The Isle (Chronicles of the Irish Princess Book 1)

I woke up the next morning to sand paper like kisses on my face.

“Morning Juju.” I sat up to pet the calico cat that roamed the farm. She wasn't usually an indoor cat, but she knew when I was around and liked to sneak in through the doggy door and up the back stairwell to my room.

Looking over to the other twin bed I noticed Sarah, still snoring, with Huck, the dog, at her feet. I smiled and got up. I wasn’t surprised to see that my phone said it was 6:45. I was an early riser when on the farm. There was just something in my body that knew when to wake up. If I had been up this early for school I think my body would have screamed at me. But here I was alive and ready for each day. Grabbing my shower stuff I lightly tapped on the door and heard nothing on the other side. I opened the door to see Kai standing in the other doorway wearing nothing but a towel. I quickly turned around my face getting redder.

“Sorry Kai. I didn’t hear anyone speak so I opened the door.”

“It’s alright. I was just finishing up, I realized I forgot my clothes. I didn’t want you to walk in on them, because I knew you’d be up soon.”

“Thank you. Aren’t you gonna be late for school?”

“Technically I’m done. But Mom doesn’t want me to move my stuff til after graduating. She thought your aunt was crazy for letting me come live here this summer, but I love the ranch.”

“Me too,” I said smiling. Not that he could see.

“Leah, you can turn around.”

When I did I wasn’t surprised to see him still in a towel. I closed the door to my side before Sarah woke up from the light. I noticed a tribal tattoo on his left shoulder and another that looked more Celtic on his right wrist, which didn’t surprise me knowing he had ties to the Ponca tribe and his mother was Irish. He was practically native royalty, his grandpa being the chief and all.

“Got it for my birthday, Mom was pissed. Her Irish roots and all that. She thinks that because we’re Catholic that I’ll go to hell for it. But I’m not just Irish, I’m Ponca too. I belong to the tribe.”

“It fits you perfectly.”

“Thanks.” The air between us was becoming awkward. “Well I’ll let you get your day started. Could use some help with the cows if you’re interested later today.”

“Yeah, sure.”

After my shower I quickly did my hair in a single French braid and ran down to help Aunt Em with breakfast. She made homemade biscuits every Monday morning. It was easy for the boys to grab and go in the mornings before real breakfast was served and it was my favorite part of coming out here.

Just before breakfast was ready Sarah came stumbling into the kitchen. Her hair was a sure sign that Huck had finally woken her up with his kisses. I poured her a cup of coffee and smiled at her. She tried to look happy but, she wasn’t awake yet, so she looked grumpy.

“Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the barn.” Luca came in laughing and grabbed the coffee pot refilling his thermos.

“Luca Scott… you be nice to Sarah. This is her first time out here.” My Aunt hollered from the stove.

“Yeah, Luca Scott, be nice.” Sarah smiled, but it quickly faded when Luca whispered something in her ear.

If I didn’t know any better I would have said they were trying to hide their relationship from me. They both knew that I wouldn’t have objected to them getting together, so why they hid anything was beyond me.

“He’s afraid of taking her from you.” Kai whispered in my ear. “He thinks if they are together he’ll pull her away from you.”

“He’s told you?”

“No. I just know how his brain works. That’s all.”

“Speaking from experience Malakai?”

He went to sit at the table instead of answering. Though we had never talked about our feelings for each other they were coming into the open with each passing hour. Neither of us able to stop them from showing. The first time I realized that I liked Malakai I was thirteen. He'd come over with his father to visit the horses. His hat sat just a little off center and his boots were covered in dirt. I'd been so enchanted by this random cowboy that I tripped and nearly landed face first in a pile of horse poop. He caught me just before I did and when he spun me upright I got a good look at his bright green eyes. They almost looked as if they were glowing. Ashamed of myself, I ran back into the house and right to my grandma.

"Mamaw, who is that with Papa?"

"That's Mr. Jeffers, he helps with the horses from time to time, breeding and such."

"Who's the boy?"

"Malakai, Mr. Jeffers' son. I think he's a little older than you and Luca. Maybe a year."

I remember watching Luca run outside and taking Malakai to the stables to look at Fury Road. That was when he was just a little colt, maybe a week old. He was meant to be a racing horse, but Luca never got the chance to train him. Looking at Kai now, not much had changed, he still had the same bright green eyes and dark hair. He got taller, older and stronger, but he still had the same personality. He could still make you smile just by smiling. He still understood how it was for Luca and I. But there was something, something I couldn't figure out about him that had changed. It was as if he was hiding something from me. Something important, like it was about us both and he was afraid of how I'd react.

When breakfast was cleaned up, I headed out to the stables looking for Kai. As I got closer, I heard to male voices talking. Walking in, Kai and Luca stopped talking and looked at me, as if I just interrupted something. I went over to Stella, my horse, and gently stroked her mane.

"Stella, my girl. Have you been good? Huh?" She snorted in response. "Yeah, good girl." I pulled the carrot from my pocket. "Wanna go?"

She whinnied and nodded her head. I smiled at her and grabbed the riding gear next to her stall. Kai was still looking at me and Luca had disappeared.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"To the cows, or are we not going anymore?"

"We're going, but you won't want to take Stella. They're in a pasture up the road."

I stopped, and turned to him still petting Stella. "Oh. When were they moved?"

"April, it's a new field. We need them to mow it down some." He gave Stella some oats. "There girl. Umm... your uncle thought that it would be a good idea to let the other pastures have a rest."

"Who suggested that to him? I wonder..." I smiled.

Kai smiled back at me. He had suggested the idea to me at Christmas when they bought it. He took me by the hand and led me out of the barn. His truck was sitting in the drive by the house. I looked down at our hands, still gently clasped together. I tried to hide my smile and the blush that had crept up on me.

"Do you want to ask Sarah to come? It's okay with me." He said standing by the passenger door. Typical cowboy opening up a lady's door.

"She mentioned something about going with Luca to check on the other animals. I think he's showing her around, making up for this morning."

He nodded and opened the door for me. Once I was safely inside he shut it and rounded the front end of his sliver 2010 Chevy Silverado. He got in and started the truck. His truck was playing the only country station that came in, but it wasn't very loud, just enough to barely make out the lyrics. It was peaceful. The pasture was just two miles up from the house. He parked on the side of the road and got out. He basically ran to the door so I couldn't open it myself. I smiled and took his hand to get out. We slid through the gate and went up to some of the cows. There was one, Lunella, that had recently had a baby. She was lying about twenty feet from the fence, her baby curled into her hiding its face.

"Lunella, is this your baby?"

She laid her head in my lap, always the cuddly cow. The baby picked up its head then. My eyes locked on the massive lightning bolt mark of white fur on its face.

"Boy or girl?"

"Girl," Kai said sitting with Molly. "How's that bite wound Molly?"

"What?!"

"Nasty bite from a bumblebee, don't worry she's fine."

"Has anyone named the calf yet?"

"Nope." He smiled, "What you gonna name her, Princess?"

I ignored his comment and looked around. I noticed all the other cows had moved a little closer and some were even sitting with that weren't before.

"I was thinking Lightning, but that's boyish."

"Sola. Solas is the Gaelic word for light. Shorter than lightning and not so boyish."

"Sola... Hmmm, I like it." I looked up at him. "How do you know the language? Not even Mamaw knew it."

"My Granddad taught me." He smiled. "I could teach you some of it, but I speak a little Native American. There are a lot of times my brain will go between all three languages. But that is usually only when I'm mad."

I tried not to laugh, but I couldn't keep from smiling. Once again I felt that pull to him. Instantly I was fighting not to want to kiss him and pull him closer.

"Do you miss them? Not being able to see them often?"

"Some times, but my mom and I go visit them during Christmas and Easter. When I was younger, we'd go for a few weeks over the summer too. I talk to them often still, and I go out to the Res a lot to visit with my dad's parents."

It was hard not to miss the sad look that took over his features. He father died in a helicopter accident not long after we met. He was a skilled piolet, but that day the wind picked up on him and the chopper went down in a neighboring field. My Grandpa was one of the first people on the scene, he and my Uncle Don, who was a member of the tribe pulled Tomas's body from the cockpit just before it exploded. But it was already too late, the impact was too much. The paramedics told Kai's mom that he died instantly.

Instinctively, I took Kai's hand to comfort him. He gave me a weak smile back.

"We should get going. Lots to do."

He was right, the ranch wasn't easy to take care of. This was just one field that held about seventy percent of the cows. There was another field on the south side of the property that the rest were in then there was the goats and horses to take care of. I gave Lunella and Sola each a kiss on their snouts and got up dusting my shorts. Once we got back to the farm we parted ways, Kai went off to find my brother and I went to the house to help Aunt Em with lunches. Sarah was already there getting the bread out for sandwiches. She and I shared a glance but nothing more.