Before the waitress finished filling their glasses with ice water, Vanessa read over the menu and said, “Ooo, I do love peach cobbler, especially with a dollop of homemade vanilla bean ice-cream on top.” Then she looked up a bit confused. “Bands come all the way out here?”
“Of course, take a look around. This place is packed,” he replied with a smirk.
“Ah, yes, I guess I’m still stuck on thoughts of our afternoon delight,’ she said with a sideways grin.
Jake smiled and glanced down at her cleavage barely visible above the first button of her white blouse and said, “Let’s order. Our afternoon delight left me starving.” Vanessa giggled and turned her attention back to the menu.
It was unusual for Jake to talk about his parents. He had shared stories about his grandfather with Vanessa, but very little about his mother and father other than that they were dead and had left the ranch to him. It was just too hard a subject for him. Still, though, he knew he needed to open up with Vanessa if their relationship was to grow.
“Mrs. Anderson, the owner of the ranch and the restaurant, went to school with my mother. They were friends for a long time. Mom’s pot roast was always one of her favorites. She asked me if she could use the recipe here and I gave it to her,” Jake explained.
“That was nice,” Vanessa replied.
“Well, she has always been very good to me,” he said, a hint of sadness in his voice.
“I will have to try the pot roast the next time we’re here,” she said blotting her lips with a napkin.
They lightly chatted as they ate their dinner, having devoured it all before they even realized it. Vanessa was finishing the last bite of her salmon when she picked up the small vase of flowers in the middle of the table and held them to her nose.
When the young waitress, more than likely a high school student, stopped by to clear the table and take their dessert order Jake said, “Our dinner was divine, as always. Can you bring us two slices of peach cobbler a la mode, please? Mrs. Johnston is making one especially just for us. I called in the order earlier.”
Vanessa looked at him quizzically and shook her head as if in disbelief. Jake wasn’t sure why she found it so unusual that he would call ahead to order a pie. He had been doing it for years. After finishing their dessert, Jake motioned for the waitress. “We’re going to move out to the patio to listen to the band. Please bring us two glasses of wine.” Jake said, with a wide grin.
After a quick check with the hostess for available seating, she returned and led them out to a small, secluded table. Once Vanessa was seated, Jake excused himself to the restroom as she sat watching the band while they finished setting up.
Jake stood just around the corner out of Vanessa’s sight and waited until the band began to play the song he had requested, God Gave Me You. It was a popular song sung by Blake Shelton that he knew by heart. He wondered if Vanessa would recognize it, and hoped she knew the words too. Walking back toward her, he took a deep breath and got ready.
“Vanessa?” Jake said quietly.
She jumped, surprised to see him standing beside her. Vanessa’s eyes grew wide and she covered her open mouth with both hands as Jake slowly slipped down onto one knee and looked up at her. “Oh, Jake,” she whispered.
Jake reached for her left hand. Then he carefully took hold of her ring finger and slid on a two-carat diamond engagement ring fashioned just for her. She looked wildly from her hand into his eyes.
Jake’s heart felt as if it were about to explode when he asked, “I love you so much, Vanessa. Will you marry me?”
Vanessa sat quietly for a moment, looking stunned. Jake knew marriage wasn’t something they had ever discussed seriously. They had been so busy with just surviving all of the sudden he wondered if she might turn him down.
“Yes! Oh, God. Yes!” she said, sobbing as she sprang forward and kissed him.
He stood, pulled her to her feet and led her onto the dance floor as the music continued. Jake nuzzled his face under her hair and sung softly into her ear the words of the song. “… It’s true; God gave me you…” They began to dance and kiss until the end of the song before returning to their table to the glasses of champagne that had been delivered to them. The band picked up with more lively music as other people were seated on the patio.
****
Later in the evening, when Jake steered the truck off the highway and turned down the drive of the ranch they could see it was all lit up. Tucker and Luke had strung several strands of Japanese lanterns between the trees and set up a bandstand and a wooden dance floor in the front yard. Already a crowd of friends and coworkers were milling around. Some were dancing, and others were gathered chatting with one another.
Vanessa turned to Jake and smiled. “I take it that this is your handiwork?” she asked. Jake just shrugged and flashed her a sheepish grin.
After pulling the truck to a stop, Jake said, “Yes ma’am. I’m really glad you said yes, or this would have been a huge embarrassment,” he laughed.
Vanessa smiled and rolled her eyes saying, “As if I could ever say no to such a wonderful man.” She waited until Jake came around the side of the truck to open her door. After she jumped down to the ground, Jake wrapped his arm around he waist.
“She said yes!” he announced beaming as they approached the rapidly silencing group.
Just as quickly as the sound had died down while they approached, it erupted into loud cheers and whistles. People began coming forward to congratulate and hug them. At one-time Jake knew Vanessa had felt a bit out of place when she had first come to the ranch. But she had won them over when they saw how happy Jake had become even though their struggles had seemed unending.
After a while, when Jake was sure everyone was having a good time dancing, drinking and eating he took Vanessa by the hand and pulled her toward the barn. She looked up at him with wide eyes and asked, “Where’re we going.”
Jake pulled the barn doors open and pulled her inside, and quietly closed them. Pressing her against the wooden doors with his body, he cupped her chin in his hand and said, “You’ve been driving me crazy all night. I’m about to explode.”
Jake could see her face in the dim light from the outside filtering through one of the dusty barn windows. He saw her lick her lips as she began to hike up her skirt. That was all Jake needed. He unbuckled his belt and unzipped his fly freeing his hard, dripping cock. He felt Vanessa’s soft hand stroke him just like he had shown her he liked it best. During her performance, he opened her blouse and pulled down her bra exposing one of Vanessa’s luscious breasts. She squealed at first as he rolled her brown nipple around between his thumb and fingers. Her squeals morphed into moans as he trailed wet kisses down her neck.
Stepping back, he moved her hand away and knelt down on his knees in front of her. After opening her folds covered by a well-groomed swatch of dark velvet, he teased her clit by nipping and suckling it until he knew she was ready for him. When he stood up, she rose on her tiptoes and guided him into her core. Jake watched as she bit her lip until he had completely filled her with his hardness. First, they fucked standing up; then he held her bare ass as her heels dug into his. Finally, Jake laid her down on the straw in front of Tamara’s stall and whispered into her ear, “This is where it all started. Us standing right here.”
“Oh, Jake,” was all she could manage then they exploded together. Before they got up, Jake fingered her wetness to make sure she was completely satisfied. Then held them to her lips and together they licked their combined juices off his fingers.
After a few moments of sensual bliss, Jake helped Vanessa to her feet. They smoothed their clothes, and Jake plucked the straw from Vanessa’s hair. Quickly, they ran to the house and slipped through the back door, then out to the front porch carrying another tub of iced bottles of champagne.
As far as Jake could tell no one had even missed them when he stood on the porch steps and announced, “I want a make a toast to my new bride to be.” Then he f
ished inside the tub, pulled out a bottle of Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose and popped the cork.
The celebration went well into the wee hours of the morning. By the time everyone went home, Jake and Vanessa were only going to gain a few hours sleep before their work day started. That was the thing with a ranch, it operated seven days a week, regardless of weekends and her practice was much the same.
“We have so much to do!” Vanessa said as she woke up before the sun had even risen the next morning.
“I know. It’s going to be a long day, even for a Sunday,” Jake groaned, a bit hungover from the night before.
“I mean for the wedding,” she said. “When do you want to get married?’
“Can I have coffee first?” he laughed and pulled her close into a hug.
13
On Monday morning Jake was standing in his new office added when they rebuilt the dairy barn after the fire and he heard the unmistakable chug of Vanessa’s mobile clinic pull up nearby. Earlier she had texted him letting him know she had forgotten a bridal magazine on the kitchen table with the picture of the dress she wanted. At first, Jake was all smiles, but he felt his grin faded into a scowl when he heard what Tucker was saying to her.
“Congratulations on the engagement again.”
“Thank you. I’m so excited,” Vanessa replied.
“I’m really glad he got the ring back,” Jake heard Tucker say.
“Got the ring back? What do you mean?”
“You didn’t know? That is why he ducked into the jewelry store to pick it up. He told you he was just picking up shoes, but he stopped by there afterward. He had it resized to fit you. It took him months just to get it back from Karen and then it was in police evidence,” he said.
“I’m sorry. What did you just say?” Vanessa asked. “Who is Karen?”
There was silence for a moment. Then Jake heard Tucker try to close the can of worms he had just opened. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Vanessa. I have a big mouth. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not like you think,” he began to say, but it was too late. When Jake walked around the corner to explain Vanessa’s cheeks were red, and she was starting to shake. No doubt about it, Vanessa was furious.
She yanked the ring off her finger and threw it at him. “You gave me the same ring that you gave someone named Karen!” she yelled at him, not waiting for an answer before she turned around and stormed off toward the house.
Jake looked over at Tucker who stood peering at the floor kicking around the straw. “I’m sorry boss, I just assumed she knew about your ex.”
Jake picked up the ring and shook his head, calling out to her. “Vanessa… Vanessa, sweetie, let me explain,” but she ignored him. Instead, she headed straight through the back door and into his house. By the time he got inside, she was tossing her things in her overnight case that had been there, unpacked for months now.
Tears were streaming down her face as she looked up at him and yelled, “Why… Jake… Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
Jake slammed his fist down on the dresser top and boomed, “Vanessa, let me explain! Don’t do this!”
“Explain? Explain what!? When were you going to tell me my ring was re-gifted; that it was really Karen’s engagement ring! Do I really mean so little to you that you can’t be bothered to pick out another ring?” she barked at him.
Jake looked out the bedroom window and took a deep breath before he tried to explain again. “It’s not like that, Vanessa.”
“It is exactly like that. You gave me a diamond ring that you had already tried to give to someone else. That apparently didn’t work out, so now you just give the same one to me,” Vanessa hissed.
Jake gestured with opened arms appealing to her to stop and listen to him. “The ring has sentimental value to me, Vanessa!”
She had stopped sobbing now and was just enraged. Vanessa stomped her foot with her hands on her hips and yelled at Jake. “I will just bet it does. You give it to all your fiancées!” Then she grabbed her suitcase and brushed by Jake headed for the door.
When Jake got to the front porch, Vanessa was tossing the suitcase into the passenger’s seat and jumped behind the wheel. Jake was surprised that the old camper could peel out and throw gravel in the air — but it did. He pulled out his phone and tried to call her, but she ignored him. After several more attempts, he gave up.
Jake spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how he was going to explain this to Vanessa. The ring he had given her wasn’t just any old ring, and she was the one he wanted to have it. Her and only her. What was Tucker thinking when he mentioned Karen? Jake hadn’t thought about Karen for some time now, and here she was, fucking up his life just as much now as she did back then.
****
The next morning, Jake received a phone call from Heather at Vanessa’s office. He supposed she was the closest thing Vanessa had to a friend since she spent all her spare time with him. He had listened to Heather for a bit and then thanked her. After hanging up the phone, Jake grabbed his keys. A short time later, he stood inside the doors of a local breakfast hole looking around. Jake glanced up and saw Heather, so he made his way toward her. Then he stopped in his tracks when he saw that she wasn’t alone. Vanessa was sitting across the table with her back to him. When he walked up behind her he heard Vanessa saying, “I should have known better than to get involved with someone who had so much baggage hanging over them. What was I thinking.”
Jake stepped closer toward Vanessa and through gritted teeth said to her, “I thought you were thinking that you were in love with me. But it didn’t stop you from jumping to a ridiculous conclusion and backing out of our engagement the day after you agreed to marry me.”
Vanessa bolted upright in her seat. Heather looked down at her hands then stood. He could see that Vanessa was angry now that she realized her receptionist had somehow arranged this little meeting behind her back.
“Oh. You are just going to set me up to see someone I don’t want to talk to and then get up and leave,” Vanessa hissed.
Heather leaned down, gathered her purse and jacket then addressed both of them. “You know what, I see why the two of you get along. You’re just alike! Neither of you wants to talk about anything. You rather just jump to conclusions and find reasons to argue. The problem here is not me; it is the two of you. Now, I’m going to ask the waiter to take my breakfast to a different table. I suggest that the two of you sit here and talk this out like reasonable people instead of overgrown children,” Heather snapped at them, before walking away.
Vanessa watched as Heather approached the hostess stand and spoke to her. A moment later, an embarrassed looking waiter retrieved Heather’s food and took it to a table in a different corner of the restaurant. Vanessa said nothing nor did she look at Jake, who was still standing behind her chair.
He took a deep breath and let it out before walking around to the other side of the table and sat down. She still looked angry, but he was sure that he did too as they glared at one another without speaking.
Finally, Jake broke the silence that hung thick around them. “How could you ever think that I care so little about you that I would give you the same ring that I bought for Karen?”
“Because you did, Jake. Tucker told me.”
“Tucker told you only a small portion of the story. I’m not sure why he even thought it should be mentioned,” Jake explain in a calmer voice.
“What you neglect to realize in telling me this is that I am still right. You gave me Karen’s ring,” Vanessa snapped back at him, her eyes filling with tears.
“No. I gave you my mother’s engagement ring. My relationship with Karen was broken, and I couldn’t marry her. She killed everything I ever felt for her. I had taken it to the jewelry shop to get it resized and cleaned, plus I had them make a few changes to it so that it was still my mother’s ring, but unique to you. When I got shot, the police took it out of the glove compartment of my truck for evidence, along with several other things. That is
why I waited so long after that to propose to you. I made arrangements the instant the police released it,” he told her.
“I don’t know what to say. Why didn’t you tell me about Karen? You’ve never mentioned her,” Vanessa replied.
“Because she is not relevant. Karen and I were supposed to get married before I left for the military. We hardly knew one another. I found her with someone else, someone who could give her something I couldn’t, something I wouldn’t.”
“And what was that?” Vanessa asked in a bland tone.
Jake leaned forward and gazed straight into Vanessa’s eyes. “Heroin. She was hooked on heroin, and I couldn’t help her. She never even loved me. Her mind was on marrying me so that she could spend my paychecks that would be sent home while I was off fighting a war. I’m just lucky I found out before it was too late.”
“You loved her.”
“I thought I did, but it was too easy to walk away when I found out what she was, who she was. I didn’t even know her. You know how I got my mother’s ring back?”
“How?” Vanessa asked in a softer voice.
“I found her in some little shit hole house in town with her drug dealer. They had pawned my mother’s ring to buy heroin. When I found Karen, she was naked with him and several other guys. I yanked her up and took her home to her father, who put her in rehab. Carl helped me find the ring and get it back.”
“What happened? Do you still talk to Karen?” Vanessa said coolly.
“No one talks to Karen. She checked out of rehab after only three weeks, went right back to her little druggie friends and overdosed.”
Vanessa dropped her head and said nothing. He waited for what she would say next, and nothing came. What was there to say really? Instead, he spoke to her.
“Please just say that you understand and still want to marry me, Vanessa. If you want another ring, we will get you one. You don’t have to wear my mother’s if you don’t want. I realize that it is special to me, but perhaps not to you since you know that Karen once wore it. It wasn’t something I really thoroughly considered. I admit that but I do love you with all my heart and I never meant for you to feel that you are anything less than the most wonderful woman in the world to me,” he told her.
Renegade Ridge Page 14
