welcome!

[maiara pippa erb]

"Yeah, can I have a six inch veggie on wheat, toasted, with provolone, please? The works, light on the onions, extra jalapenos, loads of ranch and vinegar... A dash of pepper. Thank you." The girl making her sub had most of it down, she just needed a reminder here and there. Maiara had just beat the lunch rush, too. She didn't want to hold things up for them. Getting to the end of the line, Mai purchased a drink and a bag of the veggie chips and wandered off to find a table facing the window before they were all taken. She was on her lunch break and hiding out in the Subway before things got too hectic. The store was rarely too busy to have just one person working in there, anyway, so they tended to take extended breaks. So, during her break, she usually ran a lot of errands - both personal and business. Now, she was getting something to eat before she had to drop by the Burger King across the street and pick up a Whopper for the girl who had stayed behind. Hey, to each their own but blech! She always got funny looks, too, when she ordered for others. So many knew her as a regular and knew she didn't eat meat so, for her to order something like that, they knew she had to either be ordering for someone else or was a closet carnivore. No, she wasn't. Ever since she saw her grandfather kill the animal that ended up on their dinner table that one time nearly two decades ago, she'd sworn off meat.

Settling down, Mai unwrapped her sandwich and set up her eating area, leaving enough wrapper to dump her chips out on but keeping her own space small. She'd opted for a Sprite and loaded the cup with ice. Yeah, she was good to go! The tables quickly filled up and Mai watched the people as they passes by the store or went in and out of it. She just liked to watch people, sometimes. The ones she knew would wave, a couple even popped their heads in the doors to say hello. In a small town, it was hard not to at least recognize faces and know the person from small talk! Most of the people, though, she had known thanks to her grandfather or through her work with the kids or at the county meetings. Still, names seemed to escape her when she wasn't all that close to the person. Staring off into space... kinda literally, Mai didn't see the person standing near her table or notice what they were doing. Instead, she was realizing that it was going to rain, soon, and it looked like it'd be a bad one. There, her thoughts were lost to what that would mean to her and the world seemed to melt away as she thought.

[CAMDON AVERY MANNING]

Camdon had spent much of the morning working with the newest horse to come to the farm. Spector was a three year old Appaloosa who'd come to them because he had been mistreated at his last home. Upon arrival he had been highly underweight and extremely skittish, but after a few months the animal was now bordering on healthy and had a fairly good sheen to his hide. Of course he still tended to run to the farthest end of the paddock the minute anyone came near, but Cam had been more concerned with keeping the horse alive. Now that he was sure to live, he was starting to work on earning the horse's trust. A great deal of his morning had been spent sitting in the paddock, the other two horses who were housed with him had come for a pat or nuzzle before going on their way. Mostly he'd just sat there, letting Spector get used to Camdon being in his space, seeing that he wasn't going to holler and throw things, or attempt to attack him in any way.

All of this of course had taken place after the milking was done, the animals all fed and he'd growled at Curtis to go check on the south field instead of flirting with the girl who dropped off their mail at the end of the driveway. Cam was seated in the middle of the paddock, the sun beating down on his bare arms and shoulders when he heard Curtis calling his name. Seeing Spector jump and race to the other end of the paddock he sighed with frustration and motioned with his hand for the other man to silence himself. Instead Curt came to lean against the wooden fence. "Cam, John Briggs called." Sighing, and knowing that Curtis wasn't going to go away he stood to his feet, brushing at his backside before striding over to his fellow farm hand. Stopping in front of Curtis, Camdon plucked his cowboy hat off his head and swiped his forehead with his arm before setting the hat back on his head. "Whad 'e want?" He asked, hand reaching out to stroke the neck of Barrel, Spector's paddock partner. "The feeds in, wants someone to come pick it up." Camdon nodded and giving Barrel a couple pats he put a work booted foot on the bottom railing of the fence and then swung himself over it easily. "I'll go." And that was about it. He'd gone into the house to grab the keys to his '95 Chevy s10 and then the man dressed in dirty blue jeans, white beater, and warn cowboy hat hopped into his truck and headed off into town.

Cam had gone to get the horse feed, loading it into the bed of his truck and paying off the tab for the new order and what had been left owing from last time, which pretty much emptied his allowance for things the farm might need. Though it did mean one less bill for Maiara to worry about right now. Having loaded up the truck, Cam glanced at the dash for the time. Whenever Mai was away for the afternoon meal, the two men would take turns preparing lunch. Today happened to be Curt's turn, and as he wasn't the greatest at it, Cam decided he'd be doing himself a favour if he stayed in town long enough to get himself food. So starting up the old clunker he called his truck, the man drove over to the Subway. Walking into the restaurant he didn't happen to notice Mai sitting there on her own until he'd turned around with his foot long steak and cheese loaded down with lettuce, onions and green peppers. The right corner of his mouth tipped up ever so slightly at the sight of her far off expression. Filling his cup up with root beer, Camdon strolled over to her table. Standing before her, he snapped his fingers in front of her face a few times before shaking his head and pulling the chair out and taking a seat across from her. "Boss lady, you sure go off to strange places." He murmured softly, plucking the hat from his head and sitting it down on the empty seat beside him. Camdon then busied himself with unwrapping his sub.

[maiara pippa erb]

There was so much to be done. The rain would be both a blessing and a curse for her. What was a girl to do? There was no sense in worrying about it, though. She'd enjoy the storm, she'd enjoy the rain. She'd be content with it all. That was the only option that she had. She couldn't control the weather and she knew that, with all good things, came he bad. She could live with that, though. It was the only way to be. If you worried too much, you weren't really enjoying life, anyway. Sure, things were bad but they could be worse. She wouldn't lose the farm if she ran out of money but she wouldn't have anyone to run it for her and she'd have to let go of her hands. That would be the hardest part. Losing the store would have been one thing but, to loose her friends? These guys were more than just employees, they were her friends and roommates! That would hurt so much more. It was like telling your family they couldn't be around anymore because you didn't have the money to keep them. She didn't think that she would ever be able to tell them something like that.

The snapping hand in front of her face made her jump and she gave a small squeak of surprise. "Camdon," she gasped and put her hand over her heart to feel it racing. "You scared me." She looked up at him and shook her head, a bright smile on her face. "I was thinking about giving you a raise but, now..." She picked up her cup and sipped on the straw, grinning as she teased him. "Looks like you boys might be getting off, early. Storms are coming in and they're going to be nasty." She loved Virginia weather. It was so predictable. She could tell when they were going to come in and be horrible or just heavy, passing showers. She could smell it in the air, see it in the clouds, feel it in the breeze. Her phone hummed as it vibrated and she glanced down at it to see the message and sighed. Did he not understand? Punching in a quick reply, Mai shut the phone and turned it to silent to keep her lunch from being interrupted. Not even the vibrations would distract her, now. "So, what are you up to?"

[CAMDON AVERY MANNING]

Cam's lips pursed ever so slightly in amusement at her squeak. She was cute, in so many ways, not that he'd ever told her that. It wasn't exactly his place, what with Bruce in the picture. The thought of Bruce made him snort in his head, he didn't have a clue what a girl like Maiara could see in a hippy, pansy like Bruce. That wasn't even a man in his opinion. As he took his seat across from her and received that bright smile, a small one of his own appeared. She really hadn't gotten him to be talkative with her, but she made him comfortable enough that he would smile and interact with her at least. "Here I thought raises were based on performance." He remarked in return, before leaning over slightly and raising one half of his sub so he could take a big bite. As she mentioned the storm, Cam looked out the window and caught sight of the clouds that were on the horizon. Mai had an uncanny tendency to know just when storms were coming and their likely velocity. "Spector won't much like that." He stated, thinking out loud before biting into his sub once more. The horse was skittish enough, Cam couldn't picture him handling a heavy storm well. Once he got back to the farm he'd have to herd him into the barn so he'd be safe from the worst of it.

Reaching for his soft drink, Camdon glanced at Mai as she went for her cell phone. He wondered if that were pansy boy, trying to get a hold of her. It was easy to tell Cam was an old fashioned, simple kind of man. He didn't own a cell phone, or a computer. He didn't play video games or carry around a fancy MP3 player. He just didn't see the necessity in these things. He worked hard all day and then he just wanted to relax, maybe do a little sketching but have some down time to himself. "John Briggs called this mornin', came in to pick up the feed," He drank from his soft drink once again before adding. "Was Curt's turn to cook today, so figured I'd stay in for some lunch." Curtis had clearly never had any experience cooking until he'd come to Mai's, and he'd never learn unless he had some practice. Cam just wished he didn't have to be around for the practicing part. Camdon continued to eat his sub, not really venturing a lot of conversation, but that was just who he was. He didn't really do idle chit chat. He could be perfectly comfortable sitting in silence with someone for hours, never feeling any awkwardness on his part.

[maiara pippa erb]

She was cute? Wow, she hadn't heard that one since she was... Yeah, it'd been a long time. She'd been called adorable, a cutie, but never really just flat out cute. Wasn't that a term you used for little kids? Whatever, it wasn't like she would have gotten offended over it or anything... Ah, Bruce... It was a complicated relationship. They'd been at it for three years and Mai really liked the guy but it was a lot like a high school romance and she didn't know how she felt about that. He'd call her a lot, text, just be clingy in general. Right now, they were coming up on their three month mark and he wanted to do something for it. Seriously? Three months and you wanted to call that an anniversary? Six months was pushing it to her. He was a nice guy with a lot of things in common with her but, at the same time, she was feeling a little juvenile in the relationship. She had a tendency to avoid his phone calls, just not answering them or ending them with a quick "customer, gotta go". His text would go for an hour or so before she replied... She liked him but it was more of a platonic thing, she was starting to realize. He didn't even really try to kiss her all that often. The cheek did not count. "Oh, they are," she grinned, "but giving your boss a heart attack isn't the way to perform." She was amazed at the fact that he could eat a whole foot long sub but, at the same time, it didn't surprise her too much. He worked off a lot of what he ate and he was a lot bigger than what she was. It wasn't too much of a wonder but she'd never be able to do it - not even a veggie one. "Think he might do better if he was near Day?" She bit at her bottom lip, thinking about the poor horse and what he must have gone through. She'd have to go visit him, soon.

Mai nodded, munching on the last of her chips as he spoke. Sounded about right. He had her giggling when he mentioned Curtis and it being his turn to cook, though. "Well, don't worry. I'm home tomorrow so I'll be cooking. It's Community Service Day," she reminded him. One day a month, she took in all of those who had chosen to do farm work as their community service and let them work a full eight or twelve hour shift on the farm. Chores ranged from mucking out stalls to weeding to watering the plants to baling hay. There was little work with heavy machines or the animals but there was always plenty to do around there and it helped take a load off of the guys. If it was all done in less than a set amount of time, they'd be allowed to come back, if they wanted, the next day for more work. If not, they finished their hours somewhere else. "Which means burgers and hot dogs for lunch and probably a stew for dinner. So, if you boys want anything special for breakfast, let me know." They wouldn't get much of a choice for lunch and dinner so she would treat them to a nice breakfast of whatever they wanted. It was just easier to make food like that if you were going to be feeding a lot of people.

It was what bothered her about Bruce and his texts. He wanted to go out, spend the day together. She couldn't leave the farm. She wouldn't leave the boys with those people. Mai would oversee most of their work while Curtis and Cam did their own thing. It was only fair since she was the one who had come up with this plan. Bruce was more than welcomed to come help but he didn't want to. Why? He didn't think she needed to be around those "criminals" and he wouldn't, either. Way to protect her, right? Like the last time! She'd had one guy eying her and making comments about her to the other workers. It'd been so bad, she felt uncomfortable enough to go ask Camdon and Curtis to find work for him because he was being far too lewd for her liking. She had, of course, reported him afterward but she didn't want to take his hours away, either. That man was banned from the farm after that and he had seemed rather unhappy when he left. She never asked the boys what they'd said to him, though. "And..." She took a sip of her drink before continuing, "I've got to go shopping for it. Would you mind? If I ran next door and picked it all up, could you take it back to the house for me?" She could do it after work but, with the storms coming, she didn't know if the power would go out in the shopping center... again. If that happened, they'd close and she wouldn't have time.

[CAMDON AVERY MANNING]

What, he was a simple boy at heart so you really couldn't blame him for appreciating the simpler, sweeter, down home girl aspects of her. Yes, she was cute. But not in a little girl type way, merely in that grown woman who's not afraid of being known as sweet, sort of way. And no wonder things with Bruce were practically platonic, once again, how could she feel attracted to a man who was not a man? If that Bruce thought kissing her on the cheek was moving in on his lady then he had another thing coming to him. Camdon wouldn't be afraid to tell him that a woman like Maiara needed a real man in her life who wasn't afraid to kiss her, actually kiss her with the sort of passion that was going to light her socks on fire. Not that Camdon was looking to be that man or anything, it's just he thought a man should be aware of what his woman needed... that was all. "Mmm." He made for a noise of response, chewing on the sub in his mouth. This was nothing, if he'd wanted to be a pig he could have likely scarfed down a second one, but as he hadn't done too much physical labour today that would have been a bit much. When haying season came around and he was loading hay bails on the tractor all day? He'd be able to do it without any issue. Cam picked up his soft drink and took a pull of the straw before responding. He nodded slightly. "Might be. Barrel's still too young to be of much help, Day has a healing quality about her that might calm Spector down a little." Horses, the one area you'd get more then a couple words out of him. He'd wanted to put Day in with Spector right from the beginning, have them both in the same stall see if that would help with Spector's skittish nature. But he hadn't known how Day's leg was, and until that was given a clean bill of health he wouldn't risk Mai's horse further injury.

Camdon nodded to her saying she would be there to cook, which he was pleased for. He didn't mind cooking so much, but Curt's culinary skills left him starving half the time or feeling a little ill. At her reminder that it was community service day, Cam lifted his head and snorted a bit. "Right." It wasn't that he had issues with criminals or people who were coming to do the community service, okay, so he had a few issues, it was just the amount of time he had to spend watching them. Of course, he was supposed to go on with his own work and let Mai supervise those coming in for community service, but he didn't trust them. The teens had a habit of getting into things they weren't supposed to, going for rolls in the hay, or bugging the horses. And with Spector he was going to be even more on edge then normal. Then of course there was the way some of those men looked at Maiara like she was a side of beef for them to gnaw on and that always got his heckles up. She was a lady! Far too nice for her own good and shouldn't be looked at like she was a stripper on display.And yes, he'd taken care of some of them before, like that one man. He'd been informed of just what would happen to his balls should he so much as look Maiara's way for the rest of the day. He'd known enough to realize Camdon was dead serious. "I can take care of the grill if ya want." He offered, polishing off one half of his sub and going on to the other. Cam shot her a grin. "Coffee, eggs, bacon, pancakes... ya know me." The man loved his big breakfasts.

Once again, Bruce was not a man if he thought his girlfriend was in possible danger and wasn't there to look out for her. Camdon had finished off the last of his the last of his sub quickly and was crumpling the paper up. Looking over at her once more he shook his head. "I'm done here in town, I can come. Not a problem." She was after all the boss lady wasn't she? If she wanted him to take groceries back to the house for her, he'd take groceries back to the house for her.

[maiara pippa erb]

She liked her cell phone. Actually, she loved it. For her, it was vital. She had to have a house phone but that was for the boys and business purposes. She'd even offered to put them on her plan, just ten bucks a month, but they both declined. She didn't push but told them that the offer would always be there. For a guy who didn't talk a lot, just texting whatever they needed from her would seem a lot easier. Still, to each their own. She did things her way, he did his own. She liked that about him. He seemed to have this old world way about him and, to be honest, she found that as a very impressive quality. Seriously, she'd get full just watching him eat all that if that was how he went about things. The girl was skinny enough as it was, thanks, she'd pass. It was amazing that she was able to keep them fed on the farm. Mai was constantly making big dinners and trying to find foods that would keep them filled and satisfied. Fortunately, they didn't need the expensive stuff. They were good with eating the store brand and that helped out, a lot. Of course, growing their own fruits and veggies helped too. "Definitely a maternal side to her. She tried nursing a calf who lost her mother last year. Didn't work out all that well but she was still there for her." She loved her horse. It was amazing to see the things she could come up with. With any hope and a little bit of luck, she'd do it again.

"Well," she grinned over at him, "think of it this way... You guys will be able to take it easy for a couple of days afterward." They'd still have a bit of work to do here and there but not like they would if they hadn't had the minor, lesser work to deal with, too. "I was thinking, though. If we can, we should take Spector and Day and put them both in the back field. Keep Spector out of the way and have some company." It'd be a good break and they'd have more room to run. Fortunately, it was a small group this time. They'd get the stalls so the other horses could go into the smaller pen while that was being done. She'd show the older kids how to wash up the horses, the younger ones how to muck the stalls and the adults could use some of the other, bigger equipment. Fences needed to be posted, a few bits of barn that needed to be painted, stuff like that. "That would be great. I can man the sides but... You remember the last time." She accidentally blew herself up with the grill and lost an eye brow in the process. So, now, she was kind of banned from the grill. "Breakfast made for a king, check." She grinned and nodded, finishing off her food and wiping her mouth on a napkin. See? He was the best!

[CAMDON AVERY MANNING]

Camdon had no issues with technological advances, and the things that people owned in order to make their life just that little bit easier. But he hated cell phones and had no desire to ever own one. People spent too much time talking over them, or texting or whatever it was that everyone did, and dealt with things that way instead of face to face. Sure, he wasn’t one for a lot of talking but when he had an issue he was going to tell you to your face, like a human being deserved, not through a four inch long plastic device. It wasn’t just cell phones. He wasn’t a fan of microwaves and the way they dried everything out or fried it to the point where there was no longer any flavour and your food felt like rubber in your mouth. He did like the machinery they had for farming, like the new milking mechanisms that people could have installed. And yet, he didn’t mind that Maiara didn’t have them and preferred to milk her cows by hand. He enjoyed simple tasks like that where it was just himself, his work and his thoughts. It really was quite the task she had, to keep both Cam and Curt well fed and full. Both worked hard outside all day and came back in with an appetite to match. Yet she managed, for which both were happy of. Cam nodded, listening to Mai’s description of Day. ”A lot like her owner.” He said it almost offhandedly, as if in just idle chit chat. But he meant it, one hundred percent. No matter the crisis facing her, Mai would be there for those who needed her in whatever way she could be. Which was one of the reasons Camdon respected her so much.

He snorted softly. ”Or fix what they’ve broken.” Sometimes the jobs were well done, at other times he had to wonder if they’d gone at their work blindfolded and ear-plugged so that they had no idea what they were doing at all. Once again he nodded at her words. ”That can be done. I’ll move them when I get back.” He informed her, agreeing with her idea. Of course, getting the skittish horse into the back field would be an interesting way to spend his afternoon, but it made sense to get the horse out of sight of the workers tomorrow and in an area where he wouldn’t be startled by all of the activity. As Mai brought up the last time she had attempted to barbeque, the corners of Cam’s lips tipped up slightly and his eyes glowed with amusement for a moment as he recalled. ”Ya... I remember last time.” He shook his head at her in a somewhat teasing manner. He remembered last time all too well. His heart had nearly fallen out of his chest when the flames had gone up. Cam had run over to her and spun her around as quickly as he could checking her over for serious injuries. He’d then told her to go sit down and that he would handle the grill. Since then neither himself or Curtis had allowed her near it. Camdon waited until she had visibly finished and then he gathered all of their garbage, stood up and walked it to the trash to be thrown out. Taking a last sip of his root beer before he tossed the cup out, Cam then turned back to Mai to see if she was ready to head over to the grocery store. ”Ready?” He asked her.

[maiara pippa erb]

Some people just preferred to live life a bit more... simple than others. There was nothing wrong with that. It was part of why everyone was putting on weight. They weren't doing any work for themselves and, so, they weren't working off the calories. It was a little sad that you couldn't even remember your own house phone because your cell phone had it on speed dial but what were you going to do? It wasn't like there was much of a way around it. These days, you had to either know this stuff and how to use it or you had to do what Camdon did - live in a small town and work on a farm. Her preference for the cows was simple. They used the milk on the farm and sold to friends but nothing huge. Why put the poor cows through that and spend all of that money on the devices when it was easy for her to just go out and milk them, herself? She pulled her weight around the farm, too. Granted, it wasn't much but that wasn't the point, either. Mai started to laugh behind the napkin that she was using to wipe her mouth with. "I have never tried to nurse a calf, myself."

"Yeah, well... Hopefully, I'll do a better job in keeping an eye on them and giving them easy tasks. If not, I'll find another way to get them to do their time. Maybe just do the landscaping at the shop or something. They're supposed to be helping you guys, not making bigger messes." And, if they couldn't do that, she'd find something else to do to help take work off of others and get those people their hours. It was a bit upsetting to know that she was the reason that the boys had to fix up what her 'guests' broke but what else could you do? Sometimes, the answers weren't always as obvious and cooperative as you'd like them to be. "Don't worry about Day. I think I'll go riding when I get home, if it's not storming too bad. It's summer and you know how I like my rides in the rain. I'll take her back there once I'm done." She'd get to say goodnight and check on the new arrival, too. It would all balance out. Mai made a small face at him and grinned. Who didn't remember that time? Her friends had laughed at her, so hard, she thought some of them had started to cry over it. She'd been such a mess. Curtis still picked on her, Camdon just commented on it when it was brought up. Mai murmured a word of thanks as he cleaned up her mess and she collected her things before standing. "Yep!"

[CAMDON AVERY MANNING]

Things on Maiara’s farm were run simply without expensive, impressive equipment except for the typical tractors and such, of course. But Camdon liked it that way. Maybe it was insane, but he actually enjoyed getting up at the crack of dawn, when the air was still cool from the night and the earth was fresh with morning dew. He was calmed by the sounds of the animals beginning to stir as they heard and responded to the dawn approaching. He tended to get up, dress quickly and head out to the front porch, stopping there for a moment to just look out over the farm, watch the first rays of sunlight hit the horizon, and raise his hands over his head in a good stretch. Then it was off to the barn to milk the cows before they began to moo it pain. Some mornings he milked the cows on his own, other days Curtis would get finished his other chores in time to help him. On other mornings he and Mai did it together. They would sit there, each at their own cow and just the soft sound of the animals munching on their cud as the milk spurted into the bucket. At other points a small, softly spoken conversation would spark up between them and there would be this gentle peacefulness surrounding them. In those moments it would feel like nothing else existed except for that barn and the two of them. Cam looked forward to those mornings most of all. At her laughter, Cam looked up and over at her, an actual soft smile reaching his lips as he watched her and then heard her response. Shaking his head slightly he looked back over at her. ”Might have ta call the doc if you did.” He responded in his low tones.

Camdon felt bad for saying anything. He did that often, spoke with his typical frank manner, never stopping to think just how kind hearted Maiara would take it. ”The back field needs rocks picked if we’re gonna get it ready for planting next year.” He informed her. This was the field out of rotation this spring so that it could have a year to be fertilized and nutrients put back into it so that whatever they chose to plant there would grow well. He tended to let it grow and then till it up to stir things up a little, of course this always brought up new rocks and then there was the back breaking process of going through and removing the bigger ones and placing them on the trailer that was hauled by the tractor. Not only was it back breaking but it was time consuming and took several days for just himself and Curt to take care of that. If their charges handled that tomorrow it would be a huge benefit to them. He nodded at her comment about Day. ”No lightening storms.” He said, looking at her pointedly. She’d gotten caught out in one a month or two ago and he’d been worried for over an hour that she’d been struck by lightning and killed out in one of the fields. He’d been just about to ride out in search for her when she’d showed up safe and sound. He hadn’t even said anything when she’d come into the house perfectly fine if quite a bit wet, he’d just gone into his room and shut the door. With everything put away and cleared, they walked to the door, Camdon holding it open for her so that she could pass through first. ”Go on in and I’ll bring the truck round before joining ya.” He told her once they were outside. He might as well get it parked in front of the grocery store so they wouldn’t have far to go with the groceries.