Chapter 5 FIFTH CHAPTER

Rosemary had a bad feeling about the truck today. The sound it made as the engine sputtered to life literally told her it needed work done but she just hoped it would take her to where she needed to be today then she would find a way to get it serviced. As she revved it, her mum stuck her face through the window

" Rose honey, don't you think your brother or sister should come with you, you know since you don't want me there and I'm not comfortable letting you go alone".

Upon her return from the bar yesterday, she had told her mum about what had transpired and to say her mum was in a rage was an understatement. They had called the police and made a report and the station had promised to send someone over to Mr Charlie's place. Her mum had been persisting for her to take someone along with her to her job searches today which she had adamantly refused. She couldn't depend on her baby siblings for protection and taking her mum would make her feel too much like a child. Besides, Mr Charlie had always given her the creeps unlike the place she was about to go today.

"Ma I'll be okay, there's no need to worry. As soon as I get there I'll call to let you know" she replied as the truck started moving. " Now go inside before you catch a cold, you know I'm the only one dressed for outside now" she laughed.

" Okay honey, I'll go job searching in town today again but take care of yourself" After saying their goodbyes, she left.Navigating the road that was getting clogged up with snow took all her concentration, it was when she got to the main road that she could finally relax and worry about the nervous feeling in her stomach. Eating breakfast had been a chore and she had just managed to eat a few spoonfuls of cereal before she felt her appetite disappear. Was it the fact that this was her last option for a job that made her so nervous or did it have to do with the person she was going to meet? She had no idea what to expect and that made everything worse. On getting to the intersection that led to his ranch, she threw on a brave face and drove down there. Cutting the engine, she put on her brightest smile as she threw open the door. Stepping out, she looked across the large space and saw a small group of people a short distance away tending to a fence. She made to move there and inquire about Mr Connor. While moving, she couldn't help but admire the beautiful expanse of land his ranch was situated on. It seemed really big as she couldn't see the distant fences but only the one directly in front of her. The light snow covering some portions of the ground made it look like a winter wonderland wannabe. The grasses that weren't covered by the snow looked so rich and vibrant. She could see bales and bales of hay that were rolled all over the pasture and she knew they were going to be taken into one of the two large large barns she could see on the ranch. Some cows were roaming around and eating what grass they could find and from what she had heard, she knew there were a lot more where those cows came from. As she got closer to the men, they turned to look at her and that was when she heard a voice from the far left yell out

" Ayy boys, who does that truck belong to?" and then the men turned to look at the owner of the voice who she couldn't see and one replied

" here she is sir, she's walking towards here." That is when Rosemary knew the voice belonged to Mr Connor himself and her nervousness returned in full drive. He rounded the corner and approached her while she strove to maintain her composure and walk towards him. The sun shining behind him made it difficult for her to see him but what she could see was pretty impressive. He wore a large brim hat that hid his face, a blue and white plaid shirt, jean trousers and some brown boots. His entire persona looked powerful and her nerves made her feel nauseous. In the blink of an eye, she found herself face first on a pile of snow and shame swallowed her whole.

CONNOR

Rounding up the bales of hay to be taken into the shed was taking a long time in addition to the fact that a link in the fence had come loose and some men were delegated to go fix it. The task of rounding up the bay had then been left to the few remaining ranchmen as he then went around checking again on the fences to ensure that no loose fences had been missed as such an incident could result in the loss of his animals or his animals causing destruction to someone's property. He had just arrived at the main ranch area when he sighted that his ranchmen that were fixing the faulty fence were all staring at the entrance and he saw an old truck parked up front which alerted him that someone was on the farm. He pulled his hat down to cover more of his face and pulled his shirt sleeves down his hands before dismounting from the horse he was using to work. Walking towards them, he yelled out " Ayy boys, who does that truck belong to?". The men all turned to face him as they were alerted of his presence and one of them , Arthur, replied him "here she is sir, she's walking towards here" and upon hearing that the visitor was a woman, he ensured his hat covered as much of his face as possible because women were known for being unable to keep their reactions off their face. Walking faster to meet her, he prayed she was only here to inquire about something so that the meeting would be over as quick as possible.Seeing her coming closer to him, he quickly took in her appearance. She wore a brown beanie that was pulled down to her ears, a light sweater, blue jeans and low boots. He couldn't see her face clearly yet and as he walked closer, he looked more closely at her to see if he could recognize her. She was really beautiful, he thought to himself. Her eyes looked to be green, her skin was pale and looked very smooth, and she looked no taller than 5'4" with a body that looked slightly curvy even under her sweater. He didn't know if she had caught sight of his face but before he knew what happened, she fell down on a pile of snow a few feet from him.He and 2 of his men rushed to pick her up from the freezing snow and they helped her to stand to her feet. Her clothes had gotten a bit wet and he could see that her entire face was red with what he knew was embarrassment. " Oh my God, I'm so sorry" she said with her head down as she tries to beat snow off her clothes."No, no it's okay. It's not your fault" he countered and then motioned to his men to head on back to work.Tilting his head to hide the left side, he suggested " why don't you come sit down and dry your clothes while warming up?". " Okay" she said finally lifting her head up to face him as the blush subsided a bit from her face.

3rd PERSON

She can't believe how much she had just embarrassed herself on her first meeting with who she hopes will be her boss. This is a nightmare, her clothes are wet, there's snow in her beanie and her face felt frozen yet she could feel the heat coming off it as a result of the enormous blush she was sure was taking over her face. She could see that he purposefully tilted his head to one side and she couldn't even look him in the eye enough to take in his looks anyways. At his suggestion, she followed him to the main house that stood a little distance away from where she had fell. They climbed the stairs and he opened the door to the house and motioned for her to precede him and she said a low "thank you" before entering.The house was tastefully arranged, she noticed as she got in. It was simple yet felt so homely and warm. Even from outside, it looked very good. Dark roof, white paint on the woods, an ample porch and a dark wooden door. Chairs were arranged in the living room with a nice center table and wide windows were positioned to face the front of the ranch. " Please have a seat" he motioned toward the couches, she sat down gingerly because she was scared of getting his chairs wet. " I'll be back in a moment" he excused himself and she finally faced him but he had turned his back. He came out moments later with a towel and a cup of something in his hand." Use this to dry yourself off and drink this hot drink to warm yourself up" he said handing the two things to her and then proceeded to stand in front of the windows with his left side facing her. She took off her beanie to clean the snow off her hair and could feel his gaze on her. She used the towel to clean off the snow and as much wetness as she could before dropping it on the table to pick up the drink which was hot tea and warmed her up incredibly." Again, I'm so sorry for causing a scene out there, I had just tripped on my own feet"" It's okay" he laughed. His laugh was just like his voice, deep and commanding.When she was warmed up enough, she resorted to warming up her hands with the cup. She knew she was keeping him waiting so, gathering her courage she started talking.

"My name is Rosemary Douglas, sir" she began.

" Pleasure meeting you Rosemary, I'm Connor Mcjunkin but please just call me Connor"

She cleared her throat and went " Alright Connor, the reason for my being here is because I'm hoping to be employed in your household and or ranch" she rushed out " as a cook or cleaner. I can cook for a large group of people sir, as well as clean with no complaints."

He looked surprised by her little speech and seemed at a loss of words. He turned slightly as if he had forgotten he was hiding half of his face from her before realizing his mistake right on time and turning back to his original position." Oh, you don't have to cover your face, it's not a big deal to me." Immediately the words left her mouth, she felt instant regret. He didn't need the fact that he was hiding himself from her to be pointed out and true to her exoectaty, his expression grew hard.

" Well miss Rosemary I'm not searching for a cook or cleaner as I'm managing just fine, so your services won't be needed around here." Her face went pale as she knew this was her last option and she got to her feet immediately.

" Mr Connor I'm extremely sorry for my invasive comment. Please I need this job, my family needs it. See, I am a teacher and as the schools are going on a long holiday I need a job to help my mum in keeping my family afloat. Sir help me out. If you're not in need of a cook or cleaner, I.. I...uhm.. I can help around in the ranch or any errands that needs to be sent in the ranch, anything" she implored." Miss Douglas, I don't think any work on the ranch is fit for a lady except maybe combing the horse's flesh and harvesting" he said with what she thought to be a mocking tone " unfortunately my workers have no problem combing the horses and it's past time for harvesting so I don't know of any other job fit for you."At his words, she felt so much despair as she had held out hope for this particular position, " Mr Connor, please" she tried again. He gave a low sign that she didn't think he intended for her to hear."Okay, retake your seat" at which she quickly sat down so as to encourage him to oblige her."Look, I will admit that having a cook around will be beneficial as I have 7 ranchmen who oftentimes eat here, but we have been coping well and I don't necessarily want someone else on this ranch as it will not be entirely comfortable to me" he said.

" Mr Connor, I know you have been coping just fine but it would mean a lot to me if you could leave the job for me, I wouldn't dare dream of making you uncomfortable in your own home" she replied and could feel him concede." All righty then, I guess I'm hiring you". He didn't sound too happy about it but Rosemary didn't care, her joy was skyhigh. " Oh my God thank you thank you thank you" she jubilated."Okay first of all, when you make meals for us, nothing fancy is expected. You won't cook in large quantities everyday either, maybe 3 to 4 times in a week and they will help out in washing the big pots you'll use. Secondly, you're only to clean the main house. The little rooms out back are for when some of my workers sleep over and they are responsible for that" he glanced at her to see if she understood what he wa saying and she nodded energetically. " And finally, for your pay, what do you think will be appropriate?" She didn't want to be greedy so she just mentioned an amount that was 3 times what she earned weekly at school and to her utmost surprise he said " that sounds fair enough, when will you be ready to start?". To say I'm surprised is an understatement but I quickly caught myself and answered him " tomorrow morning Mr Connor, if that's alright with you." " Yes it's alright with me, why don't you get here early to give you enough time to start prepping and cleaning."" Okay sir, I really appreciate your kindness"" It's alright, you can see yourself out right?"."But of course" I laughed " have a great day Mr Connor and see you tomorrow".I left and headed to my truck while doing mental air pumps to celebrate my victory. Getting in , I started it up and moved out of his ranch and onto the road to move straight to my home.Back in the ranch, Connor thought to himself " what the hell have I put myself into?".