I was learning a lot from my brother, Jake, who—for some reason—seemed to prefer my company to the rest of the Downtons. While I gave him advice on how to deal with the ladies, he gave me pointers on running the estate.
At the end of the day, it had been working fine for the past year, and I knew what I was doing. My knowledge had doubled in the past months, and I was certain that in another year or so, I could become more involved.
Before I finished my first drink, my manager, Walker, approached from the distance. Like a legendary figure, he had emerged from the dark, foggy field ahead, illuminated by the lanterns on my porch.
“Hey!” He waved at me as he came closer.
“Had to start without ya’!” I chuckled as I poured him a drink and gave myself a refill. “What took ya so long?”
“Yeah, Ella was antsy.”
Ella was one of my cows. She was pregnant and feeling the hormones a little too much today.
“Ready for the party tomorrow?” He slumped down on the chair next to me, immediately reaching for his drink.
“Can’t wait,” I scoffed. “Celebration or not, it’s always good to see the brothers.”
“And the opportunity to meet a hot chick.” He winked with a smirk on his face.
“You know me too well.” I shook my head, gazing down at a random spot on my jeans.
“Oh,” he sighed, a reminiscing gaze filling his eyes as he looked ahead onto the horizon. “I recall what it was like to be your age. Wild and free, every week a new girl.” His thick southern accent made everything he said sound like a country song.
“Well, not every week.” I forged a clearly fake look of embarrassment, shrugging as my fingers fiddled with my glass.
“Oh, ‘scuse me, sirree!” He laughed out loud, his voice echoing through the vast space around us. “Man, you’re havin’ your fair share o’fun… and other men’s share, too!” He continued to laugh, his belly shaking as he did.
I wondered if I should stop drinking before things got real but decided to go on all the same… and another sip burned down my throat.
“Y’know…” I shifted in my seat, pulling myself up and properly resting my back. “You were married at, what, thirty?”
“Twenty-nine,” he stressed, lifting a finger in the air as if his correction of my misinformation made all the difference.
“Right.” I nodded. “But leadin’ up to that… was it all fun and no pain at all?”
“No, sir!” He quickly shook his head. “Every woman, I thought: ‘This is it. This is her. The one I’m gonna spend the rest o’my life with.’ But then the inevitable happened and I got my heart broken more times than I’d like to admit.”
“See,” leaning forward, I furrowed my eyebrows as I gave him a serious look, “that is what I don’t get.” My tone grew more practical as I gestured with one hand. “Why build hopes and set your heart up for breakin’ when you can just go with the flow and see where things go?”
“’Cause, my emotionally crippled friend…” he rolled his eyes as if explaining something to a five-year-old for the millionth time, “if you don’t go in with the intention of knowin’ more than her lady parts, ya’ ain’t never gonna know her at all.”
Staring at his face, I began to regret probing deeper into the topic.
“How will you ever reckon she’s the one for you if all you’re ever interested in is gettin’ in her pants and gettin’ ‘er outta your house by the crack o’dawn?”
“What makes you think it’s just me there?” I sat back, taking a sip. “They’re in it just as much as I am. It ain’t like they wanna hang around and talk ‘bout the future. They’re in it for the good times, and…” I chuckled, pointing at myself from head to toe as if to show off my good looks. “They get ‘em!” Winking, I noticed his expression change before he burst into laughter once more.
“You’re incredible.” He shook his head in lighthearted dismay, lifting the glass to his lips.
“I know.” I smugly shrugged again.
“Frankie,” he cleared his throat, “you and I know that you’re way too smart to be thinkin’ that way.” He took the serious approach again. “You know, once you see the girl, what she’s all about. It’s like you got a radar for those who just wanna have fun.”
“That’s—” Slightly cringing, I looked away, “neither here nor there.”
“It’s the reality you try to