Dearest Abby- Chapter 2

Steve pulled the car up a gravel driveway and in front of a large, beautiful, sprawling, two-story house. Much too large for a single man.

The Virginian air was cold. Much colder than any we had driven through. I zip up my hoodie as Steve opens his door and steps out onto the gravel to greet a man who sits on the steps of the house, accompanied by a black, shaggy haired dog. “Hello,” I hear the man say in a low voice.

As I close my door and stretch my legs, the man, my father, stands and shakes Steve’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Harry. I’m Steve, Abigale’s social worker.”

“Oh, we spoke on the phone,” my father says to Steve who merely nods his head in agreement. My father’s eyes fight to stay focused on the man he is talking to. I can see them moving between Steve and where I stand, still half hidden by the car, in his evenly tanned face with laugh lines.

“Under the circumstances, it was suggested that Abigale be accompanied by her social worker to be sure of the environment she would be living in- I’m sure you understand,” Steve said, in an almost apologetic voice.

“Yeah, sure, of course. I’m glad Abigale has been under good care,” my father concedes absentmindedly. His eyes don’t stray from my face anymore. I take a deep breath and look down at my feet, willing them forward. I walk slowly to where the two men stand, but before I get there, the shaggy black dog bounds down the front porch steps and past the two men, jumping onto his hind legs, and it’s all I can do not to fall over. “Charlie! Down boy!” my father rushes over to me and takes the dog by the collar. “I am so sorry, he doesn’t normally do that, are you alright?!” His face is etched with worry as he tries to control the dog and check on me at the same time.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say as I squat on one knee and pet Charlie’s head, “Hey boy, you’re very sweet.”

“Well I’m glad Charlie likes you so much,” my father says with a slight chuckle as he releases the collar and Charlie practically climbs in my lap and starts panting with his tail going a million miles an hour.

“I always wanted a dog, but Mom’s allergic,” I say with a small smile as Charlie leans into me.

“Well you can claim him as your first official friend here in Bartland then,” he says warmly and he reached out to pet Charlie’s back. “Followed in a close second by me, I hope…” His voice tapers off in a questioning manner.

“Abby,” I say with a small smile and offer him my hand that’s not buried by Charlie.

He takes my hand in both of his and smiles widely. “It is very nice to finally meet you, Abby. You may call me Harry if you like.”

Throughout this encounter, Steve stayed where he had stood with Harry and observed from a distance. “What breed is Charlie, Harry?”

“He’s a Black Irish Setter Lab mix. My doctor’s wife breeds them and he was the last one left of his litter. So I figured I could use some help herding the cows I had back then, so I trained him to be a cow dog. He doesn’t get to use those skills much anymore, he normally just lurks around the horses and follows me everywhere I go now.” Harry stood to reply to Steve, and Charlie followed but looked back at me and waited until I stood and joined them.

“He’s absolutely beautiful and so friendly,” Steve said happily, observing the way that Charlie stood by my legs and wagged his tail happily and panted with his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.

“He has definitely become a part of the family,” Harry commented with a small sigh.

“Please, come inside the house, Raelynn has been cooking all afternoon,” he motioned for us to follow him up the steps, and we did, with Charlie racing to be the first through the door and get to any scraps that may fall on the floor I suspect.

The inside of the house was beautiful, simple, and very homey. As we walked in there was a large foyer that connected to a small living room with a loveseat and a large chair in the corner with a coffee table in front of it with a vase of what looked like fresh wild flowers. The walls were a light blue with dark molding and wood floors. The contrast added to the home-like feeling, and it definitely was not what I was expecting to see when I walked into a house that belonged to a single man in his early forties. An older woman with her gray hair in a high bun and laugh lines to her temples walked out from what I guessed was the kitchen if my nose was correct with a large smile.

“Hello dears!” she hurried over to us and pulled me into a sudden hug that I smiled at and tried to keep from falling over. She was a few inches shorter than me with a medium build. She wore a dark green and white apron around her waist and jeans and a yellow blouse under it. “It is so nice that you’re finally here. We’ve all been so anxious to meet you, Abigale.” She kept hold of my upper arms as she spoke to me and she was just so sweet and kind that with just a few words, she won me over and I couldn’t help but respond to her with a smile.

“Call me Abby, please. Who’s we?” I asked with a strong tone of curiosity in my voice.

“Myself, Harry, Henry, Will, Carol, and Rachel, of course!” she looked at me with an expression like I should know who they were, but as soon as she said it I could see the look on her face change as she realized that I, in fact, did not know who she was talking about.

“Henry is our in-house stable hand, or rather in-barn stable hand. He stays in the small apartment that is attached to the barn on the south side. Will, Carol, and Rachel are all very good kids who help me out around here a lot. All four of them go to high school together, they start their senior year in a few days. I’ll be sad to lose their help during the day,” Harry said in explanation towards Steve.

“They’re all so eager to meet you. You may be able to find them in the barn, why don’t you go see if you can hunt them down, Abby, and tell them that dinner will be ready in twenty minutes?” Raelynn said it in such a way that I would be able to refuse if I liked, without sounding stand-offish, but I wanted to look around a little, and- frankly- Steve’s B.O. was getting to me, and I could tell by the way Harry and Raelynn stood slightly apart from him that they had caught the scent as well. I gave her a wide smile and offered the adults a small wave before turning and putting my coat back on to step outside.

“Come into the dining room, Steve, and we’ll talk about everything,” I could hear Harry’s muffled voice before the screen door slammed shut behind me and I went down the steps and started towards the barn, taking in my surroundings, but not the full effect of them.