My Cowboy

Goodbye New York, Hello Texas

"Are you ready, Jada?" My father called as I glanced around my empty room one last time. No dad, I'm not ready to move across the country and leave my entire life behind, I thought.

"Coming Dad!" I shouted as a single tear ran down my face and I wiped it away.

I grabbed the last box out of my room and I said goodbye to the only home I'd ever known. When I stepped outside of my apartment, a few of my friends were gathered around trying not to cry. I hugged each of them and waved goodbye as my dad and I piled into the car and drove away.

For the next 24 hours, we were driving across the country towards Dallas, Texas. If it was up to me, I would have stayed in New York my whole life. I'm a city girl. I've been riding the subway by myself since I was 11. I have no interest in moving to the country and living on a farm. Ugh.

It had been the longest 24 hours of my life. We stopped at a hotel about halfway so my dad could sleep. It seemed like a lifetime before we finally arrived. The house was fairly large from the outside, but it looked almost like a haunted house. It was very dark colored and made of wood. It was all in good shape, but the house almost looked scary.

When we finally arrived, the current inhabitants of the house hadn't finished loading their moving truck, so I had a chance to meet them outside. We parked in the gravel driveway that we shared with the neighbors. They seemed like a happy family. Robert, the dad, was your typical cowboy, from the hat all the way down to the boots, including that mesmerizing southern accent. His wife, whose name I didn't catch, was overly nice. She offered my father and me some lunch and we accepted. Before lunch, as I walked through the house seeing the inside for the first time, I realized how large it was. We had 60 acres of land as opposed to our little NYC apartment with only a balcony to call our own.

As I stepped into the enormous kitchen, I glanced out the window next to the little wooden table and I could see the other house slightly farther back from the road than mine. It seemed they had a lot of land as well. As I surveyed the area, I noticed whom I thought to be the son of Robert and his wife. He was speaking to another boy on the porch next door and I think they were exchanging goodbyes. Maybe it's his best friend. Both men stood on the old wooden porch, with mint green paint chipping off of the railing. They both were wearing blue jeans, boots, and cowboy hats. They were both very attractive and muscular.

Minutes later, lunch was served and Thomas was called in to eat. Too bad he was moving to Tennessee, he was drop-dead gorgeous. He was the type of guy you see in magazines and movies. He sat across from me as we ate. He must have thought I was pretty because he didn't really take his eyes off of me. He kept smiling at me and making conversation. Before I knew it, they gathered the last of their things and headed off. Thomas and I exchanged numbers before they left.

I began to take my things to my room. Whoa! It's huge!  My room faced the back of the house and there was a large bay window with a grey seat cushion. To the left of the room was a queen sized bed frame, which my dad had placed for me. The hardwood floor raised up on the left where my bed was. I had my own luxurious bathroom on the right side of my room and a moderately sized walk-in closet by my bed, on the wall with the door to my room. The white walls were slightly blinding and there wasn't a curtain to block out some natural light from reflecting off the walls. I really thought this place would be a little run-down shack on an amber cornfield, but it's like a mansion!

Once I had enough unpacked, I thought I would go meet the neighbors since their house was fairly close to mine. Although we both had acres upon acres of land, each of our land extended in opposite directions so our houses were practically side by side. The only difference was theirs was set back farther from the road.

It was mid-September so I wore my favorite grey sweater and a pair of dark jeans. I threw on a pair of brown leather boots to tie my outfit together. I placed a headband on my freshly curled, dark brown hair, checked my smokey cat eye makeup, and headed over to the neighbors' house.

As I approached their front door, just before I could knock, a tall figure appeared in front of me.

"You must be the new neighbor. I'm Ryder." He stretched out his arm to shake my hand.

"Nice to meet you. I'm, uh-" He's so attractive. Speak! Speak!  "I'm Jada." I blurted out.

He stepped out onto the porch and leaned really close to me. I was uncomfortable slightly, but somehow I wasn't. He moved closer and closer. Oh my gosh!  Is he going to kiss me? Stay calm!  I was up against the railing on the porch, so I couldn't move if I wanted to. Then I realized he was just reaching for his hat which was on the rocking chair to the right of me. Oh. How could I be so stupid? I just met him.

He began walking towards the barn. He motioned for me to follow him.

"Sorry I don't have time to sit and chat tonight. I have to take care of the horses. Do you like horses?" He asked me with his sexy Texas accent.

Horses? Ew, no! Horses smell. "Of course! Who doesn't love horses?" I shouted, nervously.

Before I knew it, he was hopping on a horse and reaching his hand out to pull me up on his horse. What do I do? I don't know the first thing about riding a horse.

"Don't be scared. Hop on." I reluctantly took his hand. We rode to the lake behind a patch of woods on his property. I gripped his waist so tightly that he knew I had never ridden before. He helped me off of Buttercup and told me that if I ever needed anything I knew where he would probably be. We rode back to the barn where I got to meet his parents. Adam and May.

"Would you like a tour around town?" Ryder kindly questioned.

"That would be great." I blushed while crossing my arms and looking down.

We walked towards his blue-green Ford truck. Like a gentleman, he opened the door to his truck and then I noticed a girl walking down his driveway. He must have noticed her too because he ran over to her and spun her around. Great. He's has a girlfriend.

From where they were I couldn't hear much, but he said, "I didn't know you were coming."

She replied with, "I wanted to surprise you."

He hugged her again and I awkwardly slipped out of the car and towards my house.

"You didn't introduce me to your friend." I heard her say.

Fantastic. I just couldn't slip away fast enough.

"Jada!" He called. I walked over there slowly.

"Jada this is Emily. Emily this is Jada." Ryder introduced us. Emily claimed she didn't mind if he took me on a tour of the town. She said she would wait inside, but I didn't want to intrude so I kindly said goodnight and I returned home to make dinner.