Head Over Boots For You // Jenlisa

12: It Feels Right

Jennie

The sun was brighter, warmer, and more welcome than at any time Jennie could remember. Spring had arrived, bringing with it shoots of bright green grass and singing birds and even wildflowers that made Jennie smile every time she saw them. Now, she actually wanted to spend time outside, breathe in the fresh air, let the wind tickle her cheeks.

Lisa's smile seemed to come easier in the spring air. Her laugh seemed to ring out farther. Even though her work was going to be harder than ever this year, she stood up all the taller for it.

As Jennie had planned, the Johnsons arrived later that week, and to be honest, it went better than she had even dared to hope. The parents were courteous and enraptured by everything about the ranch, asking about daily operations and the culture and small town. But the kids...

The kids were obsessed with Lisa.

To be fair, Lisa was the epitome of a cowgirl, with her commanding presence and unending confidence and absolute surety in the saddle. They couldn't get enough of her, watching in amazement as she galloped across the grassland and corralled the cattle into a tighter and tighter group. While Jennie was cooking dinner, the kids talked Lisa's ear off and needed to know everything about her: who her friends were, what her favorite animal was, whether she liked to watch cartoons. They even asked her why she wasn't married yet. Jennie paused her stirring in the kitchen and looked behind her, only to find that Lisa was staring back at her. But Lisa cleared her throat, returned her attention on the children, and whatever her answer had been, it was too quiet for Jennie to hear.

That night, when Jennie stayed in Lisa's room, it was starting to feel normal again. She hadn't been lying in Lisa's bed for more than a minute before she felt strong arms wrapping around her. She settled into them. It was the most natural thing in the world to be held by Lisa.

When the Johnsons pulled out of the ranch in their minivan, the kids hanging out of the windows and waving at them, Lisa and Jennie stood in the middle of the dirt driveway waving right back. Lisa let out the largest sigh that Jennie had ever heard.

Jennie prodded her in the side with her elbow. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

"It was exhausting, but..." Lisa glanced over at her, her smile growing. "It was kind of fun, too."

"Those kids loved you. I'm surprised they let their parents take them away."

"Kids like me, for some reason," Lisa said a little self-consciously.

Jennie smiled over at her. "It's because you listen to them. You make them feel special. You're good at that."

Wisps that had escaped from Lisa's braids fluttered in the breeze. Her lips slowly lifted into a peaceful smile that Jennie could only return in kind. They were standing side by side, far closer than required by the huge expanse of ranch around them, but it only felt right. They had done this together.

"I never thought that this was something that I could do," Lisa said. "I never thought I could be good at it. I always thought I liked cattle because they don't talk back like people do."

"Except for Daenerys, of course," Jennie replied, drawing out another smile. She looked down and noticed how their hands were nearly touching. And why shouldn't they be? They had just tried something that could be the solution to the ranch's problems. Didn't they deserve some kind of comfort after that? And what could be more comforting than Lisa?

She reached out tentatively, then more confidently. Jennie wanted this. A lot had happened between them, a lot had changed, but this part, what Jennie felt for Lisa, had not changed in the slightest.