Summer at Puth Ranch

Part 2

Clarissa was fixing her hair at her vanity when she heard Jeb's voice outside. Her eyes widened. "Oh, my goodness. He is here." She squealed then took one last look in the mirror and ran over to the open window in her bedroom.

"I could have picked you up at the train station my boy." Jeb said.

"I don't mind walking, Sir."

"No need to call me that. The name's Jeb. Jeb Sawyer."

Shawn held out his free hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Jeb. I'm Shawn."

Clarissa gasped and placed her hand over her mouth. "Oh, my."

She quickly left the room. She needed to meet him as soon as possible. He was better than she had ever dreamed of. She had never seen someone so handsome.

"Let me take that for you."

"I've got it, Sir...I mean Jeb."

"You didn't bring much with you, did you now?"

Shawn shook his head. "I don't have much."

Jeb nodded understanding completely. "Until I started working for the Puth Family, I didn't have much myself. You remind me of myself at your age, kid."

Shawn smiled at the comparison.

"This is a fantastic place to work I must admit."

Shawn glanced around the land and then the house. As he scanned the house, he saw a face starring through the window on the second floor. The person quickly stepped out of view.

That was weird, Shawn thought to himself.

"Good day gentlemen." Clarissa said in her most charming voice.

She walked to the steps with a glass of lemonade in her hands. Without being told to do so, Shawn jogged over and held out his hand to help her down the steps.

Jeb smiled at the kid's instincts. He already liked him.

"What a gentleman." She said taking his hand. "I thought maybe you needed something after your long journey."

"Thank you, Miss."

"Clarissa."

Shawn raised the glass to her. "Thank you, Miss Clarissa." he said then took a long sip.

Clarissa was mesmerized by him. He was tall and lean but muscular at the same time. His dark brown hair had a curl to it. She wondered what it would be like to touch his hair or have his arms around her.

After he swallowed, Jeb patted him on the back. "Come on. I will show you where you will be staying."

Shawn nodded then turned to Clarissa. "Thank you again. It was a pleasure meeting you."

As he followed Jeb, he glanced at the second floor window again, but there was nobody there.

"Jeb, is Clarissa an only child?"

"No. She has a twin brother named Charlie. I am sure you will meet him later."

Shawn nodded. He was just happy that it wasn't a ghost looking at him through the window. He laughed at his own thoughts.

"Just in here." Jeb said then opened the side door of the barn. "This is it. I tried to fix it up for you. I am sorry you need to be right next to the horses."

Shawn smiled. "I'm not. I love horses so much. This is better than I could have ever imagined, Jeb. I really appreciate it."

Jeb smiled proudly. "Why don't you get settled in and then I will meet you on the side of the barn. We need to move some hay around."

Shawn nodded.

"See you in a bit." Jeb said then closed the door behind him.

Shawn placed his guitar case under the bed and sat down on it. He took his satchel off of his shoulder and placed it on the chair beside the bed. He loosened the laces on his boots and took them off to give his feet a break. He did just walk over 3 miles in the heat. He reached into his bag and pulled out a photo of his family. He relaxed on the bed and just looked at the photo of his mother, father and little sister Aaliyah. He could not wait to mail them his earnings. Speaking of earnings, he had better get his boots back on and head out there. He wanted to make a good impression and could not wait to start getting the horses ready