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Outside, the ranch was already well into its day. One day, I would be back on a ranch schedule, waking up before dawn and going to bed in the late evening again. It felt more natural that way. But until school was done, I was waking and sleeping more like the other guys, which meant the group chat was always hopping at night now. Often it kept me up far later than I wanted, and I only avoided last night when Kristen came into my office in nothing but the sexy purple negligee and beckoned me to bed.
I was powerless to resist her when she did that. I always would be. I was completely enamored with her and would be for the rest of my life. And I was happy about it.
“Morning,” I said as I passed one of the young men who had just joined us from a stay overseas. He was wounded, missing several of his fingers on one hand and toes on that side’s foot as well. He had come to us a few weeks back, fresh from the rehab center and angry and frustrated.
Today he had a bright smile, and as he passed me, he tipped his hat, and I could see the sparkle in his eyes. I wondered how desperately his friends and family back home were waiting to see that sparkle. It was the look of a man who had regained a sense of self, a belief that in fact they were capable. In control of their own destiny again.
“Morning, boss,” he said, a deep Midwestern lilt to his voice that made it sound sing-songy and put me in mind of Packer’s games and fondue.
“How are we today, Jesse?” I asked.
“Better every day, sir,” he said. “I just wanted to thank you again. Being here has been a godsend.”
“You’re welcome, Jesse,” I said. “Finding yourself liking the new assignments?”
“The chickens? I love it,” he said, his megawatt smile growing wider. “I never in my life dealt with live chickens, but they are so much fun. I talked to my parents up in Michigan, and they are going to keep an eye out for land out there I could raise my own.”
“Good to hear,” I said. “Let me know when you find a plot. I’ll give you a hen from our coop to get you started. Your pick.”
“Really?” he asked. “I would love that!”
“Consider it done then,” I said. “Anyway, I’ve got to get out of here. If you see my sister, tell her I’ll be back at three.”
“Yes sir,” he said, bounding off in the direction of the chicken coop.
I grinned and turned back toward the truck. As I opened the door and prepared to enter, I surveyed the scene near the house. A handful of people milled around doing various chores, some of them there for the therapy and others there because they simply liked it. Working with horses, working with your hands, even if it wasn’t strictly therapy, was the best kind of release a lot of people could get. The satisfaction of a horse that now obeyed your commands, of crops that rose from seeds, that was a satisfaction money couldn’t buy.
Revving the engine of the truck, I rolled out backward and then headed down the long driveway to the highway that ran straight through town, eventually ending up in Slater before heading all the way down to Mexico.
The sun was bright enough to put on glasses as I drove, and I cranked the radio up. Kristen tended to want to listen to eighties music, which I also loved, streaming off her phone when we drove. But these moments, alone in the truck and heading out of town, I liked to flip on the actual radio and let the old country-western songs fill up the cab.
Tapping my fingers on the steering wheel as I drove along, I let my mind relax, relying on the second nature of driving to get me there while I softly sang to the music and enjoyed the early morning’s cooler weather and lack of traffic.
Eight in the morning was an awfully early time to be having class for most people. But for me, it was just right. It meant I was driving out of Murdock and into Slater around seven-fifteen, and the drive itself was free of congestion and hiccups. I made it onto campus with a half hour to spare, lamenting briefly that I could have spent that time curled up with Kristen in bed.
Who was I kidding? If I’d stayed in bed any longer, I wouldn’t have gotten out of it.
As soon as I was on campus, I felt a loneliness for Kristen, though. Knowing where her office was, now empty until another faculty member needed it, meant I was cognizant of it as I passed by for classes. Sometimes I would look at the door and wish she were still inside, just so I could go visit her.
When classes were over, I hopped back into the truck and burned out toward home. I didn’t want to waste any time. I had every intention of spending as much time with her as possible for the rest of the day.
Pulling in, I checked the clock. She would have just finished a class right about then and had two hours before her next one. If I got in there before she started her lunch, I had a chance to distract her for a little bit. Thinking about her all the way home had gotten me in such a way that I needed to be near her, to lock the doors and shut the blinds and continue where we’d left off in the late-night hours the night before.
I knocked on the door before entering, hearing her voice from the distance call me inside. When I closed the door behind me and my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I saw her sitting in one of the chairs in the mock classroom, a laptop open as she transferred footage. She looked up at me, and the smile stretched across her face.
“Hey you,” she said. “You got home fast.”
“How much do you have left on what you’re doing?” I asked.
She looked down at the jump drive in her hand and the laptop.
“Nothing?” she said unsurely. “I just had to transfer the footage, but that will take a little time. Why?”
“Because,” I said, “I was thinking about how since you have an office here, and there’s no real worry a coworker is going to walk in on us, it means we can do some things we never got around to.”
“Oh?” she said, one eyebrow raising as she crossed over to me and settled in my arms, lips inches from my own. “And what would those things be?”
“We can start,” I said, reaching behind her and unzipping the skirt she was wearing until it fell from her hips and pooled at her feet, “by wearing a lot less clothing.”
