Knotted Roots

Chapter SEVEN



I ambushed Grandma in the kitchen the next morning as she prepared to leave the house to head to the farm. The shock on her face was worth waking up at four in the morning. Without coffee. I was sitting at the kitchen table munching on some toast and eggs that I had fixed as I had waited for her to make her way downstairs.

“Roxie, what in the world are you doing up?” she asked after she swung through the western doors that separated her beautiful kitchen from the front of the house. She grabbed a piece of toast off of my plate and popped it into her mouth, smiling as she chewed.

“I’m going with you to the farm,” I said as I casually picked at the food on my plate.

“I didn’t tell you all of that last night just so you would help,” she said as she sat down across from me, a sigh escaping as she studied my face.

“Good, cause that’s not why I’m helping,” I replied as I stood and placed my still full plate in the kitchen sink. I turned to look at her and there was a look of disbelief there, along with a hint of uncertainty.

“Huh...well, okay,” she stood and stared down at me. “If you’re coming to work then you better go change your clothes. Wouldn’t want you messin’ up those nice clothes.” She nodded down at my expertly ripped jeans, lace covered pink tank top, and sparkly pink ballet flats.

I flashed my biggest smile and raced out of the kitchen. I hit the stairs running and found myself standing in front of my closet in no time. I rummaged through my clothes, hoping to find something suitable to “work” in, but came up empty. All of my clothes carried expensive labels, proving Grandma’s point that I hadn’t done a hard day’s work my entire life. I settled on a pair of black yoga pants from Abercrombie and a white tank top from Saks. Sure, they were expensive, but they were the most casual clothes I owned. Looking through my shoes I felt at a loss.

“Are you almost ready?” I jumped when I heard Grandma’s voice at the door. I clutched my chest as I spun around to face her.

“You scared the sh...Crap out of me!” I tried to calm my breathing. After a short moment I was finally able to speak again. “I don’t have any shoes to wear. I don’t own tennis shoes or boots.”

“You’re about a size 8, right?” I nodded in response. “Come on, you can borrow a pair of my work boots. They’re not nearly as cute as those little flaps of material you had on earlier, but they will protect your feet.”

She left the room in a hurry, so I followed quickly, grabbing a pair of socks from my drawer on the way out of the room. I hurried down the stairs, trailing her as she moved gracefully out of my line of vision. For an old lady she sure moved fast. I found her in the “mud room,” as she called it. Evidently it was a room built for the sole purpose of removing your muddy shoes so you didn’t track dirt through the house. Go figure. Another interesting factoid to take home with me at the end of the summer.

“Here, try these. And hurry. We’re already running late,” she said as she handed me a pair of light brown boots, laces running up the front, and mud covering the bottom half of the shoe. I made a concerted effort not to turn my nose up at them as I took them from her. This day was just getting better and better.



* * * *



Turns out that the farm wasn’t far from the main house after all, but Grandma insisted on driving her truck over, confident we would need the vehicle later on to haul materials around the land. A short, five minute drive brought us to yet another open expanse of land. A large red barn stood off to the side, its doors flung wide open in greeting. I scanned the surrounding land, and noticed large areas of fenced in land with a wide variety of animals grazing lazily. Cows, pigs, and goats took up most of my line of vision, with what I assumed was a rather large hen house off to the side, also fenced in.

We parked beside another truck that sat only a few feet from the barn. I followed her lead; jumping out of the truck with what I hoped was an air of confidence. I took a deep breath and instantly regretted doing that. The smell surrounding us was awful. It smelled of wild animals and manure, (go figure) a mix of scents that made the contents of my stomach churn, threatening to revolt. A slight gagging noise escaped and Grandma looked over at me, laughter filling the air around us.

“Lovely smell isn’t it?” she asked with a wide grin. She didn’t bother to wait for my response, instead headed in the direction of the open barn. She disappeared within its walls as I stood there, staring blankly at where she once was, trying to breathe through my mouth. What had I signed up for? This was nothing like I thought it would be. Sure, I knew there were animals on a farm, but did they have to smell so bad? I thought that there was someone whose job it was to keep the area clean, keeping the smell of animal to a minimum? Maybe I had been wrong about that as well.

I followed Grandma’s lead, walking through the wide mouth of the barn, where the smell became stronger as I made my way into the dirty barn. I was brought up short by what I saw. The entire barn was filled with stalls, each housing a different horse. Off to the right was a small office, enclosed in glass, which looked completely out of place within the wooden structure. I spotted Grandma sitting behind her desk, chatting with someone off to the side. I couldn’t make out who it was from this angle, so I stayed where I was, taking in the sights and smells around me. The smell wasn’t pleasant, at all, but the longer I stood there, the easier it became to bear.

My curiosity finally got the best of me and I decided to do some looking around. I strolled down the center of the building, glancing in each stall as I passed. There were horses of every shade and size, all of them staring at me as if I was an alien to them. I guess I was, to be honest. I had never seen a horse in person before, well, unless you counted the mounted police that trolled Central Park back home. They would never let anyone close to them though; obviously worried that even the slightest touch from a civilian would cause the horse to go into panic mode.

I made it to the last stall on the right and stopped, unable to look away. The horse was beautiful; its body was a silky black color, its hair braided with the most beautiful red ribbon I had ever seen. Its eyes stared back at me, almost as if they were searching my soul for the answer as to who I was. I would have kept on staring if it hadn’t been for the sound of someone clearing their throat behind me. I whirled around and found who had intruded on our intimate moment.

Startling blue eyes peered down at me, combined with a beautiful set of straight, white teeth, smiling wide. He was even more gorgeous than I remembered. I could feel my brain shut down as I scanned him from head to toe, taking in his dirty tank top and even filthier jeans. As I considered the state of his clothes, I couldn’t believe that I still felt an immense attraction to him.

“Her name’s Lulu. She’s a real beauty, isn’t she?” he asked as he continued to smile down at me. I continued to gaze at him, unable to form words. I nodded instead. “You’re not much of a talker, are ya?”

“Y-y-yes,” I stammered. “I mean...what?”

“Betty told me that you volunteered to help muck out the stalls today. Are ya ready to get to work?” he asked.

“What?” I had no idea what he was talking about, but from the glint in his eye and the little smile on his face, I knew it couldn’t be good. “I have no idea what that is.”

“It means clean out the stalls that the horses are housed in,” he replied, his smile growing wider as he stared at me. “You’re new to all this, aren’t ya?”

“What gave you a clue?” I couldn’t hide the sarcastic tone in my voice. Great, the first time I was finally able to form a coherent thought and I acted like a total witch. Great impression I’ve made on him so far.

“It’s not that bad, I promise. Kate used to handle this, but with her early admission to USC...well, we’re glad to have your help,” he said as he handed me a large, dirty pitch fork. I held it away from me, unable to hide the disgust that I felt.

“I don’t think so. I didn’t sign up to be the resident pooper scooper,” I replied, putting my hand on my hip, dropping the disgusting tool on the ground as I looked up at him.

He laughed. The sound was like music to my ears. I never knew that the sound of laughter could make me feel so full of light. When he laughed it was as if the angels sang directly in my head. I was stunned into silence; all bravado disappeared in the presence of his happiness. I knew that my mouth had gone slack again, but this time I couldn’t stop myself. I’m sure he believed I was a complete idiot after yet another disastrous meeting.

“Roxanne! Where are ya girl?” I heard Grandma as she called me from the other end of the barn. I looked behind Chase to see her walk over to us, a stern look on her face as she quickly made her way to where we stood. As she came to stand before me I shook off my stupor and smiled at her.

“Hi Grandma. Everything okay?” I asked, an innocent look plastered on my face.

“I’ve got to head into town for a while. Chase here will give you a list of duties for today and explain how to handle them. I want you to listen to everything he says ‘cause he’s in charge until I get back,” she said as she turned to face the blue-eyed angel standing between us. “Make sure she doesn’t break anything, will ya?”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll keep the doctor on speed dial,” he smiled at her, his pearly white teeth flashed once again.

Grandma let out a loud guffaw, startling me. “I meant my farm. But yeah, keep an eye on her as well. Never know what will happen when the city folk come around.”

“Hey! I’m thinking I should be seriously offended right now,” I huffed, my indignation clear to both of them.

They both laughed at me before Grandma walked away, my attention focused on her retreating backside. Once she was out of the building I returned my attention to Chase to find him staring down at me with no hint of humor left in his eyes. All I found was a glimmer of pity. I didn’t need or want his pity, or anyone else’s for that matter. I could handle this, no problem.

“What’s first on that list, oh great one?” I asked.

He handed me the pitchfork as he bent at the waist, bowing to me in what I could only guess was supposed to be a humorous way. I gripped the wooden handle and raised my eyebrows at the foreign object in my hands. He laughed heartily as he walked away, leaving me to my job as the summer pooper scooper. I wondered if getting close to him was worth all of this.



* * * *



By the time Grandma returned three hours later I was exhausted. I cleaned horse poo out of the stalls all day and my arms were screaming at me. I was drenched in sweat and the smell that clung to my body was even more repulsive than that of the animals. She laughed when she saw me, not bothering to ask how I was doing, she simply walked back into her office and closed the door.

I glanced at the clock on the wall above her office and noticed that it was only 10 o’clock. I had already been up for six hours, working for most of that time, and I was already worn out. I had no idea how Chase and his brother were able to handle this kind of work. In fact, I hadn’t seen Brian all day, which made me wonder if he had come to work with Chase today or not.

I finished up the last stall, removing the soiled straw from the ground and replacing it with a fresh, clean covering. As I put my tools up I noticed Chase standing at Grandma’s office door, his hand raised to knock. He glanced at me, smiled, and returned his attention to his task. He rapped lightly on the door and waited for her to open it. Instead, she called out for him to enter and he disappeared inside, closing the door behind him.

I walked by, briefly glancing into the office, before heading outside. The fresh air was incredible. It was as if I could finally breathe again. The air was fresh and inviting, urging me to leave the confines of the barn to explore the world around me. I was dirty, sweaty, and smelled like I had spent the day wallowing in horse manure, but I felt something else as well. Satisfaction.