I woke up past lunch-time. I checked in on Abby first thing; but she was already awake. Had been since hours. They teased me for being a late-sleeper but I knew they were happy that I was well-rested. I was a usefull pair of hands on the farm and they knew it. After eating some leftovers from last night with Martin as company we head out. Abby had already gotten a tour of the farm from Ryan. They had just clicked.
"How long until they end up together?" Martin asked me with a smile. I watched them for a second. He was explaining how she should weed the pumkin patch. He was googly-eyeying her and she was blushing a bit.
"I'm guessing they'll hook up in the next few nights. But I doubt they'll make it offcial for another couple weeks." I bet.
"Few weeks? She'll be pregnant by then." Martin joked. We laughed and head over to the stables. I wanted to see the horses. I'd learn to ride on Cowboy, a brownish stallion who was blind in one eye. He was easy-going and the nicest horse I'd ever met, but he could be a bit jumpy.
We entered the stables. I pet each of the horses, starting with Cowboy. "How've you been, Cowboy?" I whispered as I pet his muzzle lovingly. "I missed you a lot." I turned to Martin. "No one here's a vet, right?"
"Nope. But he seems to be alright." Cowboy had lost his eye a few years back due to eye cancer. It hadn't made a reapperance when we'd checked him up, but he was supposed to go and get it checked out every six months which wasn't possible anymore. "He's doing great though." Martin reassured me. I gave him a kiss and moved on to the adjacent stall. The only mare at our farm. Her name was Crystal. She was a schimmel, my uncle had always used the german word for her kind. It translated to "mold". He'd refused to just call her a grey or white horse. I'd rode her a few times, but we'd never been so great together. Now that I was back she nuzzled her big head against mine.
I carried on to visit the three other steeds. Those were all American Quarter Horses, good for ranch work. There names had escaped my memory, but I remebered who was who when Martin pitched them to me.
After catching up with the good ol' stallions Martin showed me the work they'd been doing on the fields. They'd done plenty and there still was plenty more to do.
"There's just one more thing I need to show you." Martin said. He wore a large smile. I raised my eyebrow. He brought me to the abandonned shack in the back. My uncle had always forbidden me to go there so I never had. "Once your uncle died we had to see what he was hiding, and we were pretty damn surprised. It belongs to you now, he even wrote that into his will." He opened the door.
My jaw dropped.
A beautiful, shiny black Rolls Royce gleamed up at me. It was a very old one, even the word old-timer didn't fit anymore. It was one out of the 1950s. One of the true gems of car manufactory. I was almost afraid of touching but I allowed myself to run my hand over the leather steering wheel. "It's fucking precious." I said and burst out into laughter. "I get why he'd never let us in here." I said, the added: "I hope Ryan doesn't bring Abby in here to nail her." That made Martin laugh. I chuckled at my own joke but was reminded of Joline. I'd love to screw her in the car. It would be romantic, really. I felt a pang of grief. Why the fuck hadn't I taken her along with me?
"You can have the key to the shed." Martin said and tossed it to me, I caught it. "That's the only one. They'll never get in."
"Thank you." I said and pocketed it. "Is there any gasoline here?" I asked.
"What, do you want to go for a joy-ride?" He asked me with a grin.
"No, I just..." I didn't want to admit that I wanted to drive back to NYC to pick up a forty-five year old prostitute for whom my heart was acheing. "But hey, a quick question. What you do with out cat?"
"Oh Abby gave it to us when you were busy catching up with Ryan and Fred last night. We gave it some milk and food, it's already stalking the farm for mice. Good thing you brought the little angel, we need cats here." I was relieved that he was safe. I thought about Joline's cats. They'd love it here. "Let's get to work!" Martin said. I nodded, we left the shack and strolled out onto the field.
In no time I was weeding the pumpkin patch with Ryan and Abby.