Back On The Saddle

Chapter Four

Fay Harlow

LAST nights dinner sadly revolved around me and my life in the city, dad managed to drop the fact that i had a bakery out on the table which made the twins ears perk up and they were asking me to make them cake. I ignored Western's comments most of the time and thankfully there was no mention of Noah and me being engaged because i didn't want to invest myself into anymore conversations about him with anyone but Liv and Joe - whom i called after dinner and updated them on what i had done and there was no improvements from Noah which didn't surprise me since it had only been a day since i left.

This morning i woke up at 5:36am and got ready for the day, i tuck my denim jeans into my old boots and grab my black hat that hung up on a hook next to my mirror; i place it on my head and check myself out in the mirror. It felt weird being back in my old clothes, luckily my body hadn't done much changing over all these years because i can't even remember the last time i bought a new pair of blue denim jeans. I meet dad in the kitchen who was singing and making eggs on toast.

"Morning honey," he slides a plate onto the kitchen island as i sit down on the bar stool, "Busy day today."

I nod, "What do we have going on?"

I watch him place buttered toast onto my plate, "Bailey and Derek are out fixing the fences, you could help them out if you want. Not saying that aren't both capable but Derek is old and senile at times. Bailey is young and still learning the ropes," he places scrambled eggs onto my toast, "Since you've been off farm duties maybe you should start with something easy um like.. the barn. It needs a new paint job, you can choose the colour if you want."

I hum at the idea taking a bite of toast and egg from my fork, "I'll repaint it, i like the blue though."

"Well there's blue paint in the garage, brushes as well. Stay clear of the sheep shed," he sits down next to me with his own plate, i raise my eyebrow at him wanting me to stay clear of the sheep shed, "Western and i will be in there."

I nod understanding her doesn't want there to be an unnecessary argument, "Steer clear of the sheep shed, got it."

"We may need your hand in there eventually though," he says, "I doubt it but we will holler out to you if we do," he downs the rest of his breakfast and stands up dumping the plate into the sink, "Okay, have fun today. Western and Grey have been in there for two hours without me already."

"Have fun," I tell him with a mouth full of food, his footsteps come to a stop at the kitchen door and i look over my shoulder to see him slowly turn around.

"I'm sorry this isn't much of a vacation," his face was sad, "I would offer to do something more fun."

"This is fun," I spin around on the bar stool to face him, knowing i would rather be here scooping up horse shit then at home dealing with Noah, "I would rather do farm work then be in town doing nothing, this is a vacation for me. Plus i missed all this, the hard work."

He clears his throat, "You let me know if you think of something we can do together and we will do it."

"Will do Dad."

He nods walking out of the kitchen, i knew eventually i should tell him why i was here to begin with; all he knew was that i came back to see him which wasn't a complete lie. It was well overdue for me to come back to see him and the farm but Noah was the biggest part in me coming here. Dad hadn't even met or spoken to Noah; if i told him the things he done or if he even found out somehow he would hold me here and never let me go back - which if he did do that i wouldn't blame him and i wouldn't fight him about it. The last thing i need is everyone's thoughts about Noah to be based around the dark and disgusting things he has done. It was sad that i even still cared after it all but i loved him so fucking much it hurt. I hoped the two months of me being here were slow, it was a day in and i was already dreading having to make the decision; do i stay with Noah and see if i can help him through this or do i move in with Liv or Joey until i can get my own place and deal with seeing Noah through Liv. Both options came with pros and cons.