Holdin' On To You

12. A Beautiful Ride

Keith had told me to head upstairs to get ready for the day. I wasn't sure what he had planned, but it didn't matter. There was an exciting rush that ran through my body. The idea of spending the majority of the day with him gave me butterflies. How could someone make you feel such a rush just at the idea of being with them?

 While getting ready to spend the day with him, these thoughts kept crossing my mind. It was obvious that Keith was winning as of right now, and my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. When I looked at Keith, I saw much more than what most people see. I saw a man who had figured out how to piece me back together. He was perfect in every way. When I was with him, Blake had never crossed my mind. Time would stop with Keith. Time would always stop. But it wasn't just those things; it was also the fact that he was never fearful when it came to fighting for me. He always seems to want to pull my heart to safety. That meant more to me than he would ever know. For him, this didn't seem like it was a contest. For him, it seemed to be about real love and sacrifice, and for me, that meant the world.

My mind was dwindling with thoughts as I finally finished getting ready to spend the day with Keith. I took a final look in the mirror to take one last look at myself before I met Keith downstairs. Once I decided that I liked my appearance, my body headed down the stairs anxiously to meet Keith. Once my feet had reached the bottom of the stairs, I had spotted Keith waiting for me. Why was my mind so fogged up when it came to him? I couldn't think straight. "Hey," I somehow managed to look out as I met him in the middle of the floor.

"You look beautiful,' he said with no hesitation as he eyed me up and down. My cheeks flushed at his sweet words. "Well, are you ready to head out?" he asked holding his hand out so I could grab a hold of it.

"I'm definitely ready," I said as my hand took a hold of his allowing him to lead me out of the house. As soon as we exited, I locked up the house and we were on our way. He had opened the passenger side of his mustang for me and let me get comfortable as I got in. After we both got comfortable in the car, he drove for a while before he pulled into a parking space.

I smiled as I looked around at the surroundings, which there wasn't much of. We had parked in a vacant parking lot, and the view was nothing but wildflowers and a field where you could see for miles. I had wondered where he was taking me.

Keith had gotten out and came to the other side to help me out of the vehicle to go wherever he was leading me. The man took my hand and led me a ways until we reached a vacant barn from what it had looked like. As we came closer, I spotted a pickup truck waiting, with the tailgate down as it looked out at the mountains. We soon approached, and Keith had revealed a picnic set up for two in the bed of the truck. My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped as I saw what was set up before me. "Oh my gosh! Keith, this is so cute, and sweet and... I love it!" I hugged him tightly and let him lead me onto the bed so we can start our picnic date.

We both sat down, and Keith revealed a meal of sandwiches, chips, and a coke for the both of us. Yep, I could say that Keith was stealing my heart one moment at a time. "Is this okay?" he asked as he revealed the lunch to me. I let out a light giggle and nodded. "Of course it is, sweetheart. This is perfect. What a special afternoon." Keith smiled at my response and kissed me on the cheek.

What a magical afternoon it was. Spending time with a wonderful man, eating wonderful food and having a beautiful view was my idea of perfection. He knew me. He knew I would love the picnic in the bed of the truck. He knew I would love the barn. Maybe he had listened to me all those times we had talked after all, which had made me fall for him even more.

After we had both finished eating, Keith had revealed that he had another surprise for me. He gently helped me down from the truck and led me into the barn. After stepping into the barn, horses began to make sounds as if we were the only people they had seen for some time. My already wide smile turned into a huge grin. I loved horses. "Baby, what are we doing?"

Keith then looked at me and smiled, "we're going riding, sweetheart."

"Riding?" I said excitedly. "Oh my gosh!!"

Keith laughed lightly and took a hold of my hand leading me to the horse stalls. "Now, I know you are better at this than I am, so you're gonna have to teach me a little. " I wasn't quite sure if my smile could get any wide than it already was. It wasn't even the fact that we were riding. It was the fact that he knew I loved riding, and that he remembered. That for me was a big deal.

I nodded and went to a horse stall to see if they were ready for riding. Once I had reached the stalls, I helped the horses and brought them out. "Have you ever ridden before?" I asked him, smiling. He shrugged. "Once or twice, but I'm not the master like you probably are."

I gave him a light smile and signaled for the horses to stay put. "Okay, so the saddles and everything are already taken care of, so now we just have to get on slowly. They are trained for riding, so they know not to go anywhere while you are getting on their backs. But, be gentle. We don't want to scare them."

Keith smiled and gets on the horse gently just as I had demonstrated. I smiled and got onto mine as well. "Good job. You're on a horse," I said with great excitement. For a few more moments I told Keith the basics of riding a horse and then we were on our way.

After a few hours, we had finally stopped the horses and looked out into the beautiful view of the mountains. I couldn't believe that we had been spent such a beautiful afternoon together, and that he had surprised me with two of the greatest things. I looked over at him and smiled, "Thank you for today. I loved spending time with you." My heart was racing as the sun gazed upon his face. He really was something out of this world. He wasn't like most people. He was different. He was Keith.

"I wouldn't have spent it with anyone else but you, baby," he said in a soft whisper. It was for a moment that time had stopped as I looked at him. If there weren't two people in my life, I would've chosen Keith in a heartbeat. But, it wasn't my choice anymore, at least not for right now. I did know though that Keith was already winning the fight, but we would have to see what Blake had in store for that night. There was no telling if it was going to top what I had just experienced, but only time would tell. Until then, I was content with knowing that this afternoon was the most beautiful ride.