Chapter 3


    Amber


    ‘Come on girls,’ I say as I clap my hands.


    Fiona and Violet are sitting at the giant kitchen table. Violet has been drawing a field full of unicorns, while Fiona has been writing in her diary. Since I told her last week I kept a diary as a kid, Fiona has insisted on having one herself. She has been writing in it daily for the past few days. It’s kind of sweet that she likes me enough to want to copy me.


    ‘The cookies are ready now?’ Violet asks while she jerks her head up. We’ve baked the cookies together and the girls have been waiting impatiently for them to cool off, so they can start eating them.


    ‘Yes,’ I laugh.


    ‘Finally,’ Fiona sighs. She immediately shuts her diary and gets up from the table. Then she suddenly freezes and looks at me suspiciously. ‘Wait, you’re not going to tell us that we have to wait for the others to come home first, right?’


    ‘No, you can have one now, just don’t tell your brothers,’ I tell her with a conspiratorial wink.


    The twins are on a playdate with a boy from their class, and Marjorie has taken Olivia to a doctor’s appointment. Poor Olivia has apparently had a lot of ear infections over the past year. Marjorie told me it was one of the reasons they went looking to hire a nanny. Ray works very long hours on the ranch, and Olivia hasn’t been sleeping much due to her ear infections. With five children and her work at the library, Marjorie was feeling constantly overwhelmed. Since she and Ray both found it important that Marjorie could continue her work at the library, which she absolutely loves, they looked into hiring someone to help out with their kids.


    ‘Here you go,’ I smile. I hold the plate with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in front of the two girls.


    They both eagerly grab one. Fiona takes a large bite and lets out a satisfactory moan.


    ‘They are so good,’ she declares with her mouth full.


    ‘So good!’ Violet echoes. She takes such an eager bite that the chocolate smears out over her cheeks.


    I laugh and quickly get a wet cloth to wipe it off her face. When I hear some noise outside, I glance out of the window and see Mr. Jenkins and a group of his workers returning. My heart starts beating faster when I spot Jake among them. He’s hard to miss, with his tall stature and bright smile. I have not been able to stop thinking about him since our introduction in the stables on Monday.


    ‘Girls, I have an idea,’ I say with an overly enthusiastic expression on my face. They both look up at me expectantly. ‘Shall we surprise your father with the cookies, so he can taste what great bakers you two are already? I’m sure he’ll be very proud of you!’


    ‘Yes!’ Violet screams.


    ‘Only if we get another one first,’ Fiona cleverly demands.


    ‘You can have another one when you have finished tidying your room, as you promised,’ I tell her sternly. ‘I''ll keep your extra cookies safely here on the counter until then, agreed?’


    ‘Fine,’ Fiona sighs reluctantly. I pretend not to see that she rolls her eyes at me and suppress a grin. She’s definitely the messiest of the five kids, despite being the oldest.


    ‘Good. Why don’t you put your boots on and help your sister with hers. I''ll be right back.’


    I quickly walk towards my quarters, as Mr. Jenkins calls them. In my mind I keep calling him Mr. Jenkins, even though he insisted that I should call him Raymond or Ray, just like everyone else. I try, but I’m still a little uncomfortable with it because it feels so impolite. With Marjorie it’s a little easier because I’ve been spending more time in her presence, but I still accidentally call her Mrs. Jenkins sometimes.


    I go inside my room to grab Jake’s shirt. I already washed and fixed it Monday night, but I haven’t had a chance to give it back to him yet. Now I have a good excuse to go outside and see him.


    ‘Well done, girls,’ I compliment them when I return and find them waiting for me with their boots on. Violet has them on the wrong feet, but I decide to let that slide for now. She won''t have them on for long, since we’ll go back inside soon.


    ‘Can we go now?’ Fiona asks impatiently. She’s eying the plate with cookies.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ‘Why don''t I carry these out,’ I say with a grin. I put the plate on top of Jake’s shirt. ‘Let’s go!’


    The three of us head outside towards the group of men. There’s a nervous flutter in my stomach when we get closer, but I try my best to ignore it. It’s not just Jake who makes me a little nervous, it’s all of them. I''m not used to being around any men, or people for that matter, who are not from our church. When we’ve reached the group of men I lower the plate so Fiona and Violet can grab a cookie. I tell them to wait for a moment. Raymond is handing out instructions and I don''t want to disturb anything important. When he nods and the two men he was speaking with walk away, I gently nudge the girls and tell them to go on. They both run towards their father with their cookies held out.


    ‘Dad, we baked cookies and we brought you one too!’


    ‘Daddy, I baked cookies too!’ Violet repeats after her sister.


    ‘We made them ourselves! Amber helped us, but we actually baked them,’ Fiona declares proudly.


    ‘Did you now?’ Raymond asks while he acts deeply impressed.


    He lowers himself to one knee, so he’s at eye level with Violet, and listens with interest to what his daughters are telling him. It brings a warm smile to my face. It’s lovely to watch such an engaging father interact with his children. I can’t remember my father ever doing that with me. My parents’ vision on child raising was basically that they should not be heard, and preferably not be seen all that much either.


    I turn towards the ranch hands who are talking amongst themselves. A few of the men nod and raise a hand to greet me.


    ‘I was wondering if you guys might like some too, since you’re all working so hard,’ I offer them politely. I’m relieved that the men seem to appreciate the gesture, because within a few seconds they’re all chewing on a still warm cookie.


    ‘Ray and Violet didn''t exaggerate. You are good at baking cookies,’ Jake compliments me, with a mouth still full.


    ‘At eating them too, by the looks of it,’ I hear one of the guys mutter, while he elbows his neighbor and snickers.


    A little taken aback, I blink my eyes and take a little step back. Did he just really say that out loud? I know that I''m not thin, like a magazine model, but I didn’t think my body was all that bad. Are my curves really something that needs to be commented on? It makes me feel a little uncomfortable, but before I can think of a reply, someone else has already stepped forward on my behalf.


    ‘You can''t talk to her like that!’ Zane says loudly. He stands right next to me and scowls at the guy, whose name I don’t know.


    ‘Calm down, loverboy,’ the guy snorts dismissively.


    Zane''s face turns bright red and he clenches his fists, but then Jake clears his throat. He leans forward to look at the man who made the comment. He shakes his head.


    ‘Zane’s right, Walter. That''s no fucking way to treat a lady.’


    ‘I guess you would know. You’re the expert on how to treat the ladies around here, aren’t you?’ Walter teases, implying what I had already suspected. Jake is not inexperienced when it comes to women. I could easily tell from the way he was interacting with me on Monday. He has that sort of effortless flirting thing going on, that could make a woman want to drop her pants in a moment''s notice. Not that I would know anything about that kind of thing, but still…


    ‘I clearly know a hell of a lot more than you,’ Jake replies with a smirk.


    ‘Yeah well, maybe if you wouldn''t be so busy claiming every single woman at Pete’s for yourself, the rest of us could get some practice too in that area.’


    ‘Don’t blame my dazzling charm for your own lack of success,’ Jake shrugs. ‘It’s not my fault that you have the personality of a fucking cow’s tail, Walt.’


    The fact that Jake and Zane both came to my defense suddenly makes me brave enough to stand up for myself as well.


    ‘Or, just a thought here,’ I add, ‘maybe you should try thanking a woman when she is doing something nice for you, instead of insulting her.’ I keep my tone even, but I shoot Walter a sharp look.


    ‘Thank you very much, Amber. These cookies are absolutely delicious,’ Zane immediately says in a serious tone. ‘Could I maybe have another one?’


    Some of the guys chuckle in response.


    ‘Even the kid’s got more game than you, Walt,’ Jake laughs out loud and he turns towards me. ‘Can I get in on that second round as well?’


    ‘Me too, please,’ a guy named Sylvester steps forward.


    ‘Did I just catch someone saying something about an insult? I should hope that every man who works for me knows that I don''t tolerate any disrespect towards the women on my ranch,’ Ray suddenly interjects in a sharp tone. He walks towards us with his daughters in tow and gives his men a stern look, before he turns to me and raises his eyebrows inquisitively.


    ‘Just a bit of banter,’ I reply, with another glance at Walter.


    It wasn’t a nice comment, but there''s no need to get Walter in trouble over it either. I really want people here to like me, so I will fit in. Making a big deal about a childish insult isn’t going to accomplish that.


    ‘Alright then,’ Ray says, although his slight frown suggests he’s not convinced. He turns towards his men. ‘I’ll be in my office. It’s going to rain soon, so I suggest you all hurry up or you’ll be drenched before all the animals are fed.’


    ‘Sure thing, boss.’


    Some of the guys nod at me before they walk away. Ray also heads inside after a quick tousle through his daughter’s hairs, but Zane stays by my side and looks at me with a slight frown.


    ‘You should have told Ray the truth about what Walter said,’ Zane says.


    ‘It was just a stupid comment. I''m fine,’ I assure him. ‘It was really nice of you to stand up for me, though. Thank you,’ I smile at him.


    ‘Of course! He shouldn’t have said that.’


    ‘No, he shouldn’t,’ I agree wholeheartedly. It was still a mean comment.


    ‘You… you know it’s not true, right?’ Zane says hesitantly. ‘I mean, that you… You know that you’re not… Like…’


    ‘What Zane here means to say is that Walter only talks a lot of shit, because he knows a beautiful woman like yourself would never even give an asshole like him the time of day,’ Jake interjects.


    I turn my head in surprise. I had not realized that he was still standing near us.


    ‘Thank you,’ I say shyly.


    ‘You’re very welcome, pretty lady,’ Jake says with a smile. He wiggles his eyebrows as he cheekily steals another cookie from the plate I’m holding. Then he punches Zane on his shoulder. ‘Come on, smooth talker. Time to put your shining armor away and get your ass back to work. Let’s show these fuckers how it’s done, before we’re all soaking wet.’


    ‘Bye guys,’ I chuckle at them, before I head back inside with the girls.


    The sky is indeed turning darker by the minute. It’s definitely going to rain soon. We’re already back in the kitchen when I realize that I’m still holding Jake’s shirt tucked underneath the plate. Oh well, I guess I''m going to have to seek him out again in order to give it back!