undeterred by my instant drop in mood, “Your Grandpop and I have to sweeten you up, we’re heading down to the James’s ranch after dinner, they’ve just returned from a holiday in Europe and they want to show us their photos, so you’ll be here by yourself for a while.”
“Are you sure I can look after this whole place?” I was a little scared at the prospect of being alone, I hadn’t been in a house alone at night since my last evening in Chicago, and to tell the truth I had become used to the homely sounds of my Grandparents banging around when I went to bed.
“Don’t look so terrified dear,” Nan joked, “We’ll only be thirty minutes down the road, we’ll be back around midnight and the workers huts are only a couple of miles away, you’ve seen them, if you need anything you can give Robert a call.” she gave me a sneaky smile, I ignored it.
“Well,” I announced getting over my initial shock of being abandoned,
“It’s not like anything exciting ever happens here at night anyway right? I guess I’ll just watch TV and head to bed.”
“Exactly dear, there’s nothing to do on a ranch at night you should know that by now, now go and wash up, dinners in ten minutes.”
Dinner itself was pretty uneventful, the spag bowl was delicious, Nan was even better at making it then Dad had been and I had gone back for seconds. Eating something so familiar gave me a pang of home sickness, I tried to push that aside. Nan and Grandpop were talking the entire meal about their pending photo viewing session at the James’s, and before I knew it they were gone.
After waving them off and closing the door I stood for a moment in the hallway gazing back towards the kitchen, the house seemed enormous now that I was alone in it. I shut all the doorways leading off the hall as I headed towards the kitchen, keeping my eyes averted, not wanting to see the smiling pictures that taunted me from the many frames along the wall. I wandered to the fridge, not hungry, but looking for something to keep my mind occupied. I pulled out a carrot and chewed on that as I headed towards the lounge, Sunday night, surely there was some sort of chick flick on TV. As I walked into the lounge my reflection showed in the screen of the ancient television set. I froze, turned on my heel and ran back down the hall carefully pulling my shirt off as I went, how could I have forgotten to look in the mirror when I got home. I was running blindly for a few seconds as I pulled my singlet over my head, finally it came off and my line of sight cleared again.
I stopped dead.
9.
S tanding in the doorway at the end of the hall was Robert.
“I did knock,” he chuckled gently his gaze trailing over me, lingering a little too long, before he quickly looked back into my eyes, “I didn’t realize you would be so eager to see me.”
My face burned as I flushed deeply, quickly gathering my singlet in front of me, I tried to regain some dignity.
“You could have knocked
louder
, or called out you know.” I grumped, totally humiliated, he started to speak but I was too embarrassed to stand there while I was half undressed.
“Please leave, I’m finally getting a night to myself without having to watch documentaries, go away.” Turning on my heel I marched straight into my room, his expression turned to bewilderment from where he still stood in the doorway.
“Try calling first next time!” I rolled my eyes before slamming the door, cutting him off before he could say anything.
I fell back against the door, the cool wood made me shiver, I couldn’t believe it, of all people to walk in on me stripping in the hallway. I started to laugh softly at the situation.
Finally pushing myself up I walked slowly towards my mirror, unsure of what I was going to see when I turned around. Dropping my singlet on the bed as I passed, I turned slowly, looking back over my shoulder. Starting at my neck, I moved my eyes down the length of my spine. The bruising
“Are you sure I can look after this whole place?” I was a little scared at the prospect of being alone, I hadn’t been in a house alone at night since my last evening in Chicago, and to tell the truth I had become used to the homely sounds of my Grandparents banging around when I went to bed.
“Don’t look so terrified dear,” Nan joked, “We’ll only be thirty minutes down the road, we’ll be back around midnight and the workers huts are only a couple of miles away, you’ve seen them, if you need anything you can give Robert a call.” she gave me a sneaky smile, I ignored it.
“Well,” I announced getting over my initial shock of being abandoned,
“It’s not like anything exciting ever happens here at night anyway right? I guess I’ll just watch TV and head to bed.”
“Exactly dear, there’s nothing to do on a ranch at night you should know that by now, now go and wash up, dinners in ten minutes.”
Dinner itself was pretty uneventful, the spag bowl was delicious, Nan was even better at making it then Dad had been and I had gone back for seconds. Eating something so familiar gave me a pang of home sickness, I tried to push that aside. Nan and Grandpop were talking the entire meal about their pending photo viewing session at the James’s, and before I knew it they were gone.
After waving them off and closing the door I stood for a moment in the hallway gazing back towards the kitchen, the house seemed enormous now that I was alone in it. I shut all the doorways leading off the hall as I headed towards the kitchen, keeping my eyes averted, not wanting to see the smiling pictures that taunted me from the many frames along the wall. I wandered to the fridge, not hungry, but looking for something to keep my mind occupied. I pulled out a carrot and chewed on that as I headed towards the lounge, Sunday night, surely there was some sort of chick flick on TV. As I walked into the lounge my reflection showed in the screen of the ancient television set. I froze, turned on my heel and ran back down the hall carefully pulling my shirt off as I went, how could I have forgotten to look in the mirror when I got home. I was running blindly for a few seconds as I pulled my singlet over my head, finally it came off and my line of sight cleared again.
I stopped dead.
9.
S tanding in the doorway at the end of the hall was Robert.
“I did knock,” he chuckled gently his gaze trailing over me, lingering a little too long, before he quickly looked back into my eyes, “I didn’t realize you would be so eager to see me.”
My face burned as I flushed deeply, quickly gathering my singlet in front of me, I tried to regain some dignity.
“You could have knocked
louder
, or called out you know.” I grumped, totally humiliated, he started to speak but I was too embarrassed to stand there while I was half undressed.
“Please leave, I’m finally getting a night to myself without having to watch documentaries, go away.” Turning on my heel I marched straight into my room, his expression turned to bewilderment from where he still stood in the doorway.
“Try calling first next time!” I rolled my eyes before slamming the door, cutting him off before he could say anything.
I fell back against the door, the cool wood made me shiver, I couldn’t believe it, of all people to walk in on me stripping in the hallway. I started to laugh softly at the situation.
Finally pushing myself up I walked slowly towards my mirror, unsure of what I was going to see when I turned around. Dropping my singlet on the bed as I passed, I turned slowly, looking back over my shoulder. Starting at my neck, I moved my eyes down the length of my spine. The bruising
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