My apologies for the delay in getting this chapter out way later than expected. With Covid, stuff really got turned around. I hope you enjoy this chapter and more to come. Thanks for sticking with me, y'all make writing these more enjoyable.
Chapter 5.
**
"I can't believe there's only 2 weeks of school left!"
"It's crazy," said James, "it's almost scary though.
"That it is. It's like we've done the same thing our whole lives, and now it's all going to change." Ally said with a now somber tone replacing her earlier excitement.
James and Ally were just two weeks away from one of the biggest moments in their lives, sitting in the hay loft of the old barn. This was their usual after school spot unless there was something else that needed done.
It was a Thursday, unusually hot for the second day of May. The pair was laying around for the afternoon, trying to decide what they wanted to do.
"Wanna go down to the creek?" Asked James with a little smirk on his face.
"Ooooooo that sounds like fun!" Replied Ally, "what are we waiting for?"
James and Ally climbed down the old shaky ladder to the ground of the barn, and Ally turned to walk towards James truck, but she made it only a few feet before she realized he wasn't following her. Turning around, she saw him walking the other way and realized where he was going and immediately got excited.
Ally loved horses. Riding was one of her favorite things to do, so when she saw James walking towards the door that led into the smaller horse barn that was attached to the back of the main barn, she knew they were about to go for a ride.
"You never said anything about going on horseback." Ally said while leaning up to give James a kiss.
"You never asked," he laughed, "plus, I know how much you love riding."
"Horses among other things." She shot back with a wink.
That gesture made his heart skip a beat and blood rushed from one head to the other. He turned back to the task at hand, saddling the horses, doing everything he could to keep his mind off pinning Ally against one of the stall walls and having his way with her.
Once he got done tightening and tying the chinch strap on the saddle of Ally's horse, he turned back to tell her to climb on, but before he could say anything she already had her foot in the stirrup and was swinging on.
Once She was on, James saddled up his own mount and swung into the saddle to head out on the thirty minute ride to the creek.
Riding side by side they spent the first ten minutes talking and laughing, occasionally leaning over to steal a kiss from the other. Eventually, Trio, Ally's horse, got tired of the walk and became restless. James was about to pick up the speed because he knew what Trio wanted to do, run. But Ally beat him to it.
Without a word, Ally nudged her heels against Trio's flanks, spurring him into a lope. Ally knew James' horses well, and knew that Trio had a very smooth lope, and wanted to see if James could keep up on Maga, the Tennessee Walker James was riding, since she knew his horse was young and had a sloppy lope.
The fact that Ally took off out of the blew worried James a bit. He knew she was a competent rider, but since she didn't say she was going to take off, he was worried Trio just took off on his own, even though he knew better, since Trio was an old and well mannered horse. His only fault was that he didn't like to walk, he needed to run.
Spurring his horse to catch Ally, he watched her riding ahead of him, the sound of her laughing, her hair blowing under her hat as Trio stirred up dust, made him think about how lucky he truly was to be able to call her his.
When she finally pulled back on the reigns, and Trio slowed down to a walk, Ally looked back to see James barreling towards her trying to catch up.
"I had no chance of catching you!" Cried James as he slowed Maga to a stop next to her.
"Trio wanted to run, so, I let him run." She laughed as she swung her leg over the saddle and hopped to the ground.
James did the same and went to his saddle bags to pull out the supplies he had packed earlier in the day before surprising Ally with the "impromptu" ride out to the creek.
When she saw what he was pulling out, she let out an excited little squeal and ran over to help him pull the supplies out. He handed her a blanket and a small bag and she took off running to their spot on the creek bank that they've been coming too since they became friends.
In his hands James carried another bag, a small cooler, and a little propane camping grill small enough to fit in the saddle bags. He took his time walking over to their spot, watching Ally all but bounce around with excitement.
He knew how much she loved picnics by the creek. It was her favorite thing short of the ride out to the creek.
"I brought your favorite!" James called as he neared the spot.
"You better!" She yelled, "because if you didn't you won't get any desert." She added with a cute little grin.
"Ooo desert, I almost forgot about that. I brought brownies!" He said, skipping over her innuendo.
"I still think my desert is better than yours."
"You wish!" She yelled back in mock anger, throwing the blanket at him when he got close enough.
After ravishing the brownies, Ally looked at James with that sexy grin and he instantly knew what she wanted.
"Ally, as much as I'd love to make love to you right now, I have something I need to tell you."
Her heart broke and her mind started racing. What could it be? Did he cheat? Did he not love her anymore? There were a thousand possibilities and none of them sounded good to her.
"Ok...?" She said, the nervousness showing in her voice.
"It's nothing bad, well, ok you'll think it's bad but I promise it isn't."
"Oh my god... James you're scaring me." She cried, getting more and more nervous with each passing second.
"Ok. Here goes nothing," he said, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I joined the army."
She didn't say anything. She couldn't. She felt like her heart just broke. Like someone took all the breath from her, all the blood from her body. Her face got pale.
"Baby?" James said, cautiously.
Still nothing. Her mind was racing. Imagining every way she could lose him to the army.