She'd came here not to meet him and to fall in love, but to encounter a very well talked about event in the town that she'd just moved to.
Seeing Alfred command his horse and do well at doing so, sent her heart all aflutter though she could not tell anyone why she found watching him so familiar to her.
Could she have met such a striking man somewhere in an old dream of hers?
Had he left his hometown to explore the world and happened to encounter her in the past?
She did know however that she felt love burning in her heart, demanding attention from her, demanding an action to move her to his side.
Daina could never have recalled a love before this that felt so powerful and pure.
Nothing could define the thrumming in her chest as if her heart had finally come alive now of all times or the musical sound of such a noise that tapped to its own quick rhythm.
Her heart sang to her of its love, and she longed to just take the man into her arms and kiss his beautiful yet chapped lips.
No love of hers had ever felt this close to something human yet sort of perfect; there was a part of her that was lost in this moment never to be fully removed from this new, demanding feeling.
Deja vu did not cover this love that sent her heart crazy with a nearly innocent desire nor did it hold her back from stepping down from the stadium once the rodeo was over to go talk to the man.
His words seemed so human and so off to what she felt though she refused to miss another performance from the cowboy that had stolen her heart and left her gasping from the loss.
Daina came back day after day, and yet her feelings never had enough or never demanded enough to vanish or cease to desire to be around such a man.
She continuously came to witness the man that had somehow left a new form of her heart in her chest, a form that she never wanted to leave.
The Lithuanian knew that in her place many others would have found it hopeless to be placed in as the man that had captured her heart seemed to not hold any feelings for her, let alone ones that left him nearly paralyzed by the loss of such an important organ.
Daina stepped down much like she had before: bravely, fearlessly, and in search of something greater than herself which pertained to the feeling locked inside her chest, struggling to break free.
She found the man like always, looking around to make sure that everything was on its way to the right place, and still that feeling remained inhuman to her.
The woman managed a smile on the face of what felt like another rejection to her, "Hello, Alfred."
She knew his name from the many times before that she stepped down to talk to him, from the rumors throughout town, and the announcements right before he appeared before the audience at the rodeos.
Daina noticed the bright smile on his face today as it truly took her breath away from her.
"Howdy, do you mind if I carry on? I have to do something." Alfred sent a smile and a wink her way which had made her happy at the time until she heard another voice.
A young woman stepped down and smiled at Alfred before tugging him away with power from her little hands.
Daina locked eyes with the pretty blond who sent a sly and mischievious wink her way as if she had waited until that moment to separate her and Alfred.
The brunette sighed and left with a small twinge of a smile.
Daina smiled as she found a small stack of books dedicated to her home country in the library; it was a small relief to see them there as if it was a reminder to those here that Lithuania truly existed out of America's borders.
She had found herself immersed in those books as if they were relics from her home country despite the fact that they were written in English and not by a native born Lithuanian; it was a small reminder though for her of where she came from.
The noise of small chatter in the library pulled her out of her book induced haze of memories as Daina glanced up as if to spot the woman that was saying her goodbyes to a man who probably longed like Daina did to lose himself within a book whether it was a book that held so many memories for specific readers or one with a completely new story for the reader to hear.
She could hear the steps of a strong man's gait which sent both a shiver of anticipation towards it being Alfred and an indifference as she'd known few men here that had left any impact on her life.
The American that walked towards her seemed much different than normal as his usual rough, cowboy like appearance seemed watered down to the casual attire of another Southern man.
Her brown eyes widened though as her heart leaped within her chest; she had realized that it was Alfred that stood before her.
"H-Hello." It seemed nearly unreal for the Lithuanian woman to have encountered him so far away from the rodeo where she'd associated him to be in the element of.
"Hey." Alfred shrugged, and his plaid, flannel shirt moved with the motion.
"How are you?" Daina felt her heart give a nervous stutter within her chest.
"Alright, and you?" He seemed polite within the elements of his Southern charm which helped to relax Daina.
"I'm doing well, thank you. Were you with that girl that you left your last rodeo with a few minutes ago?" She took a deep breath and went to let it slowly leave as if its depature would calm her down.
"Amelia? My cousin? Yeah, if that's who you mean." Alfred answered with ease to an extent that left Daina startled.
"She's your cousin?" The Lithuanian woman nearly sagged in relief.
"Yeah, she's my cousin. My last rodeo was the day of her party. I waited for her before I could leave." He shrugged.
"Oh. She doesn't like me very much." Daina nearly bit her lip at the realization that she had probably said too much just now.
"She doesn't know you yet. Amelia just worries that you're like the rest." Alfred smiled grimly at that, and Daina understood his bitter attitude that he'd often kept up around her now.
The thought of 'admirers' of Alfred's only being after his talent and his popularity upset her.
"I don't think that I could ever be entirely like the rest." Daina muttered slowly as she thought over what exactly those women could have been like yet again.
"You probably aren't, but she doesn't want to risk it." He shrugged again though Daina could see from his tone of voice and the depth of the sadness in Alfred's eyes that he really didn't want to try again either.
"Do you need help finding anything?" She didn't care that she sounded much more like a librarian now than an actual browser like he was; Daina knew that they desperately needed a topic change anyway.
"Not really. I know my way around. Thanks though." Alfred smiled back at her though before he waved and carried on his own way again.
A sad smile flickered across her face as she waved back at him.
Daina nervously stepped down yet again after Alfred's amazing performance as she now knew why he often disregarded her feelings whenever she stepped down like today to speak with him.
She tried a smile though and spoke politely to him, slowly inching the conversation to less over used words and to something at least a little new.
Still she kept her eye on whatever would be asking too much and avoided those remarks as she spoke with the one man that had stolen her heart.
Daina grew much more relieved than she thought to be possible as she found their conversation to be friendly and casual.
She found that she had to say goodbye though as one of Alfred's coworkers approached them; a smile and a wave followed her goodbye on her part that was reciprocated by Alfred.
That friendly conversation would turn into many more to the point that Daina felt that they were friends which meant that it was something for her.
She came by rodeo after rodeo, and every single conversation with Alfred became what she needed to hear and to have.
Daina loved him and every moment by his side.
It wasn't until she was invited to a party that his family was holding that she realized that Alfred, too, considered her a friend.
She smiled as she listened to Amelia prattle on though she knew that the blond woman still did not like her much.
Daina found herself content even though it seemed like everyone around her was drinking a beer other than herself.
The Lithuanian was content with a glass of sweet tea instead of beer.
She smiled though as Alfred went to reclaim his seat by her side with his own beer in hand, freshly opened.
"So are you having fun? Amelia can be quite the talker." Alfred asked her with a smile on his face.
"Yeah." Daina answered Alfred with another warm smile sent his way, blissfully unaware of how that smile felt when observed by the man at her side.
Alfred sent a striking smile her way in return, "Are you sure that you don't want a beer?"
"I'm sure." Daina answered him.
"Do you not drink where you're from or is American beer really that bad?" Alfred asked her, half teasing and half curiously.
"Oh, Lithuania. I drinked sometimes there." She shrugged; it wasn't that alcohol repulsed her as she just didn't feel like it today, and she may have been a little apprehensive of the way that American beer would taste in contrast to her home country's beer.
"Is that so?" A humored twinkle appeared in Alfred's eyes as he fully teased her.
"It is." Daina told him as an amused smile twinged on her lips.
These moments were completely refreshing to her as she was able to playfully talk to the man that she had fallen head over heels in love with.
"Were you a wine girl there or a woman who really liked her beer when she had it?" Alfred teased with that same twinkle in his eyes.
"Definitely beer. My country is known for it." Daina shrugged; truthfully, she had never tried the romantic drink of wine, but she really did like Lithuanian beer.
"Do you think that I could ever try Lithuanian beer then?" Alfred leaned closer to her, close enough to leave her face a bright red anyway.
"Are you opposed to traveling?" She teased him.
"Not really." Alfred answered her with a slight amount of thought behind it.
"Then you should be able to." Daina answered him.
Alfred smiled, "Would you be kind enough as to show me where the best beer is?"
Daina smiled, "Of course."
She worked to ignore the warm tingles that spread their way through her belly at Alfred's attentive gaze, his proximity, and their playful conversation.
The Lithuanian though knew as the party continued on with Alfred by her side that she really could not ignore the butterflies in her stomach fully.
Alfred though whether he was aware of how she currently felt or not, stayed close by her side as he spoke with her, walked by her, and only chanced leaving her side if he desired another can of beer.
Daina still managed to flush at the attention occasionally as he stepped far too close by her side compared to how he'd stood by her before or how he stood by other.
The tendrils of the flames from their bonfire rose up into the sky among the dark of midnight that had fallen around everyone that had chosen not to step closer to the fire, casting a light that almost felt romantic to Daina in part due to who she stood by.
Alfred took a deep breath and for once, she caught the look in his eyes, highlighted by the flames of the fire; he stepped much closer to her than before and gently brushed her hair away from her face as he leaned closer and closer still.
Her heart gave out in her chest as she watched him move closer until she felt his warm, chapped lips against her own unchapped ones.
Daina's heart seemed to have come to life within her chest as she felt her eyes slowly close, and their kiss go on and grow deeper.
She felt that undeniable urge to hold him closer as if Alfred was prone to leaving her in this moment and that he shouldn't ever leave her side.
The Lithuanian female obeyed that urge and held her cowboy closer among the cool night air and the warmth of the blazing fire.
She longed for this moment to never end.
With the passing of time, things seemed vastly different since that party, where she could taste the beer on Alfred's lips and feel his warm and calloused hands around her waist.
Alfred grew a bit more open to her when they spoke and spent much more time around her, and slowly, they came to kiss much more than just that first night.
Eventually, Daina came to wonder just when her cowboy had fallen in love with her as well.
"From the first day, it was too strong, and I couldn't risk it anymore." Alfred answered her as he thought back to the first time that they'd met and how Daina had stepped down to speak with him despite the fact that many people wouldn't.
Daina smiled, "I felt it too back then, and it was too powerful to ignore."
Alfred leaned over to kiss his beautiful girlfriend at that, just relieved to find out that she wasn't like the rest and that she, too, was held under love's mighty rays.
She leaned forward to gently kiss him back as she fell under the beautiful waves of passion ignited by such a kiss.
Daina and Alfred certainly loved each other, and the future had never felt as beautiful and desired as it did now.
The young, Lithuanian writer had finally found her cowboy, a man that she never would have dreamt of falling for that had somehow become the most important person in her life, and Alfred had found his true love, a woman that was so much more than he could have ever hoped for in the past.
They had each other, and regardless of what life could throw their way, they knew that they had each other.