Free Serenity Falls by Tiffany Aleman, Ashley Poch

and pouring some orange juice, I take a seat at the
table. Wes fills the seat on the other side of me, looks at me closely, and
asks curiously, “You really like being here, huh?”
    Right
before I can answer, the screen door swings open with Will, Sandy, and Brantley
in tow. “Breakfast is all done. Go ahead and help yourself, Brantley,” Sandy
says, then turns her attention to her husband. “Go take a seat while I make our
plates and pour us some juice.” She kisses her husband sweetly on his lips. I
duck my head, feeling awkward by their public display of affection.
    “So?
What’s the plan for today, kids?” Will asks, taking a seat at the head of the
table.
    “I
thought Kenleigh and I would take Lucy and Jane out of the stall and walk them
in the corral pen,” Wes answers before I can speak.
    “I
figured I could take Autumn out for a while later on, too. That is, if you
don’t mind Mr. Will?” My eyes flick between Wes and his father.
    “I
think it all sounds great. Lucy and Jane could both use an introduction to the
corral pen. And I know Autumn would love to go for a ride. Just not anything
too strenuous, okay?” Will nods as Sandy places his food in front of him.
    A
smile graces my face as I watch the love between Mr. and Mrs. Adams. With that
smile comes a sense of longing as I remember how my own mom and dad looked at
each other in the exact same way. I push the memories back and finish my food.
I rise from the table and rinse my plate before depositing it in the
dishwasher.
    “Mrs.
Sandy? Do you need help cleaning up?”
    “I
got it. You go ahead. I know you have things that you wanna do.” She shoos me
out of the kitchen.
    “Actually,
I need to run into town. Do y’all need anything while I’m out?” I ask.
    “I
need to pick some stuff up too,” Wes answers. “Why don’t I come with you?”
    “All
right, I’m just going to get my stuff from my room. You’ll let me know when
you’re ready?”
    “Yeah,
just give me a few minutes.”
    With
that, I disappear upstairs and into my room. I check myself over in the mirror,
taking in my white washed, cutoff, denim shorts, brown tank top, and brown
cowboy boots. With a couple swipes of mascara and some lip-gloss, I’m ready to
go. As soon as my hand touches the doorknob, it vibrates from the knock on the
other side. I pull it open to see Wes on the other side. His eyes roam up and
down my body. I roll my eyes at his audacity. “You ready?”
    “Yep.
You want to take your Jeep or my truck?” he asks, giving him me the option.
    “Your
truck,” I say, exiting my room. “On one condition—”
    “If
you can drive it,” he interrupts.
    I
know I’m wearing a cocky-ass grin, but he drove my Jeep last night, so it’s
only fair that I get to drive his truck. “That’s right. I wanna drive it. So,
what’ll it be?” With my hand on my hip, one corner of my lip turned up, and an
eyebrow arched, I wait for him to answer me.
    I
watch the wheels in his head turning, before he finally huffs out a puff of
air. “Fine, you can drive her, but only if you’ll hang out with me tonight.”
    “Fine,”
I reply, short and sweet. I can handle hanging out with Wes if it means I can
drive his sexy ass truck. “You ready?” I stick my hand out and wait. When the
cold metal of keys meets my palm, I squeal like a kid on Christmas morning, and
haul ass downstairs before he can change his mind.

 

     
     
    With
the windows down and Wes in the passenger seat, I pull onto the long, winding
driveway that leads to the main road. I reach over to turn up the music but Wes
stops me by placing his hand on mine. “Before you do that, we need to go over
some ground rules with my truck.” His tone is serious and it takes all the will
power I have not to laugh at him.
    Slowly,
my head gravitates in his direction, giving him an incredulous look. Ground
rules? He can’t be serious. Not able to contain it any longer, I erupt into
a fit of laughter. “What? You