Fields of Iris

Unexpected Arrival

"Oh, yes, he sure did. Now once you finish, why don't you take Poppins out for a ride! It's a nice breezy day out," Mary said as I nodded, sitting and enjoying my meal before the reminder of Friday struck my head.

"Umm, Mary, I gotta leave after the supply run on Friday. Ray and I got somewhere we gotta be," I said, cringing at the words myself. 

"It sounds to me like you're not too excited to be there," she responded, putting the bacon on the skillet as I sighed, putting my head down. There were many times the Dodson's protected me from the Hayward's, but I never wanted to be a burden. Their knowledge of what really happened in that house was very much limited.

"Well, the Hayward's are gonna spread Toby's ashes at the JunkYard and Ray wanted me to go with him so..." I mumbled as she turned around, raising an eyebrow.

"You know I'm not one to speak ill of the dead, but..." she stuttered herself, frustration lining her voice.

I scoffed down one piece of french toast before finding an excuse to hop up. "Good Riddance," I finished for her. "You're right, it's just too nice out to sit still!" I said before placing my plate in the sink and thanking Mary for the good meal before running out the back door.

I made my way to the stables passing Rusty and Jerry in the fields on the way. "Breakfast is almost ready!" I hollered to the boys as they nodded their heads.

I arrived at the stables and made my way to Poppins, petting her excitingly. "Are ya ready to run free!" I spoke to her as she neighed, shaking her blonde hair as I began to saddle her up. After a few minutes I heard the door open and I looked over to see Chase walking over to me.

"Well, you look like you got more than five hours of sleep," I remarked, as I began to pull Poppins out of the pen.

"I didn't really drink that much," he said as I raised my eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's probably better to have a clear mind when you're making business deals," I said, now standing in front of him as he raised his hand and naturally petted Poppins in her favorite spot behind her ear.

"Iris, would you just accept that you had a good time last night? I also got your car out there," he said as my eyes widened.

"What!? You brought it here!?" I harped, my heart racing now at his parents seeing him pull up in my truck.

"Yeah," he said curiously as he didn't share my name anxiety.

"What did you tell them? Did they ask?" I questioned, feeling more nervous now.

"Yeah and I told them the truth. It actually earned me some points knowing I got you home safe," he said smiling, clearly not realizing the problem. That was until he looked at me with a small smirk. "To my surprise they didn't even know you were going in the first place," he said as I huffed and shook my head.

"What I do off the clock is my business," I argued as I could feel Poppins getting antsy. Suddenly Lucy loo began stomping in her stable, clearly feeling left out. "You know, you haven't ridden her since your second year of college," I said, raising my eyebrow as he sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't even know how anymore," he remarked before turning back to me. "So why didn't you tell them?" he questioned once again as I rolled my eyes.

"Time for Poppins ride. She's getting antsy. And I'm sure Lucy Loo misses her old rider. You know you will never forget. It's like riding a bike," I said before walking past him and out of the barn, hopping on Poppins and riding down the trail.

It was freeing, feeling the wind brush past me as I raised through the farm and into the hills out of sight. I remember when Rusty took me out and taught me how to ride for the first time. He told me it would free my mind and bring a kind of peace I never knew and to this day, it never failed to do just that.

As I slowed down, I suddenly heard a clicking from behind me, making me turn my head around to see Chase sloppily making his way to me, as he cursed Lucy's unruliness. "Definitely not like riding a bike!" He chirped as I chuckled at his struggle.

"Well you didn't really keep up with riding much before either," I retorted, not being able to stop myself from blushing as he steadied himself next to me, giving a cute sigh of relief as he came to an easy pace. Looking over at him, I almost forgot I was even mad. He had a knack for doing that quite often.

"So..."

"I don't want them to think I'm too busy. Or moving on. You know how they get. They'll push you towards your dreams, even if it means they get left behind," I said as he sighed and nodded his head.

"Yeah... but it's because they know you're better than all this," he said, stumbling a bit, regaining himself quickly.

"Am I? I'm not smart like you. I couldn't have even gotten into a community college with my grades. Besides they need me here more," I responded as he nodded.

"Things aren't going to change here if you choose to spend more time on your painting," he said back as I shook my head and sighed.

"I'm getting tired of worrying about all this economic stuff and money talk. I was sure to hear it plenty tonight at Bucky's," I muttered blindly.

"Bucky's? I remember going there in high school and Hayden's older brother sneaking us free beers. Is there something going on there tonight?" he asked as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Oh, just the old pool competition. Raymond's gonna play and I bet 20 on him so he better win!" I remarked hearing a laugh fall from his lips. I tried not to turn red at the thought that I made him laugh.

"Hmmm, sounds like fun," he said as I bit my lip thinking if I should invite him. It seems like good timing. Or maybe very bad timing. I mean, the kiss with Billy only happened last night, and then I kind of said some very emotional things that I hoped he tucked away as the alcohol speaking for me. We rode in silence for a minute, rounding back to the house as I took a deep breath ready to ask him.

"Chase.."

"Iris..." he both said at the same time as I bit my lip at what he was going to say.

"You first," I said quickly as he nodded.

"I just wanted to tell you that you're right. I was kind of a douche bag in high school," he said as my eyes widened, quickly shaking my head.

"No! I mean you were just enjoying being a teenager. You 're actually one of the few people in high school that showed me any kind of... Kindness," I said, thinking about the few times he protected me and even saved my life. He didn't know about that, though. I peaked over after a moment of silence to see Chase looking over at me, making my heart skip a beat. I took a breath ready to ask him to come out tonight when an unfamiliar voice rang out across the field.

"BABBBBYYYYY!!" a girl yelled as we both shot our heads up quickly to see a blonde girl in very shiny clothing standing at the back door with a confused looking Mary.

"Shit," Chase said as I turned back to him.

"Who is that?" I asked, my heart pounding, worried about his answer.

"Uhhh... she's a friend from the city," he responded as he spent a bit at the stables.

"What kind of friend?" I harped, following after him, my worst fear coming true.

"A close one. I mean not close like that... well...." he stuttered as I realized exactly what he meant by his words. I sighed watching as he rushed off. "I gotta get up there. She uhhh.. She's just bringing me my car. You know, since I brought yours," he stuttered, not looking towards me as the girly laugh rang out, causing him to rush even more. "Do you think you could finish this?" he asked.

I went to speak as he dropped the rope and rushed out, reminding me of exactly how we were back in the day. He would ask me to do him a favor and I willingly did it without hesitating. Even when it came to doing his chores so he could run off with a much prettier and taller girl. Nothing had changed.