It had been easier than Angela had thought it would be to secure a job in Waffle Town. She had been offered a job at Town Hall. The position had belonged to her sister-in-law, Elli. But since she was now pregnant, they had been looking for a replacement. Angela had easily been able to convince Gill Hamilton, the mayor's son that she would be the perfect person to replace Elli. The hours were a bit longer than Angela was used to, but she was grateful for the work. She also found the work less arduous than the job she had in the city. Everything seemed to be working on a slower pace here on Waffle island.
Elli had warned Angela that Gill was a bit difficult to deal with, but Angela was accustomed to arrogant, ambitious men. Gill was actually quite tame compared to some of the men Angela had encountered in the city. As far as demeanor, he was much better than her former boss.
"Angela," Gill walked up to the desk where Angela was sitting. She looked up from the ledger she had been working on all morning. Gill had a peice of paper in his hands. "I need you to go over Brownie Ranch. I just realized the helper Mr. Tyler hired forgot to fill out Section C of his residency papers. His name is Gray Bennett." Gill placed the paper in front of her.
"Alright." She sighed. Brownie Ranch was clear at the end of Coffee Lane, which was on the other side of the island. It would take her at least an hour to walk there. She closed the ledger book, grabbed the paper, and headed for the door.
Walking wasn't as bad as she originally had thought. Waffle Island was beautiful. It was a nice break from the monotonous work in the ledger. The soft breeze blew at her face, she allowed herself to become lost in thought. Her mind wandered to Darryn. It had made her angry that Darryn had asked her to choose. How could he have done such a thing? As for Molly, she had still not talked to Angela much since they had moved to the island. She wondered when Molly would get around to forgiving her.
"Need a ride little lady?" She heard a voice from behind her ask. Angela jumped. She whirled around to see who it was that interrupted her thoughts. She found herself staring into face a man wearing a faded brown cowboy hat. He was perched on top of a large brown horse, and was smiling down at her. She held back a chuckle. He looks as if he climbed right out of a Western novel, she thought to herself. Angela eyed the large animal cautiously, and shook her head.
"No thank you," She replied. She was far too intimated by the large horse, and was nearly to Brownie Ranch anyway.
"You're new here aren't you?" the man asked.
"Yeah I'm Angela."
"Well nice to meet you Angela, I'm Calvin. I hope to see you around." He tipped his hat, and then turned the horse around. Angela chuckled. What an interesting fellow.
She finally found herself standing near the pastures of Brownie Ranch. She had only been there once before around dusk. In the brilliant sun the green pastures appeared to sparkle, and the coats of the livestock had a glossy sheen to them. It was a sight that Angela, who had lived in the city most her life, had never seen before. She was struck by the beauty of the land before her. Seeing this, she could understand why people chose to live here.
"Well hello," A cheery voice greeted, interrupting her thoughts. "I remember you, you're Angela right?" A girl wearing a bright yellow dress that seemed to match her attitude walked up to Angela. Angela smiled back at the girl standing before her. Her cheery disposition was infectious.
"Yes I am, Renee right?" Angela asked.
"Yup. What brings you all the way out here to Brownie Ranch?" Renee asked pleasantly. She smiled sweetly at Angela.
"I'm here to see Gray Bennett about some paperwork," Angela informed.
"Oh he'll be in the stable, or the horse pasture." She pointed to a building on the northeast end of the fields.
"Thank you," Angela called out as she headed for the stable. As she approached, a tall man wearing a hat that said "UMA," stepped out. Angela couldn't help but stare for a moment. He was easily over six foot tall, and had a strong jaw line. She could only see half of his face, but she could tell that he was attractive. The man raised his face, and shot her a disapproving look that brought her out of her temporary trance.
"Are you Gray Bennett?" She asked approaching him.
"Who wants to know?" He demanded his voice was low and gruff. She almost flinched at the sound of it, At five foot four, Angela had to look up to talk to him. His crystal clear blue eyes held a look of annoyance. She steeled herself.
"I'm Angela Harris," Angela introduced herself. "I work at Town Hall. Gill Hamilton sent me here. There's some missing information on your residency papers." She reached into her briefcase, to pull out the paper. He sighed, then continued to watch her in icy silence. "Here, Section C is blank, can I get you to fill it out please?"
"Kay," He muttered impatiently, he turned and started walking towards the main house. Angela followed him in silence. Well he's friendly. She once again resisted the urge to chuckle, knowing her companion would not appreciate being laughed at.
"Howdy, what brings you out here?" Hanna Tyler, the wife of the rancher asked.
"Paperwork," She answered, nodding her head towards Gray who went into the back room. A few moments later, her emerged and without a word handed her the paper. She quickly scanned the section he had filled out, everything appeared to be in order. The paper had some smudges on it. Great GIll will probably have a field day with that. Oh well it's filled out at least.
"Thank you," She said, as she placed her paper back into the briefcase.
"Yeah, whatever," Gray muttered and promptly walked outside. Angela watched him leave with a look of annoyance on her face. Hanna chuckled softly.
"Well, that's Gray for ya dear. Not much of people person, but he's incredible with horses, it's why Cain hired him," Hanna mused.
"I would hope so," Angela mumbled, hoping she didn't have to encounter that rude man again.
XxXx
After a few weeks of living on the island, Angela had suggested that Molly try to find a job. Molly had been less than thrilled with the suggestion, she still held out some hope that they would move back into the city. Molly had intended to hold out, and refuse to look, but she had become bored. She finally caved, deciding that a job might give her some much needed distraction.
Much to her surprise, that was just what a job had done. Molly had been hired to work to work at the Sundae Bar, part time. She was actually starting to enjoy it, but mostly because of the bar's gorgeous cook, Chase. He had a full crop of peach colored hair, and beautiful violet eyes. Chase was by far the most attractive man Molly had ever met. She had been quite surprised by her instant attraction to him. And tonight, she had him all to herself. He had been asked to train her, and teach her how to close up the bar. She hoped that this would give her an opportunity to get to know him.
"So are you going to this Flower Festival thing tomorrow?" Molly asked, trying to sound uninterested and bored. Chase was five years her senior. The last thing she needed to do was sound too young, accentuating that difference. He shrugged.
"I dunno, it's kinda lame. But Maya will probably drag me there," Chase responded.
"So is there something going on there?" she asked trying to sound nonchalant. she looked down at the glass she was drying, pretending to concentrate on the task. She had seen Maya come into the bar and flirt shamelessly with the handsome cook. It was silly to feel the tug of jealously.
"Not really," Chase explained. He turned to look at her with his gorgeous violet eyes.
"Oh really? She seems to really like you," she teased, they stood facing each other. She felt relieved hearing him say there was nothing going on between them.
"We made out a few times, but Maya's a little immature." Uh-oh, Maya was a full two years older than her. That was not a good sign. She would have to work harder to act more mature.
"How so?" Molly asked. She casually turned away to grab another dish to wash.
"She's just used to getting her own way." He also turned back towards the sink to continue washing the dishes. Chase was not much of a talker, having a conversation with him was much harder than she had thought it would be.
"So this Flower Festival, would it really even be worth me going?" Molly asked.
"Depends," Chase answered.
"Wow thanks for that," she answered back sarcastically. Chase turned around and scowled at her. She frowned. She had it wanted to annoy him.
"It's not my thing, but you might enjoy it," Chase replied. His voice was less gruff. "There is always dancing, and a lot of food. But that is the case with most festivals."
"If I go, will you save me a dance?" she asked. She could not believe she had just asked him that. Her heart hammered in her chest as she waited for his answer.
"Yeah sure, whatever." Chase turned back to the dishes. Molly smiled, she was pretty sure she could see a hint of smile cross the handsome cook's face, before he turned back to the dishes.
