At First Sight

I ride home with a massive smile on my face as Rex runs beside us. We head through the pasture we currently have the cows in to check in with them on our way home. 

As we ride through, all the cows look well. They are grazing close to each other now that the sunshine is starting to fade. 

Once we get to the barn, I untack Dolly and give her a good brushing before I start walking her back out to the field for the night. I grab my phone from my back pocket and click on Lee's contact, then type out a "we are home" text and send it off. 

I get in the house and realize I still have Lee's coat on. Quickly I make my way up to my room and reluctantly, I take the coat off and place it on the hook on the back of my bedroom door. 

___

The next morning, I wake up to a small shriek and then something jumping on my back. Confused, I quickly open my eyes and look behind me to see my sister's wide smile. 

"The fuck are you doing here?" I yell as I roll over and engulf her in a hug

She laughs and explains she only has a few days of classes left before reading week so she decided to come home early and do her final classes online. 

We head downstairs and take a seat at the kitchen table. We all joke and playfully pick on each other. In this moment, I only think of the good memories. The fun family road trips we took when we all sang our hearts out with Willy Nelson playing on the radio, the times we all went on trail rides together. Those rides always ended in our father racing us home.

"So, anything new and exciting happen while I was away?" Elizabeth's voice snaps me out of my memories

I take a breath, then reply with a short "No". Elizabeth always knows when I have something to hide, she gives me a wiggle of her eyebrows before she continues talking to my mother. This means she expects to be filled in once our parents are out of sight. 

I look down at my phone to see if I had missed a reply from Lee, but there is nothing. Not sure what to think of it, I put my phone away and focus on my family. 

---Later on that day---

I toss some hay in for the horses and turn to head back to the house when I see my sister leaning on my truck wearing tight skinny jeans and cowboy boots, swinging the keys on her finger. 

I make my way over, wondering what plans she has made for us this time. 

"Come on, we are heading out for some fun tonight" She says with a smile, tossing my keys at me

I catch the keys and smile "What does this fun include?" I ask, placing my hand on my hip

She then winks and throws her purse in the passenger seat of the truck before she rolls down the window and tells me to go get changed because I smell like a horse... 

"Nice" I whisper as I walk back to the house to get changed. 

I pull up to the fair grounds, unsure how I always let my sister convince me to join her on her escapades. 

She hops out of the truck with a skip in her step and links her arm through mine as we walk through the parking lot. A smile reaches my face with how excited Liz is. 

"Come on" she whispers to me "We are finding us some cowboys tonight" as she leads me towards the show grounds. 

"I'm good" I reply with a chuckle

"Oh, come one Lil! You can't tell me you've never thought about actually showing some interest in anyone" she says as she shoves me to the side slightly.