Right Where I Need to Be

Before he could get to the guest house, Luke turned and headed towards the main house to grab a glass of tea before he went to bed. He slipped into the door off of the kitchen. He quietly grabbed a glass from the cabinet and made his way towards the fridge.

After he poured the glass, he leaned against the counter, sipping his drink. He pondered on what Kay had said. He'd already admitted that he'd been flirting but he just couldn't understand why he was flirting. She wasn't his type...far from it actually. He preferred girls who were down to earth, and weren't afraid to get a little muddy. But Brooke, was not that kind of girl.

With another frustrated sigh, he finished his tea and moved towards the sink to put his glass in. As he was sitting the glass down, a small body collided with him in the semi-dark. He glanced down, seeing the blonde he had JUST been thinking about.

Brooke sank to the floor as she cried her heart out. She felt so betrayed. Next to Ashley, Brielle was her best friend, and one of the last person's she expected this from. Brielle knew the sour note Brooke and Kevin's relationship ended on; she knew how hurt Brooke was.

Just as the sobs were starting to subside, Brooke heard the phone lying next to her go off, and she quickly picked it back up to see a text had come through. Curiosity got the better of her, and she unlocked the device to see it was from someone named Laura, and the message read, "Luke, can't we just talk for five minutes? I love you and I miss you and I just really need to hear your voice." Brooke felt another wave of sadness wash over her at that, and for some reason, more tears began to fall.

She stood from the floor, taking the phone with her, and opened the door to leave the room. The rest of the house was dark, so she choked back the sobs as best she could as she headed down the steps and toward the kitchen. Just as she was about to reach the back door, a dark figure emerged from the counter area, and before Brooke could react, she was colliding with the body.

Luke steadied her before she had a chance to fall. His eyes lid over her face, taking in her red eyes, and wet cheeks.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked softly, his thumb automatically stroking her arm where his hand rested.

Brooke looked at the man before her. She allowed herself to be relieved at his touch, but only for a brief moment. Remembering the text, she pushed herself away from him.

"Like you care," she said. She set the phone down on the counter beside him, before turning on her heel and running out of the room. She ran back up to her room, and after closing the door, slid down to the floor once again. She felt like such a child, but couldn't help it even if she tried.

Luke stared after her bewildered. He didn't understand what she meant by that. He picked his phone up from where she had laid it, and headed back towards the guest house.

The next morning, Brooke was awakened once again by knocking, and she was suddenly shoved forward by the door opening.

"Brooke! What are you doing on the floor?" Kay said, bending down.

Brooke sat up, "I, uh...I must have fallen asleep down here." She sighed, as the events from the previous night came rushing back. She didn't want Kay to know, though, so she quickly covered with a smile.

Kay chuckled as she held out a hand to help her niece up. "Well, as long as you're okay. Listen, Thomas and I thought it'd be nice if you helped out around the farm today. Would you be up for that?"

Brooke considered it for a moment: she didn't want to ask Luke for his phone anymore. That meant she needed to get her own, and the only way for that to happen was if she worked to earn her money.

"Sure thing. Whatever you guys need," she finally said. It was going to suck, but she needed money, so she was willing to do what it took.

Luke grabbed his tack, setting it beside his horses stall. After breakfast he needed to ride out and check the cows. Then he was gonna ride the fence line and see if all was well there.

He dusted off his hands on his pants and headed towards the main house to eat his breakfast. He sent Kay a grin as he walked in, and started washing his hands.

After a quick shower, Brooke put on a tank top and some old jeans. She pulled her hair into a pony tail and threw on a pair of Tim's, before heading downstairs to grab a bowl of cereal.

Kay and Thomas were sitting at the table eating what appeared to be oatmeal. Brooke smiled at them and walked into the kitchen, where she was met once again by Luke. She did her best to ignore his presence, as she poured herself a bowl of frosted flakes, and then quickly exited into the dining room to take a seat and eat.

Luke sighed when Brooke ignored him as she got her cereal. He finished his egg and tomato sandwich and stepped into the dining room.
"I'm going to head out to check the cows," Luke said to Thomas, doing his best to ignore Brooke as well.

"Hey Luke, Kay and I were thinking you could take Brooke with you, so she can get a lay of the and," Thomas said, before taking a sip of coffee. Kay nodded her agreement, smiling widely.

Brooke almost coughed on her spoonful of cereal. Great, she thought, there goes my plan of not speaking to him the rest of my time here.

She finished her breakfast and put her bowl in the dishwasher, before heading outside to wait for Luke. She sat on the steps and contemplated how she was going to handle the situation with him. Ignoring him completely was out of the question, because obviously she needed to listen to his directions in order to complete tasks. But maybe if she just ignored any other attempts at communication, he might take the hint that she wasn't interested. It wasn't going to be fun, but it was better than arguing every other second, and at least she was being mature enough to not pick a fight.

Luke stepped out of the house and saw her sitting on the steps. "Can you ride a horse?" He asked, nodding in the direction of the barn as he headed that way. He figured she would take the hint and follow him.

"Uh, no," Brooke replied, standing and following slowly behind Luke. "We don't really have too many farms in the city. The only horses I've seen are the ones that pull the carriages around parks and stuff."

Luke nodded, and opened the door to Blue Jeans stall, letting her come out before he grabbed her halter and tied her to the hook on the wall using the lead rope.

"I want you to pet her while I saddle her. Let her get used to your scent." He said, grabbing the saddle blanket and placing it on her back. He then grabbed his saddle and placed it as well. Taking the girth from were he had it hooked, he started tightening the saddle.

After he finished with that, he grabbed the breast strap and started fixing it on. He usually wouldn't use this, but since Brooke was a beginner he figured it wouldn't hurt to have a little extra support.

Brooke said nothing. She stepped forward and held her hand out, letting the horse smell her. She knew nothing about horses, but she did know how to handle dogs, so she tried to use the same logic. It seemed to work, as it nuzzled her hand a bit, and Brooke couldn't help but smile. She moved her hand to begin petting it, and her smile grew. It really was a beautiful creature.

Luke grabbed the bridle, and slid it on Blue Jeans face after he removed her halter. He fixed it on right before walking around and swinging himself up in the saddle. He removed his left foot from the stirrup and held out his hand.

"I want you to give me your left hand, put your left foot in the stirrup, and I'm going to pull you up, when you get up, scoot as close to the saddle as you can. " he said, adjusting himself in the seat some so she would have more room to climb on.

Brooke sighed, realizing now that she'd have to ride with Luke. At that point, she'd much rather have her own horse and risk flying off. That might be more enjoyable than riding so close to him.

Instead of arguing, though, she gave Luke her hand and she was quickly pulled up to sit behind him. She went to hold onto his waist, but at the last minute, decided against it and placed them behind her to hold onto the back of the horse. It was probably dangerous, but she really wanted as little to do with the man in front of her as possible.

Luke glanced back at her, seeing the placement of her hands. "You're probably going to have to hold on to me.." He said before lightly kicking the horses sides.

Blue Jean started forwards, heading for the opening of the barn doors. She automatically turned in the direction of the path towards the cows. Luke lightly tapped her sides again, making her pick up speed a little more.

Brooke continued to ignore him, and tried to hold onto the back of the horse for as long as she could. It was only when the ride started to get faster and bumpier, that Brooke suddenly let out a scream, and hurriedly grabbed Luke around his middle. She wanted to slap herself for relying on him like this, but she also wanted to slap him for being right and also for not telling her he was involved with someone. Instead of slapping him, though, she just squeezed him harder than necessary, hoping that maybe it hurt a little.

Luke grinned slightly when she screamed and grabbed onto him. Try as he might, he couldn't ignore the way her arms around him felt. He shifted slightly in the saddle. He came to a stop outside the gate they needed to go through.

"Do you care to get down and open the gate? It will be easier for you to get off, then for me."

Brooke grunted her response and grabbed a hold of his shoulder, then jumped down. She walked over to the gate and opened it, allowing for Luke to walk the horse through. She quickly closed it behind her and went to climb back up.