Texas Tea - Post Malone

Ace

Indy's mouth forms an O and her heart melts at the sight of the sweet little calf. "How about...Lucky?" she suggests, admittedly waiting for Matty and Jimmy to scoff at her suggestion. "Perfect! She is lucky! You wanna feed her?" Matty asks putting Lucky down. Jimmy holds out a bottle full of milk with a large teat to Indy. Indy takes it and then kneels in front of Lucky, holding the bottle to her mouth. Lucky latches on immediately and waves her little tail around as she sucks. Indy can feel her heart squeeze and she starts stroking Lucky's coat. "Take her again without me knowing and I will drown you in the river," she hears Austin whisper behind her. "Boy, I was scared of Cottenwood. You may look like him, even sound like him. But, I ain't scared of you," Jimmy says with a soft laugh, Austin laughs too. Indy loves how close Austin is to his father, she knows they speak almost every day.

"Where is her mother?" Indy asks Matty. Matty's smile drops. "She was an old heifer. Lucky was a high-risk pregnancy...the ranch took her back," he says softly. He looks crushed. "I am still learnin'. Still make mistakes..." he says. He looks so sad that Indy wants to hug him. She feels Austin kneel next to her and watches him make Matty look at him. "It's just the way it is. You can't control nature, you can only respect it," he says softly. Matty nods his head and then wraps his arms around Austin's neck tightly. "You will need to keep her in the barn, Matty, keep her warm," Evelyn says from above Indy. Indy turns her head and looks at her, her mouth drops open at the sight. Evelyn is sitting on the back of a beautiful caramel mare, her Stetson high. She looks close to angelic - a real cowgirl. "You unlocked that barn," Jimmy comes up beside her, also now on a horse. Evelyn gives him a pointed look while she tries to hide her smile.

"Oh...you mean she will have to sleep in the barn?" Indy asks standing up and looking at Evelyn. "Aye," she says. "But, but she is just a baby. She is so tiny...she will be all alone and scared," Indy says. Evelyn looks at her and cocks her head, curious.

"Where would you suggest she sleep?"

Indy looks around, all she can see is cows. "She can sleep in my room. I will make a bed for her next to me and I will feed her whenever she needs. Even in the middle of the night," Indy says. "No animals in the house," Matty sighs. Evelyn takes in a sharp breath and looks at Austin who gives her the tiniest nod. "Just this once," she says then flicks her reins and rides off with Jimmy who is chuckling behind her. "Was that a yes?" she asks turning to look at Matty and Austin who are looking at her with surprised faces. "Does this mean we are vegan now?" Matty asks. "Suppose we can eat chicken still," Austin says with a small laugh. What? "She is your responsibility now, you be good to her. I will be watchin'," Matty says grinning at her before he bounces away. "Sorry...did I overstep?" Indy asks. "No, darlin'. You didn't overstep," he says bending down and scooping Lucky up. "Your mom didn't look too happy," Indy says staying close to him as they walk through the cows and eventually reach the truck.

"Na, you just reminded her of someone," he says flicking his head at the door for her to open. "Who?" Indy asks opening the door and then hopping in and holding out her arms for Lucky. Austin places Lucky gently in her arms and then looks at her. "My grandmother. Her mother. She too had a knack of falling in love with farm animals and getting them past the kitchen threshold," he says. "I do love her," Indy says cuddling Lucky closer and kissing her wet nose. "And I love you, for it," Austin says laughing before he closes his truck door. "Why does your mom keep the barn locked?" Indy asks as they drive past. There is no one for miles around and she is sure there is nothing but hay in there. Austin throws his head back and laughs. "I will show you sometime," he says.

Back at the ranch house, Austin helps her carry Lucky in and past Linda who shakes her head at them before she goes back to packing lunch. They make her a fluffy comfy bed on the floor right next to Indy's side of the bed and then Indy gives her another big feed, patting her back as she falls asleep with Peppermint curled next to her. 'Good boy," Indy whispers to Peppermint with a scratch behind the ear then follows Austin downstairs begrudgingly. "How long will we be? I don't want to leave her too long," she says as Austin takes the packed lunches from Linda. "She will sleep for a few hours and Linda is here. She will be fine, Darlin'," he says. She feels a little conflicted, she wants to go with Austin but she wants to stay with Lucky too. She chooses Austin in the end. Go figure.

They climb back in his truck and then she looks at all the things Austin points out on the ranch as they drive around dropping off lunch with what seems like hundreds of cowboys. The ranch is huge and she has lost count of how many cattle they drive past. She does giggle when she notices almost every cowboy has either a turkey on the back of their horse in a special saddle or a hog like Austin's running alongside their horse. "Do you have a horse?" Indy asks as they stop by a lone cowboy who is resting under a tree. "Yes and no," Austin says as he climbs out. What does that mean?

"Come on, I want you to meet someone."

"More family?"

"Something like that."

Indy gets out of the truck and walks with Austin over to the tree. As they get closer she sees the cowboy leaning on the tree is fast asleep. Austin kicks his boot softly. "Sleepin' on the job, Ace?" he says. The cowboy jumps awake and lifts his Stetson to reveal his face. He is old. He has a thick grey maustash that covers most of his top lip and his skin looks rougher than the cherry blossom trunk. "Boy, every time you pop up without warnin' I think I have died, and that crazy asshole has come callin'. You need a cowbell," Ace says. His Southern accent is thicker than Linda's and his voice is deep, raspy, and slow. This is a real cowboy, an original one - even more so than Jimmy. She watches his jaw move slowly then he turns and spits something out of his mouth, still chewing when he looks back at Austin - his face unimpressed.

"I brought someone for you to meet, Ace," Austin says. Ace looks past Austin then and directly at Indy. His face does not soften nor does he smile sweetly as he looks at her. Then she watches him stand up slowly, it looks like he has to fight the ground to let him go. He walks up to her slowly, towering above her, and is very intimidating even though he is much smaller and thinner than Austin. She swallows thickly. He sizes her up for a few seconds then takes his Stetson off and holds it to his chest. "I have worked on Cottonwood since I was fifteen. Been through three generations. The first Evelyn Post was a pain in my ass. The first Austin Post was a bigger pain in my ass. The second Evelyn Post is a current pain in my ass. I hope I die before the second Austin Post takes up his reins. The only redeeming quality any of them ever had were the people they chose to marry," he says then she sees his mustache move slightly, she thinks he is smiling at her so she smiles back at him. He is deathly scary, but she likes him. "Ma'am," he says winking at her then placing his Stetson on his head before he turns around and walks off, a large brown horse walking slowly behind him as he disappears into the field.

"That is my grandfather's best friend. The closest thing he had to a brother. My family honors him as such and he will be placed under the old oak when he dies...won't be long now."

"Should he not be in a care home or retired? Should we just have left him to walk off like that?"

Austin laughs and shakes his head as he takes her hand and pulls her back to his truck. "He is a cowboy, baby. He was born with that Stetson on his head. They work the land till the day they die. Hopefully, he will die on his next cattle run, asleep under a tree...just as my grandfather did."