Right Where I Need to Be

Luke almost felt sorry for the girl. He resisted the urge to say anything snide, instead he simply pulled into the driveway, pulling the truck up in front of the house. He parked it, and then killed the engine.

"Well, it doesn't look like your uncle is back yet, so I'll just show you into the house." he said, climbing out of the truck. He swung himself into the back, gently placing her suit cases down over the side. He didn't feel like listening to her freak out again over the bags.

Brooke took the suitcases from Luke as she pulled herself together. There was no use in dwelling on her current predicament. She was just going to have to deal and make the best of it.

She threw one of the bags over her shoulder and placed another on the ground to wheel it, as she continued scrutinizing the house while waiting for Luke to lead the way.

With a slight shake of his head, Luke turned towards the house. He opened the front door, which was unlocked, and then headed towards the upstairs where he knew the guest room to be.

"As I said before, Thomas is helping his neighbor at the moment. And I don't know where Kay is, but she'll be along before too long I reckon. I have to finish unloading the hay now, so I'll leave you to it." he nodded in her direction before heading out of the room. "Oh and if you need anything Brooke, just holler."

Brooke looked at him, annoyed. "It's Brooklyn."

With that, she walked into the guest room and shut the door behind her. She dropped her things on the floor and surveyed her surroundings, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. This was just ridiculous. She wasn't even aware bedrooms came so small. Compared to her bedroom back home, this place was a broom closet. Sure, it had all the necessities: a bed, a closet, a dresser, a desk, and a light. But where was her personal bathroom? Where was her television? Where was any sort of entertainment?

Luke stared at the door for a moment before shaking his head and heading back down the stairs. He stopped by the kitchen to grab a glass of sweet tea before heading back outside. He downed half the glass on his way out, and then set it down on the bench beside the barn before climbing back onto the trailer.

He started throwing the bales into the loft, quickly becoming overly warm. After a good while, he pulled his shirt over his head, and tucked it into his back pocket. He couldn't stand when his sweaty shirt stuck to him when he was trying to work.

After setting her things to the side for the time being, Brooke approached the window and looked out at the nothingness before her. As far as the eye could see were plains and hills and cows and horses. Way off in the distance, she could see some mountains, and while it'd normally be an incredible sight, Brooke's horrible mood made it impossible for her to be impressed.

Switching to the view directly below her window, Brooke was once again met with Luke. She couldn't help but sneer as she watched him handling the hay. What a shit job to have. Sure, it was money, but how in the world could he--

"Oh wow," Brooke found herself suddenly muttering, as Luke disposed of his shirt and her eyes immediately went to his sculpted chest, stomach, and arms. She didn't even notice how built he was before, but now that she had, she wanted to slap herself because damn, the guy was gorgeous.

Luke paused when he heard a truck coming up the driveway. He turned, seeing Thomas Kinney pulling in beside his own truck. His boss climbed out of the truck, and made his way over to where Luke was.

"Hey kid, I take it you got Brooke from the airport," Thomas said, leaning against the trailer.

"Yes sir," Luke said, tossing some of the last hay into the barn.

"How'd it go?" Thomas asked, glancing towards the house.

"Well...I'd tell ya the truth but I do actually like this job. So, she's inside you can go and see for youself," Luke said, dusting his hands on his pants.

Brooke moved away from the window when she saw her uncle return home. She decided to start unpacking and settling in, and a few moments later, Thomas came through the door.

"Hey Brookie," he said, walking toward her for a hug.

Brooke cringed, wondering if he was as filthy as Luke, but accepted the hug anyway. "Hey uncle Tom."

"Its been too long! I was expecting to come up here and find my little niece, but instead I see a grown woman."

"Yeah, it's been a long time. Thank you for allowing me to stay here. Not that you or I really had a say in the matter..." Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I know your father has good intentions. It may not seem that way now but I think this will be a good learning experience for you." A good learning experience? What did that even mean? There was nothing to gain by her staying on that godforsaken farm, and she still couldn't understand why in the world she was sent there in the first place. "Well, I'll let you finish settling in. Kay should be home from grocery shopping soon and dinner is usually at 5, so I'll see you then and we can catch up more. If you need anything, I'll be outside giving Luke a hand."

Brooke nodded, and Thomas exited again.

After he finished up his jobs around the farm, Luke headed over to the guest house, where he lived, to clean up. He took a quick shower, and then dressed in clean jeans and a button down shirt. This had become his routine, he would shower after finishing up and before eating. He just couldn't stand to try and eat while feeling all grimy. After he was dressed, he headed back towards the main house, carrying his tea glass with him.

He slipped through the off the kitchen, placing his glass in the sink as the hearty aroma of whatever Kay was fixing for dinner, hit his nose.

"Mrs. Kay, do you need any help with dinner?" He asked, leaning against the counter as he watched her place a pan of rolls into the oven.

At about 4:45, Brooke headed downstairs, and was immediately hit with the smell of something delicious. Her stomach growled, and for the first time since she got there, a smile broke on her face. She hurried into the kitchen, and was met with Luke and her aunt Kay, who were both standing near the stove.

"Oh, Brooke, there you are!" Kay said, and Brooke was quickly enveloped in her aunt's arms. "I was going to come up and see you but Tommy said you were unpacking, so I figured I'd wait until you came down for supper. Did you get settled in okay?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Brooke replied, biting her tongue to stop from saying what she really wanted to. It wasn't Kay's fault, after all, and the woman had always been good to her, so the least she could do was be polite in return. "It's a...really nice room. And the house is just beautiful."

Luke raised an eyebrow but said nothing of her obvious lie. He simply turned and started pulling glasses from the cabinet and heading towards the fridge to get ice for them.

"What will you have to drink, Brooklyn?" He asked, emphasizing the name.

Brooke rolled her eyes, before looking over at Luke and smiling. "I'll have some iced tea, if you have it. Thank you." She didn't want Kay to know how unhappy she truly was, so if pretending to be friendly to Luke was what it took, she was willing to do that. "And what is that cooking? It smells delicious."

"It's shepherd's pie. It's Luke's favorite," Kay said, smiling at the farm hand before pulling it out of the oven, placing it on a trivet that she had on the counter for that exact purpose. She then checked the rolls and, deciding they were done as well, pulled them out of the other portion of her stove.

Luke studied the girl, before turning to pull the iced tea pitcher out of the fridge. He poured filled the glasses up before placing the pitcher back into the fridge. He then grabbed two glasses and headed towards the dining room. After placing them down, he returned for the last two. It had just become another habit of his to help Kay with whatever in the kitchen.

Brooke wasn't exactly sure what Shepherd's Pie was, but she'd barely eaten all day, so it sounded amazing.

"Do you need help with anything?" Brooke asked, as she watched Kay and Luke do a few things around the kitchen.

"No, no, no," Kay replied, walking over to Brooke and beginning to shoo her out of the room. "It's your first day here, so don't worry your pretty little head about anything. Please, just take a seat and get comfortable and dinner will be served shortly."

Brooke smiled, as she sat down in one of the four chairs around the table.

Luke carried the basket of rolls into the diningroom, placing them down beside the butter tray. He then took the seat opposite of her as they waited for Kay to call Thomas in, and bring the pie in.

"So, how's the really nice room going?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Brooke grinned slyly at Luke, as she picked up her iced tea and took a sip of it. He was playing with her, and that was totally fine, because Brooke loved the game...as long as she won, in the end.

"Oh, it's great. Yeah, it's almost as nice as my room back home." She set the drink back down, but continued grinning; this was just too fun. "The only thing, though, is that view. I could definitely use something better to look at instead of, ya know, you."

Luke smirked, raising both eyebrows. "You know, I'm just curious...at which point where you creeping on me? When I had my shirt on....or off?" He asked, nonchalant.

Brooke opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, at a loss for words. She was caught, and there was pretty much no getting out of that. "Well, I—I noticed you were out there but—"

Again, she wanted to slap herself, because she sounded like an idiot with the way she was stumbling over her words. As if on cue, though, her aunt and uncle walked into the room, carrying dinner, and Brooke felt immense relief wash over her for the save.

Luke coughed to cover his amusement before turning towards dinner. He waited until everyone had been served before he got his own. He couldn't help but feel slightly triumphant that he's obviously won that round of....whatever it was they were doing.

Brooke scowled at Luke's obvious delight in how their little banter just ended. This wasn't over. Far from it, actually. She still had two and a half months left to make his life hell, and she was going to take full advantage of it.

Her mind quickly shifted from possible revenge schemes, though, when the food arrived. Thomas set the biggest plate down, and everyone was quick to dig in. Except for Brooke, of course. As the lid came off the dish, she felt her stomach gurgle loudly, but this time, not out of hunger. It looked vile, to put it mildly, and Brooke had to quickly close her eyes and breathe before she vomited everywhere.

"Something wrong?" Thomas asked, and when Brooke opened her eyes, she saw the man gazing at her confusedly.

"Uh, no. I'm fine. It's just...what's in this?"