Dancing in the Oaks

Rodeo'in

RODEO DAY

I woke up to the sound of the alarm beeping. I had a rough night sleeping because I'm too worried about Nick. He was already gone because I looked at my phone and he had left a message. I quickly got into the shower and let the hot water pour over my shoulders. That felt so good. I put on my tight fitting wranglers and my plaid shirt. My hair was put into a half bun. I wanted to wear it down, but I wanted half of it away from my face. The great compromise. I walked into the front room and that's when I noticed that I hadn't seen Arrow. I began to scream. "Arrow! Come here girl!" I was screaming until I walked outside.

Nick stood at my door. "Good morning Norah. It appears that we have a desperado; the dog?"

"Oh my! Arrow!" Nick hugged me and I noticed he had made breakfast. He brought over a plate for me. "Oh that looks so good!"

"It's tortillas with sausage and bacon." He looked at my sleepy eyes.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Uhm... yeah. I just didn't listen to my morning music to get me motivated." Every morning I would usually listen to some of my favorite country music to get myself motivated.

"You're worried Norah. I know you all too well." He leaned against the door frame.

"No I ain't worried 'bout anything." I walked over and sat down on the bar stool.

"Do you have her leash and everything too?" He asked.

"Yes I do. Don't forget your hat."

"Hmm which one should I wear?"

"Nick you have like 20! You seriously cannot choose one?" I laughed. He really does have around 20 hats and it is hilarious.

"Yeah that's the issue."

"The black Stetson." I laughed. "It looks so good on you." I smiled.

"Oh okay." He began to eat his food too. He brought over a plate for him as well.

I happened to break the silence. "Hey, I guess I need to tell ya that you look cute. When you wear black it really brings out your eye color."

He laughed. "Thanks Norah." He finished his food before talking again. "So I got Stryd in the trailer and I got everything else ready to go."

"Thank you for doing that. I never told you but my parents sold the horse trailer before they went to prison." I rolled my eyes.

"Well it's okay. We have my trailer... that horse trailer." After finishing our food we got everything and left in Nick's truck and left.

Getting there seemed like forever. The drive felt like eternity. I rolled down the window to get the air in my face. The fifteen mile ride went by so slow. I was falling asleep when I woke up to little Arrow kissing my face. "Hey, no kissing Norah," Nick said.

When we pulled into the horse trailer stall there were so many other people there too. My anxiety crept back. I get uneasy around other people now. I used to not be like that, but since that fateful day my entire life has completely changed. However, I blocked it out and got Stryd out of the trailer. So many people were walking by and watching Nick and I. They knew exactly who we were.

"Hey Nick! What's up cowboy?" I heard a man yell. He was about 6 foot 2 inches.

"Hey! Jesse! Long time no see. This is crazy." Nick said as I stood behind him. I sort of hid behind him so then I could attempt to avoid the situation.

"Who's that?" Jesse pointed towards me.

"She's Norah. She'll be barrel racin'"

"Oh okay, that makes sense. Hey good luck to both of ya."