Tutus & Cowboy Boots (Part 2) (14 page)

“Couldn’t sleep. I went to check on Daisy. I
swear I don’t think she’s ever going to deliver. Take a seat,” she
says and I do once I cut through the packaging tape.

She watches me to see if I’m going to open
it. I shrug, take a deep breath, and open the box. Gran gasps and
covers her mouth as I sit there speechless. It’s a wooden box
filled with memories of Dad and me. I look up at Gran and she takes
her cup to fill it up, but I can see her eyes are glassy. I don’t
speak; I just take in all the memories.

The first is a photo of me after my first
solo squealing, “Daddy!” as he stood waiting for me with my
favorite croissant and a small bouquet of daisies. There is a dried
daisy next to the picture. Next, I see a program for every
performance I was in, whether it was on a team or the fourth grade
talent show. The picture that hits me the most is the one from our
Daddy-Daughter Dance where we are wearing matching MC Hammer pants.
I remember him doing his best to hang in there with me. That’s all
I ever wanted— to spend time with him. This box brings back all the
good memories and I can’t hold in the tears. Gran wraps me in a hug
until I calm down. When I take one last look, I see a note at the
bottom.

Dear Cade,

The moment you were born was the moment I
knew I’d never be the same. You are by far my biggest
accomplishment in life. You have always inspired, and I want your
eighteenth birthday to be filled with fond memories of the two of
us. I hope they make you laugh, smile, and even cry because these
are the moments I cherish.

When I think about the past eight months, I
know I’ve let you down, but I won’t anymore. As The Eagles once
said, “Some dance to remember, some dance to forget.” Don’t forget
me, Cadence. I love you and will always be behind you.

Love, Dad

PS- I’ve got two tickets to Sweden when
you’re ready.

Placing the box back on the table, I start
crying all over again. Gran holds me until I can’t cry anymore.
Then she pulls my chin up to look at her.

“Cade, he’s always been an SOB, but he’s
your dad. At some point, you have to move forward. It looks like
he’s trying.”

“Gran, I want to, but then
again I
want
to
hate him. I want him to hurt as much as he has hurt Mom and
me.”

“Choose joy, Cade. First Corinthians
sixteen-fourteen says, ‘Let all that you do be done in love.’ Let
love in. It will heal all wounds.”

My gran is a strong one. She’s wise and has
taken the lessons God has given her and has shown me that it’s okay
to move on. It doesn’t hurt anyone but me to hold on to the
hate.

“I love you, Gran,” I whisper.

“I love you too, Cade. So, so much,” she
says as she runs her hands over my hair.

Once she knows I’m okay, we go back to bed.
As I take the box back to my room, my heart feels a little lighter.
I place it on my dresser so I can see it each morning when I get
ready. Once I’m in bed, I take my phone and text Dad.

Me: Thank you Dad.

I get a quick reply. I forgot about the time
difference.

Dad: I’m so glad, Cadence. I want you to
know I love you, and pray that we can work through this. I love
you. Happy Birthday.

Me: Me too

I don’t reply with
an
I love you too
because I’m not at that point yet. I will always love him
because he’s my dad and I appreciate him trying to make amends, but
I still need time to process it all before I can say that
again.

I quickly drift off to sleep, but it’s not
long before the sound of Gran’s voice awakens me. She seems to be
flustered about something. In my mind, I tell her it will be okay,
roll over, and cover my head with my pillow, but then I’m shaken
awake.

“Cade! Get up, Cade!” Mom
keeps repeating. I mumble to leave me alone. I know it’s not time
for the sun to be up. Hell, I just went to bed.
Holy shit!
It’s cold!
I suddenly realize that Mom has pulled the warm
comforter from my body. I sit up to grab it, but I catch the look
on Mom’s face.

“What’s wrong?” I grumble.

“Cade, Gran needs our help. Put on the most
worn out clothes you have and come on,” she says, walking toward
the door in a hurry.

“Is she okay?” I question.

She turns to face me. “Yes, she’s fine. It’s
Daisy. She’s in labor.”

It takes a second to seep
in.
Daisy is in labor. Daisy is in labor.
My Daisy is in labor! We’re having a baby!
Then it hits me.
Oh no! I’m not
birthing a cow.
“Please tell me I don’t
have to put my hands up there?” I say, shaking my head and praying
that I don’t. I’ve grown close to that cow, but not
that
close.

“Gran just said she needs
us. She’s already been out there a while. Just come on and do what
she says please.”
How long have I been
asleep?
I grab my phone and see that it’s
four in the morning. I guess I was sleeping well.

I nod to Mom, place my warm feet on the cool
wooden floor, and try to find something old to wear. The only old
things I own are dance clothes so that’s what I grab. I quickly
text Barrick to get over here, toss my phone on my bed, and grab my
paisley galoshes before I hurry toward the barn. Thankfully the
weather turns warmer earlier in the South so it’s not as cold in
the barn.

Gran is sitting with Daisy and looks up when
she hears us come in. “Girls, I need you to get things ready in the
next stall. Put out some fresh straw and fresh water. Daisy and her
calf will need to move in there once she delivers.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mom says as she begins to walk
this way. I stand in shock at the image in front of me. Daisy is
standing there and there is discomfort laced in her moos. It’s not
that I don’t know what to do because putting hay on the ground
isn’t hard; it’s the fact that my mom has gone into straight
country girl mode. “Cadence, bring the water hose in here please,”
she says, snapping me out of my trance. I look for it and quickly
jump into action. I grab the hose and then start breaking up the
straw.

As I go to turn the water off, I’m caught
off guard when the barn door opens. “Oh shit! You scared me,” I say
as Barrick walks in. “I guess I’m a little on edge.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Where’s
Ms. Mae?” he says as he takes in the situation.

I point to Daisy’s stall, and he makes his
way over there. I turn the water off and help Mom finish getting
the stall ready. I hear the loudest moo I’ve ever heard and Gran
tells Barrick to get ready. I look at Mom and we both hurry to see
what’s going on.

When we look over the
stall, I’m grossed out yet in awe of the sight before me. Gran is
covered in some nasty film and Barrick has the calf in his arms. He
takes a piece of straw and puts it up its nose, and before I know
it the calf is breathing on its own. I take a step forward and just
look as Daisy is led into the new stall and the calf is placed near
her to nurse.
That was the grossest, most
amazing thing I’ve ever seen.

I stand outside the stall as Daisy looks at
me. “Good job, girl!” I say as Mom comes to stand beside me.
Looking at her, I can’t hide my joy for both of them. “Mom, isn’t
she the cutest thing ever?”

“She’s adorable,” she says as she places her
arm on my shoulder, pulling me in for a motherly hug. “You did
good, too, lovey girl!”

Barrick

After placing the calf in the stall, I wash
up at the sink. Cadence amazed me with the way she handled all the
responsibilities given to her. She is really embracing the farm
life and I hope I don’t lose her to Boston.

“Barrick, I’m going to make a pot of coffee,
if you’d like some,” Ms. Mae says, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Sure. I’ll be right in.” I check on Daisy
and tag the calf before going toward the house.

I give a slight knock before entering and
find all three women at the table with a warm cup of coffee in
their hands. Ms. Mae stands to get my coffee, and I tell her to
stay seated. I pour my coffee in the mug they left out for me, and
take the only seat open beside Ms. Mae.

“Ms. Mae, she’s been tagged,” I state as I
take a seat.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Cadence questions.

I look at her and try to relate it to
something she’d get. “Did piercing your ears hurt?”

“Uh, not really.”

“Well, I’m not a cow, but I figure it’s
about the same thing.”

She takes another sip of coffee, and I look
at Ms. Mae. “Ms. Mae, do you have any Hank?” I ask and Cadence
gives me a look.

“Honey, you know it!” she says as she walks
to the living room and comes back with a record. “I remember when
this came out! I saved up my money for a month to buy it! Come on
in the living room. I’ll put it on,” she states and we take our
coffee and follow her into the room. She takes the top off the
record player and within seconds the opening notes to “Family
Tradition” fills the living room. Ms. Mae turns and starts to move
to the classic country song. Cadence looks as if she’s just heard a
foreign language as Ms. Mae moves toward her. She takes Cadence by
the hand and begins to two-step. I start to sing the extra words
all the teenagers have added over the years.

“Get laid? Barrick Carpenter! Y’all kids
sure know how to ruin a great song!” Ms. Mae hollers over the music
but never misses a beat. Within a few moments, I watch as Ms. Mae
swirls Cadence away from her and grabs Regina. I take Cadence’s
hand and we all two-step around the room.

“Told ya, I’d teach you about Hank. One
down, two to go,” I whisper in her ear.

“What was that? I thought Gran was going to
have a cow,” she says and continues to giggle uncontrollably. We
both start to laugh because Daisy just literally had a cow.

“Just wait for a good party and you’ll
understand,” I say as I continue to spin her around the room. “So
do you like it?”

“What? The music? Nuh, uh, but I do like
dancing with you,” she admits. As the next song ends, I realize Ms.
Mae and Regina are gone.

“Cadence, remember I always want to make you
happy and that you can talk to me about anything,” I say as I hold
her in my arms.

“I love you, Barrick. I really do,” she says
and leans in for a kiss.

“I love you too,” I say, hoping her love for
dance won’t break us apart.

Cadence

When Barrick says I can talk to him about
anything, my heart breaks a little. I haven’t told him about Boston
and I need to before he finds out. It’s not right for me to make
Jade keep my secret and I need to be honest with him.

“Barrick—”

“Cadence… I’m sorry. What were you going to
say?”

“No, you go first,” I say.

“I was proud of you out there. Pitching in
and helping out when we needed you. We might be making a country
girl out of you yet.”

“I didn’t do anything. I don’t think I could
have done what you and Gran did. That was totally disgusting.”

“Yeah, it kinda is. But bringing a new life
into the world is pretty amazing. Speaking of new life, I better go
check on Daisy and the calf. Wanna come?”

“Of course.”

“Oh, what were you going to say?”

“Oh, nothing, we can talk about it later.
Let’s go check on our girls,” I say, chickening out.

I let Mom and Gran know we’re going to check
on the cows before we go down to the barn. As soon as we walk in,
Barrick pulls me into the storage closet and attacks my lips. I let
out a soft moan. When he trails kisses down my neck, I pull back
slightly. “Damn, Mr. Carpenter. What brought that on?”

“You. Helping with Daisy. Dancing with me.
Wearing that skimpy dance outfit. It’s taken everything in me not
to kiss you in front of your mom and Ms. Mae.”

“Well, you seem to have the same effect on
me,” I say before I attack his lips and let my hands roam his body.
When we both are out of breath and my hands have crossed lines they
haven’t before, we slow things down.

“Cadence you have no idea how sexy you are
right now in that outfit and those galoshes with your hair a mess.
It’s freakin’ hot.”

I giggle and Barrick gives me a warning
look. “I’m sorry. I just can’t help it. How can this be hot?” I ask
as I cover my mouth to keep from laughing. He takes a step toward
me, grabs my arms and tosses me over his shoulder.

“Bare! Put me down!” I scream while
playfully beating his back. He carries me over to the hay pile and
tosses me into it. Then he lies next to me and kisses me like I’ve
never been kissed before. This boy has stolen my heart and there is
no way I can leave it here and go to Boston.

As the barn door squeaks open, we jump from
the hay and quickly pull ourselves together. When Gran lays eyes on
us, it’s obvious she knows exactly what we were doing.

“How’s Daisy and the calf doing? It’s funny
that I don’t see any other cows in here ready to be milked,” she
says with a look, and then we all bust out laughing and get to
work.

Chapter 22

Cadence

When we finish with our chores, I check on
the calf. She’s absolutely adorable. I look at that awful tag in
her ear and read the number, three thousand twenty-seven.

“Barrick, we can’t let her be a freaking
number!” I whine.

“You’re right. What do you want to name
her?” he asks.

“I can choose?”

“Of course. Daisy’s your girl so why not?”
he says with a smile.

I have no idea what to name a cow, but as I
look around for a name, my eyes land on the paisley galoshes I’m
wearing. That’s it.

“Paisley,” I say as I look at her. “What do
you think?”