by Tia Siren
“Mike, I know how long ya’ll have lived here. I knew your dad quite well before he passed on. But, I can’t keep it going like this. This is costing me more money than I want. I need to cut you off.”
“Mr. Grant, I appreciate all you done for me and mine. We appreciate your hard work. How long do you think we got?”
Mr. Grant held out a piece of paper. Ninety days.
I could feel the sting of defeat as he read it. Mr. Grant just said his goodbyes and went off on his way.
We must’ve drunk every last drop of alcohol on the grounds that night, after the first few rounds of drinks, they didn’t even notice that I hadn’t touched a drop the entire night.
As the sun began to peek over the horizon, I felt it necessary to go for another ride. I knew I’d miss my horse, and I’d miss the small ranch house. And my pregnancy was at in its early stages anyways.
When I got in the stables, I happen to stumble over Mike, passed out from drinking all night. I crouched down over the top of him and tapped him on the cheek once or twice. He didn’t budge.
I hauled a water bucket in from outside and took the liberty of waking him up the hard way. I drenched him from top to bottom, and I can’t say I’ve ever seen a man jump up from the ground so fast in my entire life.
I laughed a much-needed laugh, and Mike did the same when he realized what was going on.
“Morning, Mike,” I said between chortles.
“Morning, Jessie,” he coughed.
I saddled up my horse while Mike wrung his clothes out.
“I see you’re going out for a ride again, mind some company?”
“If you can keep up, you can keep me company.”
He took it as a challenge and started saddling up his horse. I took off from the barn like a bullet. I think my horse was the fastest, and it had the lightest load. But, Mike kept pace behind me. I figured I wouldn’t try to outrun him, so I let him catch me from time to time just enough to let my horse relax a little, before lurching forward.
“Jessie, this way,” I barely heard from behind me.
When I turned, I could see Mike turning into a patch of trees over the side of a small hill. My curiosity got the better of me, and I followed him.
When I caught up to him, I could see he was already off his horse and beginning to strip off his shirt. The area was romantic; it was a small pond, almost completely clear to the bottom and surrounding us was a bundle of trees that grew thick.
I was feeling peaceful.
“Mike, what is this place?”
Mike was starting to strip off his still-wet jeans, and I hopped off my horse.
“This is a pond that I found when I was twelve years old. I used to come out here sometimes when my chores were done and go for a swim. It’s fresh water, bubbles up from underground, so it’s really clean water. Thought you and I could have us one last swim, and maybe I could forget these past two months.”
I started stripping off my clothes; the water looked inviting.
“I have tried my best to forget a lot of bad things by running away from a lot of problems.”
“Oh yeah? You don’t look like someone that has that many problems,” he said while stripping off his boxers.
I paused for a second to get a good look at his naked butt running into the water. That was something I doubt I’d ever forget.
“Everyone’s got problems. I’m no different,” I said while pulling off my underwear.
“Well, at this point you know all of mine. Tell me one.”
I didn’t want to share, but he looked so cute in the water.
“My sister got married to a real creep, and she did it because my mother pushed her into it. I ran away because I think she was trying to do the same to me.”
I could tell that he barely heard a word that I said. His eyes were staring at my naked body and the attention was turning me on a little bit.
“You have a sister?” he asked.
“Just the one,” I replied, “I sometimes wonder what she’s gotten herself into in the city.”
I slipped into the water. It was cool at first, but as my skin warmed up, it became quite refreshing.
“Why don’t you call her, the phone works fine.”
“If I tell her where I am, they might come looking for me. I don’t want to be found right now,” I said, “I like it here with you boys. You feel like more of a family than the one I left.”
Mike smiled at me, a wide beaming smile, and then he splashed me in the face.
“What was that for?!” I shouted.
“Next time don’t splash a bucket of water on my face,” he said.
I was shocked at his sudden playfulness. I started splashing him back, and he did the same. He fought his way over and lifted me out of the water, tossing me back far enough that I splashed into the water.
“You jerk!” I screamed between laughs.
He swam over closer and wrapped his arms around me, leaning in close for a kiss, which I eagerly gave him.
I could already feel his erection poking me just below the stomach, and I could see where his mind was going.
He again lifted me out of the water, but this time, he lifted me onto his shoulders. My hot sex was in his face, and he began to lick and play with my clit.
I enjoyed the sensation, and even pulled his head in more, begging for him to keep going with my pants of pleasure.
He showed no sign of stopping, tenderly laying me against the shore and supporting me in the water while continuing his motions with his tongue.
I wanted him to keep going, but I also wanted him inside me as soon as possible. I bucked my hips up and down with the shocks of pleasure that shot up my backside.
He lowered me back into the water, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I could feel him pull me down onto his throbbing erection.
He started working my hips up and down under the water, continuing to lower me more and more onto his manhood. I had to catch my breath more than once between moans.
I could feel him building up inside me, and as he started to release I felt the same flow out from me. Wracking me with delight and taking away what little worries I had.
He carried me out of the water and laid down next to me on the dirty ground. I didn’t mind at all that we were both muddy and disgusting.
“Mike ...” I started.
“Yeah?”
I wanted to tell him that I was pregnant, but I couldn’t get it out. I chickened out again and just made something up quick.
“The horses are staring at us,” I said.
He looked up and started laughing like nothing else mattered.
4.
We didn’t bother with chores that day. I think Buck and Larry knew how to cover for us. We just spent the rest of the day in a loving embrace that just never seemed to end. I think we both had too many things in our minds we wanted to forget.
Mike was trapped in his own head once we got back, though. I could tell that his worries were taking over, and he wasn’t able or ready to let them go.
There wasn’t much I was able to do, so I figured it best just to get some sleep. I stumbled my way up the stairs, tired from riding a horse of a man, but mostly satisfied and fell into bed.
Only to be woken up a few hours later to the loudest clanging I had ever heard in my entire life. It sounded like a jackhammer smashing into a herd of elephants.
I wasn’t the only person awake because of it. When I got into the hallway, barely dressed, I could make out the shapes of Larry and Buck in the darkness. I took a moment to throw on some clothes before rushing down the stairs and out to the yard.
I couldn’t really see much except for a light waving back and forth off in the distance. When the light finally got close enough, I could make out the shape of a man. It looked like it might have been Mike, and I found out a little later that it was, but he was covered head to toe.
“OIL!” he shouted, “I STRUCK OIL IN THE YARD!”
I looked puzzled
for a moment.
Mike took his handkerchief from his pocket and used it to rub some of the black tar from his face.
“It’s the craziest thing I’ve seen in my life. I started up the old drill, didn’t think much of it. Then all the sudden after about half hour of drilling I feel the ground start rumbling and up from the ground it shot like a black geyser.”
I laughed.
“We’re sitting on a gold mine, boys. Black gold!” he shouted.
Mike stripped off his blackened clothing and started running around the house in his boxers. I had never seen someone running like a madman before.
Larry ran back inside the house and came out with four glasses and one large bottle of bourbon. I didn’t even know there was any liquor still in the house.
“Mike, get your nekkid ass over here so we can make a toast!”
Mike did as he was told, and we circled up, glasses in hand.
“To the luckiest sumbitch in the state.”
We clinked glasses, and they downed it to the last drop, I expertly dashed mine behind my shoulder while they weren’t looking. If they’d had a barrel of bourbon, they still would’ve finished that and had room for another.
I was a little weary about the discovery, still. I had seen what money does to a person, especially when it’s a sudden windfall.
The night continued on, unabated by the wind that howled, nor by the howling of wolves in the distance. I still felt the urge to fall back to sleep and did so.
When I finally managed to wake up, I felt terrible, but the house was already busy with newcomers. I was surprised, as it was hardly nine in the morning and there were already six cars on the lawn that I hadn’t recognized.
They all had offers for the property, and he, of course, accepted the largest which was over a billion dollars. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; I didn’t imagine there was that much oil beneath his farm.
I started feeling guiltier after he accepted the offer. He didn’t even mind selling the old ranch house. The small house that I’d come to know and love.
If I didn’t tell him the truth soon, I had a feeling that I would never get the chance. With the deals all signed and done, I asked him if he had a chance for us to be alone.
We met in the barn a bit later.
“Mike, I don’t know why I waited this long, but I have something incredibly important I have to tell you.”
He nodded, there was a giant smile shot across his face that probably wouldn’t go anywhere anytime soon, or so I thought.
“Mike, I’m pregnant, only a couple months now,” I said after a long sigh.
Mike turned in place, started to pace around the doorway to the barn.
“Are you serious? You waited until now to tell me?”
I nodded.
“Do you know how bad this sounds?”
“What are you trying to say, Mike,” I asked.
“You had so long to tell me, how long have you known?”
I couldn’t look him in the eye.
“More than a month,” I squeaked out.
He smacked his hand against his face in annoyance.
“You know what, I doubt you were ever going to tell me. I know I’m not father material. I could tell you just wanted to sleep with me, and then you were just going to move on again just like you did before. You just can’t seem to stand and face your own problems.”
I held back the tears as best I could, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“That’s mean, Mike.”
“You’re damn right it’s mean,” he replied, “you’re having a baby, and now you’re lording it over me after I make a deal for the largest sum of money I’ll ever see in my life. I bet now you’re going to ask for half of it just because I happened to sleep with you.”
I couldn’t stand the scrutiny, so I ran from the barn and headed toward the ranch house.
I charged up the stairs and into my room where I had my bag already packed from before. I threw a few other things inside before running out the door.
Buck waited outside.
“You takin’ off, Jennie?” he said, simply.
“I won’t stay where I’m not wanted, Buck,” I replied.
“Me and Larry want you here,” he said.
“Well, the owner doesn’t want me anywhere near this place. And, I’m obliged to listen to him.”
I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. I liked Buck, the way he always knew how to state things just right, and the way he would always help out when you needed it.
“Listen, Jennie, you get lost out in the world, you know you always got a home here. We aren’t goin’ anywhere, ya hear?”
I nodded and started hiking down the road. It was probably a two-hour walk into town, but that wasn’t anything to worry about. At least, I wouldn’t have to listen to Mike judge my every move and accuse me of wanting his money.
The time passed slowly, and I took the time to gather my thoughts. I didn’t want to return home, there was nothing for me there, and I had no interest in going back to that situation.
I wanted so badly for things to work out with Mike. But, the more I thought about it, the harder it was for me to keep my thoughts straight.
I took the first bus that left town, which led me further west. I felt like I was just running away from my problems, but I couldn’t think of anything else to do. There was nothing left for me here, nor was there anything left in the city.
I wondered where I would end up.
5.
Three months passed, and I found myself a place to work. I started a waitress job at a diner at the other side of the state. The work was simple and kept me busy, so I never had time to think about much else. I didn’t mind that at all.
I’d sometimes catch a man in a hat that looked similar, but looking closer would prove it wasn’t. I just kept smiling through the pain and trying my best to let it all pass.
Then I worked one Sunday morning, and a well-dressed man sat at the end of the bar reading his newspaper. I sidled up.
“What can I get you,” I asked.
“Cup of coffee, if you don’t mind,” he replied.
I recognized the voice. It was gruff but still sounded young.
“Mike?” I asked.
He lowered the newspaper and had a big smile shooting across his face again.
“You’re a hard woman to track down,” he said.
“I don’t like being found,” I replied.
I started walking away, but he held out a hand to stop me.
“I just want to talk,” he said.
“That depends on which one of you is doing the talking, is it the kind man I fell in love with, or the rich man that brushed me off.”
He leaned forward in his seat.
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about a lot of things while you were gone,” he started, “watching my family home get demolished opened my eyes. I started to wonder what was going to leave me next, and sure enough, Buck and Larry found better jobs elsewhere.”
I nodded and leaned over the counter.
“I got nothing left that I recognize, Jennie. And, I miss those simple days. Waking up with the sunset to feed the pigs, and milk the cows. Going for a long ride on my family farm in the afternoon, stopping off for a swim at the old pond, these were reasons for living.”
His tone was becoming a lot more somber as he continued.
“Money… changes people. I started seeing things that weren’t there and pushing away everyone I cared about.”
It was surprisingly dead in the diner for a Sunday morning.
“Then I found this.”
He slapped a newspaper down on the table in front of him. My photo was plastered all over it; it was something I tried my hardest to forget.
“You’re a riddle, Jennie. I can’t figure you out. I wanted to think that I did and that I might be able to get things back to the way they were. Why didn’t you tell me where you came from, I wouldn’t have treated you any diffe
rently.”
I sighed.
“Listen, Mike, I wanted to tell you every day, but I also didn’t want that life. They were forcing me into a marriage, and I won’t marry someone I barely know.”
“Jennie, you’re a character. You have all this money and opportunity, and you decide that it would be better to walk away and live on a farm?”
I giggled at the thought.
“Jennie, I love you. You mean the world to me. I can’t think of what my life would be like without you and the baby in it. If you don’t want me in your life then that’s your choice, I’m not your family, I won’t force you to do something you don’t want to. But, if there’s a slight possibility that you’d be interested in spending your life with me, you’d make me the happiest man alive.”
I looked at him, tears starting to well up behind my eyes again; he still was the best man that I knew.
“When you marry for money, you marry for the wrong reasons. I don’t want a dime of your fortune, Mike. I never did. You just wouldn’t listen to me when I was talking.”
Mike lowered his head, a bit defeated. Then two large hands patted him on the back; Larry and Buck were regulars on Sunday morning, I just didn’t want to tell Mike.
“Guys,” he said, “I can’t believe you two are here right now.”
They all embraced each other in a hug.
“We both knew that you and Jennie were shacking up whenever you went into town. It’s not that hard to figure out, and neither of you did a good job of hiding it,” Buck said.
“We weren’t looking for a bunch of money, we just wanted to work with you again, Mike. I am not looking for a free meal, I’m lookin’ for a good job,” Larry added.
I walked around the diner countertop and joined the group. Mike pulled me in for a warm embrace in the odd group and let out a laugh.
“So, does this mean we’re all getting’ back together?” he asked.
“Only under one condition,” I said.
I whispered in Mike’s ear, and I think he got it because he pulled out his phone and started making calls right away.
It was maybe a week later when we all met up again. This time, Mike picked me up in the same old truck we had driven into town before. I sat in the same seat I always had, with the same tears covered in tape.
