Cowboy Take Me Away

Dammit Mom!

"Dammit mom, you didn't tell me DaKota was coming!!" I yelled through the living room as she sat at the kitchen table. "Why is she here?" 

"She's following up with JW. She's the one who stitched him up." She says as she sips her morning coffee. When did she start working on her own? Did she finally become a veterinarian?  

I shake off my proud distraction and get back on track, "Well you're going to have to talk with her, I have to feed the cows." I say as I put the bowl in the sink and quickly run up the stairs. 

"Why don't you just talk to her!" My mother yells at me as I'm on the stairs, and it makes me stop and look outside and look at her go into the barn. 

"I can't." I say in a torn voice, because I really couldn't talk to her or else I might give in and ruin something good for her. 

                                      ******** DAKOTA ***********

I examine JW's sutures and staples, the wound was really healing nicely, I'm proud of myself. The should be falling out in a couple weeks or less I suspect. I give JW a nice rub all around his body and give him a treat I took from my truck. I step out of his stall and the open back door of the barn was open and a movement caught my eye. 

Cooper was carrying a bag of feed to the troughs for the cows. He was wearing a wool blue flannel and a black felt with a feather on it. "How's he looking?" Really good. 

I snap my head towards Desiree who's bundled up in a warm winter coat and wearing some fuzzy gloves. "He's looking really good. The staples and stitches should come out by themselves in a couple weeks or less." 

"That's good news, thanks for coming out." She said as she walked me out of the barn. 

"No problem, always looking for a reason to work with horses." I smile as I put my kit in the back seat of the pickup. "See ya around, Desiree." I nod to her as I get in my truck. 

"Bye, thanks again!" She waved as I shut my door. It was too weird being out there with Cooper there, and not even talking to him. It feels just like yesterday that I was sneaking out here to hang out with him, and Desiree being content that I was with him. 

But that isn't how is anymore. Cooper is obviously avoiding me, doing anything he can to not be around me. It's so confusing! How can he go from telling me our future together to not being able to look me in the eye? As I'm driving I realize that my knuckles are turning white from gripping the stearing wheel too tight. I take a breath and loosen my grip and turn my focus on driving on the icy roads. 

I park my own pickup in the parking lot of a bridal store in the town of Bowman. We don't have a bridal place in Hudson, so we had to come over here. The reason I am here today is to give the rest of the bridesmaid their dresses and make any alterations to them if needed, and Taylor still needs to pick out a dress. I might seem crazy to someone that her wedding is in three days and she still doesn't have a dress, but that's not the case. She is stuck between three dresses, and needs her friends opinions. Her first appointment was with her mom and aunt, and they couldn't make a decision, so now she calls on us. 

I walked through the front door carrying the six dresses with coat hangers and covers, for protection of the harsh weather elements. The girls were waiting for me already and when they saw me they stood up and took some of the dresses from me. "I can't wait to try this on!" Molly says as she hangs the covered dress in front of her. 

The bridesmaids consisted of me, Molly, Ashley, Jessica, Reyna, and her cousin Bailey. Bailey is only a couple years younger than us, so we don't have to treat her like a baby. She fits in with us because she's a cowgirl too, so she knows how wild we can get.