Tutus & Cowboy Boots (Part 2) (5 page)

“Hell no, Gran! Why is your mind always in
the gutter?”

She shrugs her shoulder. “What is it, then?
You’re starting to worry me.”

“Okay, between hating life, Dad’s shit,
Lauren, and everything else, I have no idea what I’m going to do
after graduation.”

She shakes her head as she places her hand
on my knee. “Honey, you’ve got time. What are you wanting to
do?”

“I have no clue. That’s the problem. If you
would have asked me two weeks ago, I would have said pack up and go
back to the city as soon as I graduate. Now with everything that
happened in New York I don’t know.”

“Cadence, sometimes life
throws us a curveball so we slow down and take a step away from the
plate. It helps us see what we are really meant to do. Take a
little bit of time for yourself and focus on what
you
want right
now.”

Gran doesn’t say anything else. Instead we
rock on the swing quietly until Mom barges through the screen
door.

“Cadence, there you are!
Can we talk a minute?” she asks as Gran stands.
Can we talk inside?
As if Mom just
read my mind, she smiles at me and says, “Let’s go in.” I stand and
follow her to the living room. As Mom fidgets while trying to find
the right words to say, I help her.

“Mom, it’s okay. I want you to be
happy.”

“Aw, Cade, thank you. I was so worried about
how you would feel.”

I take a deep breath. “It’s weird, but you
deserve to be happy. I know it’s not going to be with Dad. He’s an
asshole.”

“Cadence!” she scolds.

“What? It’s the truth.”

“Regardless, he’s your father, and you have
to forgive him.”

“Hate to break it to you but it’s not going
to be today,” I say, looking at the time.

“Just try. That’s all I’m asking.”

I shrug my shoulders, and can’t resist
making a comment as I stand. “Mom?”

“Yes?”

“Good girls are home by midnight. Remember
that.” I wink as I walk toward my room and she lets out a
giggle.

Barrick

Jade is doing anything and everything in her
power to torture me while I wait to pick up Cadence for our
date.

“Barrick! Come watch PLL with me!” she
hollers as I close my bedroom door from getting a shower.

“No! I just got out of the shower,” I yell
back.

“Please!” I don’t know why I argue with her,
it’s a never-ending battle.

“I’ve got to get ready.” I hurry and throw
on some clothes because I know her… three… two… one… she swings my
door open without knocking. “Knock much?”

“Oh please! Ain’t nothin’ I ain’t seen
before,” she says as she makes a joke about the size of my man
parts.

“Shut up!” I say as I throw my towel at
her.

“Bare! It’s on,” she says as she throws it
back at me and I laugh at her attempt to be tough.

“That’s not funny. Seriously, I need you to
come watch PLL.”

“You don’t
need
me to watch
anything. You want to torture me to death with that ‘A’ mess. I
don’t care who it is. I’ve got a date.”

She pauses. “So everything’s good between
you two?” she questions and changes her demeanor to nosy sister. I
nod my head yes and try to ignore her. “For real?”

“Yup,” I say, but then wonder if she can
give me insight. “I’ve got a question.” She gives me her full
attention. “When something’s bothering you, what do you do?”

“Dance,” she states.

“What about when you’re sad?”

“Dance.”

“Happy?”

“Dance.”

So you mean to tell me no matter what you
are feeling you dance?”

“You got it. It’s the only way I can truly
express myself without someone getting in my head. Why?” she
questions as she takes a seat on my bed.

“Something’s going on with Cadence.” She
starts to laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“Cadence always has something going on.
Don’t you remember when you first met her?” I nod my head. “She’s
got a lot going on. We all do. She handles it how she knows best.
I’m sure she’ll be okay. Not to mention, with practice starting up
she’ll have plenty of time to work through whatever is going
on.”

“What would you think if Aaron interrupted
your time dancing?” She stops and her mouth falls open.

“Like as in takes up all of my time? We’re
so not like that! I can’t even believe you’d say that. I mean I
like him and all, but no, I wouldn’t want him to come between me
and dance.”

I shake my head; she’s such a girl. “No I
meant like if he actually interrupted you while you were dancing.
Would that piss you off?”

Jade’s eyes bug out of her head. “What did
you do?”

“Well…”

“Spill it,” she says with her arms
crossed.

“Cadence kinda drifted off at lunch today
and I could tell she had a lot of her mind. So when I was finished
with my chores I saw her dancing out back. She was so intense and
looked like you do when you’re pissed. When she paused between
songs… I kinda danced with her.”

“Like intense dancin’ or twerkin’?”

“Lord no! The next song was slow and not
country.”

Jade stands and puts her hand on her heart
and fake cries. “Why Bare, I’m so proud of you. You’ve turned into
such a charmer.”

“Nevermind,” I say as I turn to give her the
clue to get out.

“Bare, seriously, that’s the sweetest thing
I’ve ever heard. I don’t know where you got that one from, but I
bet that just stole her heart.”

“Thanks, I just didn’t want her to think I
was crazy. Now can you get out? I’ve got to get ready for my
date.”

At exactly six, I arrive at Cadence’s and
make my way to the door. Cadence answers as I begin to knock.

“You ready?” she asks.

“Sure,” I say as I take her hand in mine. I
use the other to wave to Ms. Mae and Regina, who is decked out for
her date. No wonder she’s ready to go.

“You hungry?” I ask her.

“Yes. Please tell me we’re eating more than
popcorn.”

“I’ll take you somewhere good, as long as
you don’t eat a salad,” I say with a smile.

“You’re on,” she says as she kisses my cheek
and steps into the truck. I’m so relieved she doesn’t seem upset
that I danced with her this afternoon.

Arriving at the steak house in Hickory,
Cadence makes a face. “I promise we don’t supply the cows,” I say
with a laugh and she punches me in the arm.

I hurry to open her door, she slides out and
we make our way inside. We take a table near the back, where the
lights are dim. It’s perfect. I pull Cadence’s chair out for her
and slightly slide it in as she sits before taking my own. We place
our order and I’m surprised when she orders a filet. The South
might be rubbing off on her after all.

As we eat and talk, I’m
oblivious to everyone in the room but her. Her smile radiates the
room and I can’t get enough of her. I try to keep the conversation
upbeat and off her family. When the server brings the check, I
notice her staring at the door. I glance over my shoulder and see
Regina and Hamilton.
Crap.

“Hey, no worries,” I say to her as I take
her hand.

“I wish I didn’t have any. I guess that star
didn’t work,” she says as she lets go of my hand and looks down at
her lap.

“You wanted your dad back but you also
wanted everyone to be happy, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“Maybe this is what is supposed to happen.
Maybe your mom can be happy and you can find a way to see your
dad.” She goes from sad to pissed off in two seconds.

“Are you taking her side? I mean, why him?
He’s so not her type,” she says with a ton of attitude.

Trying my best not to put my foot in my
mouth, I take a second to gather my thoughts. “Cadence, I’m sorry.
I’m not sure what your mom’s type is, but Hamilton’s a good guy.”
She stares at me, waiting for more. “His first wife left him for
some doctor in Charlotte. He’s been hurt before too.”

“How do you know this?”

“Small town. Everyone knows everything,” I
say as I take my wallet out to pay the bill. “Plus, he and my dad
are best friends and I overheard most of a conversation one
afternoon when he was at my house. Just give it a chance,” I say,
praying she doesn’t throw something at me.

She sits there quietly and as she’s about to
speak, Regina walks to the table.

“Hey guys! Thought you were going to the
movies,” she says.

“We are, but we needed a bite to eat first,”
Cadence says.

As Hamilton approaches, I see Cadence tense,
“Hey Barrick, how are you?” Hamilton says to me.

“Good. Hope you are as well,” I say as
Regina interrupts our conversation.

“Hamilton, this is my daughter, Cadence,”
she says as Cadence puts a smile on her face and stands to greet
him.

“Nice to meet you,” she says, shaking his
hand.

“Nice to meet you too,” Hamilton says.

“Well, I just wanted to introduce you. I’ll
see you at home, Cade,” she says as she gives Cadence a hug. If
Cadence isn’t happy, she’s put up one hell of a front.

As they walk toward the bar, I notice
Cadence has tears in her eyes. “Cade, talk to me, it’s okay, you
can tell me how you really feel about all this.”

“It’s all so fast. I understand Hamilton’s
been hurt too, but I wanted everything to go back to how it used to
be in New York. It’s hard to change. I want my mom to be happy, but
knowing that’s not my dad is hard to grasp even if my dad’s an
asshole, ya know?”

“Change is hard, but remember that change is
what makes life an incredible journey.”

“That’s a good point, but it doesn’t make it
any easier,” she says as the server brings back our change.

“You ready?” I ask as I leave the tip. She
nods and I place my hand on the small of her back and guide her
toward the truck. “So what kind of movie would you like to
see?”

“Something that will make me laugh my ass
off.” I glance at her backside and she catches me.

“I’d hate for you to lose that,” I say, and
she pulls me in for a kiss.

We steal glances at each other on the way to
the theater. Luckily for Cadence, there’s a new comedy playing. We
order popcorn and share a drink. Cadence snuggles up under my arm
and we laugh and enjoy the movie together. I could get used to
having her this close.

When we get back to the farm, Regina and
Hamilton are at the edge of the drive. I don’t want her to get
upset again so I look at the clock to see if I have time to take
her somewhere while they say goodbye. And, if I’m being honest, I
really don’t want to let her go.

“
You wanna get outta here?”
I question.

“Nah, let’s go check on
Daisy.”
What did she say?

“Where is Cadence and what have you done
with her?” I ask with a smile.

“Look, I don’t want to see that and we don’t
have much time, so we can go talk to Daisy. She gets me,” she says
with a wink.

I park the truck at the barn and we make our
way toward the fence line. As if Daisy knows we’re here for her,
she wanders over.

Cadence waits for her to approach and smiles
as she reaches across the fence and rubs her ears. Daisy turns her
head and licks her sleeve.

“Oh my gosh, Daisy I love you but this shirt
cost a hundred dollars,” Cadence says as she squirms.

“You’re kidding right? Ms. Mae has a washing
machine.” I wink as I stand behind her and wrap my arms around her.
“It will be fine. Isn’t that right, Daisy?” She moves her head.
“See, Daisy just said yes.”

“Well, I guess if Daisy says so, it will be
fine.” We both chuckle and then stand in silence as Daisy moves
back out into the field.

“Thank you, Cadence.”

“For what?” she asks, turning to face
me.

“For letting me in.” She pauses and looks up
at me. I think she’s about to say something but instead her lips
collide with mine.

Chapter 8

Cadence

The date with Barrick was perfect. I’m still
on cloud nine when I wake on Monday.

I feed the cows and check on Daisy before
school. When I get there, Jade and I discuss our dance schedule for
the next two months – it’s going to be killer. And we notice that
Maddie is no longer bothering us, which is a big relief. We don’t
need her crap on top of our dance schedule.

As we drive to the dance studio together
after school, I tell Jade I’ve got a new idea for our duet. I even
admit that Barrick may have helped me come up with it. She gives me
a smirk and starts singing, “Cadence and Barrick sitting in a tree,
d-a-n-c-i-n-g.” I know he told her. I’m going to get him for that
one, but all I can do is smile at her.

Ms. Lyndsay greets us at the door. “Hey
girls! How was break?” she asks in a bubbly voice.

“Mine was awesome!” Jade says.

“Cadence?” she questions.

“It was okay,” I say, not really wanting to
elaborate.

“Okay? Come on now. You’ve got to have more
than that?” I notice Jade looking at her and shaking her head. Oh
why not just lay it out there.

“It pretty much sucked except for New Year’s
Eve.”

“Cadence, I’m going to let that one slide
but that’s not a word we use in this studio. I’m sorry it wasn’t
what you hoped it would be. If you need to talk, I’m here for
you.”

“I’m sorry Ms. Lyndsay, it
really was bad
but
there is good news. I think I might have something new to add
to our duet.” She looks at us both with confusion.

“Well then, I’m happy to hear there is some
good news. I can’t wait to see it. You have five minutes before we
get started.” We put our stuff away and I can’t wait to show her
the new combination.

We have to condition and it’s brutal. I
swear I don’t want to do another crunch, plank, or jumping jack. I
forgot how not doing those types of exercises for a few days can
hurt you.