Breene, K F - Jessica Brodie Diaries 01 by Back in the Saddle (v5.0) Page A

Outside my door. In the
middle of the road. And it wasn’t looking in at all—I was looking at the things
belly, to be replaced by its butt, and then another massive bovine. In fact,
there were a bunch of cows all around my car.
    Why were there cows outside my car?
    I’m on the road, right?
    Yes, on the road.
    I craned my head to look behind me,
wondering how big the herd was, but my dumb seatbelt held me fast. My eyes
found the rear-view mirror in time to spy some spindly legs that could only be
horse. In Texas a day and already
I’m dealing with cow ass and horses. Talk about culture shock.
    The long legs clomped closer,
giving me sudden apprehension. I was not particularly eager to meet John Wayne
in the middle of nowhere, with no one in screaming range, while blocked in by
massive animals.
    "But how the hell am I going
to escape?" I thought dismally, watching cow butts slowly move down the
road.
    Belatedly I realized that my window
was open this whole time. And why wouldn’t it be? I was in the middle of
nowhere, in the heat, with no air conditioning. Of course it was open. But now
the horse and rider knew I was afraid of sneaky cows. Which, in Texas ,
might get me hanged as an outsider. A liberal outsider. Nail in the coffin!
    Being that the horse stopped by the
side of the car, I stuck my head out the window, foot ready to hit the gas and
run these cows down if need be. The glare of the sun sparkling off the metal of
my car made visibility difficult. I could make out cowboy boots, jeans, the
shadow of a cowboy hat, the outline of the horse, and all the many cows still
walking by. If I wasn’t mistaken, this man was a cowboy.
    Thank you, Watson, I’ll take my tea
now.
    “Hi again,” said a familiar smooth,
deep baritone.
    My heart skipped, then began
hammering in my chest. I could feel a thousand butterflies fill my stomach.
Also a cold chill that was surprisingly pleasant.
    “H-h-hi. Hi,” I stammered lamely,
peering farther out the window and blocking the sun with my hand. The way the
sun cascaded around his shoulders made him appear holy. It gave the situation
an ethereal feeling, increasing my shivers.
    “You are a ways from town. Didn’t
you say you lived with Gladis?”
    He remembered!
    “I do, yeah. I went for a drive and
kinda… lost my way.”
    “I see. Do you have a map?”
    “Yes. Well, maybe. I’m just not
sure if it is in the car or in the cottage.”
    “In the cottage?” Was that humor in
his voice? “I wasn’t aware Gladis had a cottage.”
    “Oh, well, pool house. We call it a
cottage.”
    He gave a deep throated chuckle and
willed his horse forward a bit. “I am surprised the ol’ dame didn’t make you
move into the big house with her.”
    “She likes having me in the house
as often as I’ll go, but the ad was for the cot—ah, pool house. She does like
to have someone to talk to.”
    “Oh yes, she never tires of
company. Ever the entertainer.”
    “Do you know her?”
    “All of…the town knows her. She is
a funny old lady. Nice as pie. But funny all the same.”
    Yup, he knew her.
    “Any rate,” he began again, his
southern drawl kicking in a little more heavily. He was exceptionally well
spoken, which belied a top dollar education. However, his accent came and went,
always with a presence to some extent. I wondered if it was the effect of an
out-of-town school.
    “You’ll want to be gettin’ home
here shortly. It’s getting dark.” His hat brim tilted up, his face still
obscured by the glare. He must’ve been surveying the sky and land around him.
    “Right. Yeah, yes I do. Can you,
um, point me in a direction? Preferably the correct one?” I laughed at how
stupid I sounded.
    He seemed to forget his
surroundings for a second as he bent down to peer in the car. Through the
orange haze, I could make out jet black hair peeping from under his cowboy hat,
and those bottomless eyes looking at me with humor. My head got a bit light.
    “Can’t take a city girl away