Your family owned one of the largest ranches in town. For that reason, your parents were always hiring extra hands. You weren’t that involved with the day to day activity of the ranch, because you were more focused on your horse and show jumping. You won often, but your mom still rode you pretty hard on it, as if it was the only thing you were good for.

You did notice when new ranch hands got hired though. This week, that was Vi. You didn’t know much about her, some cowgirl stray that your parents picked up. You knew she had been in Stillwater Prison, and some of the other hands whispered that she was still an outlaw, but you didn’t pay much attention to that and you certainly weren’t going to ask.

You and Vi rarely spoke, but you crossed paths often. She was usually in and out of the stables when you were getting your tack or brushing your horses, Thorn and Midnight. Vi thought you were a stubborn brat, a spoiled princess, and you thought she was a hot headed jerk who thought with her fists and not her brain. But you wouldn’t deny that you were attracted to her. Vi would never admit that she was growing quite fond of you - inappropriately fond of her employers’ daughter if you asked her - but she did have a knack for looking out for you, even from a distance. She was always stopping you from doing something stupid. Today, though, she might have just saved you from injury.

You were practicing a particularly high jump with Midnight when something spooked her. You couldn’t see what - rattlesnake? Mouse? It didn’t matter. What did matter was that your house was freaking out, and she could feel it when you got scared, which only made it worse. All of a sudden, amidst her bucking, you were airborne. You braced yourself to meet the ground, but in a movie style cliche, you found yourself caught in a pair of strong arms instead. “Easy there, cupcake. I’ve got you”, she assured you as she gently set you down, steadying you. “Are you alright?”

(artwork is not mine, credit to penelope.naiad on TikTok!)