Chapter 1
“I just don’t think I want to keep dating if this is all you have to offer.”
Cedric looked at Kendra and shook his head. They were sitting there watching a movie, hadn’t said a word in ten minutes and that is what she decides to say. It was the same fight they had been having for a while and it appeared that they were going to have it again.
“What is it that you want that I am not giving?”
“Marriage, children.”
“We have only been together a year Kendra. That is not long at all when you really think about it.”
Kendra though that a year was more than enough time. You either wanted to get married or you didn’t. It was clear to her that he didn’t want to, but like him, she’d stayed because it was comfortable and safe. Having watched her younger cousin get married the weekend before had set her mind to thinking of nothing else. Now it was ultimatum time, even though it went against everything she believed in. It was going to be now or she had to move on.
“I am just asking if you see us ever being married and having children?”
It was a simple question that had a lot of implications each way he answered. He didn’t see them together forever, but he didn’t want to lose her. Cedric knew he could lie to her and keep her a little longer, but it didn’t feel right to lead her on, knowing that he would never want the same things.
“I don’t see myself ever getting married and having children. I am too young to think about these things, so are you. Why can’t we just have fun and see where life takes us?”
“Because I just can’t anymore.”
She had a sad look on her face. She was upset with the way things were going and she didn’t know how to make it any better. The only thing to do was breakup and that had even more implications. That had been living together for the last six months when she moved to Seattle for his job. Her family was back on the east coast where she left them and there was the question of logistics.
“I need a few days to find somewhere to go. Is that okay?”
He was shocked at her finality. There was to be no emotional argument, Kendra’s mind was made up. “Yeah, whatever you want.”
***
It took her less than a day to get out and she stayed in a hotel for a few days before she decided on a plan of action. She didn’t want to stay in Seattle and with the price of rents, it was impossible to even if she had wanted to. But Kendra didn’t want to go home either, so she got a transfer with the bar she worked at to go to farm country in Idaho. She wanted a fresh start and out of the four other locations they had in the west, Idaho seemed to be the best one and the drive wasn’t so bad. So three days after they had broken up, Kendra was on her way to a new start in a new place. She didn’t tell Cedric she was leaving, nor had she answered any of his calls. She didn’t believe in looking back, so she pointed herself forward.
The drive was almost a full day and by the end of it, the scenery was so different. She had gone from a crammed seaside city, to nothing but open space and cows. Every other business had something to with ranching and livestock. It wasn’t hard to figure out what kind of men were going to be out there and to answer her mind’s question, there were several young cowboys hanging around her future place of employment.
Kendra’s eyes went to the tall hats, the belt buckles and the boots. They were perfect, like out of some western movie. She didn’t think people really dressed like that, yet they were everywhere. A few of them looked pretty good and she was starting to feel a little better about the move. It wasn’t that she was necessarily looking right away, but she liked to keep an open mind.
Finding the address that she was looking for, she was glad to see that she was only a couple of miles from the main drag in the town and from her new job. The apartment was better than she had expected and when Kendra went to bed that night, she was happy with the changes. The last piece of the puzzle was her new job and she hoped it went well because she had used up most of her savings in deposits and the move. Trying not to fret about it, she went to sleep with the sound of the wind against the window.
***
The next morning she got up early and went to the small strip of stores that made up the town. Kendra wanted to see what there was up on offer. There wasn’t much and she found it funny that there were 3 hat stores out of the 10 clothing stores available. They were apparently serious about their hats in Ashton. She was completely out of her element and tried to remind herself that was the point. Kendra had come out to get start fresh and do something new.
She didn’t have to go in till later in the afternoon and she wore the uniform she had worn for the last six months from her other store. It was apparently a lot different than the ones they wore there. Hers far more revealing and she wanted to die right then with embarrassment. Everyone in the bar was looking at her like she was an alien.
Going to the bar, she asked the girl about her age where Shane was.
“Are you Kendra?”
“Yeah, I thought you guys had the same uniforms as the other stores.”
“That is what they made you wear in Seattle?”
She looked down at the low cut top that barely covered her cleavage,
“This is it.”
“Well, I don’t know how you do it. Just shows off everything to the world, doesn’t it?”
Kendra nodded, but she didn’t think it was that bad. Poor taste, maybe, but in the city everyone else was dressed that way as well, so it didn’t seem to be that big of a deal.
The blonde with the name tag Monica on her shirt, showed her to the back. “I will see if we have anything more appropriate to wear.”