The Ranch - 1. Chapter 1

It was 7:30 in the morning, Jeff got out of bed, and rushed to help his dad get things ready at their family ranch. His dad had hired a new farm hand for the summer, and they were only a year younger than Jeff, he was really looking foward to the arrival, he had been so busy working, that he hadn't had much time to spend with friends, and he was a bit lonely.

"Morning pa, he greeted the man at the table, who was reading the paper, with a bowl of cereal in front of him.

"Good morning son," The man replied turning the page, "are you ready for the new hand to come in today?" He glanced up at his son, who was fixing himself some waffles.

"You bet I am, it's too quiet around here with just the two of us," his waffles came out of the toaster, and he proceeded to drown them with butter and syrup, then took his own seat at the table. "You're right," the man agreed, he was now done with the paper, and it was folded and put aside while they ate.

At 8, Jeff Quickly hopped into the shower, then got dressed, and joined his dad outside. He went to go feed and groom his horse, Wendy. He got her when he was 12, now he's 17, and they are quite the inseperable pair.

"Hi girl," he greeted caressing her cheek, she nudged his hand affectionately in response. "Were getting a new helper today, I hope they are real nice." He picked up her food, and placed it in the feed, she seemed happy as she munched away.

It was right around 8:30 when a car drove up the dirt road to their driveway, Jeff and his dad watched as a man, and a boy step out. The man was tall, average build, had brown hair that went to his shoulders. The boy, who was assumed to be his son, looked similar, only a bit skinnier, and much shorter hair.

"Hello," Jeff's dad greeted, holding out his hand, "I'm Frank, and this is my son, it's very nice to meet you."

The other man smiled, and took his hand, "likewise, I'm Rick, and this is my son Kevin." He gestured to his son to stand next to him.

"H-hello," Kevin said nervously.

"Aw Kevin, don't be nervous, we'll take good care of you, and I'm sure you and Jeff will hit it off great," he smiled. "Would you two like a tour of the place?"

"That would be fantastic, replied Rick.

"Well as you can see, it's pretty lively around here..." Frank's voice drifted off, Jeff lost his focus, and was on Kevin instead, he felt something deep on the inside, a strange feeling, but a good one nontheless. It was as if nothing else in that moment existed but the two of them.

"Jeff, Jeff!" Frank's voice boomed out, snapping Jeff from his trance.
"Yeah dad?" "Can you resume the tour, I need to run to the restroom." He began to take off the opposite direction, before the boy had time to respond.

"Okay where were we? Oh right, each day we get up at 7:00, eat breakfast, shower if you want, then we have a bit of free time until 8:00, that's when the real fun begins. I usually start with feeding them, then grooming, and making sure their health is good, I'll teach you how to check for signs that something is wrong with them. After that's done, we go over to the field, today we are working on harvesting the back area, are you familiar with a combine?"

"A little," Kevin replied, "but never handled one personally."

"Well then, I'll have to teach you that one too. We split that job equally. Then around noon we eat lunch, the work ends around 5:30 usually, dinner is always at 7."

Frank walked outside, located them, currently they were looking at the horses, and he joined them.

"And this is my favorite, Wendy, she's been here since I was 12, I usually take her to go riding, there are some great trails around here." He smiled up at Wendy, petting her, which seemed to make her very happy.

"Well now that we're finished out here, shall we head inside?" Jeff suggested, "it is rather hot out here, I'm sure you are probably thirsty, and Kevin could also see his room." His hand dropped down from Wendy, who made a small noise in protest.

"Sounds good to me," Rick agreed with a nod, Kevin nodded as well.

They all sat down at the kitchen table. "So what do you think of this place, son?" Frank asked Kevin, who had mostly been looking down at his glass.

"Oh, um, it's nice," he took a sip of his drink. "I think it will be fun working here," He gave a small smile, the most genuine emotion since arriving.

"Glad to hear it, now let me show you where you'll be staying."

They walked upstairs, and entered the guest bedroom, the mattress was bare, but clean, no stains or any other foreign matter, it looked brand new. "Don't worry, we'll add sheets and pillows later tonight, we just didn't want them to collect dust beforehand." Jeff assured him, after seeing Kevin's confused expression.

"Oh, it's nice." The boy responded, nodding.

"You are also welcome to bring items you want to decorate the room, just please keep the walls clean of any smut. I don't judge as, you're a growing boy, but keep that private."

"You don't have to worry, that's not really my thing," Kevin replied, face turning red as beets. The two men gave a small chuckle, and walked off, but Kevin and Jeff did not follow.

"Heh, sorry about my dad, he forgets to have a filter sometimes."

"My dad's the same," Kevin replied, a small smile tugging at the side of his mouth. "So what do you think of this place, honestly?"

"I like it," Kevin smiled, "The work seems a bit rough, but I think the pay'll be worth it, also you guys seem like fun people, I feel almost at home here."

Jeff smiled, "Glad to hear that, I think you fit right in with us, dad has also seemed to have taken a shine to you too." Something stirred inside Kevin at that, he felt happy hearing that, but did his best to not show it.

"Boys, come down here please," Frank called from the landing. The two did as instructed, and returned to the kitchen. Jeff couldn't resist getting another quick look at Kevin, the feeling from ealier had returned.

"I'm sorry, but my wife just texted, apparently she was not feeling good at work, so she went home early, I need to keep an eye on her."

Kevin's eyes widened, "Is mom okay?!"

"I think she'll be okay, her co-worker, Tina, said she seemed faint, and took her home, she's keeping an eye on her until I get there."

Frank scratched his head, "well that's not good, I hope she'll be alright."

Rick grimaced. "Thanks, all we can do is pray to the good lord. Well, I'll come visit next Monday, see how he's doing, is that alright?"

"That'll be fine, oh and here, take this for the road." Frank walked to the fridge, and pulled out 2 bottles of water, then handed it to the man

"Thanks," Rick said, "Bye Kevin, be good for these people, listen to instructions carefully, I love you son." He hugged his son.

"I hope she'll be okay." Frank said, watching the car disappear from the driveway.

"I do too," Jeff replied, "hey, shall we go put away you're stuff, and get you settled in?" Jeff quickly changed the subject, not wanting to loom over unpleasant feelings.