Kashi was scrolling through her phone, her nails, no longer the manicured beauties they'd been before, clicked as she shuffled through photos. Emma's perm was adorable, no matter what Sierra said. The straight hair made her look older and more professional. Indeed in the blue blazer with her white collar neatly buttoned beneath, Emma appeared very business-like.
"Kashi, get your nose outta that thing and answer me!" Aunt Cee was scowling, hands on her hips. Kashi's head snapped up at the tone. Had Aunt Cee been calling her? She gave her aunt a sheepish grin. Her aunt sighed, shaking her head. "Your uncle is giving you the afternoon off. He knows there was some party tonight and he figured he'd let you go to it. Seems like a waste to me." Her aunt shook her head.
Kashi wanted to be excited, but it was Friday. Her uncle was meeting Jeremy Hughes and must not have wanted her here. Her aunt Cee must not have known then. Would her uncle find some excuse to get Aunt Cee out of the house? In case her aunt said something to her uncle, Kashi stood up, shoving the stool back from the countertop. "Oh awesome, let me go tell Sierra. I thought I'd be too tired and not have enough time to get ready by the time I—"
"No matter, I still want you to do the dishes now and you promised me you would help me wash those old quilts today party or no." Her aunt Cee was already pouring the sink full of hot water, pouring soap in to create suds to wash with.
"Now?" Kashi grumbled, not having to act disgruntled. She hated doing dishes. It was tedious and the water made her hands wrinkly…
Her aunt just smiled. "I'll be in my sewing room. Fetch me when you're done so we can get those quilts handled."
Kashi waited until her aunt had left before she rolled her eyes. She turned on music from her phone, letting the sound fill the echoing kitchen. She turned it up a tad louder than her aunt usually liked. Just because. She'd help her aunt with the quilts, then go out to work in the stables again. She'd have to decide how to sneak back into the house to catch her uncle and Jeremy Hughes. If they thought they were alone Kashi could definitely get some helpful information.
With the gentleness of a wild animal, Kashi dumped dishes into the sink, splattering soap on the window that overlooked a large portion of her uncle's fields and his two massive stables. Though one was older, they both looked new. Her uncle had refurbished the entirety of the old stables. The stalls were reconstructed. Fresh cement had been poured. The roof had been ripped up entirely. The green roof was cheery, fitting in nicely with the scene before her. She was willing to bet that her uncle got the money for fixing that barn from Jeremy Hughes as well. It didn't sit right with her.
Kashi finished the dishes in only a short time. Washing the quilts took much longer. Her aunt was a stickler when it came to washing the quilts. Kashi didn't see why she couldn't just throw them in the washing machine with everything else. Why did they need so many anyway? Her aunt sold many of the quilted products she created at local markets and such, did she just keep whatever didn't sell?
Kashi struggled to hang a massive dripping green quilt with little geometric girls in bonnets on a clothesline made of a heavy cable. Her aunt was ever cheerful, never once complaining about the weight of the drenched quilts. Kashi preferred doing actual ranch work to this. She was sweltering in the sun. The barns at least were shaded and had fans.
She couldn't have finished soon enough. As soon as her aunt declared the last quilt passable, Kashie nearly sprinted down to the barns. Only to get away from Aunt Cee who might take back her stamp of approval on the quilts.
Kashi grabbed the doorframe of the barn, swinging into the barn. She turned around for a second and the next moment she slammed into someone. Both of them careened to the floor. The person she unwittingly just tackled let out a disgruntled huff of breath as Kashi landed on top of them.
Mortified, she placed a hand on the cement floor by the person and found herself staring down at Matthias. "Holy George, Matthias! I'm so sorry I didn't see you there!" He chuckled as she awkwardly found herself trying to get off of him. She pushed herself up with both hands, their faces way too close for comfort. As she struggled to somehow roll off of him without kneeing him, he just laughed at the spectacle. One of his legs somehow held hers down, causing her to fall back down, beside him this time.
She was tempted to scowl, but instead she found herself laughing along with him. His laughter was too genuine to be taunting. It was full and deep. It reminded her of summer thunderstorms. His eyes were a dark gray like those clouds too. But they weren't so dark in their intent. She liked the way his shaggy blonde hair fell over his forehead in such an unkempt manner. It was playful.
He slowly got to his knees, offering her a hand as he stood up. "Kashi, good morning to you too." He smiled at her in a teasing way.
She took his hands, immediately noting the way they'd begun to callous over such a short time. "Sorry about that. I had a lot on my mind. I was deep in thought."
"See and here I would have thought it was from excitement." Matthias said as they began to walk over to the end of the stalls. Being the two newest workers, they were often delegated the lovely task of cleaning the stalls. She and Matthias had found ways to make it better by taking a side of the stalls and racing to see who could finish first.
"Why would it be excitement?" Kashi asked, tilting her head as she pulled on a heavy pair of yellow work gloves. Well, they had been yellow. They were a lonely shade of light brown. It reminded her of dijon mustard in the way they were colored and speckled with dirt. Matthias' gloves still looked almost new aside from a stain by his left thumb.
"Well your uncle there let you, me, and a few other fellas off to go to the party tonight. He even gave me a ten dollar bill to pay for gas so long as I took you and the other two with me. Said we deserved it after the hard work. It must mostly be you all, I just got here." He chuckled. "Not that I'm complaining."
Kashi willed herself to smile and ramble about how fun it would be but something inside of her froze. Her uncle had truly ensured she was going to that party. He'd told Matthias to take her with him. If she didn't go, her uncle must have heard. Would her uncle know if she snuck back from the party early? Kashi wanted to snort. She was usually sneaking into parties, not out. Was her uncle onto her? Did he know she was snooping where she shouldn't be?
She did still have that envelope with all the incriminating evidence. Had its owner known it was missing? Kashi didn't know which of the three men owned it. It made her nervous.
"... what do you think Kashi?"
It took her a moment to realize he asked her a question. She shook off the daze. "I'm sorry what?"
"I was asking if you were alright with meeting at your uncle's house. It is a central location for the four of us." Matthias said, pulling a baseball cap out of his pocket and adjusting it on his head. He shrugged, "Set for a race again?"
"Yeah," Kashi smiled. But something inside her was worried. Her uncle had to know.