Finding Bridgewater

Chapter 8-Pets

May 11, 2022

I wake up on a cloud of softness, comfortable, but feeling like something is missing. I roll over and open my eyes, immediately knowing where I am. I look up at the ceiling of my bedroom, knowing I am alone. I go to grab my phone, plugged in on my nightstand, but pause when I see the letter beside it. I pick it up and read,

Elle,

I'm off doing 'the cattle part of ranching' and will be back around noon. We can go out to lunch before heading to the bonfire later tonight. Hope you slept well.

James

Oh...yeah...I remember last night vividly. He must have brought me up here at some point. Ugh this man!

The time on my phone says 8:04am which means James left about 3 hours ago and will be back in about 4 hours so we can go out to lunch.

I kill time by calling my mother, who should just be waking up to start her day since it is 6am in NYC. We talk about James, minus the almost kiss and cuddling, the house, my car, and how excited I am to start my new job. I promise to keep her updated on everything but she still seems very worried about me being here, in the middle of nowhere, with no one I know for 3 weeks. After I hang up, I get dressed head downstairs to make some cereal and text some of my friends back home, telling them about James, including the almost kiss and cuddle sesh yesterday.

I clean up from breakfast and still have 2 hours to kill so I head outside and explore. The dogs are probably with James doing 'the cattle part of ranching' as James had quoted me. I make it to the barn and am greeted by a little cat meowing loudly at me.

"Hey, buddy," I coo as I crouch down and pet her. "You must be Lucy," I say, remembering James telling me about the calico.

She purrs at me but walks off toward the other two cats standing further inside the barn. The orange cat, Darwin, and tabby cat, Smores are more hesitant to come to me but I leave them be, knowing that I will have some time to become their friend...or should I say furriend...nope I'm stopping, sorry.

I head to the first stall, and am greeted by a beautiful white horse. I look down and read the nameplate of the stall, Annie. "Hi, Annie." I stretch out my hand, palm face up and wait for her to come to me. "You're beautiful," I say in awe of the being in front of me. She comes to me and puts her nose into my hand. I wait a minute then brush my hand up her face. She is absolutely gorgeous. After a few minutes she loses interest in me and I move on to the stall across from her.

I don't need to read the nameplate to know who this is. I recognize the beautiful black horse immediately. "Hey, Blitz. How's it going buddy?" I am met with a whiny in response. He happily comes up to me and I brush my hand over the side of his face, softly.

I am interrupted by a chestnut horse, in the stall next to his, when they come up and greet me with a huff or something that sounds extremely similar. The nameplate says, Hazel.

I leave Blitz's stall and move over to Hazel's. "Hey, girl," I say as I pet her. When I finally move to the stall across from her, I notice it's empty. The nameplate reading, Whiskey. Of course, Whiskey would be off with James.

There are 5 more stalls, 4 of which are empty. The stall next to Whiskey's has Scout contained within it. I remember meeting Scout yesterday. I pet him for a bit before heading back outside the barn and inside the house again.

I've successfully burned away almost all of the time, my phone saying 11:54am. I settle on the couch and soak in the fresh sunlight streaming in through the large windows as I scroll through my social media. James comes inside not even 3 minutes from when I sat down. I turn to look at him, and have to catch my phone when I almost drop it at the sight in front of me.

His shirt is off and beads of sweat are drenching his skin, including the valleys between his abs. My eyes roam over his body, hungry for more.

When I finally look up to meet his eyes, I see a tiny smirk forming on his lips. He doesn't mention it, instead saying, "I'm gonna go hop in the shower and change before we head out."

My mouth is too dry to respond so instead I just nod my head and turn back to my phone, suddenly not interested in what I see on the screen anymore.

The walk to the truck is awkward, for me at least. James says nothing so I don't either. The sound of car doors slamming as we shut them is all that can be heard.

James starts the car and immediately Johnny Cash blares through the radio, AGAIN?! I sigh and reach up to turn it down, then shift to level James with a serious look. "Seriously, this can not keep happening," I say, exasperated.

James looks at me out of the corner of his eye and immediately throws his head back, laughing, that sound I love so much. I try to conceal my amusement, but my face falters a bit when he looks at me completely, chuckling under his breath.

"You need to upgrade your playlist, sir. Try some T-Swift, Harry Styles, maybe a bit of Lizzo or Doja Cat, too," I say, still refusing to let my smile break.

James shakes his head, "I'll think about it. Until then, you can just play the music you want, princess," he hands me the aux cord. I happily accept it, allowing my hand to brush his when I take it. He must feel the electric spark between us too, because his cheeks flush a soft pink color.

I turn on Afterglow by Taylor Swift and turn up to volume. James shakes his head but puts the car
in drive and begins the 15 minute journey to town.