[ ¤¤¤ ]

CHAPTER TWO.
"law of attraction"


Javier arrives to work fifteen minutes early the following morning.

The sun has barely peeked over the top of the trees by the time he parks his motorcycle in its usual spot outside the barn, the horizon painted with a wide array of oranges, pinks, and purples. Javi runs a hand through his tousled hair once he removes his helmet, and glances up towards the house.

Not for the first time since yesterday, his mind drifts to the son of his employer. Ron Porter had told him a great deal about his only child since his hirement, the amount of pride always evident in the older man's voice when he spoke of him, his eyes never failing to light up whenever he'd seize the chance to tell something new about him to Javier.

Despite all he's heard, however, meeting Luke in person had only left him with the odd feeling that he didn't really know much about him at all. Still, it was nice to finally be able put a face to the name, and a handsome one it had surely turned out to be. Javi reflects back on all the fine features he'd only been able to partially appreciate during their short conversation. He recalls the sparse collection of facial hair that framed mostly around his mouth and chin, his warm, inviting eyes and neat, expressive brows. Javi thinks of his thick, wavy hair, of how it curled along the nape of his neck, and idly wonders what it would feel like to run his fingers through it.

There's no denying the certain amount of interest he'd developed nearly instantaneously for the man. He recognized it in the way his eyes had lingered a fraction too long on those miniscule details, how his ears had perked towards the his mild, yet distinctive southern drawl and the clear presence of nerves in his voice that Javi couldn't help but to find endearing.

Luke had captivated him the near second he'd laid eyes on him.

A persistent neighing soon redirects his attention, and Javi places his helmet over a duct-taped handlebar as he focuses back on the task at hand. The horses need feeding, and Ron had asked him earlier in the week to clean the tack that hung on the back wall of the barn. Thoughts of the farmer's beloved son would need to be put on standby, yet Javi knows that surely won't be so easy as his mind insists on wandering back to him already.

He's about halfway through tending to the horses when he steps outside to grab a fresh bale of hay, and walks straight into the solid form of another person.

Something clangs noisily to the ground as Javi steadies himself with a grunt of surprise. It takes all of two seconds to recognize who he'd collided with.

"Oh, God - I'm so sorry," Luke exclaims, staring at him with wide eyes. "I-I should'a watched where I was goin'."

It's not long before Javi is cracking a tiny grin, and he shakes his head dismissively. "Hey, it's okay. No harm done."

Though it's clear that the other is embarrassed by the mishap, and Javi watches with a mild sense of fondness at the unmistakable flush that tints his cheeks. He's wearing a green flannel today that compliments his fair skin tone well.

Luke sighs, seeming to remember something as he wordlessly backs away and bends down to reach for something near his feet. He straightens up with a couple of metal brushes in his hands, and Javi connects them with the sound he'd heard when they'd bumped together.

"Dad brought home some new brushes for the horses last night. I was gonna try 'em out, but y'know - I don't wanna get in your way or anythin'..."

Javi has to hide the fact that he was actively hoping to see him this morning as early as possible. He'd hate to come on too strong too fast.

"Not at all. I could always use the company," he's quick to tell him, his smile broadening. "I was just finishing up feeding the rest of the horses."

Luke returns a gentle smile of his own, then slowly nods his head. "Well, all right, then. I'll just pick a horse you already fed?"

"Sure thing," Javi says cheerfully, maneuvering around Luke to retrieve the hay bale he'd originally came outside for. "I'm done with everyone on the left side."

As he effortlessly hoists the large bale over his shoulder, he could swear he can see Luke staring before quickly turning the other way. He brushes it off as nothing - wishful thinking, if anything at all - though keeps a glancing eye on him as he heads back inside the barn.

Luke goes straight for the first stall on the left, and Javi finds it difficult not to follow his every move as he opens the stall door and leads the occupying horse towards the back. Javi watches with keen interest as the large, reddish-brown gelding sticks close to Luke's side in a way he's never quite seen it do before. It's apparent they know each other well.

His eyes continue to roam as Luke secures the horse's halter to two adjacent ropes attached to either wall, not able to quite make out the soft spoken words he speaks to the large animal. As Javi tends to the last horse, he leans against a stall door and silently allows himself to observe the other more closely.

It takes a moment for Luke to realize he's being watched. When he does, he ducks his head and clears his throat, visibly uncertain. Unaffected to be caught looking, Javi simply flashes him a grin.

Luke clears his throat again, gaze turning back to the horse as he runs a broad comb through its long mane. "So, uh - do you know all their names yet?"

"Oh yeah," Javi says with perhaps a little too much confidence. Luke raises a brow as if to doubt him, and Javi smirks coyly. "At least, I think so."

Luke chuckles softly and motions to the horse standing directly in front of him. "What about him, then?"

Straightening and taking a small step forward as he studies the horse's overall profile, Javi purses his lips in thought. "Uhh, that is... Tucker?"

"That's right," Luke nods with a grin, softly patting the side of the horse's neck. "And that one?"

Javi follows where Luke's finger points until his line of sight connects with the next horse. Her striking white coat is speckled with flecks of grey, and he's able to identify her immediately. "River."

He quickly takes it upon himself to name the horse beside her before Luke has the chance to test him again, nodding to the jet black gelding with a bit of an attitude problem. "And that's Captain."

Luke brightens marginally, his eyes taking on a particular shine that hadn't quite been there before. Javi is glad to impress him, even if only in a trivial sort of way.

"The one right behind you?" Luke asks pointedly, a new sort of lilt to his voice.

Javi looks back to the dark brown horse in the stall he'd been resting against, and reaches out to run his hand along the off white blaze that stretches from his nose all the way up to his forehead. It's the horse he'd come to know the quickest, and the one he's since developed a particular soft spot for in the months he's worked here.

"Easy. This is Harlow," he says with a fond smile, and the docile gelding huffs as if on cue. Luke seems to recognize the comfortable exchange.

"He likes you."

"Yeah? Well, I am a pretty likable guy," he can't resist quipping, his grin turning cheeky as he arches a brow in Luke's direction.

Luke actually snorts. "Is that so?"

"Can't you tell?" Javi asks pointedly, and Luke hesitates for a moment before shrugging one shoulder in a not-so-casual manner.

"Maybe," he says simply, and Javi crosses his arms over his chest with a wry grin.

"Only maybe?"

He watches with amusement as Luke shrugs again and draws his bottom lip between his teeth for a moment before smirking his way. "Yup."

A breathy chuckle leaves Javier's lips, quickly matched by Luke's own gentle laughter. Jaiv uncrosses his arms and walks towards him, yet stops before he can reach the other in favor of petting Tucker's side.

"What's his story?" he asks with genuine interest.

Luke flicks his gaze up to the horse, his smile instantly turning affectionate around the edges. "Not much. Got him as a present for my sixteenth birthday."

Javi is quickly cut off before he can comment, as if Luke senses some form of silent judgement that wasn't there in the first place.

"I know. I mean, 'normal' people get cars for their sweet sixteen, right?"

Javi simply shakes his head. "Normal is totally overrated," he says without missing a beat, and means it.

Luke smiles the most genuinely Javi's seen thus far. "It sure is."

A moment of comfortable silence stretches between them, Luke resuming detangling the rest of Tucker's mane while Javi continues to watch with interest.

Eventually, Luke pipes up again. It seems that he can't keep quiet for very long. Javi certainly doesn't mind, something he's usually able to relate to. "You ever groom the horses?"

Javi nods. "Sometimes. I'm not sure how good of a job I do, but I know Ron's a busy guy. I try to help any way I can."

"That's real nice of you," Luke says with clear appreciation, his gaze seeming to linger on Javi. "Dad doesn't always realize how much he takes on until it's he's nearly drownin' in it all."

Luke then looks away with a curt laugh that doesn't hold much humor, and Javi tilts his head. "Guess that's where I get it from."

Javier has yet to know any details about Luke's reasoning for moving back home. He barely refrains from asking with the clear understanding that it's none of his business, and not wanting to impose on someone he only met yesterday, he keeps his urge to question to himself. It doesn't mean he's not curious, though, and yet again he finds himself caught up in the growing urge to learn all there is to know about the man standing in front of him.

He changes the subject instead. "I, uh - I'm supposed to clean the tack."

Luke looks suddenly sheepish. "Sorry. I shouldn't be distractin' you from your work."

Ironic, just how much water that statement holds without the other even knowing it. Even so, Javi is quick to brush off his apology. "Nah, it's all right. I've got plenty of time to do it."

Luke visibly hesitates before moving his hands away from Tucker, clutching the shiny new brushes close. "Let me help," he says, and quickly chimes in again before Javi has the chance to decline his offer. "Please? I, uh - I ain't got much to do around here yet. I'd like to have somethin' to work at."

"Well, since you said 'please'," Javi hums, and Luke perks with a crooked little grin.

With Tucker returned to his stall and the necessary cleaning supplies retrieved, Luke meets Javi towards the back and joins him upon the little wooden bench that sits underneath the large wall of tack. Their knees touch, and Javi is thankful that the seat is too small for Luke to pull away completely. They each take a bridle from the long row of hooks above them, and Javi runs his thumb over the engraved nameplate that reads 'Captain.'

He isn't surprised when Luke breaks the silence before he has the chance. "What brings your family down from Baltimore?"

Javi hands him a cloth, chewing the inside of his cheek as he turns his eyes down towards the bottle of leather polish in his lap.

"My father, he… he always preferred the countryside over the city," he starts, swallowing around the growing lump in his throat. "He wanted to experience what it was like to live down here."

His voice catches for a fraction of a second. He sincerely hopes Luke doesn't notice. For the need for fresh air and a change of scenery had come at a terrible cost, and his father's insistence on spending the rapidly depleting remainder of his life away from the toxic hustle and bustle of the city surely hadn't been argued against.

He'd barely lasted the year, though Javier hopes with however much it counts that the move down here had at least done some good for him in the end.

When Javi doesn't continue, Luke hesitantly speaks up. "Oh."

Clearing his throat and straightening his shoulders, Javi pushes past his heartache. It's become habitual as of late. "We like to all stay close. Moved down here together - my brother and his family, too."

"What's your brother's name?" Luke asks, and Javi can tell he's attempting to console him through distraction without directly addressing it.

"David. He's got two kids, Gabriel and Mariana. His wife is Kate," Javi says, appreciative not to be asked about his father.

Luke continues his efforts. "How old are the kids?"

It manages to earn a tentative smile from Javi, who breathes a little easier in return. "Gabe is twelve, and Mari is eight. They're good kids, you'll probably meet them soon. They like to visit the horses sometimes."

"I bet you're the cool uncle type," Luke muses, and surprises Javi somewhat when he bumps his knee into his own, only to leave their thighs pressed firmly together.

Javi's smile grows into a grin. "The coolest."

Casual conversation is passed between the two as they clean the remainder of the bridles, their hands smelling strongly of leather polish and matching smiles never failing to leave their faces. Javi has the growing suspicion that his desire to get to know the other won't be as difficult of a task as he'd initially thought, for the more they talk, the more Luke seems to open up.

Life hasn't been easy during the last few years. Javier has experienced more setbacks and blows to his well being than he ought to have at only twenty-four, and the move to Georgia had certainly been a direct journey to rock bottom rather than a fresh start.

Maybe, he thinks with the faintest hint of long lost optimism, this could be his fresh start - he could be. Luke was the new factor in his life that already had him smiling more than he had in months, and as much as a longshot it might be, Javi hopes that somehow, he'll finally be able to feel like himself again.

His mamá had once told him, 'Believe in what you want so much, that it has no choice but to come true.' He'd never given it much thought until this very moment, with the passing idea that perhaps the secret to finally being happy again lies within this new acquaintance if he allows himself to truly believe it.

He doesn't realize he's been staring at Luke until the other sends him a curious look and cocks his head. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Javi quickly says, twisting the cap back on the bottle of polish before setting it aside. "I just… get lost in thought sometimes, I guess."

Luke takes in a breath, visibly hesitating before continuing. "Well… what were you thinkin' about?"

It takes a moment before Javi answers, and when he does, he lets forth a deep, steadying sigh. "Everything."

"Um - is that good or bad?" Luke says, his voice a hint quieter than before.

Javi thinks about the simple inquiry for longer than he intends to. Yet just as Luke clears his throat to likely retract his previous question, Javi looks up to display a warm smile that gradually spreads across his face.

"I think it could be great."