Cowboys and Pianos (Mel0614 & Ayla)

[Ayla]

Aslynne Marie Hawthorne
23

“Welcome to Clear Water Ranch, Aslynne.” Aden said to his sister as he set her bags down on the porch. “I hope you’ll be comfortable here.”

The young blonde haired blue eyed girl looked about the farm and fell in love. The house was small and white with a little garden surrounding the wrap around porch and beside that was a small barn where the ranch horses and more importantly her own (look in my description for a picture) horse Adolfo. She wanted to see him right away but wanted to meet her sister in law and her new nephew before. She didn’t want to be rude after all. Above the barn was a house for all the Ranch Hands who were all happy to meet her and shook her hand politely and even tipped their hats. All of this was surrounded by fields for horses and then large open space for cattle and sheep.

Sara kissed Aslynne’s cheek and said, “I’m so happy to meet you.”
Aden’s sister smiled and replied. “It’s nice to meet you too. And is this Joseph?” Sara held out her son to be held by his Aunt with a smile.
______

A few hours later Aslynne was settled in and her and her brother’s family was waiting for the guest to arrive. The young woman wasn’t too excited about meeting all these new people, but tried her best to seem happy about it, despite being a musician she was rather shy and a bit reserved. It was different being out on a stage and being the center of attention than being introduced to your brother’s friends and their families.

She smoothed out her light short sleeve dark purple blouse whose collar was unbuttoned enough to show the white lacy tank top beneath it, without being too revealing. Her long hair was pulled back in a messy bun that let lose strands frame her makeup free face. Her legs were clad in a nice pair of jeans that covered the low cut paddock boots that were well worn but still in good shape.

Time to head downstairs and out into the front yard. No one was there yet so she took the time to go see her horse who was in his own little field waiting patiently for Aslynne to come scratch his neck and kiss his nose.

[Ayla]

“Hey there hun,” She replied. Her green eyes lighting up with a smile. “I believe he’s on the hunt for his sister. She seems to have run off, no doubt in search for her horse.” Sara chuckled her brown curls bouncing a bit. “You might want to start off by the barn.” She concluded as she shifted the infant on higher on her hip.

Sure enough by the little paddock beside the barn was fair haired Aden and beside him was a petite fair hair girl. With soft curves and yet a slight figure. Who was most certainly Aslynne. She barely came up to Aden’s shoulder. And, Aden himself was not all that tall; just a little under average. They watched a black Friesian Stallion roll in the dirt and buck up a storm when he got back to his feet. They laughed about something and her brother gave her a one armed and affectionate hug.
Once Aden saw that his friend had arrived he smiled widely and waved him over. “Sebastian! Come meet my sister!” He called.

Aslynne turned to see who her brother was talking about and fought hard to not let her jaw drop. Sure her brother had spoken fondly of his best friend Sebastian, but never had he mentioned how handsome he was! His features were almost beautiful but not in a feminine way. They were hard and well chiseled and darkened by the hot arid sun.

[Ayla]

Aslynne wanted to melt at the sound of his voice but kept her composure and smiled politely at the handsome man. “It’s nice to meet you. You must be Sebastian, Aden has talked about you a lot too.” She tucked her hair back behind her ears. Aden quietly excused himself to help with something that Sara needed help with leaving the two alone before the rest of the guests arrive. “The plane ride had a little turbulence but nothing to scary, I think the hardest part was being away from Adolfo all week.” She said with a loving smile as she nodded towards her horse who was grazing in the field.

[Ayla]

“Yes, he is.” She climbed up the first two rungs of the fence and whistled twice to her horse whose head shot up with a whiney. Adolfo trotted over to Aslynne and shoved his nose gently into her shoulder. “Yes, hello my lovely.” She said affectionately rubbing between his ears. She looked back over at Sebastian with a smile. “Mr. Sebastian Dietfield, it is my pleasure to formally introduce you to Mr. Adolfo Hawthorne.” She said with a light and teasing tone.

Her horse seemed to look over at him with a hard look as if wondering why this strange man was standing so close to his girl. He pinned his ears and shoved his nose into Sebastian’s chest rather forcibly. “I’m sorry if my stud is a little rude. He’s rather protective and if he doesn’t get a ‘proper’ introduction can be a little snippy.” She grabbed her horses halter to tug his head away from Sebsatian with a scolding on how rude he was behaving. Not that the horse could understand her but he listened to her every word.

[Ayla]

She smiled a little wider when he spoke his words and wider then, when Adolfo actually went to him. “Addy seems to like you. That’s very rare, he usually doesn’t like men.” She looked over at the handsome cowboy a light blush on her face. She knew she was attracted to Sebastian but how Addy treated him made her begin to like him. There was something about him that was special and she wanted to figure out what it was.

“So,” She began lamely, “have you lived here all your life?” She asked?

[Ayla]

“Please, just call me Aslynne.” She replied with a smile. “I’m not one with formalities.”

“You do have a gorgeous stretch of land.” Aslynne agreed. “I’d love to go for a nice long ride through it, I’m sure it’s even more beautiful up close.”

She finally took notice of the others and looked back towards the house. It was getting dark as the sun set behind the mountains and she knew the time for the fire was drawing near. “Though, I suppose I must go make my introductions.” She frowned a little. “You’ll have to excuse me.” She added as she hopped down of the fence after giving her horse a good bye kiss. The next few hours will be a game of twenty questions and basic introductions, rather boring and nerve wracking for the young musician. She hated to leave Sebastian there and didn’t actually leave just yet she stood there for a moment gathering her courage before facing the crowd.

[Ayla]

She couldn’t have expressed in words how grateful she was to the young rancher for staying with her while she made her rounds and once they were left to their own devices again she asked, “What do you do for a living? Do you raise cattle and sheep like my brother?”

Aslynne looked up at the tall well-built man and tried hard to keep glacier blue eyes from straying away from his handsome face to his beautiful body. Though his eyes held just as much appeal, she felt like she could get lost in the dark pools of color if she wasn’t careful enough and how she wished she could loose herself in those depths.

[Ayla]

Aslynne couldn’t help but blush a deep shade of pink as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly. “It was wonderful to meet you too.” She replied with a shy smile. “I hope I’ll get to see you again soon and get to take you up on that tour of your Ranch.” Her shy smile turned warm and inviting.

Though she could almost feel her brother’s eyes boring holes into her back she didn’t dare turn around. She did however fight the urge to flip him the bird behind her back, but since there were still other guests there she thought better of it. She knew Aden was having a major possessive streak, but she wasn’t 13 anymore. She could handle herself. “Have a safe drive and a nice day tomorrow and thank you so much for sticking by me tonight, it really helped.” She admitted.

[Ayla]

A few days later Aslynne was out riding the range on Adolfo. She rode bareback as usual and only used his light snaffle bridle for guidance. She had told her brother that she wouldn’t stray too far or get lost but a few hours in and well… she was lost. Thankfully! She didn’t come unprepared. There was a canteen full of water and beside that a couple of apples too much on, so at least she wouldn’t die of hunger or thirst before they found her, but maybe of heat stroke. The sun was much hotter than she was used to and the air much dryer.

She pulled Addy to a stop when she came across a familiar and surprise but welcomed sight of Sebastian. A… shirtless Sebastian working on what seemed to be a loose part of the fence. “Well Addy looks like we will be home in time for dinner.” The horse nickered quietly in response and before Aslynne could even urge him forward he guessed where she wanted to go and walked over to the handsome man his hoof beats quieted by the soft grass the large horse stopped a few feet away and budged his nose into Sebastian’s work.

“Well this is a welcome surprise.” Aslynne said with an amused and relieved tone that was sprinkled with a smudge of appreciation for his muscular build and excellent tan.

[Ayla]

Her pale skin was flushed with heat from the sun and chagrin from her current situation. “Well… ahhh Hahaha… I got lost.” She let go of the reins with her left hand to rub the back of her neck. Her arms were bare thanks to the teal tank top she was wearing and her hair pulled back in a high pony tail along with the usual jeans and paddock boots. Even the few hours in the sun she had been in freckles dusted her skin and it was already a little tan. Nothing nearly as dark as Sebastian’s but that didn’t matter.

“It was lucky I found you otherwise I wouldn’t have returned to Clear Water before tomorrow morning.” She smiled a bit shyly.