True Love Waits

Chapter Thirty Two

      Maleena sat on the back of Bullet, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. There was no way that this was real. Blinking three times, Maleena still couldn't believe what she saw. Cody. He was here...in the arena...in Wyoming, when he was supposed to be in Colorado, touring colleges. This whole week he had apologized, saying that he was going to miss her ride, but now here he was. How on earth did he pull this off? Maleena didn't care how he did it, she just cared that he did. 

     Jumping off the back of her horse as quick as a calf roper, Maleena sprinted forward, lunging herself into Cody's arms, knocking him back slightly with an "umph" at the impact. 

      Maleena had been so excited and surprised to see Cody that she didn't even notice he was holding a bouquet of flowers for her in his hand. 

       Tightly wrapping her arms around him, Maleena breathed in Cody's scent, holding him close to her and never wanting to let go. "I missed you so much. I can't believe that you are actually here." She muffled into his shirt. 

      The crowd surrounding them was deafeningly loud, but all Cody and Maleena could hear were themselves saying how much they missed each other. 

        "I couldn't miss your run. I have been drivin' all day to get back here in time." Cody pulled back for a second, putting only enough distance between them to give Maleena the bouquet of flowers. "I called Rose this morning and told her my plans, and I made sure she was going to record this whole thing, so you would have me coming in to surprise you on video." Cody grinned, jerking his head back towards where Rose stood on the top of the bleachers, holding up Maleena's cell phone, and her own, recording with both. Making eye contact with Rose, she gave Maleena a huge smile.

      Looking back to her boyfriend, Maleena's smile was as wide as the Rio Grande. "Thank you." She lurched forward again, embracing her boyfriend. 

        Just then, someone in the stands loudly shouted, "Kiss him!" There was only one person that voice could have belonged to: Rose. 

      The whole entire arena crowd all joined in on the chant, saying repeatedly, "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Some folks even began to stomp their boots against the metal bleacher steps. 

       With a chuckle, Maleena pulled back to look at Cody. "The crowd has spoken. We should probably kiss before a riot breaks out." She said, only partially teasing. 

       Removing his cowboy hat with one hand, grabbing Maleena's face with his other, Cody lowered his head, dropping a long kiss on Maleena's lips, right there, in the middle of the arena, with thousands of fans watching. 

       Tapping her lips against Cody's quickly twice more, Maleena pulled back, grabbing his hand as she walked back to Bullet. As they walked, Cody placed his cowboy hat back on his head, that smile never faltering from his lips. 

        A photographer asked the riders to stay mounted on their horses so she could take a few pictures. Cody, being a gentleman, gave Maleena a leg up, back into the saddle, and was about to walk away, when the photographer called his name, telling him to stay in the picture. Cody obliged, proudly standing next to his girlfriend and Bullet. 

      After all of the pictures were taken, awards given, Maleena dismounted from her trust mount again, lifting the reins over his head. "Want me to walk him out for you?" Cody asked, holding out his hand. 

      "Sure, thanks." Maleena smiled, grabbing Cody's free hand in hers, walking with him out of the arena. In her left hand, she held the large cardboard check, and the flowers that Cody had given her. All of this still seemed like a dream to her, and it was not one that she wanted to wake up from. 

                                                             ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          "Fifteen thousand dollars to your name. You. You won fifteen grand. What on earth are you goin' to do with all that money?" Cody asked, later that night as him and Maleena were working around the rodeo grounds, picking up trash and other disposables that folks had left around the grounds. 

        Maleena straightened, various cardboard cups and food wrappers in her hands. With a chuckle, she replied. "You know, I don't really know, to be honest. I will probably give a lot to church in tithing, and give some to charities. The rest will go into my savings to save up for college." Getting a faraway look in her eyes, Maleena realized something. "Man, I'm a senior this year...that means that next year I will be in your shoes, lookin' for colleges. Wow, how time flies." Looking at Cody, she saw him grinning, making his way over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. 

          "Hey now, don't you go talkin' about goin' to college. I can't bear the thought of you leavin' me." Cody grinned down at his girlfriend who was all dolled up with her performance makeup, wearing her nicest pearl snap shirt with her dressiest riding jeans. She was hardly unrecognizable, but those blue eyes were one thing that she could never hide. 

         Pulling back slightly, Maleena went back to picking up the trash from the bleachers. "Ugh, don't even say that word. 'Leaving.' It just makes it sound like the person won't ever come back. I just don't like the connotation." 

        "I came back early to see you ride, didn't I?" Cody changed the subject, tossing a handful of trash into the plastic bag on the ground. 

         "Yeah, speaking of that, how on earth did you manage to pull that off? Your timing was pretty amazing." 

       "You're pretty amazing, yourself." Cody flirted, taking a couple more seconds to admire his girlfriend. 

         A blush rising on her neck and cheeks, Maleena smiled. "I'm serious." She walked closer to Cody, playfully swatting his chest. 

        "I am, too. But, honey, I have had this whole thing planned since the day after I left for the trip. Originally, I really did not think I would be able to come, which is why I asked you to have Rose film it, but then I decided that seein' you win would be something I definitely did not want to miss out on, so I talked to my parents, and came back a day early. I called Rose first thing this morning, and told her my plans. I'm glad that it worked out as well as it did." 

        "I'm so glad that it did. You are the best, Cody, really." Maleena sidled up to his side, wrapping her arms around his middle, dropping a kiss on his lips. 

         Cody rested his hands around Maleena's neck, letting out a deep sigh. "Hey, what are you doin' tomorrow night?" 

         Maleena tilted her head to the side, trying to read her boyfriend's expression. "Nothing that I know of yet, why?" 

         "Well, I was thinkin'..." He hesitated, becoming nervous. 

         "Uh oh, that's dangerous. What were you thinkin'?" 

         "I wanted to ask you to dinner...at my place. I was thinkin' it's about time for you to meet my parents." 

          "Really? Cody, are you serious? Yes, of course I am game. I think that sounds perfect!" Maleena became excited at the recommendation. 

          "Alright, sounds good. I am glad you are as excited about this as I am." Cody replied, relieved. He was concerned that she would be hesitant, but it was evident that that was not the case. 

           "I am very excited. Now, we should probably get back to cleanin' this place up, or else your parents might not be too happy since they do own the place." Maleena winked, turning back to her task at hand. The longer they worked on cleaning up the diminished crowd's mess that they left, the more and more nervous Maleena came for tomorrow.