Team USA Ducks

4.

Texas

Wednesday, November 4

Dwayne and I got ready that morning and Casey took us over to the airport so we could get on the plane and go to Texas. I was really excited about going.

"You didn't bring your hockey stuff with you did you?" Dwayne asked me and I shook my head.

"Nah, I'm going to fly back before I fly home and get it. No sense of bringing a lot more with me. Besides, do you plan on going on the ice while I am down there?" I asked him and he shook his head.

"Absolutely not. I plan on takin' you to a rodeo and you gettin' new boots." He said, I'm smiled.

"Sounds good to me, I really could use a break from hockey and the ice for a while." I said.

"Well when you're down in Texas with me, you'll forget about hockey. I know you're just itchin' to get some boots." he said and I looked at him.

"How did you know about my boot list?" I asked him as we boarded the plane.

"You have a boot list?" He asked me and I nodded my head.

"Of course. Who doesn't. I had one for Pennsylvania but I got all of the boots that I wanted there. It was easier considering I live there." I said and he smiled.

"Huh, maybe I need to make one of those." He said and I chuckled.

"I can't wait to get all of the boots on my list from the Texas one." I said and he smiled and laughed.

"How many list do you have?" He asked as we put our bags in the overhead and I sat down.

"Well I did have 12. Now 11 until I do get to Texas then 10." I said and he just shook his head and smiled.

"How do you have all the room for this?" He asked me and I chuckled. I grabbed my phone and got on my pictures. I showed him what my room looks like, two closets, how big it is, own little office, bathroom and whatever else. His face when I showed him it too. I just chuckled.

"My gosh, didn't think you were rich." He said and I looked down and stopped smiling.

"Actually I'm not, it's our land but a few years back our house burnt down to the ground, lost everything except some things that we had in the shed and garage and storage. Since it burnt to the ground, we had insurance on the house and a lot of other things that were in the house too and we got a lot of money back from that. Plus people in the community helped out too. It was like one big donation. They rebuilt the house and made it a lot bigger than it was before. They even remodeled the barn, the garage and the shed just in case anything happened like that again." I said and I didn't realize but he put his hand on my hand.

"I'm so sorry about what happened to you. I had no idea." He said and I looked up at him and half smiled.

"It's okay. I don't like talking about it. Coach, Charlie, Guy and Goldberg were the only ones who knew and now you." I said. He looked at me.

"You mean you didn't tell anyone else, not even Dean?" He asked me and I looked at him confused.

"Why would I tell Dean?" I asked.

"Oh come on Tinsley, I know you like Dean and you two have gotten pretty close, so I thought maybe you told him." He said and I shook my head.

"Does everyone seem to know I like him?" I asked and he looked at me.

"I'm not sure. I know I can see it, not sure how many others." He said and I nodded my head. That's good to know.

We got to Texas and Dwayne told me that his dad was waiting outside for us. I got a plane ticket for back to Minnesota and we eventually went out to the truck. We put everything single bag we had in the back of the truck except certain ones like my actual purse. When we did walk out Dwayne didn't look to happy.