her. Be with her!
Woah! Flirt, maybe, but not be with!
His mind and body were racing in unison. But
the look on Samantha's face told him he wouldn't get very far. He
had to back off.
He climbed up the ladder once more and waited
till she brought him the lights.
"So, you plannin' on stayin' in
Sweetwater?"
"As long as I have a job, yes. And as I said
before my mother is ill, I won't leave her…"
"Is your job unstable or something?"
"No, not really, I mean, I tried to find work
back home, but there was nothing available, so I applied here and
got the counseling job. I wanted to teach originally, but the
positions were full here. It does give me a little more off time
though to be with my mom."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked about
that." Jake could have kicked himself for asking so many
questions.
"It's okay, really. Most everyone in town
knows about her illness."
"Is she going to be all right?"
"For a while…she's in remission they think,
and I hope."
"Is that good or bad?" He could see the hurt
in her eyes and how she was trying to shield herself from tears. He
felt like comforting her, but she probably wouldn't welcome his
arms. They were still practically strangers.Well, that wasn't true
either. She wasn't a stranger, but she constantly tried to act like
one.
He remembered the time when his father was so
sick, when Sammie Jo had first come to the 4 Bar None ranch, such a
long time ago. He remembered how worried he had been, it was one
reason he had stayed on so long to help at the ranch. He just
couldn't bring himself to leave his father yet. But Sammie Jo had
taken care of that for him. Without her, Cal would never have been
on the mend.
"Are you…going with anyone, engaged maybe?"
he asked out of the blue and could have bit his tongue off for
asking.
"No. A lot of the people I grew up with are
gone now. It seems I've been either too new in town, or too old."
She said quite finally. "And like I said, my divorce is barely
final."
"No boy friends then?"
"I guess you find that strange?" she added
watching his expressions change.
"A little, I mean, such an attractive
woman."
"It always comes to that doesn't it?"
"What?" he asked feeling as though he was on
the defense suddenly.
"What a woman looks like. Not her mind, not
what she is deep inside, but what she looks like on the outside.
Men buy the package, that's why years down the road, they are
divorced and alone." Samantha's cheeks pinked and she turned away,
as though to ignore him.
Jake stood there on the ladder staring down
at her, as though he couldn't quite believe the conversation had
gone so badly. He called her attractive and she bit his head off.
He didn't understand.
She always used to ignore him, and now she
was doing it again. It rankled.
Jake shook his head to clear it. The lady
obviously didn't want to engage in conversation with him, so why
should he bother. Only he was curious about her. He had actually
liked her all those years ago because she was so smart and
different from most of the other girls he knew. But when she
snubbed him back then, he shrugged and told himself she was too
young for him anyway, since she was two years younger. They only
had one high school year together, although he remembered seeing
her, since she was a very young girl. Now the years were no longer
important, and she still snubbed him. Obviously she had some
pre-formed ideas about him, that were incorrect, but he didn't know
how to set her straight, or even if he should try.
"I merely offered a compliment," he returned
moments later.
"Maybe you should reserve those for Laurie
Beth," she taunted.
"Yeah, maybe I should." He replied drily. He
went back to work stringing the lights. She kept untangling them
for him, and then she would climb the ladder half way, hand them to
him and go back down, without another word and without looking at
him.
The silence was unbearable.
"You know," he said as he came off the ladder
for the last time, and looked
Woah! Flirt, maybe, but not be with!
His mind and body were racing in unison. But
the look on Samantha's face told him he wouldn't get very far. He
had to back off.
He climbed up the ladder once more and waited
till she brought him the lights.
"So, you plannin' on stayin' in
Sweetwater?"
"As long as I have a job, yes. And as I said
before my mother is ill, I won't leave her…"
"Is your job unstable or something?"
"No, not really, I mean, I tried to find work
back home, but there was nothing available, so I applied here and
got the counseling job. I wanted to teach originally, but the
positions were full here. It does give me a little more off time
though to be with my mom."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked about
that." Jake could have kicked himself for asking so many
questions.
"It's okay, really. Most everyone in town
knows about her illness."
"Is she going to be all right?"
"For a while…she's in remission they think,
and I hope."
"Is that good or bad?" He could see the hurt
in her eyes and how she was trying to shield herself from tears. He
felt like comforting her, but she probably wouldn't welcome his
arms. They were still practically strangers.Well, that wasn't true
either. She wasn't a stranger, but she constantly tried to act like
one.
He remembered the time when his father was so
sick, when Sammie Jo had first come to the 4 Bar None ranch, such a
long time ago. He remembered how worried he had been, it was one
reason he had stayed on so long to help at the ranch. He just
couldn't bring himself to leave his father yet. But Sammie Jo had
taken care of that for him. Without her, Cal would never have been
on the mend.
"Are you…going with anyone, engaged maybe?"
he asked out of the blue and could have bit his tongue off for
asking.
"No. A lot of the people I grew up with are
gone now. It seems I've been either too new in town, or too old."
She said quite finally. "And like I said, my divorce is barely
final."
"No boy friends then?"
"I guess you find that strange?" she added
watching his expressions change.
"A little, I mean, such an attractive
woman."
"It always comes to that doesn't it?"
"What?" he asked feeling as though he was on
the defense suddenly.
"What a woman looks like. Not her mind, not
what she is deep inside, but what she looks like on the outside.
Men buy the package, that's why years down the road, they are
divorced and alone." Samantha's cheeks pinked and she turned away,
as though to ignore him.
Jake stood there on the ladder staring down
at her, as though he couldn't quite believe the conversation had
gone so badly. He called her attractive and she bit his head off.
He didn't understand.
She always used to ignore him, and now she
was doing it again. It rankled.
Jake shook his head to clear it. The lady
obviously didn't want to engage in conversation with him, so why
should he bother. Only he was curious about her. He had actually
liked her all those years ago because she was so smart and
different from most of the other girls he knew. But when she
snubbed him back then, he shrugged and told himself she was too
young for him anyway, since she was two years younger. They only
had one high school year together, although he remembered seeing
her, since she was a very young girl. Now the years were no longer
important, and she still snubbed him. Obviously she had some
pre-formed ideas about him, that were incorrect, but he didn't know
how to set her straight, or even if he should try.
"I merely offered a compliment," he returned
moments later.
"Maybe you should reserve those for Laurie
Beth," she taunted.
"Yeah, maybe I should." He replied drily. He
went back to work stringing the lights. She kept untangling them
for him, and then she would climb the ladder half way, hand them to
him and go back down, without another word and without looking at
him.
The silence was unbearable.
"You know," he said as he came off the ladder
for the last time, and looked
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