“I’d say the same to you, but I can’t imagine a professor even knows the definition of a good time.”
“I’ll have you know- No, never mind. We aren’t going to get into that. You’re what, eighteen? You’re too young to drink anyway.”
“I’m actually nineteen. Got held back because I wasn’t talking enough.”
“I can’t imagine that,” he said without thinking beforehand. Victor glared at him. Tawson smiled back. “Well, keep safe.”
“I’ll be on the ranch Sunday. It was nice talking to you.”
Chapter Four
~ Tawson ~
Tawson got back to the ranch well after the sun set. He kept replaying the conversation in his mind with Victor. Everyone he’d met so far said that he was the shy one of the family, but he’d been funny in their brief interaction. Tawson felt like maybe he was misjudged by his family or possibly hiding something from them. He tried not to think about it too much, because it was weird. Right?
Victor was only nineteen. And he was a student. Even if he would allow himself to think about it, there had to be some rules against it at the university. And on top of everything, he couldn’t give his ex anything to ‘prove’ she was right. It would be the first person he looked at for more than a glance in nearly a year was a guy.
He woke up to the birds chirping Saturday morning. His phone alarm was going off and he reached over to grab it. His eyes were heavy. It took several seconds to clear the sleep from his eyes and he moved to sit up in the bed. The place didn’t have central air, but the portable air conditioner stand that came with the place kept it at just the right temperature. He pushedthe blanket aside and dropped his phone to the bed. He didn’t have many contacts left in it, had changed his number directly after the separation. His mom’s number, his older sister that he hadn’t spoken to in a couple of months. Then there was Daniel’s, William, and Brett. Patrick and Tracy’s numbers were added recently too. He didn’t mind though. He’d deleted his social medias after the separation. Almost everyone had turned on him anyway so he didn’t care to keep up with their lives.
The floor was cool under his feet. He moved to the bathroom on autopilot, flipping the light on, and squinting against the brightness before he did his business. He looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was shaved but his beard was coming in strong. It wasn’t long, but it did grow thick. He’d probably trim it up for classes. He wanted to appear older than he was, to give off a good impression and earn the students’ respect. A beard wouldn’t do all of that, but it helped to make him appear at least a year or two older.
He brushed his teeth quickly and then moved to the kitchenette. He kept the basics in the fridge. There were eggs, bacon, hamburger meat, cheese, milk, and a case of beers waiting for him. He sighed, knowing he’d have to go get more food. He’d be spending a lot more time on campus and that meant easy pickings at the cafeteria or restaurant, but he was trying to not spend all of his money. He couldn’t stay on the ranch forever. As much as he loved it already.
He decided on the last thing of yogurt, figuring he could go shopping later today. There was a small grocer in Fairwind, about a fifteen minute drive opposite the way to the city. And he knew there was a Farmer’s Market too. Living alone, he’d turned to teaching himself how to cook better meals.
He ate the yogurt slowly while his coffee brewed. Like everything else, it was generic and nothing special. He had a hazelnut creamer he used and some sugar. He liked it sweet, something that was also used to judge him for years.
The weather outside was dry and very warm. He sat on the chair on the patio and closed his eyes. The sun was high enough that the heat warned his bare chest. He sipped his coffee and just listened to the sounds around him. He grew up in a growing city. It was small enough that they didn’t have a lot of traffic but it was expanding quickly so there was construction and horns honking through the night. The ranch was a different kind of noise and he loved it. The birds chirping in the trees close to the backside of the house, the horses at the bottom of the hill, the wind hitting the chimes his neighbor to the left had hanging out. The houses weren’t close, but he’d heard them a time or two when he was walking around. The smells were calming too. A little riper closer to the barn, but the fresh air was inviting.
It was exactly what he needed.
Once his cup was empty, he stood back up and walked inside. He rinsed it out and set it on the towel to dry. He didn’t have anything to do today or tomorrow. Tracy had already invited him over for dinner tomorrow night.
Most of the day was spent hanging around the house. He cleaned up, putting his dirty clothes in the backseat of his car. William had been upfront that the houses didn’t have a washer or dryer, but they offered the guest house laundry room if it was empty or there was a laundromat in Fairwind. He had to go to the store anyway, so he’d spend a couple hours out and make sure everything was off to a good start for Monday.
There was only one other person at thelaundromat when he walked inside. He nodded a silent hello and then headed to the first open washer. He had at least two loads to wash and he’d brought a book to keep himself company. As an English teacher, he’d read all the classics, but nothing beat a good romance book. This one was a bit on the spicier side, but it had enough plot to be enjoyable. His mind drifted to and from the book and thoughts of the last couple weeks. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to be standing in front of college students. He’d done his student teaching in a high school. Some of his students this go around were going to be his age or even older. There was a niggling thought in the back of his mind that this was all going to be a bust.
By the time his clothes were dry and folded back into the basket, he’d finished four chapters of the book. The other person had long since left. The town wasn’t big at all. It was really just the one street with storefronts on either side. Some were empty and boarded up, but those like Albert’s Ale were getting some business. He put his clothes in the car and decided to walk to the grocer. It was just a few stores down from the bar.
There were a couple of people inside. The clerk greeted him with a smile while he grabbed a basket and started looking around. He took his time, browsing the shelves and trying to think of different meals he could cook. He’d try to take lunch with him as much as he could. He ended up with a basket full of fresh fruits, some more yogurts, ingredients to make spaghetti, chicken parm, and a bag of baked potatoes. It would last him for at least a week. He’d try to hit the big grocery store up on Friday evenings after his classes.
“I’ve seen you in here a time or two,” the cashier said. She was younger, maybe high school age. “Are you new to thearea?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Here for a while.”
“Are you living around here or out in the county?”
“Not too far from here,” Tawson said. He signed the NDAs William and Brett have for the foundation. It stopped him from talking to news stations and similar entities about where he lived and the people that lived on the ranch. It didn’t cover everyday conversations with others, but that didn’t mean he wanted random people to know where he was. He knew the foundation was known around the area, but he still liked the privacy it gave.
The girl continued to ring his items up and he stood there while she put them into paper bags. She asked him where he was from, which he answered truthfully. He asked her where she went to school. It was a bit of a stilted conversation but then he paid and took his bags outside.
He stopped his car at the gate and pressed the button to alert someone he needed the gate open. It was only a few seconds that the gate opened and he pulled his car through. They had a tight security around the main driveway and the field along the road. Only the family members had the codes, but all they needed to do was text someone or press the button on the gate itself to be let in.
The rest of the day he spent just like his morning. He cooked some lunch and then sat outside with his book again. He finished the majority of it before it was time to make supper. The sun was setting when he decided to put his clothes away and took another shower. He was in bed by nine.
That was when the thoughts started up. He couldn’t wait for the day he could go to sleep without thinking about all of it. He’d been through it again and again, with the police and thenhis therapist. He said he was past it, that he’d moved on. But sometimes, like tonight, his skin crawled with the memory. The look on his wife and friends’ faces, the disbelief and loss of trust. He could feel it all over again.
His brain started spinning and he got up, jogging in place for a minute. It was usually what helped him when his mind started spinning, but tonight it didn’t seem to be working. He moved to the bathroom and stripped his clothes. He’d only taken a shower fifteen minutes ago but he needed to do something to distract himself.
