After I left

III

There was a long dirt road in front of them, they were surrounded by green, and there were at least one hundred cows surrounding them.

Her mouth nearly fell open as they drove down the road. They turned off of central highways and main roads about ten minutes ago, and she was being overwhelmed with the amount of country around her, not that it was a very glam city anyways.

There was a pale red mailbox marking a long paved driveway ahead. It had a few cracks where it met the dirt road, but the driveway was rather smooth as they drove down it.

Callie looked around, wondering if all of this was Nathan's land.

"How did I know you lived on a ranch?" She mumbled, glancing at Nathan's relaxed figure.

"I don't know, how did you know?" He asked, smiling at her.

"I'm psychic," She said matter of factly.

He let out a laugh while the taxi driver shared a smile.

"Okay," He whispered, unbuckling as the taxi came to a stop.

She ignored what the driver said as Nate pulled out money. It had to be a reasonably sized charge with the hour long ride. It was extremely awkward too, the kind of silent awkward that makes you want to jump out of the vehicle.

"I got it," He said, grabbing her bag and tossing it over his shoulder, along with his own.

"Nathan?"

They both looked up to see a woman well in her forties looking at them.

"Hey, Mom."

She glanced between the two one time, immediately picking up the similarities. Nathan's mom shared his beautiful smile, but seemed small and fragile.

"Who is this? Is this your girlfriend?" She asked, approaching the two of them.

"I'm Callie, and no, I'm not his girlfriend," She said, holding her hand out.

"Oh, how nice to meet you. How long have you known my son?" She asked, glancing at Nathan.

"Callie and I met earlier today," Nate said, walking past his mother.

"Oh."

Callie realized now that she didn't even know his last name. She panicked, trying to think of a way to ask him without his mother finding out.

"Where's your bathroom Mrs..." She asked, trying to pull her last name from casual conversation.

"Winters. Nancy Winters," Nate's mother said, pointing down the long hallway they just walked in.

"Down there to the right. It's the only room on the right," Mrs. Winters said.

Callie smiled thankfully as she walked down the hallway. Nathan smiled at her as he walked up some stairs with her bag.

"I'll come back down here and give you a tour," He said, glancing back at his mom one more time before walking up the stairs.

"Where's his dad?" She wondered as she entered the bathroom.

She glanced around the relatively larger bathroom, seeing the small family photo hanging opposite of the toilet. She spotted Nathan immediately, noticing how he towered over his small brother and mother. She didn't see a father in the photo but didn't want to assume that he didn't have one.

Nathan walked down the stairs slowly, spotting his mother at the bottom of the staircase. He knew she wouldn't be happy with Callie, she didn't like it when he brought home random people.