Lina’s POV

            My head was pounding as I walked out of the office and started the long journey up to the house; I could have taken the side-by-side but I didn’t think my head could take the sound of the engine running so walking was a better option, not to mention I think I’m still drunk and driving wasn’t a good idea at the time. It felt like someone was repeatedly hitting my head with a hammer and the sun was so bright I felt like it was blinding me every time I took my hand away from my eyes; I’m never drinking again I lied to myself as I made my way up the steps to the front porch. I took a deep breath and braced myself for the mad woman I knew would be waiting for me on the other side as I opened the door and walked in; I took a quick glance around as I slipped off my boots and tiptoed towards the stairs; if I could only make it to my room before she found me I could deal with her after a long shower and some pain killers for my head.

“Katalina Walker you get your buns in here right now!” My mothers loud southern voice echoed through the house from the kitchen; I groaned again as I froze on the bottom step. You would swear that woman has some type of supernatural hearing, how did she even hear me come in; I was quieter than a mouse. Maybe she has cameras set up in here; I looked around at the ceiling as I would find one but came up with nothing.

“Yes momma.” I answered tiredly as I stumbled my way into the kitchen; I bounced off a few walls on the way there. Yep, still drunk.

“You missed breakfast!” She declared the obvious.

“I know momma.” I answered leaning against the wall in the kitchen; she was peeling potatoes for a roast and didn’t look in my direction.

“Well where were you? I seen your truck outside so I know you came home last night.” She was trying to get me to admit that I came home drunk and stayed in the barn like I usually did.

“I came in late and didn’t want to wake you so I stayed in the tack room.” I said slowly making my way to a kitchen chair; I wasn’t in any shape to be standing for too long and I knew that she wasn’t going to let me get off that easy.

“Landon has been callin’ here all mornin’ what’s going on between the two of you?” She asked next still not looking my general direction.

“We broke up momma; I don’t wanna’ talk to him.” I huffed out laying my head down on my crossed arms on the table; god this headache really needed to go away, her loud voice wasn’t helping any either. You would think with me being in the same room she would at least lower it an octave or two.

“Broke up?” She said sounding offended by the very idea. “You need to work things out with that boy; you two have been together for too long just to throw it all away.” My momma has always loved Landon and was clearly upset at the idea of us not being together anymore. She knew that Landon would take over his daddies farm someday and always thought that we made a good couple and I would be set for life with him even if I didn’t take over this farm when my daddy was too old to manage it.

“Momma we’re not gettin’ back together so just get over it.” I practically yelled back at her; I know she had no idea what happened between us but it still pissed me off that she was trying to control my life and push us back together.

“You watch your tone with me young lady.” She growled back and I lifted my head to see that she was now staring me down with the knife she was using to peel the potatoes still firmly held in her hand; the woman looked like a damned psycho killer holding the weapon like that and I internally cringed back in my seat.

“Sorry momma.” I apologized hoping that she wouldn’t run around the counter and stab me a few times just for good measure to make sure I learned my lesson; I wasn’t kidding when I said that she was a little crazy sometimes and I wouldn’t put it past her. One time her and my daddy got into an argument over him letting Lucy, our farm dog, into the house; she got so mad at him because the dog tracked mud all over the clean floors that she actually knocked him upside the head with a frying pan and knocked him out cold, let’s just say that the dog doesn’t come in the house anymore.

“Don’t you let it happen again.” She warned before going back to the potatoes. “Now you go over there and call him back right this instant, you hear?” She ordered.

“Momma I’m not callin’ him back, were not gettin’ back together.” I said again but in a much calmer tone this time so that I didn’t get a knife to the chest.

“You stop bein’ so damn stubborn girl, ain’t no reason why yous two shouldn’t be together.”

“He cheated on me momma.” I finally just admitted; I didn’t plan on telling my parents why we broke up but I could see this argument going on forever if I just didn’t lay it all out there for her.

“What?” She asked turning around again with a shocked look on her face; she quickly shook it off and changed her tone. “You know how people ‘round here like to spread rumors, now go talk it out with him.” She brushed it off like I was crazy for even thinking Landon would do that to me; if I wouldn’t have actually seen it myself then I wouldn’t believe it either.

“It’s not a rumor momma.” I could feel the tears building at the edges of my eyes and I did my best to hold them back; I didn’t want to cry over him, he wasn’t worth a single one of my tears.

“Now how would you know that?” She still didn’t believe for a second that what I was saying was the truth.

“Because I walked in on it, I seen it happen with my own two eyes.” I said standing from my seat as my eyes shed some of the tears I tried so hard to hold back; she turned around with a shocked and sorrow filled expression as her mouth opened and closed a few time trying to find the right words to say to me. “May I be excused now?” I asked as more tears rolled down my face; she nodded her head once and I quickly exited the room before she could say anything else.

            I stomped up the stairs to my room as I angrily wiped at the never ending trail of tears that ran down my face; I didn’t even want to think about Landon right now but it seemed like thoughts of him coated every single inch of my brain. No matter how hard I tried to push away the memories they still made their way to the forefront and images of the two of us together clouded my vision with every step I took; I tried to think about the bad times together, the fights that we had so that it would make me hate him even more than I already did but my mind had other ideas and thoughts of the good times seemed to override the bad. I made my way to the shower hoping that somehow the hot water could wash away the memories but I just ended up on the shower floor with my arms wrapped around my legs and my knees to my chest; the tears soon turned to sobs and my body rocked back and forth as I tried to get myself under control.

            The water was turning cold by the time I finally pulled myself together and managed to take a proper shower; by the time I got out I was shivering from the cold water and wrapped myself in a fluffy towel before collapsing on my bed. I didn’t want to be this person right now; the girl that was so wrapped up in grief about losing her boyfriend that she was nothing more than a useless lump on the bed. I wanted to be strong, I wanted to just forget about everything that happened between Landon and I over the last few years; it seemed like the stronger I tried to be the weaker I got and an hour passed before I was able to pull myself together enough to actually get dressed.

            I made my way downstairs and grabbed an apple off the counter in the kitchen; my mom gave me a sorrow filled look as I walked in and started to say how sorry she was but I wasn’t in the mood to hear it. I told her that I was fine and with my apple in hand I made my way out to the barn; if anything could make me feel better it would be the horses. I munched on the apple as I made my way into the barn where I kept one of my two horses, Romeo; I walked up to his stall and he neighed happily when he saw me. I offered him the rest of my apple and pet his silky head a few times as he nudged my hands looking for more treats; I patted him on the head a few more times before walking off to the tack room to get his bridle and saddle, a long ride on him would help me clear my mind.

            Romeo is the first horse that I have actually owned; I have grew up around horses my whole life but it wasn’t until my thirteenth birthday that my dad said I could pick a foal that I wanted to keep as my own. It wasn’t until I was fifteen that Romeo was born and I chose him; the moment he first stood on all four I knew he was the perfect horse for me and man did he turn out to be beautiful. He’s a dark chocolate brown color and when he’s in the sun his coat turns different shades of brown; it goes from the normal dark chocolate to more of a honey brown color, he is absolutely stunning. He is by far the largest horse we have on the farm and I have had countless offers from customers trying to buy him from me; it didn’t matter how much money I was offered I would never part with my baby.

            Not only was he the largest horse that we have but he was also a great athlete; I entered him in barrels and rails last year and although it was the first time either one of us completed we still managed to get a second in barrels and third in rails. I was sure that if I had actually taken the time to get the proper training for us then we would have taken first in both events but I wasn’t all that interested in winning the competitions; Romeo was my pet, my baby, I didn’t want to raise him to only have a life of competitions and shows I wanted him to be a free and happy horse. After latching up the saddle and sliding the bridle over his head I led him out of the barn and through the padlocks to the open field; grabbing a hold of the side of the saddle I pulled myself up and as soon as I took hold of the reins he took off in a gallop and I rode around on him for a good hour or two. By the time I finished my ride and got him all cleaned up my head was finally clear of any thoughts of Landon; I knew I had to keep myself busy though or those thoughts would just come back to haunt me later.

            Making my way back to the main barn I noticed Bubba’s truck pulling down the driveway; I froze on the spot as the truck came to a stop in its normal spot next to the barn. I took me a few moments to realize that it was Jon that stepped out of the truck and not Bubba; it was just so odd to see anyone driving that truck other than him. I made my way over to the truck when I seen that Jon was pulling a few bags out of the back seat and offered to help him unload his things; it appeared that he took it into town to grab a few things that he needed that we didn’t pick up on the first day he was here. I grabbed the three remaining bags in the truck and followed him up the stairs to his apartment to help him unload everything.

“Umm… You can just put that stuff on the counter.” He said as he carried the bags he was holding over to the table and started to unpack; I set down the bags and started to unload everything on the counter for him too while putting away a few things that I knew where they should go. I pulled out the next item in the bag and a small smile crossed my lips as I took in the box of condoms; I decided to have a little fun with him, I was sure that he forget that they were in one of the bags that I was holding.

“So lover boy where should I put these?” I asked waving the box of rubbers around in my hand; the look on his face was priceless as he turned around to see what I was holding. His face flashed a shade of red before he ran over and snatched the box out of my hand.

“Uh… I can finish from here, thanks.” He said quickly disappearing into his room with the condoms.

“Aw, don’t be embarrassed Jon. It’s better to be safe than sorry.” I teased as I continued to unpack the bags and put away the snacks he had bought; pulling out a box of Oreos I abandoned my task and took them took the table ripping open the package and helping myself.

“Hey!” Jon said from behind me sounding slightly offended as he watched me pop another Oreo in my mouth.

“What?” I asked innocently around the chocolate and cream cookie in my mouth.

“I worked hard for these.” He said snatching the box of cookies from the table; he was trying to play it off like he was mad but the smile that played at the edge of his lips gave him away.

“Oh come on Jon, those are my favorites.” I begged sticking out my lower lip in a pout.

“That look may work on your daddy but it wont work on me; you’re going to have to do a lot more to get another one of these babies from me.” He replied with a grin as he took one of the cookies out and popped it in his mouth; he even went as far as making an ‘mmm’ sound as he savored the taste of it while he chewed.

“Rock, paper, scissors?” I asked trying to think of a way I could get more cookies.

“You’re on!” He replied with a smile and we started paying; after five games, me losing every one I decided to try a different tactic. While he was distracted making a scissors action with his hand I reached over and grabbed a cookie out of the box and quickly popped it in my mouth before he had time to react and take it back.

“That’s cheating.” He accused and I just smiled in return.

“You’re cheating at the game so it’s only fair.” I replied eyeing the box of cookies again; he let out a laugh and seeing my gaze on the box of cookies he quickly put it behind his back on the couch.

“You can’t cheat at rock, paper, scissors Lina.” He rolled his eyes at the thought of me thinking he was cheating.

“Fine maybe you didn’t cheat but just let me have one more, just one more please.” I begged giving him my best puppy dog eyes and batting my eyelashes at him; he let out a defeated huff before reaching in the box and tossing a cookie at me. He tossed it so fast that it hit me square in the head before I even had time to react and catch it; we both fell into a laughing fit as I picked it up out of my lap and popped it in my mouth.

“You have cookie dust on your forehead.” Jon said reaching over to wipe his hand across my forehead to rid it of the chocolate

“Well who knew you were a real life Tony Romo?” I joked running the back of my sleeve across my head to make sure he got it all off; he looked at me with a stunned look on his face for a minute before speaking.

“You watch football?”

“Just every single cowboys game since I was three.” I said getting a little excited about the new topic.

            Bubba and I had never missed a game and it was a regular Sunday activity for us during football season. We would sit up in the apartment with bowls full of chips and snacks, we added beers into the mix when I was sixteen and that really pissed my mom off but she allowed it since it was just with Bubba; we would spend the whole game booing or cheering loudly and throwing chips at the TV whenever the other team scored, by the end of the game we would always have a hell of a mess to clean up but it was worth it. Jon and I spent the next hour talking about football and I could tell that he was both surprised and excited that I actually knew anything about the sport; we argued over the best players and stats but in the end I won every argument after looking up the statistics on Google. It was just past six when I decided to head back home and get ready for dinner but as I came out of the barn a truck was pulling down the driveway and I could tell right away from the smoke stacks who it was; I stopped at the edge of the barn and waited for Landon to pull his truck to a stop in front of me.

“What the hell are you doin’ here Landon?” I yelled as he turned off the truck and got out.

“Babe I’ve been callin’ you day and you haven’t called back. We need to talk baby, what happened was a mistake.” He said walking towards me.

“Damn right it was! It was a mistake on your part and you lost me because of it.” I said back holding out my hands warning him not to come any closer.

“Babe it didn’t mean anything, it was just one time. Please can’t we just talk about this and move past it?” He asked stepping towards me again.

“Hell no! You fucked up Landon, we are done!” I said turning on my heels to walk back towards the house.

“Babe lets just talk it out.” He said grabbing onto my arm and pulling me to a stop.

“Let go of me right now Landon.” I screamed at him and he let go of my arm throwing his hands up in surrender.

“Come on Lina, we can work this out.” He was almost begging me now but I wasn’t having it; we were done, through, we would never be getting back together again.

“No Landon were done, I never want to see your face again!” I screamed. “Now get the hell off of my property, you’re no longer welcome here!” I said pointing towards his truck.