingredients shouldn't even make the grocery list. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"