My Hometown Love

Chapter 40 – Time Travelling

Lexie’s P.O.V

“That’s right. We’re going on a horse-drawn wagon ride.”, I say excitedly.

“Wow. I haven’t been on one in ages!”, Kevin replies as we walk up to the person-in-charge.

“Hi, Mr. Miles? I’m Lexie. We spoke on the phone earlier.”, I say to the late mid-aged man in front of me.

“Yes. Ms. Cooper. Everything is ready as you requested.”, he replies as he pats the side of the wagon.

“Ok great. We’re ready.”, I say to Mr. Miles.

“We?”, he asked as arches his eyebrow at me.

I look around to find Kevin not standing next to me anymore. My eyes scan the barn to find him at one of the stables, gently patting a horse as it nuzzles against his palm lovingly.

I walk up to them slowly, hoping I wouldn’t spook the horse. I quickly pull out my camera and steal a shot of this heart-warming moment.  

“Paparazzi much?”, Kevin says as soon as he hears the sound of my camera shutter.

“Oh please. It was just such a sweet shot.”, I reply defending myself.

I reach my hand towards the black horse eager yet afraid to touch it. I leave my hand hovering over it as I worry if I might scare it or the other way around.

“Oh come on. Are you scared?”, Kevin asked cynically as he continues to gently stroke the horse.

I bit my lip and closed my eyes as I try to lower my hand closer to the horse with caution. Suddenly, I feel a hand on my wrist as it keeps my hand down while guiding me to the horse’s side. Soon, I started feeling the horsehair touch my hand. I almost jerked my hand back at the sudden rough prickle on my hand but Kevin’s hand kept my hand steady.

“Shhh…. Slowly. Don’t make any sudden movements or she’ll get spooked.”, Kevin’s gentle voice whispered in my ear.

I slowly opened my eyes and reached out my hand towards her.

“Here, always do this first.”, Kevin said as he took my hand and placed it below the horse’s nose, letting her investigate.

I felt his grasp on my wrist slowly loosen and my fingers slowly spread apart in response.

“No no. Keep them together or else, she might think your fingers are tasty carrots. “, Kevin said suddenly as he reached out his hand to arrange my fingers together.

I turn in alarm at his last words, shocked that I almost served my fingers to the horse as a nice snack. He just laughed in response to my fearful face.

“Okay, now that she knows you, you gently stroke her neck here, behind her ear.”, Kevin says as he guides my hand to the horse’s neck.

I felt Kevin move closer to me as he leads my hand and puts his palm on my hand as we scratch the horse together. I felt my cheeks flush and redden at this but I couldn’t get myself to tear away from him.

NEIGHHH!

The sound of the horse neighing sent a jolt through my skin as I look down to see the horse nuzzling against my palm and moving closer to me.

“See, she likes you.”, Kevin says as he looks down sideways at me from his chin.

I felt a breath hitch at my throat at our closeness as I feel my heart beating in my chest.

AHEM!

*************

Kevin’s P.O.V

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind us burst our little bubble as I tear myself away from Lexie in a hurry. She quickly turns to face the source of the voice.

“Are you ready, Ms. Cooper?”, the man says as he approaches us.

“Oh yes, Mr. Miles. This is Kevin Walker. He will be joining me on the ride today.”, Lexie says as she introduces me.

“A pleasure Mr. Walker. Might I say, you look very familiar.”, Mr. Miles says to me as he extends his hand for me to shake.

“I used to come here when I was younger when we used to visit this part of town every weekend.”, I replied as I shook his hand.

“I see. Probably, that’s where I remember you from. Anyway, shall we? Your wagon has been waiting.”, he says as he extends his arm towards the wagon, inviting us.

“Yes, please. Sorry for the delay. We got distracted by this beauty.”, Lexie says as she pats the horse one last time.

“Don’t worry about it. Sally loves company.”, he says as he leads us to the wagon.

Mr. Miles helps me up the wagon before helping Lexie up. As Lexie climbs up the wagon, my instinct automatically wanted to extend my arm to help her up but unfortunately, I was in no position to do so.

I shrugged the feeling off as Lexie sat next to me and Mr. Miles closes the door, before getting into the driver seat himself. He slowly leads the wagon out of the barn and towards the road.

“Okay folks, welcome to your horse-drawn wagon ride. We’re going to do a tour of two different vineyards of wineries here in our town and a tour of Historical Jacksonville. So kick back, strap on, and enjoy your ride as you experience historical Jacksonville, Oregon with a different perspective.”, Mr. Miles said as he drove the wagon to the main road.

As we hear the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves, we watch the scenic look of the town.

“Can you imagine all the fairs and events that took place here many years ago?”, Lexie says as she nudges my leg.

“This town must have been such a hotspot.”, I reply as I admired the architectural structure of the preserved old buildings.

We turned off and rode into a road where there was such heavy culture and history everywhere we look.

“I honestly feel like I have traveled back in time.”, I said as I soaked in the ambiance.

“I know right! I was just thinking how I’m experiencing an old western-town from the future or something.”, Lexie replied as her eyes wandered everywhere, eager to not miss anything.

*************

Lexie’s P.O.V

I sat at the edge of my seat as I looked at my surroundings in excitement. I pulled out my phone and started recording a voice message describing what I see.

We passed by a few rustic old buildings with people who still live like the olden days. I quickly pull out my camera and start snapping away, not wanting to miss a single thing.

Occasionally I would turn to look at Kevin, worried that he might be bored or upset that I’m not entertaining him. Instead, I see him admiring the buildings and ambiance with sparkles in his eyes.

“Oh look. My mom used to send me to one of those barbershops to get a haircut when I was a kid.”, Kevin said as he excitedly poked my shoulder.

He truly looked like a kid in a candy store as we walked down memory lane.

Soon, the town slowly faded away behind us as we were greeted with the gorgeous view of extensive vineyards. I swear I could smell the grapes all the way from here.

“Hey Kevin, did you know that the earliest evidence of wine production dates from 6000BC?”, I asked him suddenly.

“No. I didn’t not. You should have notified me that there was going to be a quiz, I would have stayed up all night studying.”, Kevin replied sarcastically.

I glared at him when I heard his mocking response before hitting his thigh playfully.

“I hate you.”, I mumbled under my breath, but a bit too loudly.

“No, you don’t. Don’t lie to yourself, Lexie. You loooveee me.”, Kevin said playfully.

“Oh please. Don’t humor yourself.”, I replied as I rolled my eyes and waved my arms at him dismissively.

“Keep lying to yourself, Cooper.”, Kevin said with a coy smile but with a hint of seriousness in his voice.

“We’re here!”, Mr. Miles shouted as he slowly brought the horses to a stop.

*************

Kevin’s P.O.V

We got off the wagon slowly and stretched our legs.

“Ms. Cooper, someone will be right with you to give you a tour of the vineyard. I’ll be back to continue your ride in an hour.”, Mr. Miles said to Lexie before turning the wagon around and disappearing in a distance.

“Okay. I guess we have to wait for the vineyard tour then. Are you feeling okay Kevin?”, she asked as she adjusted her hair.

“Yeah. I’m good. It’s nice to get some fresh vineyard air.”, I replied as I did a little spin around, breathing the garden-fresh air.

“Hi. Welcome to Summer Breeze Vineyard.”, someone said in the distance.

We both walked towards this young boy wearing what looked like a company t-shirt with their logo on it.

“You guys here for the tour?”, he asked as he glanced at me and Lexie back and forth.

“Yup. That’s us. Mr. Miles said he’ll be back in an hour.”, Lexie replied.

“Okay great. My name is Matt and I’ll be your guide today.”, he said gleefully as he extended his hand to us to shake.

He shook Lexie’s hand and then mine firmly. So far, I was very impressed with Matt and there was just something about him that makes him so likable. Anyway, Matt was briefing us a little about the itinerary when another guy walked up to him.

This guy looked more professional and older. I say he looked about 28 years old. He was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a stylish untucked white shirt with little sunflowers on it. His hair was well kept and he looked fit. Honestly, he was making me feel underdressed and a little insecure.

“Matt, buddy! Why don’t you go help out in the gift shop and I’ll help these nice people get the lay of the land.”, this stranger said as he pats Matt on the back.

I might have been imagining things but I swear I saw this guy give Lexie a small wink when he was saying this. I quickly shrugged it off and stepped closer to Lexie, just in case.

“So, hi! Welcome to our humble vineyard.”, he said to us, or mainly to Lexie.

I knew I had to make myself obvious to him, soon. Or else, I might be invisible during the whole tour.

“Hi! I’m Dr. Kevin Walker and this is Lexie Cooper.”, I introduced myself and Lexie.

I never introduce myself as Dr. Kevin but it just felt right to say, in this current situation.

“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Nicholas Edwards. Proud owner of Summer Breeze Vineyard.”, Nicholas replied proudly.

“Wow, you own this magnificent place? That’s amazing, Mr. Edwards!”, Lexie replied, looking a tad smitten.

I felt my blood slowly boiling. I felt like going up to him and saying,

‘Buddy, with all due respect, she’s mine. I have been waiting patiently for her to be mine for quite some time now and I don’t plan on letting you swoop in to steal her from me.’

But I kept my mouth shut and kept my eyes plastered on him, making sure he doesn’t do anything fishy.

“Oh come on. Call me Nick, please. I insist.”, he replied Lexie with a wink and a sly smile.

Oh hell no!