******** COOPER ********
I groaned once my alarm clock went off, and I rolled over and lazily turned it off. I rolled back onto my stomach and pulled my other pillow over my head. After convincing myself to actually get up and take a shower, I toss the pillow by the foot of the bed. When I reopen my eyes, I see a frame from where my pillow use to lay over.
I picked up the frame and instantly regret it. It was the picture of me and DaKota. I remember this day like it was yesterday when we were sneaking around from her father. I smiled to myself remembering how fearless she was, God I miss her. I put the frame back where it was on the night stand and then I roll out of bed and head to my bathroom and take a shower.
Once I'm done taking a shower, I wrap a towel around my waist and then step out. I turn down my Cody Jinks station and then wipe my hand across the fogged mirror and look at myself through the mirror. My hair was starting to get shaggy but I didn't mind, as long it didn't look too shaggy. I have a reputation to uphold.
I didn't bother to put a shirt on when I went down to breakfast. My brother was at the table eating his favorite cereal, Lucky Charms. He did the thing where you eat the other things first, and saved the marshmallows for last. "Morning buddy." I said as I messed up his hair.
"Where's your shirt?" He asks me with a funny face. I look down at my bare torso and at my jeans and my belt buckle.
"Couldn't find one that I liked." I joked with him.
"You sound like mom." He says and I laugh as my mom's jaw drops.
"Watch it pal!" My mom can't help but laugh at Reese. Man I missed him a lot when I was in jail.
Jail, not the worst place in the world, but I wouldn't recommend it. The first six months were slow as hell because of a certain someone, but after that, it wasn't too bad. My cell mate was pretty cool, he was like me, locked in for being innocent. His name is Matthew. We got pretty close in there and we talk through text daily because he's originally from Wyoming and I obviously live here. While I was in there, he let me drown him in my feelings about DaKota and he gave me good advice, some which I took other ways, but still good advice.
I flipped through the channels on TV in the living room while I ate my cereal, Captain Crunch with berries. I saw Life Below Zero and I clicked on it and starting to indulge in it, taking mental notes for future references. I always saw me and DaKota living in the mountains one day, we are both pretty handy and tough as barbed wire. We could definitely do it. I mean, we could have done it.
As I'm watching the show, I hear a pickup coming down our drive. I stand up bringing my cereal bowl with me and stand in front of the window to get a better look. I didn't recognize the pickup, but as it got closer I read, "Jones' Animal Rescue and Hospital." Then I saw her.
It brought back the feelings of when I saw her in church. I couldn't believe it when I saw her. She was more beautiful from the last time I saw her. Her white shirt made her look like an angel, an angel who could fix anyone, an angel who fixed me. When we locked eyes during communion, I felt, well I can't explain it. I felt everything: pain, anger, sadness, loneliness, I was ecstatic to finally see her. But I couldn't let her see that. I kept my face neutral, because I know she could read my facial expression better than anyone else.
I also couldn't help notice Ryder Baker scoot closer to her and see him glaring at me. I'm not sure if he was trying to look intimidating trying to get his point across, or he was trying to comfort DaKota in some way. I'll admit it, it hurt like hell to see her with him. Especially when I saw them cuddled up in a booth and kissing and laughing. It was so good to see her smile, she had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. I couldn't ruin that for her.
"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.
"Okay, ladies you can follow me." The assistant said and we all followed her to a dressing room big enough for all of us. "I've already tried it on, I'll just wait in the other room." I said as I stopped at the door and held my dress.
So I sat there on the couch with Taylor of the showing room, wearing my blue work scrubs and my hair in a high ponytail. I hear the girls laughing and I turn my head to see them walking out. My jaw drops at the sight. They looked so beautiful and the dresses looked flawless on them! I do a cat whistle and then they start to pose for me, making all of us laugh. "DaKota, you outdid yourself with these dresses." Taylor says as she gets a better look at them.
"Thank you." I shyly said. I felt uncomfortable when attention was drawn to me, I didn't like being the center of attention. Especially when it's all for Taylor.
"C'mon DaKota, put on your dress!" Reyna says and I shake my head no.
"C'mon then we get a bridesmaid picture before the wedding!" Jessica says and then I give in and stand up with my dress and go back into the changing room.
When I tried my dress on at my house, I didn't look at myself in the mirror. I just use my body sense to tell if the dress fit in the right places. But now that I'm here, I see myself in the mirror and I'm shocked. I usually never wear pink, but I'm been told I look good in it, and now I'm starting to believe them. The color of the dress made my naturally dark skin pop and it accented the color of my hair and eyes. But it wasn't about if I looked good or not, it was about the dress accenting Taylor and her dress.
I walked out with my head down, starting at my feet so I didn't trip over the dress and make a fool of myself. When I looked up they all had their mouth's open, gaping at me. "Oh my, DaKota." Taylor says as I stand with the group.
"I look okay?" I joke with them and they chuckle with me.
"A lot more than okay." They say and I then I blush.
"Group hug!" Molly yells out and then we all come together and wrap our arms around each other and embrace the love of our girl gang.
*************
We all squeezed onto the couch that is only for four people, but we didn't mind being that close to each other. Taylor is currently changing in the room, into her third dress. The two other dresses she showed us were really pretty and really flattering, but we all agreed the 'wow' factor wasn't there. We all shut our chattering when we heard the dressing room door close and then we all cranked our heads to get the first look of her.
Holy hot hell in heaven.. She looked absolutely stunning and breath taking. Seriously, I held in my breath when I saw her. I looked at the rest of us and we all shared the same expression. "What do you guys think?" I could tell Taylor had tears in her eyes because she thought the same thing as the rest of us.
"This is the one." We said confidently and then a tear escaped her eye. I could tell we were all getting emotional, even I was starting to feel the water works coming.
"I think so too." Then she wiped her eyes to keep from ruining her mascara.
"You look so beautiful Taylor." I said as I wiped my tear away from my eye.
"Beau is going to die before you even get married." Jessica said and we all laughed, wiping our tears away.
"So this one then?" The assitant laughs and Taylor laughs and nods.
"Yes, this is my wedding dress." Then we all spill out of the couch and go over to and carefully hug her. "I love you guys."
It was about eight o'clock when we walked out of the restaurant, all laughing about something stupid Reyna said to the male host. She said some dumb pickup line like, "Are you speeding ticket? Because you have fine written all over you." Yeah, she was a little intoxicated.
I looked up across the street to see the bar Reza's, and I smiled to myself remembering making a fool out of myself. But then the smile faded when I saw the door being pulled open by the reason I was there that night. Cooper was there, opening a door for some blonde chick. And he looked good, wearing a smile and laughing. Wearing one of his nicest pairs of Cinch jeans, wearing a red Cody James western shirt, and a gray cowboy hat. The girls must of noticed to because they all stopped behind me. "Do you want me to beat him up?" Reyna said with a drunk confidence. "Because I could and would."
There's no way she possibly take him with his rancher strength, but I appreciated it. "No, but thank you."
I helped Reyna get into the back seat of Molly's pickup, and buckled her up and cracked the window for her, in case she had to vomit. "Thanks, Kota. You're such a doll." She slurred as she closed her eyes and dropped her head and fell asleep.
"See you guys soon." I chuckled as they both looked back at her and rolled their eyes.
"See ya, thanks again for the dresses!" I gave them a polite nod and backed away from her pickup and watched them drive away.
"You okay?" Taylor asks me and I look around us to see that Bailey is in Taylor's pickup, and so I shake my head no. "Come here." She wraps her arms around me and I hug her tightly.
"I don't know what my problem is." I sigh frustratingly in her shoulder.
"You still have feelings for him," I felt horrible about it, it was so unfair to Ryder, him and even me. "And it's okay. That's normal."
"It's been a year and half, it shouldn't hurt this much."
"You know what I think you should do?" She says as she takes her arms and separates us, but still holds onto my biceps. I look at her for her advice, "I think you should write a pros and cons of each boy, and then see how you feel."
I nod to her and say, "Thank you, I had fun today." I smile through the pain and she nods and smiles.
"I did too, I'm so glad you're my best friend."
"Me too, I don't know what I would do without you."