Through Another's Eyes

Cassidy parked her truck in front of her house. The house was located at the front of the property and divided from the barns by a standard post and rail fence. The front yard was shaded by large oak trees and was the only area on the property not restricted by fences. The side yard was fenced for her dogs and the back yard was a paddock where she let horses graze when she was working in the house.
“Well this is home,” she said, getting out of the driver’s seat. Adrian got out first, reluctantly, and Delany followed. “Do you guys want a tour first or to get your stuff and unpack?”
“We don’t have much stuff,” Adrian pointed out.
Cassidy had noticed that. Each child had had a grocery bag full of clothes and Delany had her teddy bear. That was it.
“Well we mine-as-well get the unpacking out of the way and get a tour of the house. Then we can go out back.”
She could tell that Adrian wanted to ask what was “out back” but kept his silence. She didn’t help him out. She knew that he’d have to become more comfortable with her and he’d see what was back there soon enough.
She led them through the front doors into the mud room and was greeted by ninety pounds of slobbery, panting German Shepherd and seventy pounds of slobbery, panting, whining mutt.
“You guys are okay with dogs aren’t you?” Cassidy asked quickly, seeing that both children were starring wide-eyed at the animals like they were aliens from another planet.
It took Adrian a moment to respond. “We’ve-never been around dogs before.”
“These two goof balls look threatening but they’re just big marshmallows. The worst thing they can do is lick you to death.”
As if to punctuate that statement, the mutt, Tucker, reared up on his hind legs in order to reach Cassidy’s cheek to lick. She laughed. “Yes I see you my boy,” she said, scratching behind his ears. The Shepherd, Breaker, not wanting to be left out, tried to jump up too. “Down boys,” she said and walked through the kitchen to the side door to let the dogs out. They bounded out of the open door and she shut it behind them.
“Sorry about them,” she said to the kids. “They normally calm down once I’ve been home for a while.” Neither child said anything and Cassidy cleared her throat awkwardly. She wasn’t used to quiet people, especially kids. “Anyway, this is the kitchen,” she said, gesturing around them. “I try to keep it pretty well stocked but if you guys want something I don’t have, just tell me and I can run out and get it. What are your favorite foods?”
Adrian and Delany just starred at her for a moment. Cassidy rocked back on her heels, prepared to wait for their answers. She had yet to hear Delany say anything. The silence stretched on and she heard one of the dogs scratching to be let back in.
“Well I’ll let y’all think about it. Make sure you tell me before I start dinner though so I can make foods you like. I’m no gourmet cook but I do alright.”
“You don’t have to,” Adrian said.
Cassidy, relieved to have some line of conversation thrown at her said, “don’t have to what?”
“Cook. I can make food for Delany and me.”
Cassidy blinked. Was that a fourteen-year-old boy saying he didn’t want to eat? And that he knew how to cook? “I cook for myself every night and normally have to throw away the left-over’s. You’d be doing me a favor if you ate with me. And if you guys ever get hungry or thirsty, I always keep the fridge well stocked, and if I don’t Chris yells at me about it.”
“Chris?” Adrian asked hesitantly.
“My barn manager.”
“Barn manager?” Adrian asked again.
This was the most the boy had spoken in the four hours she’d spent with him. “I work with horses; that’s what’s out back. I teach lessons and a few other things. Chris helps me manage the horses and partially manages me.”
“Is he your boyfriend?” Adrian asked bluntly.
Cassidy couldn’t hold back her laughter. Adrian gave her a quizzical look. “Sorry. No, Chris…isn’t interested in girls.”
“So he’s gay.”
It was Cassidy’s turn to stare blankly. “Yes he is. But there’s nothing wrong with that. He’s a really nice guy and he’s like family to me. You guys’ll like him.”
Both children continued to stare blankly at her.
“Well let’s see the rest of the house shall we?” I’ll show you your rooms and you can drop your stuff off.” She led the way out of the kitchen and through the living room. “This is the living room even though I don’t use it much.” She paused by the TV. “I have a Wii and a PS2 but all the games are horse related. If you guys want to play them feel free but don’t erase my files, I might have to beat you,” she laughed but stopped at the look of resignation on both children’s faces. “You know I was just kidding about that right?”
No answer.
“Ok then,” she said to herself. Then aloud again. “I try to keep the remotes next to the TV so I don’t lose them. This room stays pretty clean because I don’t use it much. You guys can hang out in here as much as you want; just make sure you clean up after yourselves.”
She led the way through a door and down a short hallway that opened up to doors on either end. “To your left is one of the bedrooms. That’s where Chris crashes when he’s too tired to go home or any of the grooms on foal watch.”
She could see that Adrian wanted to ask. Once again, she didn’t help him. If he wanted his questions answered then he’d have to ask them himself.
“To the right is one of the bathrooms. It’s kind of old fashioned but I like its charm.”
The children looked into the room with its claw-foot tub, porcelain skin and matching toilet and its off-white marble counter tops.
“It stays pretty clean too because I only use it when I want to take a bubble bath. But what’s mine is yours and you guys are free to use it.”
Between the two rooms was a staircase with a mahogany banister.
“The stairs creak but they’re solid as a rock,” Cassidy said as she made her way up the stairs. At the top was a straight hallway with dark hardwood floors and doors closed on either side. “The rooms are pretty nice sized. You guys can pick whichever ones you want.” She opened the first door on the right. “Delany you might like this room.”
She walked in and the kids followed her. The room was large with floral wall paper and a canopy bed in the center. A chest of drawers sat off to the left. Past the dresser was a door that led to the adjoining bathroom. Along the back wall was a walk-in closet that sat empty. The right wall held a window with a cushioned window seat.
“We can share a room,” Adrian said hesitantly.
“Sorry but no way,” Cassidy said. She didn’t want to be mean to them but a girl deserved to have her own room and she could tell that neither of the kids was going to accept the luxuries she could give them unless she started forcing them upon the kids. “A girl needs her own room and so does a boy. There are four rooms on this floor, three that you can pick from.” She looked down at Delany who had lost some of the scared expression and was staring wide-eyed at the room. “What do you think Delany?” Cassidy asked softly. “Do you want this to be your room or do you want to look at the others first?”
Delany hesitated, then walked over to the window seat and put her tattered teddy bear on it. Cassidy smiled. “Yep there’s even room for…I’m sorry you never told me what his name is.”
Delany looked back at her aunt. “Lucky.”