[2.1] THE BRIGHTEST LIGHTNING, tyler owens

Dance In The Sky

Jaymes drove down many roads, not looking back for any of them. She felt bad for leaving Tyler without saying anything, but Javi pissed her off. He had no idea what kind of hell she went through as a kid. She knew she needed to take some time, so she started to drive to the old man's farm.

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As she pulled in, she saw her horse trailer out front; along with her horses and a pasture near the road. She didn't  see the man, John, anywhere, so she grabbed her three halters and walked into the pasture.

Her horses greeted her as soon as they saw her. All of them nickering and walking up to her. She haltered all of them and tied them to a nearby fence while she hooked her trailer up.

After her trailer was hooked up, she grabbed $500 from her wallet and grabbed a sticky note. She chose to keep it simple, the note read, "Thank you - Jaymes". She stuck it in his mailbox then loaded her horses.

When she got back in her truck, she set her sights on somewhere she thought she would never return to; her home.

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She pulled in the driveway and relaxed. There wasn't much driving, it just felt good to be home.

As soon as she got out, she looked at the old barn. Not only was it a place for horses on the bottom floor, but also a place for her research on the top.

She opened the trailer and got all of them out, walking to the barn, which led to a back pasture.

After she took their halters off, she walked away, fitting them a small smile before starting to walk to her family home.

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She walked in and grabbed the glass from the right side of the fridge; right where Ma always left it.

He opened the fridge and grabbed the pitcher of water, pouring herself a glass as she heard movement coming down the stairs.

"It's just me, Ma." She said as she took a sip of the water.

Her mother appeared from behind the corner out of the staircase and stared at her. "Jaymes?"

Jaymes nodded repeatedly as her mother engulfed her in a tight hug.

"I'm home, Ma."

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Her mother apologizes she moved boxes off of Jaymes' old bed in her room.

Jaymes looked at the pictures on her pin board and smiled, that was when they were all happy.

"Your friend Javi stopped by a couple weeks ago, almost didn't recognize him with the new haircut. You chasing again?"

Jaymes looked at her mother and sat on the bed. "No, Ma, I'm just another person with a brain."

Her mother looked down at Jaymes' leg, and she moved her shorts over the ugly scar.

"Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm okay now, Ma."

She nodded and walked to her door. "Goodnight Jaymie."

Jaymes smiled, "Goodnight, Ma."

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Meanwhile, Tyler worried about Jaymes, seeing her storm off like that after a conversation with Javi really concerned him.

He didn't sleep much that night either. He just tossed and turned, no matter what position he was in, he couldn't get to sleep. So, the following morning, he decided to do something about it. He knew that she had horses and dropped them off while she was chasing, so he figured that she would have at least gone to see them. But when he saw Javi, he decided to have a friendly talk with him.

"You know where Jaymes went last night?"

Javi sighed, looking at Tyler tiredly. "I don't think it's the best idea-"

Tyler cut in, "I didn't ask what you thought was the best fucking idea. I asked where she went."

Javi shook his head before replying. "Probably her Ma's house."

"Where?"

He grabbed a spare piece of paper and wrote down the address before holding it out to Tyler. He reached out for it when Javi pulled back.

"Please, for the love of God Tyler, don't make it worse."

Tyler looked at him, pissed. "No, I think you did enough of that yourself."

With that, he grabbed the paper and walked to his truck, ready to find Jaymes.

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That morning, Jaymes helped her Ma feed the cattle, then walked into the barn. Ready to spend time with her horses.

She didn't know what it was, but something pulled her upstairs. She took the wrapping that was on most of her stuff off, walking around and reminiscing in the memories.

"How you doing?" Her mother asked as she walked around.

"It's just the way I left it."

"I was wondering what you wanted to do with all this stuff. I couldn't throw it away, just in case you did come back someday."

Jaymes smiled, "Thank you, Ma."

Her mom smiled back and looked at her phone as it rang. "I gotta get this."

She walked down and out of the barn, leaving Jaymes alone.

Now, it was time to do what she really came in here for; ride.

She walked with her horse, Saige, out of the barn with her trick riding saddle and other tack on.

Jaymes was wearing a simple pair of Wrangler jeans and a burgundy turtleneck tank top, which was of course, tucked in.

She and Saige walked into her large dirt arena. It had taken her years to have enough money to build it, but she refused to take money from her Ma, you wanted to be solely responsible.

Jaymes climbed on top of Saige and warmed her up, then began doing her tricks. Standing on top of her, jumping on and off while Saige was still running, and doing a series of turns in between. Finishing the first couple laps with a death hang, her favorite. Her hand dragged into the dirt while her head and body hung down off the side of Saige. Little did she know someone was watching her.

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Tyler sighed a sigh of relief when he pulled into the driveway and saw a Storm Par truck.

He got out and looked around at the small homestead, something he thought Jaymes would like.

He saw the house, the cattle, the trailer in the back, then the barn. It was tall with a brick foundation, built to survive a tornado.

That's when he saw it, or more so, her. In a large dirt arena with a bay horse below her, there she was. Standing on a galloping horse, twisting, turning, and hanging too. It kind of scared Tyler, seeing her so close to the ground, or standing so high, but he knew she was happy.

He watched her as she took lap after lap in the arena, a comforting look on her face the entire time. He couldn't stop watching her, and he didn't want to, she was beautiful. Everything she did was beautiful. And right now, her beauty was shared with her horse, as they moved in sync together. In that moment, it looked like she was floating, something that could forever dance in the sky.

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Chapter 8 done! Hope you enjoy!
Word Count: 1180