A Texas Hill Country Cabin

The rain pours down, as Gracie’s light blue jeep tires roll in the muddy path. She parks, watching the rain beat down, cleansing away exhaustion, stress and heat. She glances at the paperwork in the waterproof folder, a rental agreement for a cabin. Six months. A rural hill country rental on the outskirts of her hometown.

It is close to where she grew up and reminds her of youthful and independent adulthood times. Her childhood neighborhood is about thirty minutes away compared to the other parts of the hill country like Canyon Lake, Spring Branch, and Bulverde, which are other most desirable areas. Living near the hilly lakes is of interest to Gracie Mae. So, she has decided to stay near Bandera in a cabin while taking a break from van life. Then she met Paxton who is from there, well if we date and get along it will be fine. It is a small town, but I have never really interacted with people in the area, I just keep to myself and pass through to marvel at the western theme appearance, the murals on some of the buildings and the hill country scene.

Since Gracie appreciates rural living and visiting the city, it works out perfectly. She is also going to look for land for vacation purposes to visit as she is still seeking her place in this world. While Texas is beautiful, robust and prosperous; the climate is less desirable for someone who wants winter wonderlands, and cooler seasons, like Gracie.

The rain pitter patters on the roof of her light blue jeep. She glances at the time; about ten o’clock at night. The farmhouse style porch light appears blurry through the dripping water beads on the windshield. Gracie grabs her umbrella, opens it to prevent getting drenched, carries her suitcase, then calls to Gunner to go in the cabin. The cabin is made of medium brown logs, with a front porch. It is a small one bedroom with living space and a kitchen. The woman will be able to cook as she pleases. There is also a fire pit out front. As Gracie, with her belongings and Gunner, places her foot on the stairs to the porch, the board, creaks. Her feet thud over the wooden porch. She enters the code to retrieve the key, then unlocks the door.

Gracie flips the lights on to see the space she is entering. There is a brown leather sofa set, a white and brown spotted cow rug on the floor, featuring a white farmhouse style coffee table, end tables and entertainment center. The big black screen TV and decorations rest on the white farmhouse style entertainment center which has rolling barn style doors that also match the tables. Gracie turns her head to scan the room and rests her eyes on the kitchen; stainless steel appliances, dark cherry reddish brown cabinetry with golden granite countertops. A small area contains the washer and dryer next to the pantry. The crystal like chandelier hangs over the white dining table, matching the living room tables. There are bar stools made of brown leather and wood at the end of the kitchen island. Next, she continues to roll her suitcase across the freshly cleaned light wood floors. She scopes out the bathroom. It is a small bathroom including a vanity, also dark cherry wood featuring white and gold marbled countertops. The bathtub has a shower wand that detaches from the wall, and a clear plastic curtain to cover it. The woman turns the light off, noticing there is a nightlight in the outlet in the bathroom, she turns it on. Then walks to her bedroom. The room features a queen bed with dresser and two nightstands, each with a lamp. A bench rests in front of the bed, containing extra linens. There is a window, and a closet. The window has two layers of curtains; sheer and blackout. Gracie’s room furniture is dark mahogany and neutral, neither feminine nor masculine. The bed has a matching bedframe with head board, a white down comforter and numerous pillows.

“Hmmm, this could get messy with Gunner. I will have to swap this out with my own.” The woman quickly strips the bed and places the linens in the bench trunk in front of the bed. She then goes out to her car with Gunner trailing behind her, grabbing a big plastic bedding bag. Gracie makes the bed with her own, blue jersey knit sheets, a white ruffled sheet, then a light blue linen ruffled comforter, and finally a white and blue seashell quilt to top it off. She places her own pillowcases with waterproof covers on the existing pillows.

“Ok the bed is all ready. There is one more thing.”

Gracie heads back outside to the Jeep to grab Gunners dog bed, and some toys, and bowls. She places his bed on the floor in the living room. Gracie fills his bowl with water then sets it down on a waterproof mat. Afterwards she gets ready for bed with a shower and brushes her teeth. The woman finds her eye mask, puts on meditation music and climbs into bed with her dog.

The sheer curtains are covering the window while the blackout curtains are open so she may rise with the sun. A trip to the store will be done in the morning to stock the fridge and pantry. There is a protein bar awaiting her for breakfast in the morning, along with a bottle of water. She will not starve or be thirsty when she wakes up.

The sun pours into the window as morning has arrived. Gunner begins whining for a walk outside. Gracie lifts her mask off her eyes, noticing daylight and gazes at Gunner. She happily looks at her dog, his loving brown eyes pouring into hers, while wagging his tail. The woman sits up, stretches, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath through her nose and slowly exhales through her pink pursed lips, then repeats a few times. Feeling refreshed and ready for the day.

“Ok buddy, I am ready to get up, let’s go outside.” The slender athletic woman, in pink; a tank top and thin pajama pants still on, slips on a pair of flip flops, and latches on the German Shepard’s leash to his blue leather collar. The dog prances and wags his tail, his eyes light up. Gracie also grabs her jeep keys.

Gunner struts around the yard, restricted by the leash.

Gracie chooses her ensemble for the day. Western boots, tan khaki shorts, with a brown leather belt. The belt has sunflowers carved onto it, and the buckle is silver with floral accents. The boots are brown with a pink heart and white wings design on them. The top she has chosen is light blue, form fitting, no straps, embodying a blue lacey overlay, falling just below her waist covering her toned abs. She grabs her western sun hat with seashells wrapped around the band. Gunner cooperatively moves into his crate.

It is a sunny warm morning as it is now the beginning of October. The top is rolled off, so Gracie can feel the air around her. The radio is playing country music. She cruises into town to the grocery store. Along the way she notices Paxton yelling at some teenagers to slow down who were driving with their windows down. They were driving a little over the speed limit. Paxton is wearing a tan western hat, blue sunglasses, a sky blue plaid western button up short sleeved shirt, navy blue dress slacks, and western boots. Although, his brown leather boots were mostly hidden, only showing the vamp part, it is known they are western boots. Wow, what a hunk.

She continues down the road to the grocery store, saving the encounter with Paxton for later, when they plan it. Gracie notices little western emblems at lampposts throughout town, how authentic and festive, it just adds to the charm of the place.

After her shopping is completed, she notices, Paxton in the parking lot assisting an elderly woman putting her bags in her trunk.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” the woman says in a frail elderly voice to Paxton.

“Maybe I should have these delivered and brought inside next time.” The petite frail looking woman with short curly grey hair says.

“I do not think they provide delivery Mrs. Johnson. They should, maybe I can go have a chat with someone about setting that up.”

Paxton says with a smile, his red beard vibrant in the sun, causing his spotless teeth to look even whiter.

Gracie observes him silently to herself as she walks towards her vehicle. Paxton helps Mrs. Johnson in her car after opening the door for her, then closes the door once she is in. He looks over to the woman at the light blue jeep putting her bags in the back, smiling as he approaches her. She nearly finishes by the time Paxton reaches her proximity, Gracie is about to put her shopping cart up, as she turns around to see Paxton standing in front of her. “Howdy ma’am,” he says whilst he briefly lifts his hat off to greet her respectfully. “Hi, Paxton”

the woman responds with a warm smile on her face, under the western sun hat, her long curly golden brown hair falls above her waist. She is wearing sunglasses, like the man so they cannot see each other's eyes. Gracie stands about half a foot shorter than him, just as she likes.

“You look nice today. Are you staying in town now or just visiting?” the handsome fella questions eyeing her top and flowing hair.

“Sort of, I’m on the outskirts of town in a cabin until March.” Gracie happily replies.

“Oh, cool! That will be nice. Are you taking a time out from van life?” Paxton asks.

“Yes, until I go to Alaska. Well, I need to get going so my groceries do not spoil.” Gracie says politely.

“Ok, it was nice to see you again.” Paxton takes the cart for Gracie, and she hops in her jeep.

Gracie starts her car; thinking sweetly of Paxton to herself. What a gentleman, handsome and respectful. I will see where this goes. She returns to her cabin to put up her groceries. Afterwards, Gracie lets Gunner out for a break. Since Gunner is well behaved she allows him to run around off leash while playing fetch with him. Watching Gunner run around brings Gracie joy. She throws the ball while the dog runs after it, snatches it up in his mouth, then runs back to his owner and drops the ball. After about thirty minutes of playing with Gunner, Gracie prepares lunch. She makes a wheat pita with chicken she has sliced up, tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers, and lathers the inside with nonfat ranch dressing. She bites into the sandwich, a tangy creamy flavor spills in. Gracie completes her lunch with a cup of berries and nonfat Greek yogurt. The berries burst with a sweet citrus flavor.

The woman reviews the dating app following lunch. She notices the guy that was at the gas station with the middle school classmate. It looks like he is from Bandera too. She accidentally hits the like button. Uh-oh, hopefully he will not respond. She keeps scrolling then, hits the like buttons on a few others. Then she reviews properties for sale in the area. Skimming through land for sale, she notices some undeveloped lots where RVs can be parked in a nearby subdivision. Once, Gracie finds some lots to look at she spends some more time outside with her dog whilst reading a book. The sun begins to set, causing the sky to turn orange and purplish over the hills providing a marvelous view. The evening air is still warm as a cooling breezy feel surrounds Gracie, providing relief.

A few days later, Gracie is sitting under a cypress tree at the river park. The river green with warning signs saying the water is toxic and not to swim. Tall trees line either side of the river. Ducks splash and swim around. The woman is peacefully enjoying the nature space while reading a book. Paxton approaches after noticing her there.

“Howdy, ma’am, may I join you?” the man asks standing nearby. Gracie looks up to see Paxton standing there, dressed in a green and blue plaid button up shirt sleeved western shirt, with blue jeans and his western boots. The large belt buckle shines in the sun. His sunglasses once again cover his eyes. She was so immersed in her book, the water, and trees that the man’s presence was unnoticed. The woman smiles, “oh, hi Paxton, sure.” Gracie wearing a green lacey tank top, long blue jean skirt, her brown Western boots, her sunhat, sitting on a blanket, nodded with a smile, “Sure.”

Paxton sits leaning his back against a tree across from Gracie. The removed his sunglasses off and his soulful brown eyes pour into the women’s sparkling green eyes. Gracie notices the freckles on his lightly tanned face with red tones. His red beard trimmed close to his face, shining in the sun. The man always looks vibrant to Gracie, this moment especially with his red hair and beard, the blue clothing against the greenery of the trees and river.

“What are you reading?” Gracie, taken back a little by his energy and concentration on her, lets out a sigh. “It is a book of nature poems, something with impermanence in the title. It is quite pleasant. It helps remind me to slow down, focus on nature, marvel, and breathe.”

“Sounds nice, slow down and focus on nature. I may have to try that some time. You like poetry?”

“Yes, I have always liked poetry and writing in general. So, what are you up to?” the woman asks.

“Do you want to get something to eat and look at properties?” He asks.

“Ok sure, sounds great!” Gracie casually replies with a gentle smile.

“Do you want to ride with me?”

“Yes, that will be fine. I should drop my jeep off first.” The lady in the long jean skirt responds.

“Ok, I will follow you.”

Gracie pulls up to her cabin, Paxton behind her in his silver mustang. She walks over to the driver side door of Paxton’s car. He decides to get out. I’m going to take Gunner out real quick. He nods in understanding, “Ok I will wait here.” Gracie steps outside with Gunner, then Paxton walked over to greet him with enthusiasm. “Hi Gunner,” as his pets him all over. Gunner remembers Paxton wags his tail and looks around for Delilah. “Aw buddy, Delilah is not with me right now. Maybe y’all can play together again soon.”

Gunner took his break then Gracie took him back inside. Afterwards, the woman came back outside, Paxton opened the passenger side door for his new lady friend to get in. The two new acquaintances are now sitting in the car together, much closer than previous encounters. The man turns on the radio to hear country music playing. “Is this ok.” The car smells fresh, clean and woody like pine, also the new leather scent fills Gracie’s nostrils. She also smells Paxton’s cologne mixed with his pheromones. A bold yet pleasant aroma.

“Yes, that’s fine, thank you being considerate of me.”

“You're welcome,” Paxton smiles charmingly at the lady in the seat next to him. “So, I was thinking we could eat in San Antonio, how does that sound?”

“Ok that works for me. What place do you have in mind?”

“I am open to suggestions.” The handsome fella sitting next to her says, as Gracie continues to breathe him in along with his car.

“Do you like fajitas? I have a favorite fajita restaurant they have two locations, one off 281 and one off I-10. Do you know the one?” Gracie calmly responds.

“I think I know where you are talking about. Alamo Cafe. I’ll go to the closer one, I think that one is less busy.”

Gracie marvels at the hilly scene from Bandera to San Antonio as Paxton drives. The two sit in peace in each other’s presence between the hilly drive, country music, and pleasant aromas in the car. Paxton noticed Gracie’s perfume, a faint sweet floral fragrance, along with the smell of her hair products leaked his way. After the restaurant, he drives back to Bandera and shows her a few properties without existing homes. She takes a look and assesses each one, the size, convenience, surrounding homes or lots, how much time it will take her to clear them out and park van when she visits.

Paxton takes Gracie back to her cabin. “There is a dog park in Kerrville with a track, Gunner might enjoy that along with Delilah’s company.” The man tells the beautiful woman sitting in his passenger seat. “Ok, when would you like to take the dogs to the park.” Asks the woman.

“How about Saturday?” The man casually replies.

“Ok, in the morning, before it gets hot!”

“That will work.” Paxton gets out of his car and opens the door for Gracie. He grabs her hand as she gets out, then kisses it gently. “Ma’am it was a pleasure, I look forward to seeing you again.”

The woman returns inside her cabin, then let’s her dog out for a break. It’s evening now. She lets the dog run around and play for a bit.

It's Thursday, she gets a text from some of her gals wanting to go country dancing in San Antonio. The late twenties woman responds with delight. “Yes, let’s go!”