My family had to go out of town for two weeks, so it was just me, the married siblings, and cousins watching the ranch. My mom did not want to overbuy groceries, so I was given a small allowance for food. The Friday before they left was when I went for a week's worth of groceries. I had just gone to pick up horse and cattle feed. As I was browsing, I noticed a cute young man. I gave a small smile as I passed him by.
I picked up some salad bags and continued to the frozen food aisle. I picked up what I wanted and passed by the guy again. There was a guy who looked like him and a woman with them. I thought he was already with someone. I picked up a small bag of fruit before going to the checkout line. I quickly checked out and headed out of the store.
I was almost to my car when I heard someone yelling Ma'am. I turned around, being a little nosy, and saw the guy jogging towards me. I thought I had dropped something. He stopped short of where I was standing in the middle of the parking lot. "I would like to ask you out on a date." He said as he stopped in front of me. I was not looking for a boyfriend, but I would love to go on a date with him.
He asked for my number, but I gave him my snap instead. It was set that sometime next week we would go on a date. He walked back into the store, and I went to my car. I got in and went home. I unloaded the feed and went up to the house. I went inside and put my food away. I then went out to check the mares and foals before I had Ranger go with me. I threw his hackamore on before riding him out to the cattle herd.
I counted calves, making sure none were lost. It is almost time for us to wean calves. We will keep a few steers for slaughter and send the rest we do not need to a feed lot to be processed out. Many of the great heifers we want to keep in the line will stay, and the other ones will be sold. It will be a multi-day sale trip down to the stockyards. Zach usually stays home along with certain others who do not want to go.
Ranger and I usually go to help load and unload cattle. The cattle always came up to us when we came through. They know Ranger and the other horses that come through the herd. We had to stop using trucks long ago due to the landscape, and only use a truck to feed them. As we started back to the gate, the cattle went back to grazing. I led Ranger into his stall and brought in the mares and foals. They were getting bigger as foals and had mouths full of teeth now.
I went up to the house and entered as Mom was putting dinner on the table. I did not tell them of my upcoming date because Mom would start asking too many questions. I may not be ready yet, even though it's been almost a year since I heard my ex was being deployed. He is still over there because of his own actions. After dinner, I tried to find an outfit I thought was cute, but actually hated it. I then looked through the closet again and again not finding anything.