by Rita Hestand
The minute he did the stallion reared and bucked and staggered about. It was exhilarating for Jace, he gave the animal a little leave, then tried to control him. The animal resisted. This went on for some time, then after nearly bucking him for an hour, the stallion seemed to tire and settle out a bit. But Jace knew he was just gearing up for another wild stab at it.
About the time Jace thought he had him, the horse went to bucking so hard he could barely hang on. But Jace kept talking to him all the time he held on.
"Easy boy, this isn't going to hurt you." He gentled him.
For nearly an hour it was a torture to endure, but he didn't buck him off and the horse finally gave out and surrendered to Jace. They'd both worked up a real sweat.
Jace walked him about the corral for a bit, then got him to trot, then lead him different directions. When he was done, he rode him over to Jen and smiled. "That do alright, Mr. Hawkes?"
"That's fine sonny, you got a job. I collect the wild ones around here, 'cause no one else wants to fool with them. But I'm getting old and these old bones won't let me stay on them long. I been needing a man like you, where you been?"
Jace smiled as the man extended his hand for a shake, "Could we go inside and talk about it?"
"Shore, come on in. Let him dry out a bit then I'll curry him good."
The house wasn't fancy but it was big and it had several rooms. It was modestly furnished, mostly home-made furniture, but it was neat and tidy and the man was clean.
"I'd be glad to work for you, if you'll let my cousin live here with us. You see, she's got no folks."
Noah eyed Jen with precision, then glanced at Jace. "She really your cousin?" He watched him closely now as though he already knew the answer.
"No sir…she's my girl!" Jace announced.
Jen's face colored instantly.
"I kind of thought so. Well, I'll tell you. She might be your girl, but you ain't rightly married to her. However, as long as the two of you don't try no hanky-panky, I guess I can allow it. She'd have to cook for us. Can you cook?"
"I sure can." Jen smiled now, her face a mask of emotions. She didn't know why Jace told him that, but she wouldn't argue the point right now.
"All right. I'll try you both out and see how you work out." He smiled as he grabbed his pipe, stuffed it with tobacco and lit it. "It'll be nice not having to do the house work every day too." Hawkes eyed her.
"I was told you were a hermit. I sure didn't expect you might hire me." Jace remarked.
The man puffed on his pipe and offered Jace some, but Jace shook his head. "I am, but even a hermit gets a might lonely and I wasn't lying about not being able to break 'em very well any more. Busted my shoulder last spring and I'm just sort of holding on right now. Didn't know what I was gonna do. Now…about the pay. It would be low at first unless we make a bundle. I'd say the best way to handle that is to pay per breaking. You break enough we will be in business. What do you say?"
"How much?"
"Thirty-seventy on the sale."
"The thirty for me?" Jace smiled.
"That's right because for one, I got the house, and for two, I got the corral for the horses and three, I know where to find the horses."
Jace chuckled, "Then that's fair enough."
"And could you see your way clear to give Jen ten of that seventy for cooking and cleaning around here?" Jace asked.
Noah looked at her and smiled. "Sounds good to me. How about you, little lady?"
"Sounds really good!" Jen smiled.
"Well, we got a deal then. We'll start in the morning. I even got a stew cooking so you can start then too." He looked at Jen closely. "You look a might familiar. Do I know you?"
Jen's face settled into an uncomfortable frown, "I guess you might as well know, I was a dancehall girl at the saloon in Carterville. I quit."
"That's it. I been there, yeah. That's where I seen you. So how'd you hook up with him?" The old man asked with a grin.
"He's an old friend of the family. I've known him most of my life."
Noah nodded. "How come you two aren't married then."
"He just came back to town a few days ago, he's been gone ten years." Jen chuckled. "We're getting reacquainted. And I left the saloon."
"Ten years. That's a long time. You two are gettin' reacquainted then?"
"Yes sir, Jen's alone now, her folks are all gone. But I took her out of that saloon pronto. She deserves better than that."
"Well now, that's fine. You seein' after her an all. I appreciate you indulging me with this information. But I like to know something about people when I live with them you see. I could tell you were good folks."
"How?" Jen asked curiously.
"Well, if you hadn't been, you wouldn't have bothered even tellin' me who you was or that you were on my land. That was real honest of you. I like honesty in people. I might be a hermit, but I don't lie or cheat people. My folks taught me that."
"Then…I better tell you my real name is Chance Montgomery and I used to live about these parts years ago with my folks."
Noah eyed him closely, and scratched his head, "I heard of the name somewhere's, but I don't recollect where."
"My folks had land about these parts years ago."
"What happened?"
"It was stolen out from under them. But for the time being I'd appreciate it if you'd just keep calling me Jace."
Noah nodded slowly. "You in any trouble boy?"
"Not around here…"
Noah stuck out his hand, "Don't steal or lie to me and we'll get along fine son."
Jace shook his hand, "Sounds good. Do you know a Willa…I mean Kate Williams?"
"Oh yeah," Noah's eyebrows went up and he smirked. "She's my neighbor. Didn't care for her attitude. She acts like a man, but she's a looker alright. Why?"
"Run into some cowpokes that mentioned her name as a rancher in these parts. They suggested I talk to her about a job. But the way they talked, I wasn't much interested."
"Any man that works for her, ain't worth his salt. Lettin' a woman tell them what to do on a ranch…" Noah shook his head.
"I'm just glad I ran into you first." Jace smiled.
"Guess I'm old fashioned but females need to be in the kitchen, or havin' babies, not bossin' men that already know their job."
Jace chuckled.
"And about Jen here, you treat her right or you'll have me to answer to."
"Believe it or not, I like that, Noah. Glad I can count on you."
"She's a right pretty little gal and I don't aim to see her hurt in any way." Noah glanced from one to the other.
"But I can…" Jen started to say.
"I think we both have her best interest at heart." Jace declared and shot Jen a quick smile.
"You got any more horses here?"
"Nope, but I sure know where to find them. We won't have any trouble rounding them up, that stallion out there has been leading them for a long time. Like as not, they probably elected a new one to guide them. Catching him was hard, he's a stubborn one alright."
Breaking broncs was a hard job. Hard on the body and sometimes hard on the mind. But Jace agreed. He liked this man. It was hard to believe he'd made a deal with him that easily but Jace was secretly glad, he didn't relish the thought of working for a woman either. And he liked the fact that Noah felt protective of Jen too. He liked that a lot. They were going to get along fine.
Chapter Five
That evening after supper, Noah encouraged both of them to take a stroll along the place, and get familiar with the land to some extent. He wanted them to feel comfortable here, and he needed some alone time since that's how he preferred to live. At least up until now.
"But the dishes," Jen cried.
"I'll do 'em up, this time. You don't officially take over that job until tomorrow. Now go on, have a walk." He encouraged her.
They walked in silence for a long while, noting the beautiful landscape of trees and the fresh stream not far away. They had
walked a long way from the house and Jace got a lay of the land. It was beautiful land that had been cleared and there were so many possibilities of what it could be.
Around the main cabin there was a fence, the barn needed a paint job, but it looked in good condition.
The sun was about to go down and the hues it put out against the line of trees was so gorgeous.
A slight breeze cooled the land from a hot day.
"So…what do you think of Hawkes and the place?"
She glanced at him as she leaned against a tree trunk, "He's a nice man, I like him. I wasn't sure at first, his eye sort of scared me, but once I got used to it, I barely noticed it."
"Yeah, maybe when he gets to know us better he'll tell us how he lost it."
She nodded. "He offered fair wages and maybe it'll work out for the best for all of us, he certainly needs help around here in his condition. But there's one thing that puzzled me."
"What was that?" Jace asked as he leaned on the fence post and stared out over the hill.
"Why did you tell him your real name?"
The warmth in his voice echoed through the forest. "He said he respected honesty. If I'm going to work for him, I didn't want someone coming up here, recognizing me and calling attention to it. I figured I'd be straight with him from the beginning. He seems like a nice fella. I wanted no lies between us. When you meet honest folks, it's best to shoot straight with them."
She nodded. "Yeah, I liked him too." A smile curved her lips.
"You know, I'm a little surprised you didn't contradict me when I called you my girl though." He chuckled, then glanced at her.
Her expression sobered. "I meant to bring that up with you in private." She became very serious now. "I mean Jace…you're gonna have to start keepin' up with your lies."
"Well…it wasn't exactly a lie." He moved his hand in gesture to the forested area they were in. "You hooked up with me, and your still with me, I figure I called it right."
The way he was looking at her though took her breath away. It was clear she got herself into this one, and she didn't know how to get out of it. She swallowed hard.
"You could have just said we were old friends…" She began uncertain of where she was going with it.
A tenuous thread hung between them, stretching with each heated gaze he shot her. An unspoken bond lay like a gauntlet, waiting for a taker. His hand moved to gently stoke her cheek.
Her face flushed and he grinned.
She breathed in deeply, skeptical of her own female feelings toward this masculine man that made her heart beat irregularly.
"We were old friends Jen. But I'd say things are changing pretty quickly." He stared at her boldly, raking her with his glance from her booted heels to the tip of her well worn hat.
She blushed, when his gaze lingered at various points of her body.
"I thought he should know how I felt about you. Of course a lot depends on how you feel too. I was pretty clear, I laid my cards on the table, Jen. Now it's your turn, you gonna fold, or call my bluff."
"Are you bluffing?" She barely uttered.
"When you get to know me better, you'll realize I never bluff, sweetheart." He came closer now, staring down into her somber eyes, "If I'm wrong, maybe you should set me straight now. After all, when I kiss you Jen, you sure as hell kiss me back. Don't you?"
She stared up into his face, and a hand reached to caress his cheek. Then she touched his long hair, fingering it for a moment. The look in his eyes consumed her but he hadn't moved an inch.
Her voice sounded husky. "I gotta know something."
"Ask." He answered quickly his eyes lighting with some new discovery.
"Are you just feeling protective of me, like you always have?" She asked her voice going almost to a murmur. "I mean, were you joking when you said it to him? Is that it?"
His eyes met hers in a storm of emotions, "Protection has nothing to do with kissing you. Nothing at all. And I certainly didn't plan for it to happen, at least not the first time. Not that I'm sorry. I won't apologize for enjoying something that sweet with you. Granted, when you were younger, I did feel protective of you. And I'd never knowingly let anyone hurt you. You gotta know that."
Her breath hitched, and immediate disappointment hovered in her eyes. She nodded, "I understand," she said flatly and started to move away from him.
But his hand reached to pull her chin up and look into her eyes that sparkled with unshed tears. "I wasn't quite finished. But when I kissed you, things began to change. When you kissed me back, you lit me up like a fire-cracker on the fourth of July. And I can't stop what's growing between us Jen. And neither can you. I'm protective of you because I care about you. I always have. That hasn't and won't change. But the way I feel when we kiss, is the way a man feels when he's holding a woman like you in his arms."
"A woman like me?" She repeated, her mouth open, her heart pounding from his words.
"A woman like you. I have feelings for you Jen, that has nothing to do with you being a twelve-year-old kid. But…I'll grant you, we haven't been together long. And I'm damned sure I don't want to lose you. You're the best lady I've ever known and I want you the way a man wants a woman, but I won't take you like that. Not yet. I promise you that. But whether you know it or not, you're my girl! And I think, somehow, you always have been."
"Jace…" She murmured, and came into his arms. He took her lips in a storm of emotions crowding them both. He heard the surrender in her voice and he crushed her to him. His mouth went over her face, heating her skin, first her cheek, then at the base of her ear, down the cord of her neck where he breathed in heavily. Then back to her waiting mouth.
She welcomed his kisses as she had from the first.
He heard her surrendering sigh. His lips explored her, as his tongue shot out to open her mouth so he could be welcomed inside. Slowly his tongue mated with hers and they both sighed into each other's arms. The need to be one had them melded together. He groaned as the imprint of her womanly body fused with the rock hard of his.
When he pulled away he saw the sparkle in her eyes and smiled, his hand reached to cup the back of her neck, his thumb going into her wild mane of light brown hair, massaging her there. "We need time to get to know one another again, in different ways than before. At least that's what I keep telling myself. We were kids when we first met. We're not kids any more. I won't disrespect you Jen in any way. You're not my whore, you're my lady!"
"Yes," she whispered just before he claimed her mouth once more.
She swooned, and hung on for life. The kiss was possessive, and grounding. He was marking her as his territory and she moaned helplessly at the thought. His lips moved against her with such fire. He held her close, smothering her with little nips.
When they pulled apart they were both panting and he moved backwards a bit. "I don't mean to back away from you, sweetheart, but if I don't, things could get out of hand, and I won't treat you that way. You deserve to be treated like the lady you are. And that's what I aim to do."
She nodded as tears clouded her vision.
He came back to take her into his arms and hug her. "Don't cry." He held her gently in his arms now.
"I swore when I went to work in that saloon, that I'd never let a man get to me. That I wouldn't feel anything. But you walk into town and everything goes hay wired. I can't think when you kiss me, and I don't want to."
"I realize your whole world is changing. Mine is too. You need some time to adjust to it all. So do I. But our feelings for each other is too strong to walk away from or deny. I think we both know that."
She nodded. "Yes…" Her voice was filled with emotion.
"I don't know if this is love, it's so different from what I felt for Rebecca."
There it was again, her sister. For a moment her heart nearly knotted into.
She pulled away, but he pulled her back. "No, don't pull away from me. I don't want Rebecca between us. You don't understand. When I look at you, I see all of you.
I see your heart which is bigger than Texas, and I see the person you are, and I care about all of that. It isn't frivolous like with Rebecca. With her I thought more of her beauty than her personality. I didn't think about how we might get along. Whether we could ever truly live together. We never even considered that. We'd have never made it together her and I. I know it now. She had no sense of humor, and she saw nothing but herself all the time. It wasn't her fault, her daddy spoiled her rotten. But she could have changed it. She didn't want to. Because what I felt was just on the surface with her. And what I feel with you is…" He shook his head in wonder. "So much deeper, more meaningful, and more lasting. I like things about you, your honesty, your loyalties, your caring, and I go a little crazy looking at you. You are so much woman. Your beauty comes from inside, but there's so much of it, it spills to the outside too."
"It does?" She gasped.
"I like that you're so naïve about some things honey. You don't see your own beauty. That makes you even more special to me. But we've only been together a short while, and we need time to get to know each other again. But I know this for certain…you are my girl."
"Maybe we should get back…" She cried looking at him now.
"Why?"
"Because you keep talkin' sweet talk. I might weaken…"
"No you won't. I won't let you. I want you to know, you don't have to be afraid around me. I'm not about to do anything to mess us up. What we got between us will grow, is growing day by day. But I guess we did get one thing straight."
"What?"
"You are my girl!"
Her smile seemed to light the forest, "I guess I am."
He kissed her on her forehead. His forehead touched hers and they were panting from the emotions spilling out of them. "I'm glad to hear you say it." He stared into her face now. "We got a chance here to straighten our lives up, and make a life. But I want to do it all right, Jen. I want to make us a good life, together."
"Together?" she gasped.
"Together!" He smiled.
"Let's take it one step at a time, Jace. I'm still working on I'm your girl."
