Lonely In Nevada, Lovers In Kansas

DAISY'S POV

Of course the day I want to start planting my new garden, it's 102 degrees outside. Even Ricky took two steps outside and ran right underneath a tree to escape the burning sun. I was only in a beater and my working overalls that cut off at the end to make shorts (I don't know how to explain it). My hair was tightly braided and it still felt like it was soaked with sweat. All I was doing was digging up holes, dropping in a few seeds, and then watering. It shouldn't have taken that long but because of the intense heat of the sun, all of my energy drained quickly.

A half hour past and I was scarcely done planting my first row. The rows weren't long at all and like I said, it shouldn't have taken that long. I fell straight onto my butt, tired and wanting to go inside. But I needed to get this done since it was my only day off. I began to gather up everything I brought outside with me when I heard the back door shut. I looked over and I saw Ryan right over to me.

"You ok," he asked, crouching down next to me and helping me up to my feet.

"Yeah, thanks. I was just trying to get some work done, but it's a bit too hot to be outside," I said, wiping the sweat from my forehead. "Come on, Ricky, we're going in." He eagerly jumped up and darted straight for the door.

"Well, I'll help you if you need the help," Ryan offered.

"Oh no, no, no. It's way too hot and I don't want you getting your clothes dirty since they're so nice," I pointed out the dress shirt he was wearing and the clean skinny jeans. How on earth does this boy survive?

"Well I'm sure I can find something to work in."

"Still, no one should be outside today."

"Let me help, please," he begged. I was surprised that he wanted to help.

"Only if you can find something to work in," I said. He went back inside and came back out in a dirty white t-shirt and ripped up jeans.

"Ready to work," he grinned.

"Are you sure you want to help me,” I double-checked with him. "I don't want you to think that you need to help out if you're sleeping here."

"I'm sure, I want to help. It keeps me occupied and my mind off of things." He got down on his knees and began to dig holes in the ground. This boy truly amazes me. He runs away from home and wants to help dig up a garden.This is the kind of boy that I want to be with. I knelt down next to him and continued my work with newly found energy. We started to converse more, about everything there was to talk about, our friends, our younger years, and more. It was a bit overwhelming but it was great to get to know him better. We were finished within the hour, hands and clothes covered in dirt. It was all worth it though, he was a very big helpand he looked kind of cute covered in dirt.

“Thank you so much, Ryan,” I said. “You don’t know how much I appreciate it.”

“No trouble at all,” he smiled again. I will say honestly that I love seeing him smile. It makes me smile to see him happy.

“Well, you can go in and take a shower to get cleaned up.”

“Thanks,” he said and walked back in. I watched as he closed the door behind him and then disappeared into the house. I stood there for about five minutes just staring at the door. It was when Ricky barked at me that broke me out of my trance. I bent down and rubbed his head.

“You like him,” I asked him. He barked some more and wagged his tail. I just laughed a little. “Good, cause God knows how long he’ll be with us.” I gathered up all the equipment and washed it off underneath the hose. I left it running while I laid them out to dry so the Ricky could get a drink, but instead he managed to soak himself completely, which just made me laugh some more. “You silly dog! Now we’re going to have to dry you off.”

I picked him up and carried him inside. I heard that the shower was still running which meant that I couldn’t grab a towel to dry off Ricky. I couldn’t keep him outside any longer either though so I really had no other option other than let him dry himself off on the couch. I held him close to me as I crept over to the bathroom door. I put my finger up to my mouth to tell Ricky that he could not make a single sound while we were in there. The closet with the towels was right when you opened the door and the shower was a little bit farther back. I opened up the door slowly and silently and did the same for the closet door. As I reached for the towel on the top of the pile, Ryan had turned off the shower and opened the curtain, exposing everything. His gaze was to the side so he didn’t notice that I was there, but oh boy did I see him there. Of course when Ricky saw Ryan he got excited and started barking, making him look over at me and meeting my eyes. He stood there for a second before he realized that I was looking a little bit south of the border, which he quickly covered up with his towel.

“Um…uh…” was all he managed to stammer out as his face turned redder than a tomato to match my blushing tone.

“I…uh…I’ll just go,” I said quickly, grabbing the towel I needed and closed the door quickly. I put my back up to it and inhaled deeply. I looked down at Ricky who was still excited. I rolled my eyes and gave him a mini-noogie. “What did I say?!” I just walked over to the couch and plopped myself down, drying off Ricky and waiting to be embarrassed more by Ryan