Rodeo Family

The Back Roads

I tried to type in his password so I can get to the music without having to constantly press skip. It took 3 tries before I finally unlocked it. I went to genres and went over to country. His country is filled with George Strait, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, and a few Tim McGraw songs that I put on his phone from my computer. 

"I will give you a crisp dollar if I can play my music on my phone. I can't really give you anymore. But I can give you my undying love and affection. I already give that to you. I don't have much to offer."

He sighs and looks over. He grabs my hand from my lap. His other hand on the wheel. His hand warms up my hands that always seem to be freezing cold all of the time. "You give me more than enough. I don't need money. But I do need you. So if you promise me that you won't leave me for someone who is more deserving, I will let you play your music."

"I promise to never leave you. And no one else is as deserving as you are. I am trash. I can't do much."

"You are tough. Whenever you get hurt you tend to come back at some point. Which I admire. I don't know anyone who does that. I only see that from you. Give yourself some credit. It's not fair that you are so hard on yourself."

"Please, I'm not that awesome." Adam looks at me like a puppy at the shelter. I grab my purse. I grab my wallet and grab my phone. I take off the case to put in the AUX chord. I turn up the phone volume and turn down the volume to the stereo to make sure that no one will lose hearing when I play the first song. 

"I am going to lay down a few ground rules," Adam announces. "No My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, and no new country!"

I sigh in response and play Revolution Radio. Adam notices the guitar opening and instantly turns up the volume. I start scrolling through my music to find another song. I go against Adam's rule and decide to play 80s Mercedes. I roll down the window. I look at the temperature on the dash. 90 degrees.

I lean against the door and look up. The sky is pink mixed with orange. Like the kind where you have to walk outside and take a picture because it takes your breath away. The smell of cow manure is almost comforting. People who live in the city would be appalled at the fact I enjoy that smell. It reminds me of home. Where I feel like I can be who and what I want. That's something I was never really used to. 

I don't notice the fact my phone is playing the country playlist. I snap out of my day dreaming state of mind when I hear Adam singing. Murder on Music Row. We switch off singing certain parts like it was already rehearsed. He usually sings the George Strait sections while I sing Alan Jackson's part of the song. 

Adam readjusts himself to say something. "Alright. This might sound strange but, close your eyes. Don't cheat. And I'm not going to hurt you so don't be scared."

I close my eyes and start laughing because I have no idea what he is doing. I start to think what could be happening. Maybe he is just taking me to a spot he found that just has a nice view. As he is driving I can hear the tires against dirt. I can smell the dust coming through the open window. Then I could smell freshly cut grass and hear tires on pavement instead of the dirt. 

"Keep your eyes closed until I otherwise." I can hear the tires on the gravel as Adam speaks. "Okay, open your eyes."

I open my eyes and see two horses tacked up. They are both quarter horses. One is a palomino mare who is about 15.3 hands. The other horse is a black gelding about 16 hands. They are both being held by Gen, who is the Captain of me and Adam's company on the fire department. They are her horses. I can see her trailer about 50 feet away. 

"Alright. I didn't get two new horses. But I want to take you on a ride. I know Zeus isn't really keen on trailers yet. So I asked Gen about borrowing her horses for an hour or two. A little sunset ride."

I jump out of the truck and Gen hands me the reins to the palomino. "Have fun Rain," Gen says. "This is Delilah. She can get pretty grouchy sometimes. She also loves to run. She used to do barrels so she likes to get high spirited. Just a little warning. Nothing you can't handle though. Get on!"

I get on Delilah and she nudges the gelding next to her. Gen gives the reins to Adam. "Try not to die. You're riding Nix. He is a push button pony even though he is 16 hands. You'll be fine. And you know how to ride most of the time." Adam swiftly gets in the saddle. We thank Gen and tell her we will meet in the same place in less than an hour. 

Adam is riding next to me and we are able to hold hands. 

"Adam, this is amazing. This is fantastic. I don't need anything else. I love this. And I love you"

"I had fun planning it out for you. I'm glad you enjoy it. And I love you too. I love you more than the world Rain. But do you see that house?" Adam points to a huge 2 story house. It has a barn with a paddock attached to it. The grass is perfectly cut and there is a stone pathway to the front doors. "That is going to be our new house. I know you always wanted a huge ranch home and my mom is paying for half of it until we get some profit from it. And it has enough room to-"

I cut Adam off and lunge at him to hug him. I almost knock him off of the horse. "No you didn't!" I was so exited. I felt like our future was finally coming together. I can't believe this is happening! I never imagined this to actually come true. 

"Okay Rain, I love you but I'm falling off the horse."

"Sorry!"

Adam laughs and gets himself centered in the saddle. He smiles and gives me a look. He has a smirk on his face.

"What? Do I got a hickey or something?" I say to Adam while rubbing my neck. He laughs in response and turns his horse around and mine follows. I start to trot up behind his horse. I notice Adam kick his horse up as well. We were right next to each other. The horses were shoulder to shoulder. At the exact same time, we raced each other all the way down the fence. I was surprised to see how fast Adam was able to go. 

Delilah was holding back. I could feel it. I was sitting while she was galloping. Her stride was pretty long for a horse that was only 15.3. I look over at Adam and he is barely out of his saddle. He was holding his horse back. 

"Go to the willow tree. Winner gets to choose music on the ride back home!" Adam drops his rein down to his horses neck and that black gelding took off like a bullet. I get my ass off of the saddle and Delilah lurched forward. I thought I was going to come off before that horse reached full speed. I started to get ahead of Adam. He was getting ready to stop before the tree. I know Adam can't master the barrel racer stop. Adam is used to the long sliding stop. Which he couldn't do now. I used this to my advantage.

I started to hustle Delilah. She knew where she needed to stop. Adam was about 5 strides behind. When we reached our finish point she jerked it to the right to stop. I laugh and put my hand on her rump to calm her down. When she completely stopped I rubbed her neck. She didn't even start to sweat. I look at Adam and he has his phone out taking pictures. I shoot him a glare. I hate people taking pictures of me. But the problem is he's really good at taking pictures. These pictures will be framed later. He will end up editing editing them so they look like a professional photographer took them.

We walk the horses out on our way back. I can see Gen filling out paperwork on her truck. She looks up and notices us. "Did you guys have fun?" Adam and I get off the horses. 

"I'll be in the truck in a minute Rain." Adam says. Gen holds her hand out to take the reins. I walk over to the truck. Gen and Adam start talking. I have no idea what they are talking about. It looks like Gen is talking about issues the horses might have. They both laugh and give each other a friendly hug. Adam starts to walk away and wave goodbye. 

He opens the door to the truck and starts it. "We should be ready to move in a few months!" I look over at him and he leans over and hold me for about 30 seconds. He lets go and looks at the AUX chord. I laugh. He's trying not to say anything about the fact I won our little race. 

"I'm the winner!" I say as I grab the chord.