By 1985, Adeline had spent her twenty years growing up in the quaint town of Ferndale, California. Her father was the sheriff, her mother the town’s trusted seamstress. Adeline herself didn’t have much heart for Ferndale, which was far too quiet for her liking. It was growing, but slower than she cared for. On lucky days, she’d be enraptured by the cowboys who’d taken to helping ranchers and dairying as a more legitimate means of money. Most of them were just on the run from the law, of course, looking to make a buck between towns.

She’d wander out by the ranch Mr. Phillips owned, just to watch the young men try to tame the new horses. She’d sit across the street from the saloon with her friends to sneak glimpses of the people drinking inside. Her father would likely board up her windows if he caught her stepping foot into such a place. Hell, being outside so late, even in the company of her dearest friends, would be enough cause for a lecture if he found her here.

But she didn’t mind. Adeline would risk being stuck milking cows for a month if it meant she could admire the new faces straining with the effort of herding sheep and catching bulls with their lassoes. Under her father’s close watch of the small town, she’d never had the chance to be in the embrace of a man. Despite her friends already married and trying for children, Adeline’s father refused to let her get in with any of the local boys without his approval. To his dismay, she’s rejected every boring fellow he tried to offer.

She wanted someone from the outside world, someone with calloused hands and an eye for shooting criminals. Someone her father would turn his nose upon. The boys she’d grown up with had never seen the world outside of Ferndale. How could she be with someone who knew more than her of the life outside of this suffocating, little town?

Would she, if she settled with someone so mundane, be stuck here for the rest of her life? Tending to children who’d grow and live the same way she had? The thought alone made her shudder.

So now she’s back at Mr. Phillips’s ranch, observing two fresh faces that came in yesterday to help corral some new cattle, fit to be grown and sold off for meat. Neither of them catch her eye, one dawning far too much facial hair to appeal to her, the other just a bit too clumsy with the skittish cattle.

She watches the younger, stumbly one as he awkwardly nudges one of the cattle, who lets out a disgruntled moo far too weak to get her any reaction other than a quiet huff from the young man. The older, bearded one rolls his eyes and rests a hand on his hip, turning his head to eye the third, new face that appears, wiping sweat from the brow.

Adeline stands upright immediately, catching sight of you with your eyes hidden under your hat, a cerulean tunic tucked into black trousers held up by dark brown suspenders. She watches with rapt attention, as you nudge the younger man aside with a slight huff of agitation. As though he’d never been good for anything. She quickly realizes the two men are your friends, as they watch you with feigned annoyance and subdued amusement.

Her eyes follow the way you herd the cattle into the fencing with ease, shutting the gate behind them with a hum. She watches as you rest a hand on your hip, thumb hooked into your belt. Mr. Phillips walks out and thanks the three of you, mentioning something about a bounty that you and your friends quickly shut down. Saving face, she supposes, because there’s a subtle, shared glance between the three of you when Mr. Phillips smiles and turns away.

Her eyes never leave you as she stands across the road. Her cheeks warm at the sight of you leaning against the fence like nothing in the world matters. The two men head off for the saloon with a few shared words, and you follow, tugging at the front of your shirt with a slightly strained expression. She imagines it’s just the heat getting to you, and she follows behind a few paces as you approach the saloon doors. She shouldn’t, she thinks, but you must be one of the most beautiful men she’d ever seen.