Cowgirls Don't Cry

Prologue

“Cara-Lynn, can you please come down here?” dad called from the back porch.

I roll my eyes and close the Seventeen magazine I had been thumbing through. “Coming dad!” I yell walking to the mud room to grab my boots. I look out the back window as I pull them on over my pj pants. I didn’t have chores on Sunday and had planned to spend the whole day on the couch. Dad probably wanted me to muck the stalls for him. Out the window I see dad walking out of the barn but he’s not alone. A young guy wearing a baseball cap and flannel shirt is fallowing him. Dad sees me through the window and waves for me to come out. I pull my hair into a pony tail as I walk down the back porch towards them.

“Cara-Lynn, this is Kip.” Dad says gesturing to the boy. “He is gonna be helpin’ us out this summer.”

Kip was gorgeous. He has a strong jaw, and a killer smile that made me want to melt. His sandy blonde hair poked out of his ball cap. He looked to be about 18 or so.

“Cara-Lynn, I gotta meet with Mr. Nicoles down the road. Can you show Kip around? Make sure he meets the horses, and get a look at the property.” Dad moves to address Kip. “You’ll be staying up in the loft. Just ask Lynn for some sheets and towels.”

Dad walks off to his pick up and we watch as he drives off.

“So what would you like to see first? There’s a lake just beyond those trees or we could take a horse ride along the property lines or_”

“How ‘bout you just show me the horses and where I’m gonna be staying.” He says with a smile.

“Yes of course! Fallow me.” I tug on my pony tail as I lead him to the back barn where we kept the horses. “So, are you in high school?”

“Uh, I just graduated.”

“Oh, that’s awesome! I’m gonna be a sophomore in spring. Did you go to John Adams?”

He chuckles. “No, Brant Hill. How old are you?”

“I’ll be 15 at the end of the summer.” I say in a rush. Kip smiles slightly. I’m just some little kid to him. We reach the back barn and I use it as a chance to change the subject. “So all the horses are out in the pasture right now. We’ll need to bring them in later tonight. Have you worked on a ranch before?”

“My parents use to own one but we lost it last year.” He says sounding a little sad.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Um, well I’m guessing you’ll be riding Fisher. That’s who my cousin rode when he helped here. If he doesn’t work for you we could try Vita.” Kip nods as I talk. “This is where we keep the tack. All of its labeled with the horses names, as are the stalls. The loft is right up theses stairs.”

“Why isn’t that horse out with the other?” Kip asks gesturing to the all-white mare still in her stall.

“Oh, that’s Snowflake” I walk over and rub snowflakes soft nose. “She was my momma’s horse before she passed. She’s too old to go out in the pasture with the other horses now. At sunrise and sunset we let her out in the round pen to get some exercise.”

“hey there Snowy.” Kip says stroking her fur.

“Snowy? That’s what my momma use to call her.” I smile at him. “She seems to like you.”

“She’s a beautiful little filly.” Kip smiles.

“I’ll go up into the main house and get you some towels and blankets. It gets pretty chilly out here at night.

“Thank you, Carolyn.”

“Oh it’s actually Cara-Lynn. But only my poppa calls me that, everyone else just calls me Lynn.” I tell him