Tutus & Cowboy Boots (Part 2) (18 page)

As she takes a seat on the swing, I sit
beside her. “ I love you, Jade.” She crinkles her nose and looks at
me like I’ve grown horns or something.

“You got a fever or somethin’?” she
questions.

“No. I just want you to know I love
you.”

“Oh lawd! You broke her heart didn’t you?”
She starts to stand, and I grab her hand before pulling her back
down.

“No! If you’d shut your trap for a second
I’d explain.” She daintily places her hands in her lap after acting
as if she’s zipped her lips.

“We didn’t break up, but I wanted to let you
know I’m thankful for you, Mom, and Dad. We’re lucky, Jade.”

“What do you mean?” She covers her mouth
like she didn’t mean to speak and I shake my head at her.

“Our family gets along for the most part, we
are good kids, our parents are happy. Heck, they gross us out with
how much they love each other. Cadence, on the other hand, has had
to deal with a lot.”

I can tell she’s dying to ask another
question. So I tell her to go ahead.

“So, what happened today?”

“Daisy, the cow, died and Cadence lost it
when it happened.” She interrupts me.

“Wait! I thought she didn’t care about all
the farm stuff. What’s up with that?”

“If you’d hold your horses, I’d tell you.
The calf is alone. No parent. Get it.”

“Oh! I get it. Why did she get mad at
you?”

“I’m not really sure. She said a lot but I
think it was my comment about the calf being fine without her mom
that set her off.”

“Oh, I see. So it made her think about being
without a dad.”

“Yep. And then it snowballed from there. I
think she finally let out everything that was bothering her.”

“Well, I’m so glad it all worked out,” she
says as she stands to go inside. “I love you too, Bare.”

I sit for a few minutes before going inside
and take it all in. It has been an extremely long day. One of fear,
loss, anger, hurt, but most importantly, love. As long as you have
people around you that love you, nothing else in this world
matters.

Chapter 27

Cadence

As my alarm sounds, I roll out of bed, walk
downstairs and check on Paisley. I’m impressed to see she’s acting
as if she didn’t lose her mother yesterday. I talk to her for a few
minutes and then get my chores done quickly. Missing school
yesterday probably wasn’t the best idea, but there’s no way I could
have made it. Heck, I didn’t even make it through dance.

As I finish up, I wonder where Barrick might
be, but I assume he’s just exhausted from last night. Going to the
house, I hurry to get ready, take the green smoothie Gran has made
me, and walk out the door to find Barrick approaching.

“Hey,” I say as I take a sip of my smoothie.
“Want some?” He shivers.

“Nope. Sorry I’m late. I overslept and I
never do that. Are you okay today?” he asks as he walks me to my
vehicle.

“I’m good, thanks to you,” I reply as I wrap
my arms around his waist.

“That makes me so happy to hear,” he murmurs
as he kisses me and gently tucks me into the driver’s seat of my
Range Rover. “Have an amazing day, and I’ll see you this
afternoon.”

“I’ll do my best,” I say as he closes my
door and waves bye as I exit the driveway.

I can’t wait to see Jade at school. I text
her and tell her I need to talk. Of course, she thinks it’s about
her brother, but it’s not. I’ve got to figure out what I’m going to
do if I’m not going to Boston.

As the bell rings for lunch, I walk to the
media center and take a seat at the back computer table.

“What’s up, chica?” Jade asks.

“I need your help.”

Pulling the chair out, she takes a seat.
“Hit me with it,” she says.

“So, you know Ms. James has asked me to
Boston.” She nods. “Well, I’ve decided I don’t want to go and I
want to explore my other options.”

“Are you serious?” she questions.

“I’m not sure touring and dancing with a
company are what I want right now. I think I’d rather stay closer
to Delight. I looked up the application process for ECU and UNCG in
Ms. Lyndsay’s office but I never did anything with the information.
What do I do?”

“Come on,” she says, walking toward a
computer. She searches several schools, programs, and other
options.

“How’d you know to do all this?” She
laughs.

“Well, I knew a few things I wanted in a
school and started looking last year, so I’ve done a lot of
research.”

“I should have known,” I
say as I shake my head and we quickly scroll through them. As I
look at each school, I notice that the application dates have
passed.
What am I going to do?
When the bell rings, she quickly unzips her
backpack and hands me a god-awful teal chevron notebook. It looks
as if someone has bedazzled the front.
What in this world?

“All of this info is in here. I took notes
on everything.”

“Jade, all of those dates for auditions have
passed. It’s useless,” I say as I place my head in my hands.

“How do you know that? Maybe there’s a
loophole or something,” she says as we walk toward our classes.
“I’ll see you at the studio,” she says and my mind is reeling with
what I should do.

When I get to class, all I can do is think
about my future and ask the teacher if I can go see a counselor. He
gives me a pass and I walk to the guidance office, where a young
woman greets me. “How may I help you?”

“I need a little guidance with college
applications,” I state.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” she
says with a smile.

Stepping into her office, she closes the
door and I answer a few questions. After an hour or so, she’s
explained that all I can do is apply. She also said I should think
outside of the box. She told me to do something to stand out and
make Cadence Lewis memorable. I’m going to have to talk to Ms.
Lyndsay about this today.

My mind is spinning, and I ask if it would
be okay to get started on this instead of going back to class. She
agrees and gives me a note to go to the media center. I apply to
UNCG, ECU, and NYU. Then I begin a dance résumé. I have to text Mom
for some information, and before I know it the bell is ringing to
dismiss us for the day.

Once I’m inside the studio, I hurry to get
ready and Ms. Lyndsay asks to speak to me. She asks if I’m okay
today, and I tell her I’m extremely sorry about yesterday. I then
ask her opinion on what I can do to stand out on the
applications.

“Cadence, I’m going to be extremely honest.
This late in the game is going to be hard to get in. It’s not
impossible, but I believe if they see your grades and your talent,
they’d be crazy not to accept you. I might have a connection or two
as well,” she says with a wink.

“So what should I do to stand out?” I ask
her. She shakes her head.

“Be yourself. You are a light in the
darkness. You’re one of a kind and they will see that the moment
your body moves to the music. I have no doubt, but no matter what
I’ll be glad to help you any way I can.”

“Thanks, Ms. Lyndsay,” I say as I give her a
hug and hurry to the dance room to stretch. After class, Jade and I
stay so that we can make a video for my applications. It doesn’t
take long before I have it recorded, and we gather our things to go
home. Jade calls my cell as we follow each other out of the parking
lot.

“Totally different subject, Cadence, but
have you gotten your prom dress?” she questions.

“I’ve looked a little bit, but I have no
idea what I want. Well, I do, but Mom already called in that favor
at homecoming,” I say with a smile.

“Would you want to go shopping tomorrow
since we have a day off? And let’s not mention it’s in less than a
month.”

“Absolutely. Where should we go?”

“SouthPark.”

“Where’s that?” I question.

“Charlotte. Barrick can go if you want,” she
says.

“No way! He’s not seeing my dress until that
night.”

She starts to laugh like crazy. “This isn’t
a wedding, Cadence. He can see it before the night you know.”

“I don’t care. I want it to be a
surprise.”

“You’re crazy,” she says.

“Maybe so.”

As I pull into my driveway, I tell her I’ll
drive tomorrow and pick her up about ten. I’ve got to get my chores
finished and get these applications in.

“What applications?” Barrick asks as he
approaches me.

I pull the phone away from my ear and fiddle
with my bag. “Just for a few schools and programs nearby. I’ve
waited around so long, I’ll probably have to take a year off and
work around here,” I say, defeated.

“You’re crazy. You’ll get in. If not, you
can go to school with me,” he says with a wink.

“You don’t know what you are doing yet
either.”

“Well, now that I know you aren’t going to
Boston, I may apply to ECU.”

“Well, that one is on my list,” I say as I
pull him in for a kiss.

“Ew, I’m still on the phone and I can hear
you kissing,” Jade yells before disconnecting.

“You want me to help you with your
applications?” Barrick asks.

“Yes,” I say as we walk up to the house.

Barrick

Ms. Mae and Regina are at
the kitchen table when we walk in. Cadence tells them all about her
talk with the guidance counselor and that she’s already applied to
three schools. She lets them know I’ll be helping her upload her
files and asks if I can stay for dinner. She also lets them know
that she and Jade are going shopping for prom dresses
tomorrow.
Crap. I’ve got to order a
tux.

After we eat, we settle into the living
room, and Cadence turns on the mobile hotspot on her phone to
connect the computer to the Internet. We go over all her
information, upload all of the files, and then submit.

Once we are finished, we look at the clock
and it’s still pretty early. I ask if she wants to go to The Loft
but she shakes her head no. Instead, we take a seat on the couch
and watch TV for a little while.

“Want to go outside on the swing?” she
asks.

Glancing at the time, I know I’m going to
have to go soon so we won’t have long. “Sure, I can hang out for a
little longer,” I say.

The wooden swing creaks as we move back and
forth. She places her head on my shoulder and I wish I didn’t have
to leave.

“Oh my. Barrick! There they are!” she
exclaims.

“What?”

“The lightening bugs.”

“Want to catch them?” I ask.

“Why not?” she says. Taking her hand, we
walk down the front steps and into the yard.

“Hold on,” I say as I hurry to the back
porch to grab a mason jar. Coming around to her again she looks
confused. I take my pocket-knife out and puncture a few holes in
the lid. “They’ve got to be able to breathe,” I say.

She tries to catch a few but struggles. They
seem to escape her grasp but after a few minutes, she finally gets
one.

“I got one!” she squeals. But then her face
transforms. “Oh my gosh! It tickles and it’s a bug. Get it!” she
squirms, jumping up and down. Once I come to her rescue, she takes
a seat and says she’s done. I gather a few more and enjoy their
light.

Chapter 28

Cadence

Saturday morning Barrick arrives and tags
Paisley once more. He swears it doesn’t hurt but I can’t watch. She
can now go out in the pasture with the herd, and Barrick lets me do
the honors.

“You ready, sweet girl?” I ask as I lead her
into the pasture. Opening the gate, I feel as if I’m a proud mother
watching her child walk into her first dance lesson alone. My heart
swells with excitement, but hurts at the same time.

Looking at Barrick, I take a step closer and
stand underneath his shoulder. Paisley looks back at me before
trotting toward the other cows at the other end of the field.

“You were right,” I say as I look up to
Barrick.

“About what?”

“She will be okay with the others.”

“Yes she will, but she’s loved because of
you,” he says as he lowers his head and makes my heart melt with a
kiss.

After we finish at the barn, Barrick goes
home and I get ready to go with Jade. At exactly ten, I pull up to
her house and walk to the door. I can’t help but smile when Barrick
meets me at the door.

“Hey, didn’t I just see you?” I say with a
smile. He kisses me quickly before I step inside to meet Jade. I
speak to his parents for a few minutes before we leave for
Charlotte.

Jade tells me how to get
there, and when we arrive I know this is my kind of mall. Jade and
I make our way inside and check out several high-end department
stores as well as specialty shops. I find several dresses I like
but not one that I love. Jade has found one she has to have, and I
have to say it’s beautiful. It’s not my style but it screams
southern belle.

As we search the final store I’m about to
give up hope, but that’s when the bling catches my eye. Walking
toward it, I see the perfect dress. It’s flashy but not over the
top. The bodice is embellished with rhinestones and the teal color
will complement my skin tone and hair. I look over at Jade and
she’s smiling from ear to ear.

“Bare loves the color blue,” she says.

“Really?”

“Yeah, go try it on.” She ushers me to the
dressing room. I go in and slide the dress on. It fits perfectly
and when I look in the full-length mirror, I know that this is the
dress.

“I don’t know,” I say, trying to sound
bummed.

“Let me see. I’m sure…” She stops as I open
the door. “Holy smokes! You’re full of crap! You look amazing! Look
in this mirror,” she says, pointing to the one in the larger part
of the dressing room. I walk out and take a look. Smiling from ear
to ear, I know this is it. Now I need to find the perfect shoe to
accent it.