I closed my eyes. The sound of the rooster's crow sliced through the silence of the early morning. I breathed in the crisp air; the smell of manure mixed with pine filled my senses. Spreading my arms wide, I stretched and headed out toward the stalls to begin the days work.

The horses eagerly greeted me with a combination of snorts and whinnys.

"Goodmorning ladies." I tipped my hat to the other side of the barn. "Gents." I then went up to stroke my favorite horse, Pretty Girl. She was a beautiful quarter horse I had since she was a foal.

"Hey there girl, you hungry?"

I scooped some horse feed in a cup and began feeding each horse before moving on to cleaning out the stalls.

It was midafternoon when my dad found me moving the cattle to the next pasture to graze.

"Looking good out here Colt. I think we're about ready for the first cut of hay."

"Yeah I was thinking that. I'll check the equipment later and make sure it's working good and we can get that started."

He waved his hand at me. "Colt, you know I have ranch hands for that. You don't need to do everything. Besides, your mom probably needs more help than I do."

"Dad, it's the end of summer. You know this is a busy time for the ranch. Once it slows down more in late fall, then I will too. Besides, I told mom I would be back up at the lodge to tend to the horses as soon as I was done here."

"You know I appreciate your hard work son. You take care of this ranch like it's your own. And it will be one day, if that is what you still want. Just make sure you're also taking care of yourself." He patted my shoulder, turned, and sauntered off toward his pickup.

I glanced back out to the field and watched the cows grazing without a care in the world. I was taking care of myself. That pasture, those cows, the horses back in their stalls--they were all I needed. I took care of them, and they took care of me in return.

***

The stalls at the lodge were cleaned by the time I got there, so I took out the grooming brushes and worked on each horse's mane and coat. Doing that type of work was easy, calming, and familiar. I was born into the ranch life, and I was good at it.

I found comfort in my routine. It kept me busy, never allowing me to focus too much on anything or anyone else. I preferred being by myself and staying immersed in my work. The ranching business allowed me to be free from thoughts that once plagued me. Thoughts that still did when I slowed down enough.

After I finished up with the stalls, I headed inside the lodge, intent on heading to my room to take a quick shower before grabbing dinner. Since I worked the stalls at the lodge, I was reserved a room to use if I ever needed it.

Stripping myself of my clothes, I stepped into the shower. The hot water cascaded down my body, soothing my sore muscles from a hard day's work. I placed my hand against the stone shower wall and leaned into the water as it flowed over me, causing me to immediately relax into the feel.

Once the day's work was scrubbed off me, I turned the faucets off to step out and towl off. Dressing in some clean clothes, I made my way down to the lobby to find my mom. She was on the phone when I found her, holding up her finger and gesturing for me to wait. When she finished her conversation, she immediately came around the desk and pulled me in for a hug.

"Hey hun, what are you doing?"

"Just finished up with grooming the horses. I got out here a bit late, so the stalls were already cleaned out by Jess. Sorry 'bout that. Dad's took a bit longer than I expected."

She eyed me like I was about to hear the lecture I had heard from both her and my dad dozens of times already. Honestly, I was surprised they even still tried. Either way, she seemed to have thought better of it and gave me a glossed over version instead.

"What are you doing in an hour?"

"I was about to eat and head back to the ranch."

"We have a live band playing out on the patio tonight. I'll see you there, yeah?" She gently squeezed my arm, heading back behind the front desk.

It wasn't a question. I knew better than that. Like I said, it was the glossed over version saying what I've heard from her dozens of times--that I needed to do more than solely work, eat, sleep, repeat. It was the same thing dad had meant that morning when he told me to make sure I was taking care of myself. I usually could get away with arguing with my dad. My mom, however, I would not say no to, and she knew it. Sighing, I headed toward the bar for a burger and a drink; I was going to need it.

***

The band playing was a regular there. They played country cover songs and were rather talented. I sat on one of the white sofas that had a firepit in front of it as I drank my beer and listened to the music. The red and orange embers danced wildly in front of me. They floated and popped in the air, revealing another flame walking toward me.

Her auburn hair took my gaze away from the embers. She was walking with her boyfriend, the douchebag from the night before. She hadn't noticed me yet, so I took the time to drink her in. The short, black dress she wore accentuated her curves. She paired it with boots, trying to fit in with the crowd, but she couldn't have been more out of place. I just wasn't sure if it was because she reeked of city, or if it was because she was made to stand out. Though, with my experience with the tourists that came through, she probably only came out to Wyoming to instagram herself with mountains in the background quoting herself as "experiencing country life" all the while sipping her cocktails and never getting her hands dirty.

Her emerald eyes finally caught my gaze and they widened, surely surprised to see me, before narrowing into a glare. I couldn't blame her for the spiteful frown; I basically insinuated she was a call girl. I would like to blame it on the alcohol, but I knew, even sober, I still would have made a comment on his behavior, albeit less insulting toward her. That part was definitely uncalled for.

I should probably stay away from the hard liquor.

I was drinking away my unwanted thoughts when I heard him order her around. He was throwing out one vague complaint after another. Nothing seemed to please him. It was either the lodge, or the food, or the prices. She kept apologizing like it was her fault. Then he had the nerve to send her to get his beer in a demeaning tone. It ticked me off more than it should have. But I hated guys like that; guys who did not appreciate what they had.

Just as luck would have it, he pulled her to the couch catty-corner to mine. I held my stare on her for a few moments as she desperately tried to avoid mine, but she couldn't seem to help directing her gaze back toward me every so often as he went on about something surely uninteresting. Truthfully, I was not sure why I kept glancing over at her. But my stare seemed to unnerve her, and for some reason, I cared.

I focused my attention back to the band and couples were beginning to dance. With the fairy lights strung up and the sun setting, it was quite the romantic scene. I stole another glance at her to see her eyes lit up with awe. She wanted to dance; it was more than obvious. Except to the guy next to her. He stood up, and just as I thought he was going to surprise me and ask her to dance, he leaned down, whispered something in her ear before giving her a kiss on the cheek, and walked back inside the lodge.

She watched him walk away with a frown on her face and when she looked back, her eyes fell on mine, her expression then stone cold. Tell me, why in the hell did that bother me? I took a last swig of my beer as I held her eyes before standing up and walking away. I didn't know the answer to that, but I sure as hell didn't feel like sticking around to find out.

Hey there! Nice to see you again😉 You have now been officially introduced to the main characters. Hope you're feeling those "read on" vibes!

Has anyone judged you by just appearances?

I've been told several times by people that they thought I was stuck up, until they got to know me and realized how nice I was! Sometimes those first impressions can be a pain!