𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝐷𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

Chapter 18

(Y/N) P.O.V

     I was out in the field with the cows when I heard the creak of the gate. I looked over my shoulder, to see Chris standing there, hands shoved in his pockets, looking lost. Our eyes met and I waved him over. He walked over to me, carefully avoiding cow pies and such. He stood towering beside me and it was my turn to stand there with my hands shoved in my pockets.

       There were twelve cows in this pasture in particular. The pasture behind the cabin were my personal cows. These cows were more like friends to me, many of them I've been with since their birth. I kept more cows in a pasture behind the barn, but those were beef cattle.

     Chris was about to speak up when he was gently head butted from behind. He lost his balance for a split second, but quickly stood back up and turned around to look for the culprit. Humphrey was standing behind us, standing there and looking innocent as could be. I chuckled at him and patted him on the head and neck. He just stood there and enjoyed the scratches. I looked over at Chris and he looked at me like I was a madwoman.

"Cmon, don't be shy! He's friendly." I waved him over and he hesitantly let Humphrey smell him.

     Humphrey then licked Chris's hand and he gave a disgusted look and wiped his hand on his pants. I laughed a genuine belly laugh at him and leaned against Humphrey for support. Chris just shook his head and smiled at me and gestured to the rest of the cows in the pasture, all in the same general area.

"Do they all have names as well?"

I just nodded at him and pointed them all out.

*******

After Chris and I patted all the cows and such, we went to the front porch to just sit. After sitting there for a while, I had one thought that stayed in the back of my mind. So, naturally, I had to voice it.

"When are you gonna head home?"
He looked at me, almost hurt.

"Uh- I can head home anytime now, I just. Uhm.....Yeah." His face was a deep shade of scarlet red and he started to twiddle his thumbs.

"Oh! I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I mean.. you can stay as long as you'd like." I smiled at him softly and he nodded. We sat there in awkward silence for a little bit until I got a fantastic idea.

"Have you ever rode a horse before?"

*****

We had already tacked up Storm and Jessie. All that was left to be done now, was to ride. Once I mounted Storm and settled down, I looked at Chris expectantly and he just stood there nervously.

"Just put your left foot in the stirrup, hold onto the saddle, and pull yourself over." He looked at me like I was speaking ancient Roman and I just sighed.

Chris P.O.V.

She jumped down from her high saddle and went over to me. She pointed at the foot thingy and said:

"Stirrup."

I nodded and put my left foot through the hole. She took my hand and placed it on the saddle. Her hand lingered there for a second, then she took a step back. I looked at her confused as she gestured to Jessie.

"Pull yourself up solider!" She chuckled and I tried a couple of times, but failed.

I looked over at her with a helpless look and stuck my lip out and pouted at her. She giggled and I smiled at her. She went to the gate and I turned my attention back to the horse. I tried to take my foot out of the stirrup, but it was stuck. I panicked and when I tried to move, I fell, my foot still in the stirrup. Oh no. I tried to pull it out but it wouldn't budge, oh this is just great.

(Y/n) walked back over to me and she broke our into a fit of hysterical laughter at my helpless look and of the situation. She put down the bucket that she was holding and squatted down beside my face.

"What have you gotten yourself into Mr Evans?" She tried to contain her giggle at the sight of Chris. His foot was in the air, stuck in the stirrup, and the rest of him laying on the ground.

She got up and walked over to my problem. She took her small hand and gently pushed my foot to the right and it slipped right out. She smiled cockily at me and pranced back over to get the bucket, not even helping me up. I scoffed and hoisted myself off of the ground. I dusted myself off and shook my head. When I looked up, (y/n) was standing there with a bucket in her hands and a soft smile on her face. I looked at her questioning oh and pointed at the bucket. She motioned over to Jessie, who was standing there patiently waiting. She put the bucket down on the ground upside down. She pointed to the bucket.

"You can use it as a stool, since the other way didn't work out so well." She stifled a giggle with her hand.

"Yeah yeah, laugh all you want." I said bluntly as I stepped on the bucket and got onto the horse with ease.

*****

(Still Chris POV)

We had been riding for a while, she took me to this place off her property. It was further down the road and had a nice little trail cut through the forest. We slowly made our way through the trail, side by side, in comfortable silence. I could feel (y/n) stealing glances at me every chance she got. We met each others eyes a few times, but just laughed off the awkwardness. We made our way to a small clearing and she hopped off of Storm. I dismounted my horse as well and just let him roam free, the same as (y/n) had done with hers. The horses walked off to go graze as me and (Y/n) made our way to the middle of the clearing. She stopped abruptly and plopped down in the grass. I followed her lead and did the same. She laid down in the grass and just stared up at the sky.

I watched her contently. I admired how her eyes darted across the sky and how they shut for short period of time when the sun was directly in her eyes or when she just listened to the sounds around her. It was in that moment that I realized I was in love. Yes, I was falling madly in love with this woman that I met not even a week ago.