Summerfield (2 page)

She seemed slightly startled by my sudden appearance, but smiled.
"Thanks dear. I hope chicken and mashed potatoes are still your
favorite?"
I grinned. "Absolutely."
She seemed pleased as she went back to her cooking while I got myself
a cup of Root beer. "You stocked up on all my favorites."
Ella looked my way and smiled when she saw what I was drinking.
"Yup. I figured you need something around here to eat and drink that
you liked instead of the same old things your dad always gets."
"Minute steaks." I mumbled, cringing slightly. I had eaten so many of
those they practically haunted my dreams at night.
"Go ahead and sit down and relax. Dinner's almost ready and your dad
should be back in soon. He's just helping the kid he hired with
something."
"What?" I spat, almost choking on my drink. "Dad hired someone? He's
actually paying someone to help him around here?"
My dad was a stubborn man. He never accepted nor admitted that he ever
needed help. He preferred to do it all on his own without anyone
else's advice or opinion.
"Yeah. He's a sweet kid. Just a year older than you. He's the son to a
good friend of your dad's and so he decided to go ahead and hire him.
I mean, he's not getting much younger and I think it was about time
that he got some help around here."
I said nothing more because just then Dad walked through the door,
wiping his hands on an old oil rag. "Smells good, Ella." He
complimented, taking a whiff of the air just like I had done earlier.
"Thanks Darren. And no offence, but...you smell bad."
He laughed a bit, and I noticed that he had wrinkles around his eyes
when he laughed. I had never noticed that before. Maybe because it had
been so long since I'd seen him laugh. "I'll go clean up. Hope you
don't mind but I offered to let Ben stay for dinner."
"Not a problem." Ella smiled cheerfully. "Plenty for everyone."
"Okay, great. I'll be right back then." He sent a smile my way before
leaving to go clean himself up.
I sat at the table, dumbfounded. "Who's Ben?"
"The guys I told you about." Ella said as she placed the green
beans on the table, along with the potatoes.
I just nodded and sipped my root beer. It was the only real comfort I
had right now.
---
"So how have your grades been?" Dad asked, breaking the awkward
silence as we waited for dinner to finish cooking.
"They've been good. Mostly B's. A few A's, a couple C's."
He nodded, a smile appearing on his face. "Well, they've come up. I'm glad."
"Yeah, my friend Kara's been helping me with homework and things." I
looked down at my empty plate, sighing. I wish we could get past this
awkward phase. We never use to be this distant. We were really
close...before he sent me to boarding school that is.
There was a knock on the door and my dad seemed just as relieved with
the interruption as I was.
"Just relax honey." Ella soothed, placing the fried chicken down
on the table also, meaning that dinner was officially ready. "It'll
get easier."
"I hope."
Dad entered the room again with a smile on his face, a teenage boy
about my age right behind him, smiling too. My jaw probably dropped a
ways as I caught sight of the young boy. He had ocean colored eyes,
short dark hair, and a smile that could make a girl melt. To say in
the very least, he was incredibly cute. I quickly caught myself before
anyone caught me staring at him and looked down at my still empty
plate. I was just brilliant at covering, huh?
"Ben," My dad spoke to the boy, his hand gestured toward me. "This is
my daughter Mara Belle."
I wasn't looking at Ben, in fear of crumbling, so my eyes stayed on my
dad. "Actually, I go by Belle."
"Oh, right." Dad frowned. Even that small a change I could tell he didn't like.
I took a deep breath before turning my gaze to Ben; trying my very
hardest to keep what very little coolness God had given me. "Nice to
meet you."
He smiled that killer smile again. "You too." He said, his eyes locked
on mine for what seemed like a year. In reality though it was only
about three seconds. He looked away and up at my father. "Is it okay
if I get cleaned up real quick?" Ben asked, his voice was deep but
gentle and I swore that I was so close to losing it over this guy.
"Sure, go ahead."
I let out a deep breath I hadn't been aware I was holding in as Ben
disappeared to the restroom. Ella poured more root beer into my
glass, stroking my back for a moment, just the way Mom always would to calm me.
I smiled gratefully, just like I had many times that day. "Thanks."
We all sat down as Ben reentered, sitting himself down at the place
set across from me. I had to stare at my plate most of the time to
keep from stealing glances at him ever two seconds. Yes, he was that
utterly amazing.
"So Mara Belle," My dad addressed me, already forgetting that I
preferred to be called Belle. "Glad to finally be back home?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "Anything is better than Lavance."
"I think Lavance is a good school. You get a good education with no
distractions." He hinted. Dad decode, it meant there were no boys to
get caught up in.
"Nope, nada, none." I muttered, taking small bites of my mashed potatoes.
I felt my Aunt nudge me from under the table as a warning before
addressing my dad again. "Belle here was about shocked when she heard
that you hired Ben here to help around the farm."
Dad laughed and I noticed that his eyes lit up more when he did. It
seemed that when he was laughing was the only time he ever really
looked happy in any sense. "I finally broke down and hired someone.
Ben here's good with farm work, works hard, doesn't complain and lucky
for me, works cheap."
 

Everyone laughed at my Dad's joke. I forced a smile. I
didn't find it that funny, but maybe that's because I had just spent
nine months in what felt like hell.
"Hey dad," I began, and idea springing to my mind. I grabbed his
attention as well as everyone else’s as it appeared. "Um, do you think
you could kind of teach me how to drive this summer? So I can go ahead
and get my license?"
"Why do you need it so soon? When you're at school you can't go anywhere."
"Well I could if I had a car. They let us off campus after school hours."
"They do?" My dad asked in surprise, an eyebrow raised.
I bit my lips. That may have been a bad conversation starter.
"Um...well, yeah. I don't usually though." I quickly added, hoping to
smooth it over.
"Good. And if you really want to learn to drive then I could probably
show you sometime. But I don't know about getting your license so
soon."
"I'm seventeen. I'm old enough and responsible enough to get one." I
argued. "I would like to be able to legally drive on my own before I graduate high school.”

Dad sighed, playing with his green beans. "We'll talk about it later."
I shook my head and despite myself, smiled. It was like old times now.
---
I couldn't help but grin once I had gotten back up to my room. It had
been an incredibly long day. I had taken a long hot shower and now I
was ready to turn on some music and relax until I fell asleep.
Before I had the chance though, my cell rang.
I grabbed my cell quickly, not even needing to check the caller id.
“Hey, Kara!" I greeted.
“So, is it as bad as you were expecting?”
"Not horrible, but I’m much better now." I grinned, collapsing on my bed.
“So not too bad, huh?"
"I don't know. It's great seeing my Aunt again, but things between my
dad and I are still a little...weird. But I did find one upside to
spending the entire summer here."
"What would that be?" She asked.
I smiled without meaning to. "My dad hired some help
for the farm. His names Ben.” I told her, my voice low. If my dad knew that I had the
slightest interest in Ben I wouldn't be allowed within ten feet of the
guy.
I heard Kara smile through the phone. “Would you like to tell me more?”
"I don't know much about him. He’s our age, very nice, and very attractive."
"So, did you guys talk or what?"
“He ate dinner with us. I mean, we didn't really talk but we did some. Well, maybe not really. But I said that it was nice to meet him and he said 'You too.'"
Kara laughed. “Sounds like it’s meant to be, Belle.”
"Don’t poke fun. I haven’t had much practice in this field.”
"It's a good thing you did go to an all girls’ school. You'd probably have more than one baby daddy right now."
I rolled my eyes at her good humor. "You’re being hostile.”
More laughter from her end. "Yeah, okay. That's good for you. Anyways, I
have to get to bed. Busy day with the grandparents. I'll call you
tomorrow though."
"Okay, have a good night."
"Try not to have this guy’s baby before then, alright? Love you, night.”
I hung up my phone, sighing and again lonely. I decided to skip the
relaxing all together and just go straight to sleeping. I slid under
my covers, closed my eyes and before I knew it, I was out.
 

Chapter Two
"Morning Ella." I greeted my Aunt as I entered the living room
the next morning. She was sitting on the couch, sipping hot cocoa from
a coffee cup.
"Morning, hun." She greeted, glancing towards me and noticing my
appearance. "You look pretty today."
"Thanks." I smiled, glancing down at my outfit. I was wearing a pair
of cut off shorts with a white blouse. I had a bit of eyeliner
outlining my eyes and my hair in a side pony that hung on my right
shoulder lazily.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with the cute
help your dad hired now, would it?"
I scoffed. "What? No. I don't even know what you're talking about.”
Ella smiled into her cup. "Bit of advice?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't tell your dad." She warned, all signs of joking vanished. She
was dead serious and I knew that she was right about that. Dad never had a habit of taking things well.
"Well, I'm not a total idiot."
Aunt Ella laughed, taking another sip of her hot cocoa. "Well, after
you get something to eat you could go outside and hang out for a
while. You're bound to run into him."
I tried my hardest to hide my smile. "Well...maybe I will go to the
horse stable. I haven't seen Buttercup for so long." Buttercup had
been my horse for a few years now. He was my pride and joy. Big, tall, and
steady.
"I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you." Aunt Ella laughed.
---
"Buttercup...here, boy." I whistled, looking through the stables for my
horse. His head suddenly appeared, looking in my direction.
I grinned, running to meet my horse. I instantly hugged him to the
best of my abilities, running my hands through his slick coat. "Hey
buddy, I missed you."
Buttercup stopped his feet against the floor, and I took it as a sign
that he missed me too. "You been a good boy, huh?"
"I don't think you're going to get a response out of him." I turned to
find Dad standing close by, a saddle in his hand and a genuine smile
on his face.
I smiled too, looking back to Buttercup. "I figured that much. But who
knows with all the technology they're coming up with."
Dad gave a short chuckled, his eyes not as gleaming as when he usually
laughed. "I think he's missed you though. He's been going a little
crazy for the past couple of weeks. I think he knew you were coming."
I laughed a bit, giving Buttercup a kiss. "I can't wait to take him
out for a ride."
Dad's face twisted into a frown as he ran a hand through Buttercup's
mane. "I don't know about that, honey. I think Buttercup's best years
are behind him."
"I can't ride him?" I questioned, my tone was saddened. I was really
looking forward to going for a long ride with him like I use to.
"Sorry, Hun. He's just not in the best shape right now. But maybe
some time when he's feeling a bit better you can."
"Okay." I agreed, giving a smile. I knew that he was only saying it to
make me feel better. I guess I probably won't ever get to go for that
ride with Buttercup.
Dad's eyes averted elsewhere, his eyes shining again as he let out a
joyous laugh. I looked back behind me where he was staring. I
couldn't help but laugh myself at the sight.
Ben was in the chicken pen and was as it appeared,
wrestling a chicken. He was flopping around on the ground trying his
best to get a hold of the chicken. It was really quite the hilarious
scene.
"He may be cheap, but I'm taking it he doesn't come well trained." I
chuckled, looking up at my father who seemed incredibly amused by
this.
"He just hasn't gotten the hang of it yet. I have the horses to take
care of so why don't you go over there and help him out?"
"Yeah, sure." I responded.
I made my way over to the chicken pen, laughing as I neared the Human
VS. Poultry wrestling match. "You know, you're not going to get very
far with that chicken unless you buy it dinner first."
He suddenly seemed to forget what he was doing, his head snapping back
to look at me who I'm sure was smirking with amusement like I knew I
was. His cheeks seemed to redden a bit as he gave up on his battle,
standing up and dusting himself off before coming to the gate that
separated us. "I don't think I would want that chicken. She's a little
too feisty for my taste."
I laughed at the joke, opening the gate and stepping my way in. "It
just takes some skill."
"You sure you want to do that with a white shirt on?"
I tried not to smirk. "Yeah, it's fine. Watch a master." I winked, and
then cupped my hands around my mouth. "Chicken! Here chicken, chicken!"
I could hear him chuckling amusingly behind me. "You're not being
serious are you? Because I've tried that."
I shook my head, smiling all the same. "No, I do this." I grabbed a
bucket of seed off the gate, rattling it around in front of the
chickens. It wasn't long before there were a dozen at my feet. I
gently reached down and picked up a familiar looking chicken, grinning
to myself. "Hey there Clucky. How you been?"
"You know that evil little poultry dish?"
My jaw dropped in mock shock and offence. "Don't speak of Clucky that
way. He's my friend." I pouted.
He chuckled, shaking his head. "You just don't seem like the kind of
girl to be friends with chickens."
"I grew up on this farm. I may look like a city girl but trust me, I
am anything but. Actually, I’ve never really lived in city before." I
informed, putting Clucky safely into Ben's arms.
"What about your school? Wasn't that in the city?" He wondered, making
his way through the gates.
I shrugged, sitting on the log as Ben tried to get Clucky to settle
down enough so that he could give him his shot. I wasn't sure what it
was for, but I was guessing it was to nurse him. "I didn't consider
that living in the city. I considered that like living within Hell's
walls."
"If you don't like it then why do you go?" He asked, his blue eyes
locking with mine.
I had to remind myself to keep breathing. "It wasn't so much a choice
as a demand. My dad, I guess couldn't handle me after my mom passed
away so he just kind of shipped me away."
"Yeah, your dad told me that you lost your mom recently. I'm uh,
really sorry. I don't really remember her, but your dad talks about her all the
time and-“
"My dad talks about her?" I questioned, my tone accusing.
"Yeah. Quite a bit, actually."
I looked to the ground and away from the boy in front of me. My dad?
Mr. Closed off talked to him rather than his own daughter? He hadn't
even talked to me about my mom after she died. I couldn't say I wasn't
hurt or angry.
"You okay?" He asked, noticing my distress.
"Yeah, fine." I waved away the feeling of betrayal with a wave of my
hand. "So, what's wrong with Clucky here?" I questioned. In other
words I was changing the subject so it didn't lead to me bringing up
the baggage of the last two years with my father.
Ben shrugged. "Beats me. Your dad just told me to make sure he had
this shot, but this sucker is nuts."
I couldn't help but smile at how cute he was, struggling to keep the
poor chicken calm and in still long enough to give it the shot. "Well,
that could be because I raised it. My bad."
He chuckled. "Nah, he's just tainted." Once he had finally given
Clucky his shot, he carefully opened the door to the gate and set him
back in.
We sat in silence for a minute or so as he dusted the dirt off
himself. I had always had issues with awkward silence so I quickly
decided to break it. "So, who's your family? My Aunt told me that my
dad was friends with them."
"My dad's Joe Stanley."
My jaw dropped. "Joe Stanley? Your dad is Joe Stanley?"
He seemed amused by my surprise. "Yes, why?"
I couldn't help but laugh a bit. This was just too funny to me.
"You're Ben Stanley." It wasn't a question.
"Yeah. Do I get let in on the joke at any time?" He asked, sitting
himself on the log across from me.
I tried not to focus on the fact that our knees were near touching.
"Didn't you guys move away for a while? Then just move back?" He
nodded, dumbfounded. I giggled. "I know you. When we were little kids
I remember playing with you."
He seemed a bit amused by this too, thinking back. Something seemed to
click in his mind as he snapped his fingers together in remembrance.
"Belle? Wow." He laughed. "I had forgotten about that."
"Yeah. I only remember though because you once tore the head off my doll."
"You're not holding a grudge are you? You're not going to like, come
up behind me and hit me over the head with a hammer are you?"
"Nah. I'm not that cold hearted. Besides, why sink to your level?"
"Hey, the Barbie thing was a long time ago. I was a dumb little child."
I shrugged. "That's okay. I believe I ended up flushing some of your
baseball cards after that." He stared at me disbelievingly. "What? I
was a dumb little child." I mocked.
"Well, what you did was worse. Baseball cards are worth something.
Barbie is just a toy."
"It was my favorite Barbie!" I yelled, throwing my head back like a
true little kid. We instantly both began laughing at how silly our
conversation was. "Okay, that really wasn't cool. I shouldn't do that
anymore."
He chuckled, standing up and clearing off the work bench he had just
been working on. "So you really don't know how to drive?" He
questioned, glancing back at me from over his shoulder.
"Nope."
"Well, since your dads busy I could teach you."
"Seriously?" I asked in surprise. I figured he was really nice, but wow.
"Yeah. I can't right now because I still have some chores but tomorrow
maybe." He offered, turning around again and looking directly to me.
Damn those eyes. "Um, yeah, sounds great." I stuttered. Someday I was
going to have to learn to get a hold of myself when only looking into
his eyes. No matter how blue, deep, and-
"Cool. Well, I actually have to go check up on the horses now, but
I'll see you around tomorrow and we can go for a drive and I can show
you some things."
I quickly regained my composure, what little I had anyways, and
smiled. "Sounds good, thanks."
He said goodbye and took off for the stable, leaving my there just watching him go.
---
I woke up in an extremely good mood the next day, humming an unknown
tune as I practically pranced down the staircase, smiling all the
while.
But my grin was soon turned to a mid-whirling gasp as I came to see
that in the kitchen stood my aunt with an unknown man's arm's wrapped
around her slim figure, and...kissing her?
There, in the middle of my kitchen was my single-or so I thought- Aunt
kissing some guy I've never met, nor seen. "Um." I muttered,
my shock finally settling enough to let me speak.
Aunt Ella broke away from the man and gasped when she saw me there.
"Oh, Belle. Um..."
I simply raised an eyebrow. "Hi."
Ella seemed to regain her composure, removing herself from the
man's arms and straightening up a bit. "Belle, this is my boyfriend
Lance." She introduced, pointing to the slightly blushing man. "Lance,
this is the niece I was telling you about, Belle."
"Hello." He gave a short wave and a friendly smile. Now that I got a
good look at him I could tell that he was handsome with gentle brown
eyes and warm smile.
"Hi." I replied, my voice slightly awkward and dazed. I had not been
expecting this when I walked into get breakfast. I looked back to my
flushed Aunt who looked a mix between awkward and embarrassed. "Well,
I'm just going to grab something real quick to eat." I explained,
grabbing a box of granola bars and taking out a couple along with a
bottle of juice in the fridge.
"You should really eat more than that." Aunt Ella's motherly tone suggested.
I shrugged, trying my hardest not to make eye contact. "Nah, I'm good
for now. It was uh...nice meeting you Lance." I gave my Aunt a quick