Heartland: My Journey

Chapter #6

I woke up, dreaming about Caleb and last night.  He finally said it.  He told me he loved me and I didn't have to say it first.  Even though I was going to say it first, I kinda chickened out.  And now I don't know how I feel about it.  I was messed up last night and I couldn't think straight.  So, I think I have to avoid Caleb today.

I got out of bed and put on a red button up shirt and threw on a pair of blue jeans.  I said good morning to Jack and Lou as I passed them in the kitchen.

"Chick!" Jack called after me.  "Can you come here, please?"

"Did I do something wrong, Jack?" I asked.  "I legit just woke up." I walked back from opening the door to the kitchen.

"No, uh--" Lou started.  "We just wanted to make sure that you're okay with Clint coming today."

"If not, we can postpone it--" Jack said.

"No.  I'm comfortable with Clint coming.  I just needed to have a nice sleep and clear my head a bit more," I said.  "I still think I need some time to mull things over, so I figured I'd go for a ride and rope a cow to bring up."

"Do you need some help?" Jack asked, starting to stand up.

"No, I got it.  Don't worry.  Remember, I'm an All Around Cowgirl.  I got the buckle to prove it," I said, smirking.

"Right, right.  Just be warned, those steers don't move very well by themselves," Jack said, sipping his coffee.

"Yeah, yeah," I said.  "Thanks for the tip."

"Be careful," Lou said.

"I'll be back by lunch," I said.  I exited out the front door while quickly grabbing my hat.  A bell rang from a bike.

Mallory pedalled in, looking dazed and tired.  "Hi, Chick.  Where are you going?  Can I come too?" She asked.

"Really, Mallory?  This early with the questions?  No, you can't come," I said, walking to the barn.  I opened the barn doors and saw Ty coming down the stairs from the loft.

"Oh, hey," he greeted, flipping his hands through his bed head.  "How are you feeling about today?"

I shrugged.  "I don't know.  But I need to talk to you about something.  I need to grab a few steers, you wanna join?" I walked to the back, hooking a cotton rope on Spirit's halter.  I tied him up to one of the side poles in the aisle.

"Yeah, sure.  I'll tack up," Ty said.  He grabbed another horse, a dark red colour.  Like the colour of a cherry.  He brushed the horse down, just as I was and then put the saddle cushion on, followed by the saddle.

I did up all the straps, making sure my saddle wouldn't fall off as I was riding.  I grabbed three ropes, two for myself and one for Ty so we could practice our roping skills before actually catching the cattle.

I led Spirit outside so I had more room to get on top of him, but that was a bad idea because Caleb just drove in.  I looked back at Ty.  "That's the thing I wanted to talk to you about," I said.

Caleb jumped out of the driver's side door and smiled at me.  But, man, was his smile ever Odelicious.  He was walking towards us, but I just kept staring.  There's nothing I could do to stop.  I saw him a whole different way now.

"Hey," he said to me.  He grabbed my waist and kissed me unexpectedly.  "What's up?"

"Nothing much.  I'm just going on a ride to go get some of your cows so you can work on your bulldogging," I said, stroking my horse's neck.

"Oh, you mind if I join you?" Caleb asked.  He let go of my waist and put his hands in his jean pockets.  He stared at me as I stared back, getting caught in his beautiful blue eyes.