"So, how was last night?" Miranda asked. "Yeah, are you expecting?" "Last night was fun, and no, not yet he's wanting to wait until I can be far along so that it won't hurt it." "Oh, so he wants to do it but is waiting for the right time." "Can we just drop the subject before they show up out of nowhere and he gets mad at me for bringing it up?"
"Talking bout the future again, aren't ya?" Mikey asked, walking up. Uh oh. "No children until after we're married. Especially not more than one." Colt said as he came up behind me. "At once." I finished for him. "I wouldn't say that if I were you," Nathan said, standing next to Mikey.
"You do know that she can be two and a half months and still be able to ride," Miranda said. "How do you know?" "Uh, some guy got me pregnant last year mid-season, and now the baby is with its adopted parents?" "Who?" "No clue I forgot his name, and if I want the child before it's old enough to remember me, I need the bio father present."
"Did you get a DNA test done?" "Yeah, but the last name was Diaz." Mikey looked up. "What is the gender?" He asked. "Girl." "Did the test show any ethnicity?" "Yeah." Mikey looked at her weirdly. "And." "It showed a little bit of Mexican." Mikey's eyes went big. "Oh my gosh, I didn't realize that happened. That morning, I woke up and the woman was gone.
"Wait, so you could be the bio father of my baby?" "It's a possibility. If I see a picture, I can tell you." Miranda handed him her phone. He nodded. "Where is she now?" "Las Vegas." "We can get her when we go for finals." "You mean that?" He nodded.
She hugged him. Colt kissed my head as he rested his chin on it. He finally wrapped his arms around me. "So what now?" Nathan asked. I broke out of Colt's grip and got on his horse. Izzy got onto her boyfriend's and we took off.
"Best idea ever." "Eh, it's just been a while since I've ridden this boy." Next thing I knew, Colt was behind me, and Nathan was behind Izzy. "Can't get away from me that easily." "I know, just be glad your horse let you on." He chuckled before putting an arm around me.
He took the reins in his other hand and moved Jet into a trot. I felt him kiss my temple. "The worst part is when you run off without telling me." "Then I promise never to run off without telling you," I said, leaning my head into the crook of his arm. His grip tightened as he brought Jet into a lope.
We got to the ring, Izzy and I got off. I climbed up and sat on the top of the railing. Colt whistled. I hopped down and went over to the calf chute. Izzy put one in, and I waited for them to call it.
One whistled and I opened it. They both hauled out. Nathan roped the head while Colt heeled. This was Colt's way of team roping. Helping out Nathan when his partner was gone during the day.
Once the calf was roped, I went out and untied the calf. I got the heel rope off before the head. It took off before I could grab it. I just walked back whistling. The calf became curious and followed. I snatched it and carried it back to the chutes.
Colt wolf whistled at me. "Looking good, baby." I put the calf in and reset the chute. "Dang it." "What?" Izzy asked. "It's stuck." "You gotta do it quickly." She told me. I quickly did it, and the calf went in. "See." Then a piercing sound went through the site.
The horses and calves went crazy. "Whoa." The men yelled as they fell off their horses. I fell to the ground with my hands over my ears. Once it was over, I saw a dark shadow go over me. Jet reared as I quickly grabbed him. Once I got my hand on his bridle, he calmed some.
Colt grabbed the other side and helped me calm him. "That's enough for today." He said. Once back at the trailer, Jet's tack was taken off and put up until tonight.
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August 10, Stillwater, Ok
I dropped Colt off at his house and spent the night before hitting the road the next day. Once I got home, nothing was like it was with him. Matt greeted me, followed by the rest of the family.
I put Reno in her stall and went to clean the trailer out. "He left a shirt," I told my dog, Sully. I folded it and put it on top of my bag. I folded our blanket and set it on the couch. I took the sheets off and put them on the floor near the door.
"Need any help?" Virginia asked. "Can you take my sheets and dirty clothes?" "Sure." After she had left, I put the bed into hiding and cleaned out the cabinets, leaving the coffee and stuff. I looked in the fridge to find a dark chocolate Hershey's bar. A note was attached.
'Dear my future wife,
I love you so dearly that I'm willing to buy you anything you need or want. This chocolate is called special dark. It reminds me of how special you are. It's kinda bitter, but it's sweeter than most people think of it to be. Just like that, at first I thought you were bitter, but as time went on, I found out that you were extremely sweet and kind, even when you were bored and pulling tricks and pranks. Those times made me realize that you needed someone to keep you on your toes and keep you under control. I'm willing to be that man and much more.
Your loving future husband
My eyes were full of tears by the time I finished the letter. Now I wanted to marry him the next time I see him. I got the vacuum and cleaned the carpet. Then I shampooed the carpet and deep cleaned the entire inside.
Once that was done, I washed the outside. The roar of a Camaro made me turn around. I unhooked my trailer and moved my truck up a few feet. "Hey, babe, how've you been?" Damien. "Don't even try." "Why?" I flashed the engagement ring at him. "Oh. Who's the lucky man and where is he?" "He's at his house and his name is Colt Ray." "Oo I've heard bad things bout him." "Yeah, I don't believe any of it."
"Babe, I know you could do better than him." "If I was you I would get back into my shitty car and drive off without adding," I shouted angrily before turning back to my truck. I heard his high-tops walk across the gravel to me. "Excuse me, you don't tell me what to do."
"Excuse me, you're not my boss." "You will do what I want you to." "I don't think she has the right to whatever you want," Aaron said. Kevin came out after him, then Grandpa. Good thing Aaron's like my overly protective brother.
Damien got into his car and drove off. "Thanks, Aaron." "No problem, baby cous." He walked over to the horse that Kevin was holding and took the horse to the training arena.
Once I was done, I closed and locked everything up. I walked over to the front porch and pulled my muddy boots off before going inside. "Grandma," I yelled, because I can. "Yes, dear?" She asked as she came out of the kitchen. "Did you see the new bedspread I got for my birthday?" "Yes, I saw it on Facebook. Whose idea was it to get it?"
"Nathan's name was on the front tag, but when Mikey took the corner, Colt was holding, I knew something was up." "Oh, that boy must have had it planned from the time he decided to marry you."
"I'm guessing he ordered it in then, while he had me distracted, one of them went and got it." "That was exactly the plan." I turned around and jumped. There he was, standing in the doorway. I ran and jumped into his arms. "Hope you liked the message." "Liked?"
I smashed my lips into his. We broke apart seconds later. "That answer it?" "Definitely." He rested his forehead against mine. "I couldn't take being away from you that long." He said before kissing my temple. "Me neither."
"You still owe me a tour of your place." "Hope you have swim trunks. Because the tour is a morning thing." "With this heat." I slid out of his arms and went straight to my room. I got my favorite camouflage surfer bikini. I put on denim shorts before going back down.
Already, he had on his trunks. His head turned when he saw me. I shyly smiled at him. "Ready?" He asked. I nodded. We walked out with our boots on. The heat was scorching. I got my hackamore and put it on Reno.
Colt got a bridle out of his truck and put it on the palomino filly that my uncle and cousin trained for them. We led them out and got on. "Wait, forgot something." I quickly slid off my horse and got the tackle box and two fishing poles. "We may need these," I said before remounting.
Once we got to the lake, the horses were tethered to a tree in the shade. I took my shorts and boots off before climbing on top of the jump rock. I grabbed onto the rope swing and swung out. I did a backflip before landing.
When I came up, Colt was swinging out. He went over me and front flipped in. The wave caused me to move closer to shore. I saw a fish swim into a hole. Catfish. "Colt." He swam over to me. "What is it?" "Catfish," I whispered before getting out to get the finger wrapping out of the tackle box.
I wrapped my fingers before handing it to him. I got a string out and tied it to a heavy branch. "So you want me to get them and you string them?" Colt asked. "You're just bout to find out another hobby of mine." He gave me a curious look as I got back in the water.
I found the exit hole and blocked it with both feet. Then I went under and saw the fish swim farther back. I went back up. "He's in there," I said before going back under. My hand went into the hole. Once I felt pressure on it, I pulled him out. I came up with my free hand on his gills. Colt helped me pry the fish's mouth open to get my hand out.
"Now I know I've found someone who shares my interests. What else do you do?" "Hunt, practically fish, and mud." He kissed my cheek as he strung the fish on. "He's eating size," Colt said as I checked for another hole. After finding one, I went down, saw the fish, and popped back up.
"Your turn, babe," I told him. "Where?" I showed him where it was and where the exit hole was. He went under and, a few seconds later, came up with the fish. "Nother one for the eating."
"Hey, guys, need another spot?" Aaron said, riding up. We owned our private lake-like pond. "Sure. It would get us supper tonight." "What have you caught so far?" Aaron asked as the fish was strung.
Colt showed him the two fish. "Nice, three more and it'll be enough." "Your turn, Aaron." "Sweet." Aaron jumped in and found a hole right away. He went under and came back with one. "Another good one."
"Dude, I've never seen someone cat that fast," Colt said enthusiastically. "Hedli and I used to catfish race to see who could catch a fish faster," Aaron replied. "Nice."