Welp, this is it...[Lucy]

[John Kaleb Hall]

Sweet, sweet, summer...kind of. School had officially been out for a whole two and a half weeks. Kaleb's transition into his new school had been surprisingly way easier than he had originally anticipated. He made friends right off the bat with a group of three, already, best friends. All girls. 'Sheesh, what'd I get myself into?' Kaleb said to himself as he thought of his new friends. To him, those three girls were a hoot. He enjoyed hanging out with them through the rest of the school year. He wasn't exactly sure why or how, but he and Lucy got to be pretty friendly during the days that followed the crazy first day they had met each other. And the last time they talked he had mentioned to her that she should come visit his house this summer and gave her brief directions to his ranch and his cell number.

Since the last day of school he had been spending a lot of time at home and outdoors in this new climate and he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about it. He sure wasn't in Texas anymore! Texas weather was dry, dry, dry, and hot, hot, hot. Washington weather was wet, dry, wet, and cold, warm, semi-cool. However, that didn't stop Kaleb from doing all his chores and keeping himself occupied outside with the animals that they had slowly been accumulating since they arrived. They brought with them their 2 horses and dogs; the rest of the animals they had sold back home. They slowly started gathering more animals as they got settled into their new ranch house. So far they had accumulated some cows, chickens, and a new horse, not to mention the stray cat who just so happened to be pregnant. One particularly bright summer morning Kaleb got up and finished his chores early and decided that he would start the rest of his day by grooming the horses.

[Lucy Daniels]

Lucy paced around her room while her phone sat innocently on her bed. She deliberately walked towards her phone but stopped when she saw a small scrap piece of paper laying on the floor. “Can’t leave that laying on the floor.” Lucy groaned as she realized that she was avoiding calling him. Lucy walked towards her bed and flopped face first groaning into her bed spread. Lucy reflected on the time from when she had first started school and met Kaleb up until a few days ago. He had easily fitted into the little circle that she had with Kate and Kenzie. “He is a friend.” Lucy reasoned with herself. “And he did give his number and address. Oh what the hell grow up Lucy.”

She sat up and dialed Kaleb’s phone as she pulled on a pair of tennis shoes. If she was going to invite herself over to a farm she figured that would be the best thing to have on. She heard the phone turn on as she was finishing tieing her shoes before she could loose her semi-cool reserve Lucy spoke, “Hey Kaleb it’s Lucy. Just wondering if you wouldn’t mind some company this fine afternoon?” Lucy looked up at her ceiling mouthing, “Seriously that’s the best you give me?” Lucy groaned inside her head and left her room. She was convinced to leave her house and do something even if Kaleb said he was busy. ‘Please, please, please don’t be busy!’ Lucy begged mentally.

[John Kaleb Hall]

"Whoop-de-doo, today is gonna be fun, huh Remmy?" He said calling out to his favorite horse down in the far end of the barn, as if he would really reply. "Actually, I wonder what the girls are doing...what Lucy's doing today..." His sentence trailed off as he grabbed some supplies and rounded the corner to the stall. Just then Kaleb heard his muffled ring tone going off from his back pocket. Setting down the supplies in his hands he curiously flipped open his none too new cell phone. Curiosity hit him even more as he saw that it was a number that he did not have saved. He hit send on his phone and before he could even say hello, he heard a warm and familiar voice say "Hey Kaleb it’s Lucy. Just wondering if you wouldn’t mind some company this fine afternoon?”

Still a little in shock, Kaleb gave a short laugh and realized that he needed to say something, anything. He finally stammered "Lucy!?! Hi, I was just...uhh, yeah...some company would would be great...I'll be here all day, What time you thinkin uh comin out...and do you still have my directions?" Kaleb was so excited to hear from Lucy, and he hoped that what he just said made sense to her. He also hoped that she could come as soon as possible. He hadn't seen her smile or heard her laugh for weeks.

[Lucy Daniels]

Lucy made it downstairs when Kaleb answered her lame question. She grinned as he stammered when he first spoke; something Lucy had noticed he would do when he was a little nervous. Lucy stopped next to the bowl at the front door that held her car keys along with the keys to her parent’s cars. She could feel a grin on her face but Lucy became a little hesitant when Kaleb asked when she planned to come over. Instead Lucy chose to be slightly indirect and answer his second question first, “Yeah I have your directions; I think I have them written down in my old English notebook.”

Lucy bit her bottom lip, “Well I was hoping maybe now if you aren’t in the middle of anything. I mean it has been awhile since we’ve hung out, much less seen each other.” Lucy slapped a hand over her face thinking sarcastically, ‘Oh cuz that didn’t sound weird.’ When she moved her hand she saw her mother leaning on the entrance way to the family room. She had an arched brow and Lucy’s mother crossed her arms over her chest expectantly. Lucy shook her head at her mother mouthing, “It’s nothing mom.” Lucy’s mother shook her head and went back into the living room. Lucy grabbed her keys and left her house at the risk of her mother coming back to say something.

[John Kaleb Hall]

At this point, Kaleb was so grateful that he had summoned the courage to give Lucy his number, and the brief directions to his family's ranch house that he hardly noticed his parents drive off in the truck. They had mentioned to him earlier that they were gonna go into town to go bargain shopping for some furniture.

"Alright, K, and it's fine if you come now, I've missed seein ya...but yeah, I'm just gonna get some projects done outside...you're welcome to help if you think you can handle it. Being the city-slicker you are, I just don't know..." he said laughingly, "....be sure to wear something you don't mind getting a little dirty." Kaleb smiled at his teasing Lucy, and then thought, 'Oooooo, I have a good idea...but it's gonna be a surprise. " and just honk when you pull in..."

[Lucy Daniels]

‘Oh thank God he said now.’ Lucy immediately relaxed but started grinning when Kaleb said that he had missed seeing her. She fought with herself not to get a big head; it wasn’t that big of a deal, just a cute guy saying he missed her. Lucy made a face at her phone when Kaleb called her a city slicker, but then Lucy heard him laughing and she thought to herself, ‘Oh who am I kidding? I don’t know the first thing about farms.’ Lucy giggled a little as she realized how true Kaleb’s joke actually was. He left off with a heads up to wear something she could get dirty. Lucy looked down to double check her t-shirt, and jeans, ‘Yep clear to get dirty.’ Lucy buckled up and thought about what Kaleb just said. Lucy frowned for a moment; something defiantly seemed to be up his sleeve.

‘Oh come on Luce, what is the worse that could happen?’ Lucy could still feel the frown in her voice as she turned her Ford Focus on, “You have something up your sleeve cowboy and I have to admit it makes me a little nervous. Anyway I’ll be at your place in about fifteen minutes; see ya in a bit.” Lucy hung up her phone and put it in her cup holder as she pulled away from her house. Luckily Lucy did not get lost and that was why fifteen minutes later she was sitting in front of Kaleb’s house trying to talk herself up. ‘Luce just hit the damn horn; be a big girl and just do it. C’mon Kaleb asked you to honk your horn.’ She mentally groaned to herself and honked her horn hoping wherever Kaleb was at he could hear the car. Lucy took her keys out of the ignition and left the semi-safety of her car. ‘Just hanging out with a friend.’

[John Kaleb Hall]

Listening as Lucy let on that he was busted in his secret not being so secretive he couldn't help but smile. 'Good, let her sweat it out a bit...This is it.' Dragging his feet and pacing back and forth he tried to plan out the rest of the day a little more detailed. He got lost in his plans and daydreams when all of the sudden his horse neighed loudly and startled him. "Dang-gunnit, Remmy! You scared the hell outta me...Crap, gotta get ready, be back in a little while boy."

Instead of starting to groom the horses like he was going to do, Kaleb smiled and ran inside the house. He quickly grabbed the big wicker picnic basket that sat on top of the refrigerator; opening it he stared in and said out loud to himself, "Great, now what am I going to take?" He finally decided that they would just have to settle for sandwiches, and fruit salad. He grabbed the bread, a variety of sandwich fixings, the fruit salad, and filled two thermoses with his favorite lemonade. He then went to the pantry thinking, 'What the heck' and added a couple bags of snack sized Doritos and a couple of paper plates and napkins. "Plates? Check. Food? Check. Drinks? Check..." Just then he heard a car horn sound and smiled. "Girl? Check."

He put the basket on the table, checked his clothing, work boots, worn out jeans, raggedy white tshirt, well worn cowboy hat, 'As good as it's gettin Luce, sorry' and did his best to calmly, and causally walk out the front door onto the porch. Scanning the scene before him, he saw his ranch, and two things that didn't seem to belong, but belong at the same time; Lucy and her car. Grinning from ear to ear he clomped down the steps and sauntered towards her. "Well, howdy-do? City-slicker? What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

[Lucy Daniels]

Lucy could feel herself beginning to get hungry; she probably should not have left the house without grabbing something to eat on the way. ‘Oh. My. God.’ Lucy thought to herself when she heard Kaleb and turned to face him. She wanted to reach behind herself to hold onto her car for stability. ‘Okay so two weeks can make a guy absolutely gorgeous, or is that just me? Gah Lucy focus Kaleb just said something funny, wait did he?’ Lucy had completely forgotten what Kaleb had said to her. ‘Lucy think of something! Your sanity demands it!’ Lucy flashed a grin and pushed herself away from her car, ‘Good start now say something before he thinks that you went mental.’

It was then Lucy remembered what Kaleb had said, "Well, howdy-do? City-slicker? What brings you to my neck of the woods?" Lucy fought back a strong desire to skip the rest of the distance between herself and Kaleb, with her luck of forgetting things Lucy would fall flat on her face because she forgot how to skip. “I’m doing pretty well Cowboy.” ‘Good start Lucy; be cute, you are pretty good at it.’ “Well I figured since I hadn’t seen these neck of the woods now would be as good a time as any, and who better to show me around then you?” Lucy fought with all of her might to hold back any laugh or giggle threatening to escape, but it would be safe for her to say that her grin grew from ear to ear.

[John Kaleb Hall]

Watching Lucy carefully, Kaleb noticed that she seemed to be a bit hesitant. It took a few moments for her to respond and even then he wasn't sure that something wasn't a bit off. Casting those thoughts off as just nerves, Kaleb shook his head, stretched out his arms and spun around, slowly getting closer to Lucy and said, "Welp, this is it...my humble abode." His arms dropped back to his side and then on impulse they reached out and pulled Lucy into a hug. "Good to see ya Luce, you ready to get this show on the road? You've already guessed that I've got sumpthin' up my sleeve, but I think you'll enjoy it. It ain't nothing too terrible I promise; and first I'll start with a tour of the barn. Come with me please." Kaleb then grabbed her by the hand, looked up at her beautiful smile then proceeded to show her the way to the barn.

As they entered the barn he began his job as tour guide. "Now, pretty lady, if you'll look to your left, you'll see our mess of a barn and workshop, to the right, you'll see the wonderful area where the dogs usually bed down. Exciting!? isn't it? he laughed at himself then pointed, Then down here and to the left are the 3 stalls for our horses, I figured as soon as we finished grooming them we could go for a ride?" Still holding her hand he led her down closer to the horses and stopped to look at her expression to see if he would find excitement or nervousness at his suggestion.

[Lucy Daniels]

Lucy grinned as Kaleb spun around with his arms out to his sides. Then Kaleb caught her slightly off guard when he reached out and gave her a hug; a hug in her opinion that didn’t last long enough. ‘Oh who gives a crap? I got a hug from Kaleb, I got a hug from Kaleb.’ Lucy sang inside of her head. Once again Lucy barely heard what Kaleb said but this time she forced herself to pay attention instead of floating off into her dream world. Just as Lucy was going to form a decent response Kaleb took her hand and began leading her towards the barn. ‘Focus on what he is saying Lucy, yes you get to hold his hand but you need to focus.’ Lucy was able to calm herself down internally in time to react to the beginning of Kaleb’s tour.

She grinned as Kaleb called her pretty lady and pointed out the inner workings of the barn. She knew that all of this was absolutely fascinating but the majority of her couldn’t get over the fact that she was holding hands with him. Lucy was starting to slip into her dream world but reality came thundering in when she heard Kaleb suggest that they actually ride the horses. She realized they were standing in front of the horses’ pens and Lucy could also feel Kaleb watching for her reaction. Lucy was feeling extremely hesitant as she looked on the other side of the stalls to see the large animals staring back at them. Trying to be as relaxed as possible she looked up at Kaleb and tried not to bite her bottom lip, her habit for when she was nervous.

Lucy sighed, “Look Kaleb I have to be totally honest with you this is the closest to a horse I have ever been in my entire life.” Lucy looked back at the horses and she took a mental breath for confidence; she did not want to let Kaleb down. She patted his arm, “And you have way more confidence in a city slicker like me then you probably should.” Lucy looked up with a grin feeling a little more confidence, “There is a first time for everything, so as long as you promise I won’t fall let’s go ride us sum horses Cowboy.”

[John Kaleb Hall]

All of the sudden Kaleb was embarrassed, he hadn't realized how talkative he had been, usually he never would have rattled off like he just did, but he also wasn't usually this nervous/excited about showing someone where he loved to be. The whirlwind of words were momentarily paused as he waited for Lucy's response.

Kaleb stiffled a laugh as she confessed that this was the closest she'd even been to a horse, but eventually said that she would give it a whirl. "I have just enough faith in a gal who's not too chicken to try something new, and deal. First we'll need to brush and saddle them, and get you all acquainted." Reaching out to pet Remmy's nose he said "First off, this is my horse, Remmy, short for Remington." Taking Lucy to the middle stall he said "And this is Chief, my Dad's horse, he's the newest one for us to have and he's a bit skittish." Scooting down a little farther and closer to the last horse he pulled the hand of Lucy's that he was holding up to pet the nose of the horse inside this stall. "And last, but not least, this is Luna, my Mom's horse. You will be riding her, she is super sweet and very mild mannered, I promise. He gently let go of Lucy's hand and ran to get the supplies that he had earlier before he got the call from his favorite person.

Coming back with just 2 grooming brushes, and Luna's saddle he decided that they would just do a quick brush and allow for more bonding time for the two girls. He opened the stall and motioned for Lucy to follow him in. "Luna used to be a trail horse for a dude ranch in Texas. She's used to little kids and tons of people being around her and she's always been as sweet as can be." He handed Lucy a brush and as he started brushing Luna, he looked to Lucy as if to say, "Just like this" and then said "Nice n smooth."

[Lucy Daniels]

‘Are you sure these things aren’t dogs on steroids?’ Lucy asked inside of her head as Kaleb introduced the first two horses. ‘Just chill out Lucy, Kaleb is not going to do something that could put you in harm’s way.’ They stopped in front of the last horse the one that she would be ridding, and according to Kaleb the safest of the three. It made Lucy feel much safer to find out that Luna was an even tempered horse. Kaleb let got of Lucy’s hand to go and get something. Lucy took the chance that the lack of Kaleb provided Lucy turned to Luna and whispered, “Look let me level with you Luna, girl to girl. I really, really like Kaleb, so I beg you not to get rabid on me or anything, okay?” Kaleb came back and he had not seemed to have heard Lucy’s pleading to the horse.

He came back with what seemed to be brushes, and a saddle that Lucy figured was for the horse that she would be ridding. Kaleb opened the pen that Luna was in and walked in motioning for Lucy to follow. Kaleb explained a little of Luna’s past which further helped Lucy to relax she was going to get on the horse. Kaleb handed her a brush and used the other brush to show her what she needed to do. After watching him for a few seconds Lucy mimicked him and seemed to get her own rhythm for brushing Luna. Lucy relaxed and looked to Kaleb grinning, “This isn’t too bad. Hope the riding part is this easy.” Lucy knew she was kidding herself, more likely then not they were going to catch Luna on a bad day and Lucy would fall all over herself and onto the ground.

[John Kaleb Hall]

Kaleb laughed at Lucy's comment. "I have faith, in you both, that you'll be fine." A few moments later he grabbed the saddle blanket, adjusted it, then grabbed the saddle and took all the extra precautions in saddling Luna as securely and comfortably as possible. Then he said "Well, that's that...Remmy is still saddled, I had him out and about a little before you called. Let me take you on a mini tour through the house and then we'll hit the trails."

Putting on his fake tour guide voice again he said "And if you'll follow me ma'am we'll be walking out of the barn and to the right a little for a tour of the Hall Farm house." Leading the way to the back door he held the door open for Lucy and then took the lead once more. Starting from the back he showed her the kitchen and the office room briefly. Moving down the hall he then said "Here is the bathroom, for future reference, and this next room is mine." Shockingly enough his room didn't look like a Texas tornado had torn through it because he had cleaned it the day before. "Back out and down the rest of the hall you'll find the living room and my parent's room and the front door. That's pretty much it, my parent's are out shopping for furniture as we speak so let's head back to the kitchen and let me write a note real quick."

He then walked back down the hallway and into the kitchen, found a pen and paper and wrote a short note telling his parents that he and a friend were going for a ride on the horses and that they'd be back soon. Then he turned to Lucy and pointed to the picnic basket on the table and smiled. "I also figured we could have a little lunch on our adventure." Kaleb smiled proudly as he revealed his secret lunch to Lucy and hoped that she didn't think he was too much of a cowboy dweeb standing there with a big goofy grin on his face. 'Please, God, let this ride be a safe one for me and especially her and Luna. I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to her.'

[Lucy Daniels]

Lucy smiled brightly as Kaleb laughed and said that he had confidence in her. She stepped back a few moments later as Kaleb started getting Luna ready to ride. He explained once he had finished getting Luna ready that his own horse was ready to go already. Lucy laughed as Kaleb slipped into tour guide mode once they reached his house. Feeling her bright mood with each fiber of her being she curtsied to Kaleb when he opened the door, “Why thank you my dear sir.” She skipped into the house and stepped to the side so that Kaleb could take the lead again and continue with the tour.

For some unknown reason Lucy felt her face heat up slightly when Kaleb pointed out his room. He continued by pointing out where the living room, and his parents room was at. ‘Wait a second did he just say that his parents aren’t here? Oh boy, no reason to freak out. You are just at a guy‘s house with no supervision in sight. No problem…hopefully.’ Lucy followed after Kaleb as they went to the kitchen so that he could leave a note for his parents if they came home while he was away. ‘Responsible and considerate of him.’ Lucy thought to herself. Lucy watched Kaleb write a quick note to his parents and just as he was finishing up she noticed something sitting on the table.

She was going to ask Kaleb what it was for when he stood with the most amazing smile on his face. “I also figured we could have a little lunch on our adventure.” Lucy felt so much warmth in her heart when she saw how proud Kaleb was about the lunch he had put together. If it was possible Lucy felt her smile grow brighter as she slipped her arms around Kaleb’s waist to give him a short hug. She was too excited to realized that she had just hugged a guy without it being in the least bit awkward. Lucy’s grin was firmly in place as she looked up to Kaleb, “You my dear Cowboy are absolutely amazing.” She picked up the picnic basket and offered her free arm for Kaleb to take, “To the adventure Mr. Cowboy?”

[John Kaleb Hall]

Lucy's face lit up like the Fourth of July when she realized what the basket on the table was for. Her amazing smile got even bigger as she snuck in a quick hug. Returning the gesture and breathing her in, Kaleb was shocked that once the hug was over he realized he was a bit light headed. He mentally shook his head to clear it and focus again and then he laughed as he watched her bounce around a few moments and say “You my dear Cowboy are absolutely amazing.” He flashed her another proud smile and was reaching for the picnic basket when she snatched it up and offered her arm instead. 'Did she do that on purpose? Who cares as long as she's happy.' Then he heard her adorable self say “To the adventure Mr. Cowboy?” He looked at her for a few moments, taking in the beautiful sight and then smiled a big smile and winked at her. "Sure thang, pretty lady. Let's get this show on the road!" Kaleb gladly jumped at the chance to link arms with her and escort her out of the house and out to the barn.

The whole way back to the barn Kaleb surprised himself and started singing On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again, the life I love is making music with my friends, I just can't wait to get on the road again..." Once they got to a shady spot right outside of the barn he said "Alright little lady, would you be so kind, as to wait right here and I'll be right back." He ran inside and had no trouble coaxing the two horses out of their stalls and out into the warm sunshine. They were definitely looking forward to the adventure as well. He stole a glance at Lucy's face, trying to decipher it, and then said, "Ok, now, here...you can set the basket down and I'll help you up, and I'll hold on to the reigns for now, ok?" He motioned for her to come over and join him and Luna and clasped his hands together so that she could use it as an extra step to help her get into the saddle.