Falling for a Cowboy
Chapter 2
JOSIE
Just like I expected, he was looking at me disappointedly.
“You’re leaving him?” my father asked, surprised. “He’s the best thing that has happened to you!”
After hearing my mother walking away, I knew she’d heard enough and had gone back into the kitchen to cry.
“Yes, I’m leaving him. I’m not happy being with him, and we have no love for each other. None,” I insisted, hoping he’d finally get the hint that Spencer was not for me.
The room suddenly got quiet. And after seeing my father’s reaction and how unhappy he looked, I stood quickly, about to remind him of how old I was.
But just as I opened my mouth to yell, I closed it when he spoke.
“Where were you thinking about moving to?”
I sat back down and scooted to the edge of the couch, closer to him. Then, to show him how serious I was, I smiled.
“For two days I’ve been searching, and I found Texas to be the state I’m most interested in moving to.”
“Texas? Why Texas?” he asked, raising his voice. “Why would you want to leave a beautiful state like this for a dry, overpopulated state like that? What on earth has gotten into you?”
“I already told you. I need a change, and I want to go somewhere far, somewhere much different from here. I’m sick of being cold all the time. And I’m sick of snow and ice and driving in it.
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s beautiful here. It’s just not for me. Not anymore.”
He rose to his feet, shaking his head. And then he walked away, not saying another word, which had me thinking that he still wanted to control me by keeping me here…
…To continue treating me like I was a child, one who was still troubled and needed an adult babysitter, as he had Spencer doing for him.
He returned to the room with a cocktail and sat across from me. The look on his face said he was about to lecture me.
“Josie, let’s talk seriousness here. You know not one person in Texas.”
“Exactly,” I quickly answered.
He raised his hand, stopping me from saying anything more. “Just let me talk for a second. I want to know who you’ll call if something happens and you’re in trouble or danger.”
“911. Or I could always call Ghostbusters,” I responded, smirking. Well, what can I say? If you ask a stupid question, you get a stupid answer.
However, his facial expression showed that he wasn’t too pleased with my response, and in one swallow he finished the amber-colored liquid in his glass.
“I suppose 911 is who you’d most likely call. So that was a stupid question. But what about when you need someone to talk to?
“You’ll be thousands of miles away, so it won’t be that easy for you to hop in your car and drive here. As you did tonight.”
“I know that. But I assure you, I’ve thought about everything before bringing all this up to you and Mom.
“Every possible question you have, I’ve already thought about the answer. So, continue asking away.”
“Okay… Where are you going to live? Have you thought about that?”
“Yes. I’ve been looking for that perfect place to call home.”
“So you have no idea where you’ll be moving to.”
I sighed, knowing that would be his next question. “Not quite yet. I figured out the city I’d like to move to. I just haven’t found myself the right apartment.”
He grinned, looking like he had finally got me, winning the debate.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I begged. “I never said I was leaving tomorrow. But I would like to leave the moment I do find one.”
“And how do you expect to pay for your rent?”
Just like that, he knew he had me. Spencer had insisted I quit my job months ago. He hated me working and meeting new people, fearing I would meet someone who would take me down that wrong path again.
“Josie?” he asked, after not getting the response he wished to hear.
I shrugged my shoulders and looked away. I had no money. Well, I did, but all access I had to my bank accounts was taken away by Spencer when he thought I was returning to the drug scene.
The funny thing was that Spencer didn’t know that I had been transferring money from one of my accounts to a newly opened one. One I’d opened without telling anyone.
It hadn’t been only two days that I thought about moving away from there. It had been months of searching for the best and most exciting place to live.
But it wasn’t until those last two days that I knew how serious I was about leaving Alaska.
“I had money saved from when I was working. But Spencer took it upon himself to remove any access I had to my bank accounts.”
“We both did. And it was for an excellent reason,” my father said, grinning proudly.
I stood fast, yelling, “You too? See what I mean? This is exactly why I need to leave!
“Nobody fucking trusts me! Nobody!” I cried, then quickly covered my mouth after realizing I’d sworn at my father, something I never did.
Anger filled his eyes, and he stood just as quickly as I did.
He repeatedly pointed his finger at me, reminding me of all the things I’d done years ago and how I’d thrown away four years of med school to become nothing.
“A nurse is what you wanted to be,” he yelled. “And what did you do with that after you graduated? Huh?
“Well, I’ll tell you. You went on to be a drug addict and a bartender. So don’t give me this crap about wanting to better your life. You had your chance!”
“I can still become a nurse. I just don’t want to be one here,” I said, feeling defeated. But I also thought I needed to remind him that it was not too late and that I could still become one if I wanted.
“But to be honest, I lost interest in becoming one after Selena died. I feel there’s something else for me out there. I just need to find myself and figure out what that is.”
He must have finally realized my seriousness, because his tone changed with what he asked next. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
“It is. I’ve never been so serious in my life. I don’t belong here, Dad. In my heart I know I belong somewhere else.”
“Then I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll give you access to your bank accounts again, as long as you promise not to spend your money on drugs and nonsense.
“I’ll also pay the first six months of your rent. That should give you plenty of time to find yourself and see if this is what you want to do.
“However, if you’re unhappy with where you are and you still haven’t found what you’re looking for, I want you to come home. And when I say home, I mean here.”
“Six months?” I asked in barely a whisper, surprised by his offer. It wasn’t what I expected him to do, and I wasn’t about to argue with him about his generosity.
Six months would give me plenty of time to save all the money I earned working and pay my rent afterward, since I had no plans on returning. I was determined never to move back.
“Yes, six months. That should be more than enough time to figure yourself out.
“But, if I find out you’re back in that same scene you were in two years ago, you’ll wish you were never born after I get a hold of you. Got that?”
A massive smile formed on my face. I already told myself I would never do that again. I’d also hate myself if I returned to doing what I was doing.
“That’s one thing you’ll never have to worry about with me again. It was stupid. I was stupid. And I refuse to go down that road ever again,” I assured him, walking over and squeezing him tight.
“I don’t care how old you are. You’re still a little girl in my eyes, and I don’t want to be burying my child, especially as young as you are.”
“I know,” I whispered, still tightly embracing him.
After dinner, and against my parents’ wishes for me to stay until the snow subsided and the plows cleared the streets, I went home to tell Spencer we were over and that I was moving out—immediately.
But before saying anything, the first thing I needed to do was find an available place to live and a job.
Thankfully, when I got home, Spencer was still asleep.
Usually I would’ve woken him. But knowing what I needed to do, I left him where he was, grabbed my laptop, and sat where I could keep my eye on Spencer.
The last thing I wanted was for him to see what I was up to and where I planned on moving to.
Twenty minutes later he opened his eyes and angrily asked, “Where were you?”
I closed the laptop and gave him an are-you-being-serious-right-now look.
“Excuse me?”
“What do you mean ‘excuse me’? I woke up and you were gone! So the question is, where were you?”
“I was at my parents’. I needed to talk to them. So if you don’t believe a word I’m saying, call them,” I retorted, reaching for my phone and holding it for him to take.
“Call them!” I demanded.
Finally I got the nerve to say what I wanted, and I yelled, “We’re over! I’m packing my shit and moving out where you’ll never see or hear from me again.”
Spencer argued with me the entire time I packed. Then I got a break. While loading everything into my vehicle, he disappeared.
After filling my SUV, I came inside and found him drowning his sorrows in a bottle of scotch.
I walked over, throwing my key at him and saying, “I’ll send my father over for the rest of my belongings. Have a good life.”
I left and returned to my parents, feeling the best thing would be to stay with them until I found a job and an apartment in the place I’d chosen, the cowboy capital of the world: Bandera, Texas.
Why did I want to move where cowboys would be wandering around? Because ever since I was a little girl, I had been intrigued by cowboys.
Why? Because they weren’t the white-collar working men I was used to being around. Instead, they were the blue-collar—or, well, shirtless—sweaty, hardworking bad-boy personas I’d dreamed of meeting.
And that’s exactly the quest I was looking to embark on.
One that would irk my family, once I found myself that working-class cowboy who’d steal my heart.
And one that would cause heavy moistening between my thighs whenever he looked at me.
Continue to the next chapter of Falling for a Cowboy