She Won A Trip To Texas

 She was so excited she couldn't believe it. She was packing for Texas! She stopped and picked up the letter and read it again. "Congratulations! You have been selected as one of the winners to spend some time at the Double D Dude Ranch outside of Master City, Texas. Your essay was excellent telling us just why you would like to spend a few weeks on our ranch. We have enclosed a round trip bus ticket in the letter. If for some reason you cannot accept our offer at this time we also enclosed a self addressed envelope to return the ticket. It also has our phone number if you have any questions. Please text us your arrival time." 

She looked up and saw her mom watching her from her bedroom doorway. "I'm going to miss you, girl. You've never been away from home this long. Are you sure this is what you want to do? We never found much time to just sit down and talk about your future and what you wanted to do. You really want to work with horses? Grace, you don't know anything about horses."

Grace got serious and said, "I've never told anyone about me wanting to go to Texas. I want to learn new things and meet new people. I love the outdoors and really want to do this. I will miss you and my family too, but we can Facetime. I'll tell you all about it. I'll only be gone for a few weeks."

Her mom smiled and said, "Oh, I know. I knew this day would come someday, but time just flew by and here you are all grown up and ready to try out your wings. It just hit me like a ton of bricks. Okay let's get your bags in the car and head down to the bus station. Now do you have enough money? Do you have your cell phone? Did you pack your charger too? Did you pack clothes for good? You never know on dude ranches sometimes they have fancy parties. You did pack a nice dress, right? Oh I should have helped you pack." When she saw her daughter laughing at her, she smiled too. "Okay, I'm going to miss you terribly, but I'm excited for you too. You are getting to do things and go places I only ever dreamed of. Okay, here we go."

She wiped the tears away as she handed her daughter a little bag with a sandwich and an orange. "For the trip in case you get hungry on the way and don't want to get off the bus. Those vending machines are expensive. Oh my! Do you have quarters? I forgot so many things. Did you pack some magazines? You'll need something to read. Yes, I know you can read on your phone, but you don't want to run the battery down. Oh, I'm going to worry myself silly until I hear from you. Now did you text those people at the ranch and let them know when you were going to arrive? Oh good. I can't think of anything else, but I know I have forgotten to ask you something. Oh, how I love you, pretty girl. Have fun and don't forget everything your dad and I have taught you. I know, I know. Love you too."

When Grace handed the driver her luggage he took it and put it in a huge baggage compartment and told her to go ahead and find a seat she liked. He would be back to check her ticket when they were ready to start the trip. Grace felt like she had pinched the ink right off the ticket that the Double D had sent her. She was so worried that she would lose it. After walking down the aisle to find a seat she saw a couple using laptops and there was even a DVD player that they could watch.

This was nothing like what her mom had told her the bus would be like. The seats looked like living room furniture. When she found a seat where she could see her mom from the window and wave goodbye she had to grin. Each seat had a charger. She was set! No worries from here on and she was so excited to be a cowgirl. Packing her cowboy hat had been tricky, but she had gotten it in her bag. It was going to take almost twenty-four hours to get there. That was a long time. She would have to change buses at one point. She would be okay. She just couldn't lose her ticket. She put it in her shoulder bag. Soon she could see the driver walk down the aisle and check everyone's ticket. Soon he stood in front of her and said, "May I see your ticket please?" Grace got out her purse. She couldn't find her ticket. She looked and looked. "I just put it in my purse. I know it's in here. She had to eventually dump out her purse and there it was. It had caught on the edge of her billfold. "I'm so sorry. Here it is." The driver smiled and said, "You are traveling a long ways from home. Hope you enjoy your trip. The next stop is Springfield, Missouri. There will be several stops on your trip to Texas, so make sure you keep your ticket in a place where you can easily get to it."

Grace felt her cheeks burn and kept her head down while she put everything back in her purse. "What a great way to start my new adventure." She looked out the window and saw her mom wipe tears from her cheeks. She waved and smiled at her. Everything would be alright. She was a grownup now and she was on her own from now on.

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"Josh! Grace is coming tomorrow! Boy can we use her help with all these kids. Jean is about worn out with her little granddaughter. And we need help with Carrie Belle, and even though the young couple love the three little children, I'd like to see them go on a trail ride and enjoy the evening music. Besides that, Maxine asked for my help with some of their wedding plans. She'd like to have their reception here as well as the wedding. There is so much to do! Josh! Did you hear me?" 

"Where is that guy? He always disappears when I want to talk to him or there's work to be done. Oh, no! Not another animal in the house. I just can't be overrun with animals! Next thing I know we'll have to change the ranch from a dude ranch to an animal rescue ranch. No. No more animals."

"But Allie, don't they just make the cutest picture? What will it hurt, huh? Look at that happy face."