Hi, my name is… Alexis Davis, but you can call me Alex.

I can’t lie about my age… I’m 28 if you must know.

Looks aren’t everything… I really don't care what you think of the way I dress or do my hair. I wasn't born to be your model. I spend most of my days in a t-shirt, jeans, and trusty work boots, but I can dress up when the mood strikes. My bright red hair is usually mussed whether it's up or down. Sometimes I wear makeup, but only when I feel like it. My glasses aren't just for looks, I have truly horrible vision.

My best friend knows me best but here goes… I'm a self-assured independent woman. I follow my heart and whims as I may, and I live my life to the fullest with no apologies. In high school, I definitely would have been labeled a tomboy, but I don't really care much for labels. Because I can come off a bit strongly, it's sometimes hard for me to make friends but I generally mean well.

These are some of my favorite things…

• I'm not a girly girl, I like getting my hands dirty.
• Most of my time is spent in the great outdoors.
• My radio is permanently tuned to 80s/90s country.
• I know I should quit but I can't live without my cigarettes.
• I love the burn of a good whisky.

I really don’t like these things much…

• Bras are the bane of my existence.
• I trust my old jeep more than I trust most men.
• Mornings without coffee, I need my pick-me-up.
• People telling me what to do should mind their own business.
• Pickles are literally the grossest thing on the planet.

Here's my life story...X

Here's my life story… My father, James, was a banker. My mother, Sarah, was a country gal. They met at an auction, and the rest was history. On their wedding night, my father surprised my mother with a special gift—a beautiful ranch house. One year later, my older brother, Eric, was born. I came into the world two years later. We both grew up helping my mother on the ranch since my dad usually worked long days at the office.

As soon as I was old enough, I was tottering around the barn, following my brother around the pastures, and generally making a pain of myself. Once I was old enough, I was given free rein of our 20 acres of land, and in addition to my chores and homeschooling, I spent my days jumping creeks and climbing trees, hunting bugs, and adopting hurt critters. I was very happy with this arrangement until my mother decided I was getting into too much trouble at home and sent me to the local public school.

I had a hard time integrating myself with my classmates at first. I was too much of a tomboy to fit in with the girls and too confident in myself for the likes of the boys. It was fate when I finally made my first friend. I had mostly given up on my school days until I was partnered with Cora for a group project. We quickly hit it off after that. Our brothers even ended up being friends after both making the football team.

That Christmas, I was given a very special gift—my first camera. I instantly fell in love with my new hobby and started carrying my camera around with me everywhere, documenting birds, bugs, landscapes, my new friend, my brother’s football games, and even a couple of school functions. My talents were noticed by the teachers, and I was even invited to join the yearbook club as their lead photographer.

My days were pretty carefree until Charlie’s death. Cora’s family pretty much fell apart after that. I did my best to support her in her grief, and after that, we were pretty much inseparable until she started dating Adrian. I never liked him from the start. I guess I just have a feeling about these things. Still, I wanted Cora to be happy after all the sadness she’d been through, so I did my best to keep my opinions to myself, though I was devastated when I found out that we wouldn’t be going to the same college as we had planned.

We did our best to stay in touch when I left for art school, but after her wedding, our communications were pretty sparse. I figured she was busy with her new husband, and I was pretty busy myself with my own studies. Eric ended up dropping out of school and returning home. College wasn’t really his thing, and he took back up with the ranch. I returned there myself after graduation and spent my days between ranch work, freelance photography, and my own projects. My father took an early retirement a year later once my parents saw we had things in hand, and they moved down south for warmer weather.

I was pretty surprised when Cora called me after so long out of the blue, but I didn’t hesitate a moment once she explained what was going on. Eric would be fine handling the ranch on his own, and I packed an overnight bag and jumped in my jeep to meet her.