"I don't miss waking up early everyday, that's for sure." Emery says, yawning.
I chuckle, looking out at the pasture full of cows. "I miss this though." I nod my head towards the huge field.
We slowly rode along the white fence, on our horses. Charlie held onto the horn of the saddle as our hips slightly rocked back and forth with each step my horse took. We left Christian back at the house, asleep.
"Bwinley?" Charlie grabs my attention, looking up at me.
"Yeah Cutie?"
"Can I wear your hat?" She asks, grinning up at me.
"Of course." I say, grabbing the top of the white, straw, cowboy hat. I set it on top of her head as it slightly falls down on her eyes before she pushes it up.
I smile down at her as she looks up at me, holding onto the rim of the hat with both hands.
"Smile!" Emery says and we both look over at her to see her taking pictures. I grin before she slides her phone back into her back pocket.
With it being seven in the morning, the weather was nice, at about fifty degrees. Perfect for a morning walk, bike ride, or horse ride.
I loosely hold onto the leather horse reins with one hand while my other is wrapped around Charlie. My feet were in the stirrups, spurs attached to my broken in, brown leather cowboy boots. A solid ranch boot at its finest. Plus, the steel toes were nice for kicking shins.
My phone starts vibrating in my back pocket as I reach back, pulling it out.
"Hello?"
"Will y'all run into town and grab some butter?" My mom's voice comes through the other end of the phone.
"Yeah, we'll head that way."
"Thanks Sweetie. Love you."
"Bye, love you."
"We have to run into town and get butter." I say, looking at Emery.
"Sounds good."
"Good mornin'!" Sawyer says as I walk into the kitchen.
"Morning." I say softly, sliding onto one of the white barstools.
"Ya hungry?"
"Starving." I say and she smiles.
"Good. The girls should be back soon." She says and I nod.
"Where are they?"
"They went on a morning horse ride through the pasture and then I sent them to town real quick. You should've seen Charlie's face when Brinley brought Lorelai over." She says, a grin on her face.
"She loves animals." I say. "I think she's in animal wonderland right now."
"Do you have any pets?" Sawyer asks, pouring pancake batter into the skillet.
"No, I've been thinking about getting a dog though."
"Well, we're about to have a whole litter of blue heeler puppies, if you want one." She says and I chuckle.
"I might take you up on that."
One of the front doors open and then slam shut. "Mrs. C! I've missed you." The voice of Logan Howell echoes towards us.
"Hey Christian." Nora says, as they walk past me.
"Come give me hugs." Sawyer says, opening her arms out for the two of them.
"Hey, my mama wants to know if she's supposed to make Christmas bread or not." Logan says, leaning against the counter.
"Yes!" I hear a whole bunch of voices echo around us.
I turn my head to see Brinley, Emery, Charlie, Kevin, and Kenny walking through the mudroom door.
"The fact that you're even asking." Kevin says, patting Logan's shoulder.
"Hey bud, how's married life treating ya?" Kenny asks, hugging him.
"Great." Logan replies, a grin on his face.
"Hi Nora!" Charlie yells, running over to Nora.
"Charlie!" Nora says.
"You have a hat like Brinley!" Charlie reaches up to touch Nora's black cowboy hat. I look over to see Brinley wearing a similar hat.
All three girls had on t-shirts, boot-cut jeans with belts and belt buckles and broken-in cowboy boots. Emery was the only one wearing a baseball cap instead of a cowboy hat.
Brinley's jeans fit her perfectly. Showing off her curvy hips and perfect legs, and her t-shirt was a tad bit looser today. Her dark brown hair was in a low, loose messy bun, with strands that had fallen out, shaping her face. And it seemed like her bangs were pushed up in her hat.
And just like she sensed my gaze, her chocolate brown eyes met mine and a grin immediately spread across her lips.
She walks over to me. "Mornin'!" She says cheerfully, wrapping her arms around my waist.
"Good morning." I say, smiling down at her.
She leans up on her tippy toes, pecking my lips before she turns around, part of her back leaning against me. I throw my arm over her shoulder as we join back in on the conversation.
"You ridin' this weekend Logan?" Kevin asks.
"No, I can't do that shit anymore." Logan says chuckling.
"You know better than to talk like that in my house boy." Sawyer says, a stern look on her face. "Oh, there's a fresh batch of tea in the fridge."
All of the sudden Brinley throws my arm off of her as her, Emery, and Nora all run to the fridge, shoving each other out of the way in the process.
Brinley finally won, swinging the left fridge door open, she pulls out a clear glass pitcher. "Aye! Hands off you little-" Brinley says, slapping Emery's hand away.
"You don't even live here!" Emery says, shoving Nora out of the way.
"You don't either anymore." Nora argues back.
"I'm finishing school, that doesn't count."
"Are you planning on coming back to live with your parents after you get your degree and are..."-Nora looks up at the ceiling for a second-"twenty-six years old?!" She asks.
"Well... No."
"Then you don't live here anymore." Nora snaps.
Brinley sets a plastic cup on the counter with ice in it before pouring sweet tea in it. She sets the pitcher down and Emery grabs it before Nora.
Brinley groans, throwing her head back with her eyes shut. Don't get hard, don't get hard.
I force the image of my grandmother into my head, and any sexual thoughts I was having immediately vanish. Thank God.
"That's it. I moving back home." Brinley says, chugging her drink. "Or I'm gonna need you to start shipping me gallons of tea on a weekly basis."
"I'm not shipping you gallons of sweet tea." Her mom says, shaking her head. "Alright, who's hungry?"
Word Count: 1,079