Chapter 10
Amber
This morning, I’m in a much better mood than I was last night. Sure, it turns out that going to a bar might not be my thing, but at least I didn’t spend another Saturday night at home or alone. I actually went out to a bar, talked to a stranger, and even had a drink. Things are definitely improving on the "actually living my life" scale.
Although Andrew’s attention made me a bit uncomfortable, I did enjoy the time I spent with Jake. I know he didn’t mean anything by it, but just thinking about how he stepped in when Andrew got too close makes me feel warm and tingly all over again. And when he pulled me against his body with those strong arms, it felt like my stomach was doing literal somersaults.
I’ve never felt this way with a man before, and I’m enjoying discovering all these new feelings with Jake. I’d love to explore them more. Still, I’m under no illusions. Jake has made it clear he’s not interested in dating or having a relationship with a woman. But I can’t deny that I simply enjoy being around him. He’s been nothing but friendly, like last night—it was really nice of him to bring me along, and even nicer that he agreed to leave the bar early for me, even though it probably ruined his night off.
I smile when I think back to how patiently Jake taught me how to drive his truck last night. Oh hey, driving a manual was another first for me! Three new things in one night—ding ding ding! Not bad, Miss Scott! But sitting so close to Jake in the confined space of his truck was a bit of a challenge. I had to force myself to stay focused on driving. Otherwise, I think I would’ve spontaneously combusted under his intense gaze. And when we got back to the ranch, he even walked me to my quarters.
I feel the heat rise to my cheeks when I think about the moment I handed him his shirt back. The way he looked at me was exhilarating. I thought for sure he was attracted to me in that moment, like he was about to kiss me. But I guess I misinterpreted it, or maybe he changed his mind, because he suddenly said goodnight and walked away. It was slightly disappointing. I really want to know what it would feel like to be kissed by him. But I can’t imagine that happening here on the ranch.
Aside from those few moments last night, when he was a little tipsy, Jake has never given me any indication that he might be interested in anything like that with me. Maybe I should go with him to the bar again sometime and see if something happens after he’s had a few beers. Though, when I think about it, that sounds a little bad—like I’d be taking advantage of him while he’s drunk. I scrunch my nose at the thought. Besides, the idea of sneaking into the bathroom at Pete’s like he did with that other woman, to do what I assume would be a lot more than kissing, doesn’t appeal to me. Not that I don’t want to try that part—because I do—but the bathroom at a bar just seems... unsanitary.
I chuckle inwardly at the thought as I continue eating the salad I made for lunch. Hailey should be here soon—she texted earlier to say she was at the airport, dropping off her boss. I’m looking forward to seeing her again. Hailey and I were pretty close growing up, even though she’s three years older than me. Her parents were strict, too, though not as much as mine, so we always bonded over that. When she moved away from St. Cloud four years ago, it pushed me to finally get out from under my parents'' thumb and do the same.
It’s kind of funny, though—back home, everyone thinks Hailey is just a dutiful librarian. She hasn’t told anyone about her glamorous life as the personal assistant to a major investment banker. He’s constantly traveling, and Hailey often gets to tag along. She attends extravagant parties, meets fascinating people, and experiences a world most people would never know. She does still volunteer at the library, to keep up appearances with our family. They’d never approve of her job or lifestyle if they knew the truth. Luckily for me, because that’s how Hailey introduced me to Marjorie and Ray Jenkins. And since my parents trust her, they didn’t object to me moving out here after she vouched for the Jenkins family.
The outside door of my quarters is open. I wanted to let in some fresh air and also be able to hear Hailey when she arrives. So, when I hear the engine of a car approaching, I quickly place my bowl in the sink and step outside. But to my surprise, it’s not Hailey. Instead, I see Jake’s pickup truck coming up the driveway. I didn’t even know he’d left the ranch this morning.
Jake parks next to the stables and gets out, raising his hand in greeting when he spots me. I casually start walking towards him, but just as I do, the passenger door opens, and a young woman steps out. Or more accurately, a girl, I realize with a shock. She has the slight build and undeveloped chest of someone still in her teens, her body not yet fully grown. I slow my step, feeling an unexpected pang in my chest.
‘Can I saddle the same one as last time?’ the girl asks Jake over the hood of his truck.
‘No, you can ride Willow this time,’ Jake replies. ‘And steer clear of Duke,’ he warns. ‘He hasn’t been out since Wednesday due to that fucking rain, so he’s gonna have a lot of pent-up energy. It’s bound to make him cranky.’
‘Okay!’
The girl darts into the stable, but Jake waits until I reach him. I keep my eyes on her as I come to a halt, still several feet away from him.
‘Hi, Amber,’ he greets me with a smile. ‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Does Ray know you’re letting your guest ride his horse?’ I ask, ignoring his greeting and question. It comes out snippier than I meant, and Jake raises his eyebrows at me.
‘Of course,’ he replies.
‘I guess that’s alright then.’
‘I wasn’t aware that I needed your permission too.’
I cross my arms defensively in front of my chest, my gaze fixed past Jake into the stable. From where I stand, I can see the girl grabbing a saddle and walking towards one of the horses.
‘It’s clear you enjoy the company of women, Jake, but isn’t this one a bit young for you?’ I ask, trying to keep my tone neutral as I tilt my head and nod towards the girl. When I glance back at Jake, I’m caught off guard by the hint of amusement on his face. Somehow, that annoys me more than I expected.
‘Well, what’s too young these days?’ he says brightly. ‘I always have a good time with her. Isn’t that what matters?’
‘She barely seems old enough to be out of high school,’ I sneer.
‘She’s not, actually,’ Jake says matter-of-factly, his gaze shifting to the girl through the open stable doors. ‘She’s in her senior year.’
‘Are you kidding me?’ I exclaim, completely shocked. I feel myself getting worked up. ‘That is disgusting, Jake! You are what, twenty-eight? Twenty-nine?’
‘I’m only twenty-seven.’
‘And she’s barely more than a child! You should be ashamed of yourself,’ I say, my tone a bit pedantic as I shake my head in disapproval. ‘I know you like to sleep around, but this seems pathetically low, even for you.’Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
I don’t wait for Jake to respond. I’m so angry that I turn on my heel and march back to the main house. This is such a disappointment! Not even the fact that he’s apparently not into me—I can get over that. But knowing that Jake, a man I’d felt so attracted to, would sleep with an underage girl just fills me with disgust. I guess technically she could be eighteen as a senior, but still, she’s in high school! It doesn’t sit right with me.
I’m still fuming when Hailey arrives about forty minutes later. I’m just stepping outside with a pitcher of lemonade and two glasses when she pulls up next to the house. She’s driving her boss’s black Lexus instead of her usual blue Volkswagen Beetle convertible. I’m guessing she drove straight here from the airport.
‘Hi,’ I grumble, still stewing over the whole Jake situation.
‘Whoa,’ Hailey raises her eyebrows, throwing her arms in the air in mock surrender. ‘Are you mad about me ditching you last night? I thought we were good? I swear I had to work!’
‘No, we’re good,’ I assure her.
‘Then who forgot to add some cheer to your coffee this morning?’
‘Very funny,’ I reply, exasperated. I walk towards the seating area on the porch and place the pitcher and the glasses on the table. I motion Hailey to follow me inside and we head towards the kitchen of the main house. I made brownies there this morning and they have been cooling off on the kitchen counter.
‘Please tell me you made them with hazelnuts?’ Hailey’s eyes light up.
‘Do you even have to ask?’ I ask in return, raising my eyebrows at her. I know those are her favorite. I take out a cutting board and start cutting the brownie into little rectangles. They are still warm to the touch.
‘You are the best cousin I could have ever asked for,’ Hailey exclaims while she wraps her arms around me for a hug. ‘Even after I completely ditched you, you still bake me my favorite brownies!’
‘Watch it, I’m holding a very sharp knife,’ I say with a grin. Once I finish cutting, I place all the pieces on a plate and hand it to Hailey. While she holds it, I quickly load the dishwasher and wipe down the counter.
‘If it wasn’t me, then what made you so grumpy?’ Hailey asks as we settle into the comfortable porch chairs.
‘It’s who, really,’ I answer somberly.
‘Color me intrigued!’
‘It’s this guy who works here on the ranch,’ I sigh.
I tell Hailey everything that happened last night. I try to downplay my crush on Jake to a simple, mild attraction, even though I’ve pretty much been thinking about him non-stop.
‘That is disgusting,’ Hailey says, when I tell her about the high school girl he brought to the ranch. She scrunches her nose in the exact same way I always do.
‘Exactly!’ I agree, relieved that she’s on my side with this.
‘And stupid too! Especially since there’s such a beautiful, definitely adult woman who’s interested in him, sitting right here on the ranch,’ Hailey adds cheekily.
‘I’m clearly not his type,’ I reply dryly, secretly wishing I was. ‘And what about you?’ I ask quickly, not wanting to talk about Jake anymore. ‘Anything new?’
‘Do you remember that guy Chris I told you about last time? Turns out his name is not short for Christopher, like I thought, but for Christos. Apparently, he is part Greek! We went to dinner again last week,’ Hailey replies enthusiastically.
Before I know it, she starts giving me a detailed description of their entire date. We are on our second pitcher of lemonade, and about halfway through the plate of brownies, when I notice some movement in the distance. I automatically direct my gaze towards it and see two people on horseback calmly trotting towards the ranch. They stop in front of the stables and dismount. Jake and the girl exchange a few words and then he nods his head towards us. The girl laughs and plants a kiss on his cheek. She hands him the reins of her horse and her riding helmet, before she starts walking towards us.
‘Chips,’ I mumble uncomfortably. I would really prefer not to have to deal with Jake’s underage floozy. I glance over at Hailey, who is staring at me with an amused look in her eyes. I hadn’t even noticed that she had stopped talking in the middle of her story.
‘Now I get why you were so grumpy,’ Hailey smirks. ‘Your cowboy is hot!’
‘He’s not my cowboy, and shut up,’ I warn her, because the girl has just stepped onto the porch.
‘Hi! Would you mind if I joined you for a moment? Jake said I could wait for him here, while he unsaddles the horses,’ she asks with a bright smile. The hair in her ponytail is all tangled up from the ride and her eyes are sparkling with enthusiasm.
‘Not at all, take a seat,’ Hailey says, far friendlier than I feel at the moment.
‘Thanks. I''m Lily,’ she introduces herself, shaking our hands before plopping down in the empty chair beside me.
‘I’m Hailey,’ Hailey introduces herself, pouring Lily some lemonade into a clean glass and offering it to her. Lily gratefully accepts the glass and chugs half of it in one go. I guess horseback riding makes you thirsty. Hailey then nods towards me. ‘I''m Amber’s cousin. She works here on the ranch.’
‘Oh, you’re the new nanny, right?’ Lily asks, her eyes lighting up in recognition.
‘Uh, yes, I am,’ I confirm, surprised. I can’t imagine how she would know that—unless Jake has mentioned me. But why would he do that?
‘Jake told us about you this morning.’
‘Us?’ I furrow my eyebrows, unsure who she is referring to. Is Jake actually seeing more than one high school girl?
‘Me and our brothers.’
‘Ah, I take it you are Jake’s sister then?’ Hailey asks, to confirm. Her eyes glide to my face and she can barely contain her laughter. I don’t think my face can get any redder.
‘Yes, I am. Why is that funny?’ Lily asks, curiously.
‘It’s not funny at all,’ I quickly assure her. ‘We just didn’t know that he had a sister, sorry. You don’t look a lot like him.’
Jake has dark, almost black hair and sparkling blue eyes, while Lily is a strawberry blonde with honey brown eyes. I hardly see any resemblance in their faces either.
‘Probably because Jake is technically my cousin,’ Lily shrugs. ‘Biologically speaking, anyway. We are not–’
Lily is interrupted by the sound of Jake’s footsteps walking towards us.
‘Hello ladies,’ Jake nods at me and Hailey. He is polite, but his words miss their usual easy-going friendliness. I can’t really blame him after what I said to him. Jake turns towards Lily. ‘Finish up, Lil. We’ve got to head home, before the others eat all the enchiladas.’
‘Right!’ Lily responds quickly, and she chugs back the rest of her lemonade. She puts the glass back on the table and gets up. ‘It was nice to meet you, Amber,’ she says with shimmering eyes. ‘And thanks for the lemonade, Hailey.’
‘You’re welcome. Bye, Lily,’ Hailey smiles.
‘You two have a good evening,’ Jake says formally, he and his sister turn around. Jake tosses his arm around Lily’s small shoulders and playfully tugs at her ponytail as they head towards his truck. Lily ducks away laughing and shoves him in the side, hissing something I can’t quite overhear. It must be funny, though, because Jake lets out a loud belly laugh. Now that I know they’re siblings, their affectionate interaction melts something inside me. I never had siblings growing up, but I imagine it must feel special to have such a close relationship with them.
‘I’ll be right back,’ I tell Hailey as I get up. She nods understandingly and slumps back in her chair, waiting patiently. I quickly walk after Jake and Lily. ‘Jake, wait a second!’ I call out.
Jake glances over his shoulder and comes to a stop. Lily does too, but Jake motions for her to keep walking. She glances my way, the left corner of her mouth curling up before she continues towards the car.
‘What is it, Poppins?’ Jake asks me.
‘Look, Jake… I had no idea she was your sister,’ I say hesitatingly, my cheeks reddening.
‘You could have just asked, you know.’
‘I know. Just… If I’d known, I never would have said those things. I hope you know that,’ I tell him in a pleading tone.
‘Yeah, I know, Poppins,’ Jake replies. ‘But I guess now we know how high your opinion of me really is.’ He says it in his usual lighthearted tone, but his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘I’ll see you around.’
Jake doesn’t wait for my response, but briskly walks towards his truck and gets in. Lily is already sitting in the passenger seat. She waves at me through the window when they drive off. I wave back hesitantly, but I get a sinking feeling in my stomach as I watch them drive away. I feel awful about misjudging Jake like that. I suddenly realize I haven’t even offered him a real apology. That is going to bug me until I see him again!
It really puts a damper on the rest of my afternoon. Hailey leaves after we’ve had dinner, and shortly after that, the Jenkins family returns home. Marjorie and Ray seem exhausted, while the children enthusiastically talk over each other to tell me all about the great party and the giant bouncy castle their grandmother had rented. I laugh and listen to their stories, while I help the two tired parents unload everything from the car. They seem beyond grateful when I offer to put the children in bed, so they can unpack and take a shower.
By the time I’ve convinced the twins, still hopped up on sugar, to stay in their beds and head downstairs, Marjorie and Ray have both fallen asleep on the couch in each other’s arms. It’s an endearing sight. Smiling, I cover them with a giant blanket.
I’m about to turn off the lights and head back to my own quarters when I notice through the window that Jake’s pickup is parked in front of his cabin. I didn’t think he would return tonight. The lights in the cabin are still on. I hesitate for only a second before grabbing a jacket from my room and walking towards Jake’s cabin. I’d better get this apology off my chest now, or I’ll never be able to fall asleep.