Chapter Text
Wes climbed into his truck, a million thoughts racing through his head. Was his outfit too nice for a rodeo? Was it nice enough for a date? Was his truck clean enough? Had he done enough work to get all the dirt out of the floorboards? It was a work vehicle after all. Maybe he’d missed a spot. These worries didn’t keep him in his driveway though. Wes was on a schedule tonight. He was going to pick up the kindest, prettiest woman in town, and there was no way he was going to be late.
Upon pulling into her driveway, he checked his hair and beard again in the rearview mirror. How was he already going grey? At least he’d finally found the motivation to get a trim and tidy himself up. He looked nice. Next check: teeth. He hadn’t eaten anything since lunch, but it didn’t hurt to make sure. Everything looked clear. “ You’re fine Wes. Stop fussin’. You’ve idled in the lady’s driveway long enough .” Wes took a deep breath. This was it. He could do it. He got out of the truck. They’re just going to the rodeo. It’s nothing big or fancy. He knocked on the door. There was nothing to-
BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK!
Wes jumped, a dog’s protests jolting him out of his head and into reality. The racket was overlapped by the sound of someone’s voice, presumably attempting to calm the dog. After a couple moments, the sound of locks being unfastened joined the cacophony coming from inside. The door opened slightly, and out popped Lanie’s head, beaming at him. “Hi Wes! Gimme just a minute to say bye to Dusty, and I’ll be right out.” The door closed again. Well. Not typically how picking up your first girlfriend for your first date goes, but he supposed he’d missed the opportunity to be threatened by her father. This felt like a close enough equivalent that he was fairly sure he wasn’t missing out. It didn’t take long for the barking to quiet down and the door to open again. “Bye! Love you!” Lanie called over her shoulder before closing the door behind her. He wasn’t certain that she hadn’t been talking to a roommate or family member, but he was pretty sure the only other living thing he’d seen behind her was…what’d she call him? Dusty? “Sorry ‘bout that. Dusty’s just a bit protective that’s all”
Wes’s attention focused back in. Oh. Wow. Words left him for a brief moment as he stared at her. She was in a long, flowing dress with long sleeves. It was light blue, with some very tasteful white accents and trim, and seemed to have some sort of floral pattern. Paired with this were brown cowgirl boots and what looked to be some kind of leather purse. Her long wavy hair was pulled back into a braid like usual, and it looked like she’d done up her makeup although it was different from what she did for work. “My days… You are just beautiful.”
In the warm light of the sunset, he could just see a flush spread its way across her cheeks. “Why thank you. You look mighty handsome yourself.” She looked down, fiddling with one of her long sleeves.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be cool enough in that? As I said, you look absolutely lovely, and I completely understand wantin’ to be modest an’ all, but we are gonna be outside all night.” He spoke hesitantly, not wanting to upset her. Women folk tend to be mighty stubborn about their outfits after all.
“Oh I’ll be alright, don’t you worry about me. My hair’s all nice and pulled back, and I’ve got a church fan in my purse should I need it. What about you? I know you’re used to workin’ all day in the sun an’ all but I worry about you in those jeans and long sleeves.”
Wes chuckled. “I promise you that I will be perfectly fine Miss Belle.”
“Well alright then,” she smiled, meeting his gaze with her hazel eyes. God he could just get lost in those eyes. “It is a tad bit warm though, and we don’t wanna be late for the first event. We should probably stop dawdlin’ and get in the truck.”
“Right. Right of course.” He offered her his arm, escorting her to the passenger’s side and opening the door for her to get in. Once she was in and her door was closed, he quickly made his way to the driver’s seat wanting to get the air conditioning up and running as quickly as possible. Each of them cranked down their windows as the truck came to life and the voice of Johnny Cash met their ears. “Is the music alright? I can turn it off if ya want.”
“Oh no that’s alright. I like Johnny Cash. Did you know he’s part of the reason why Dolly Parton got into the music industry?”
Wes smiled, pulling out of the driveway. “I don’t think I did. Tell me about it.”
***
The rodeo arena was loud and crowded. While Wes wasn’t exactly a fan of the atmosphere, it did give him an excuse to hold Lanie’s hand. They didn’t want to get separated before they could find their seats after all, and oh did he want to find his seat. Unfortunately for him, Lanie wanted to go and visit every single booth before making their way into the stands.
It was a bit stressful watching vendors eye him as they approached. Some booths would shoo off their youth employees or find one of the men working the stand to come talk to them. Lanie didn’t seem to notice, and if she did, it didn’t bother her. She chittered away with just about everyone as she inspected the wares. There was quite a selection. Wes wasn’t sure he had ever realized just how many booths got set up at these things. Although, to be fair, it had been more than 10 years since he’d been to the local rodeo, and he had usually been volunteering himself. Had he ever gone to the rodeo just for fun and to watch it?
Lanie had brought her own money and insisted on using it to buy herself a trinket or two no matter how hard he tried to buy them for her. Stubborn though she was, she was reasonable enough to let him buy her dinner from the concession stand. He couldn’t help wondering if this was the right choice. First dates were supposed to be fancy and impressive right? Wes wasn’t a fancy man, and didn’t have impressive means. There probably wasn’t anything actually romantic that he could afford, but he should have at least thought of picking her up earlier so they could go into town and get something nicer than this. A pretty lady like her probably wasn’t too fond of concession food.
“I cannot wait to get my hands on one of them cheeseburgers. I heard Bill’s working the concession stand tonight and he is just phenomenal at workin’ a grill. My momma and daddy had me over to his house once for some sort of Easter social the Sunday school teacher’s were doin’ and he just made us a feast of burgers, hot dogs, steak and whatever else. Have you gotten’ to try his cookin’ before?” How did she keep pulling him out of his head like that? And when had she started fully clinging to his arm?
“I don’t think I have.”
“Well get whatever you like but I would seriously consider somethin’ off the grill.”
He chuckled at her. “I’ll keep that in mind.” They each came away with a burger, a bag of chips, and a water. Wes reassured Lanie that no he was not copying her. He wasn’t actually sure how truthful that was.
The rodeo itself was quite fun. Lanie seemed to enjoy it too, which was really the most important part. He tried to let her sit the whole time, but any time he got up to go just about anywhere but the bathroom she insisted on coming with him. It didn’t matter if he was throwing away their trash, getting Lanie a snack or more water, or just getting up to stretch his legs. She was up with him and holding onto him like he was a dog on a leash. He didn’t mind it of course. In fact he quite liked it. It was just kind of perplexing to him that she would be so physically clingy on a first date. And not just any first date, a first date with him. Westley Turner, the dangerous veteran. The man who had still been living with his parents until very recently and had absolutely nothing particularly charming or special about him. By all accounts things should not be going this well.
They stayed until the very end of the show. He’d been sure to check in with her and make sure that she didn’t want to leave any earlier. After all, he didn’t want her to be bored, but she reassured him that she was having a lovely time. Once it was over, he escorted her out to his truck and drove her back home. It had been so nice to be out and around with her. He didn’t particularly want the night to end, but he couldn’t exactly keep her out too much later without whispers being thrown around. She chatted his ear off the whole way back. He went five miles under the speed limit.
Finally back, he escorted her to the front door. “Thank you so much for comin’ out with me tonight Miss Belle. It was quite the privilege to spend this time with you.”
“Wes I’ve told you. Just call me ‘Lanie’,” she huffed before giving him a smile, “I had so much fun. I hope that we get to do this again soon.”
“Me too.”
They stood in silence for a bit, Lanie hesitating about something. Wes waited with her. He didn’t want to go back to his truck before she was safely inside. Was something wrong? Was he supposed to say something else? Just as he was about to ask if she was alright, she stretched up and kissed him on the cheek.
“Goodnight Wes.”
He stood there, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape, and brain firing off at rapid speed. His entire body, still warm from spending the summer’s evening outside, simultaneously felt frozen somehow. A feeling like fireworks filled his stomach and his heart could have won first place in the county derby with the amount it was racing. He heard a voice that sounded like his own. “Goodnight, Lanie.”
The next few moments felt a bit like a blur, and suddenly he found himself in his truck in his driveway back home. Nothing felt real. His skin was buzzing and his head felt light, but he didn’t feel ill. The last moments of their goodbye played over and over in his mind’s eye, fueling this unfamiliar giddiness. He wasn’t sure how he managed to function long enough to finally get himself into bed. As he stared at the ceiling, grinning ear to ear, he thought, “ I can’t wait to see her again .”