Chapter 2

"Getting to Know Each Other"

My meeting with Will Randall was eager at first, but then as I laid asleep in my bed that night, I could not but wonder about something. When Will was present, Fleeting Ways would go crazy meaning that Will had an animal instinct about him. There was much more to him than met the eye and I knew that had he not been married, perhaps he could have been the right one for me. But, then again, dating a married man who is also one of my father's employees would not be right. If we were going to be together, it would be just as friends and nothing more.

The next morning, I got up and headed over to the barn so I could get Fleeting Ways out for a walk around the corral. Fleeting Ways was like my only friend aside from all the other people that I knew. As I got him ready, I'd figure to have a small conversation with him in regards to what had happened the night before.

"You know something, Fleeting," I said as I got him ready. "There is something strange about that man we'd met last night. It's like he has an instinct: an instinct that I can't seem to figure out."

I adjusted his saddle and walked him outside towards the corral and then he'd suddenly balked and I had to restrain him. I could see that Will was nearby, but after a moment, Fleeting calmed down and was back under my control.

"You see?" I said to him as I mounted. "That's it. Every time he comes here, you act crazy. Sooner or later, I will have to find the truth. Come on, let's go."

So, we trotted into the corral and I allowed Fleeting Ways to stretch his legs as much as possible. Fleeting was a good horse and was very obidient into what I wanted him to do and what I didn't want him to do. Just then, I saw Will walk out of my father's mansion and towards his car when he suddenly turned and saw me riding. Just then, Fleeting Ways began to go crazy and reared on her two legs causing me to fall over onto the ground below. Fearing for my safety, Will ran over to me and helped me get back up.

"You all right? You all right?" he asked very gently, but I wasn't very happy with what had just happened. After all, I could have been seriously hurt from a fall like that and I was quick to show my displeasure towards what had happened.

"Are you crazy?" I snapped, still in shock from the fall. "Don't you have enough brains to stay away from animals when they are frightened of you?"

"I didn't know it was me they were frightened of," he protested, but of course, I am not an idiot when it comes to animals being scared. I lived my entire life with them and knew exactly how they felt and what not.

"Are you an idiot?" I remarked, staring at him coldly. "You nearly stampeded the horses at the party last Monday. Can't you see that animals are disturbed by your presence?"

"Sorry, I just wanted to say hello," remarked Will. Just then, my father came out when he saw me fall of Fleeting. Although we were never really close, he still loved me for who I was and nothing more.

"You're not hurt, I hope," he said as he walked over towards me and Will. "You haven't fallen since you were 12."

He then saw Will and I knew that he and my father had yet another business conversation in the mansion. That was the weakness of my father, he was always working and never got a chance to spend any time with me whatsoever.

"I see you are still here," he said to Will. "Are you lost on getting out of here?"

"No," I replied, trying to stand up to Will. "We were talking."

My father then remembered that he had Henry and Caroline coming for lunch today and thought that maybe I would join them.

"Your brother and sister are coming for lunch today," he said to me."I'd told them you'd join us if you wanted to."

But, I had other plans in mind and I knew that Will needed to have some company, away from my father. I thought that this would be the perfect time for us to get together and get to know each other a little more.

"Then again," he said, seeing that Will was present. "Perhaps maybe you and Mr. Randall should get to know each other a little better, since you seem to have something for one another."

"Maybe I shall," I replied as I placed my arm under Will's. "Shall we go?"

"We will miss your company, my dear," he said as we walked off towards my cottage. As we walked, my father could see that there was something more to Will than met the eye, but didn't investigate it further. I was old enough to take care of myself and he knew it.

Meanwhile, we walked up to my cottage and went into the living room, although I'd felt bad since I didn't have any food in the cottage for us aside from Peanut Butter and Jelly as well as a carton of milk. Nevertheless, Will was very impressed by my living quarters.

"Your living place?" he asked, admiring the cottage as I took off my riding gloves.

"It's one of the guest houses," I replied, still flabbergasted by this sudden change of events. "I only stay here when I'm in town and I'm sorry but I realized that I have nothing but Peanut Butter and Jelly and a carton of milk. I'm afraid we'll have to cancel lunch."

Now, I wanted to make something perfectly clear here, I was definitely nervous when I said that. Sometimes the nerves can get the best of a person's mind and cause them to say things that we don't intend on saying. But, Will could see that I was nervous and felt that he needed to find the words that would calm me down.

"Are you serious?" he remarked, smiling and keeping his hands in his pockets, trying to act casual. "Peanut Butter and Jelly is mother's milk to me."

"Listen," I said, trying to get him to leave me alone. "Whatever you think is going to happen isn't. Please don't take anything for granted because we exchanged a few words the other night. You are nothing more than one of my father's employees and I am his daughter."

But, Will wanted to set the record straight on our relationship. In his mind, he saw me as more as a friend to him. In my mind, I saw him as an acquaintance.

"I don't take anything for granted Miss Alden," he said, still acting casual. "Except perhaps some small measure of civility from my hostess, like yourself."

Well, that sealed the deal, I changed out of my riding clothes and into a white sweater and a fresh pair of jeans as we dined on Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. It wasn't enough, but it was doable and Will wanted to use this time to get to know me a little better.

"So, what do you do?" he asked me, wanting to get more of my background. But, I was very uncomfortable with talking about my past. It was a dark period in my life and I wanted to forget about by leaving it in the past and burying it very deep.

"Why do you care?" I asked as I munched on a PB and J sandwich. "My past was never really like yours to begin with."

"I don't," he replied. "I'm just making polite conversation that is all."

"I'd rather not discuss what I do," I said, drinking a glass of milk.

However, Will knew that I was hiding the truth about myself. In his mind, he could see that I was hiding something from him. But, he knew that I was someone who never really had a boyfriend to begin with. Given the fact that he was older and wiser of the matter, he decided to set the record straight with me.

"You know," he began. "I think I understand what you're like now. You're beautiful, but you think that men are only interested in you because you're beautiful. But you want them to be interested in you because you're you."

He then began to speak to me like a psychiatrist and diagnose exactly what was going on with me. Nevertheless, being the polite woman that I was, I allowed him to speak his mind.

"The problem is that," he continued. "Aside from that beauty, you're not very interesting: you're rude; you're hostile; you're sullen and you're withdrawn. I know that you want someone to look past all that at the real person underneath. But the only reason that anyone would bother to look past all that is because you're beautiful. Ironic, isn't it? Because in an odd way, you're your own problem."

Deep down, I was very shocked into what he had just said. Of course, I had to remember that Will was much older than me and he had dissected everything that made me who I am and presented them on the table like a lunch platter.

"Sorry, wrong line," I said, looking down at the table, acting casual although I was speechless by what he said. "I am not taken aback by your keen insight and suddenly challenged by you."

I dabbed my face with the napkin and then Will and I got up from the table and walked into the living room where we came across the pictures of my life that I always kept. They were basically all that I had since my mother and younger brother died.

"Are all of these you?" Will asked as he looked at the pictures. Many of them were family mementos of my past.

"Yes," I replied, picking up a ring that had belonged to my mother and looked down at it, longing for her to be here with me. "My father keeps this cottage empty just for me so that when I show up, I'll have a place to stay that's as far away from him as possible."

I then looked towards the pictures and began to explain to Will about them.

"Pictures were thrown in by the decorator," I explained as he noticed the picture of my mother. "He had a mawkish side."

"Is this you?" he asked, looking down at it as I got up off the sofa.

"That's my mother," I replied, revealing the truth behind it to Will. "She died when I was 12."

"I'm sorry," sympathized Will, feeling slightly sorry for me. He then turned the page of my photo album and came across the pictures of Matt, before he became crazy and mentally insane. "And this?"

"My brother, Matt," I said to Will, walking over to him as he continued to look down at the album. "He died last year."

Will then suddenly remembered about Matt's death as it had happened a year ago. He didn't go to the funeral and in fact, there was no funeral. My father had him cremated and scattered in the lake.

"Yes," he muttered to me. "I remember that he had some kind of an accident of some nature."

"No, he killed himself," I explained. "He was diagnosed with borderline schizophrenic and well, I guess he got tired of the title. He lived with me on and off, but, he was nice for a little brother."

The pain of losing Matt was still fresh in my mind and I had to walk away for a moment to get the thoughts out of my head.

Our visit was not over and little did I know that Will had something to tell me as I threw on my brown coat and made our way down to the docks…