by Tessa Bowen
She glanced up at him. “What is it?”
“You’re the one who hurled your soda pop at me, left me standing in a puddle of high fructose corn syrup.”
Something flickered in her mysterious blue eyes—pride maybe.
“It was just outside of Dallas, if I remember correctly—Mesquite.”
“You remember correctly.”
“You turned into a real humdinger, just like I suspected.”
“I was always a humdinger,” she challenged.
They didn’t have time to argue this point because in the next instant the ewe’s water bag broke, expelling a good amount of fluid, which puddled between them, soaking both their boots.
“That’s so gross!” Lorelai exclaimed.
Jeb tossed her a pair of latex gloves, like the pair he wore.
“The lamb is ready to come out, but the sack is twisted the wrong way. You’ve got to get up in there and make things right. I’ll hold her down.”
“Get up in…there…?”
“Your hands are smaller; it will be more comfortable for her.”
“It seems so impolite.”
“You’re worried about being polite now? She’s in pain—bag is already halfway out, just turn it to the right.”
Lorelai nodded. “OK, I can do it, but this is so gross.”
She snapped the gloves on and went for it.
“Do you feel the sack?” Jeb asked as he struggled with the ewe. “You’ve got a good hold on it?”
“Yes…I feel something else too, lumps and bumps.”
“That’s the lamb.”
“There is a lamb in there!”
“What else would be in there—a sack of potatoes?”
“I just mean I think I can feel its little nose!”
“You’re gonna have to put both hands inside her.”
“My, this is graphic.”
“Just the business of lambing.”
Lorelai inserted another hand and bit down on her lip. “Sorry for being so rude, mama sheep.” She twisted with a little grunt. As soon as she did the mass slid out of the ewe and Lorelai stared agog. “I can see the lamb! That’s its legs and feet!”
“Better stand back,” Jeb warned.
But Lorelai was too mesmerized to move. The lamb kicked free. Liquid and mucous splashed the front of Lorelai’s coveralls.
“Ohhhhh, so gross!” she wailed. “But so cute!”
The lamb rose on wobbly wet legs, shaking off the viscous matter that matted his fur. The lamb’s mother began to wipe the newborn animal clean until he was fluffy.
Lorelai pulled off her gloves and clapped. “It’s a lamb!”
Jeb laughed at her glee. He’d seen thousands of lambs in his day. It didn’t do much for him anymore, unless Ducky was around. Ducky loved a newborn lamb and this odd girl seemed to as well. He experienced a warm feeling in his belly as he observed her pleasure.
“We did it!” she went on excitedly.
“Guess you enjoyed your first lambing.”
“I did—I haven’t had that much fun in years. I mean it was totally gross but look, it’s a real live actual lamb!”
Jeb shook his head good-naturedly. “You’re a queer one.”
She’d caterwauled that the experience had been “gross” and now she was practically rhapsodizing. Jeb honestly never thought she’d make it through without fainting. Instead, she had gone for it with gusto. He’d underestimated her. He had the feeling (if he got to know her) that she’d surprise him in many ways.
“Can I touch him?”
“Sure, better be quick. He’s about to run off. He wants to try out those new legs.”
Lorelai clung to the lamb as it made adorable noises. She set the lamb free, beaming as it hobbled out into the pasture.
“I just witnessed a miracle.”
“Lamb therapy?”
Her grin widened. “Exactly.”
Jeb stroked the tired ewe, but his senses were overwhelmed by Lorelai’s radiance. “You sure do have a pretty smile, Lorelai. Lord save me if you can sing.”
He’d meant to say the words to himself, but now they were out. Nothing he could do to change that now.
“Oh…you mean because of the tale of the singing mermaid, Lorelai? Or I mean, the ‘tail’ of the mermaid.” She broke into nervous laughter. “Get it?”
Jeb didn’t laugh, he was too transfixed by the melody of her girlish giggles. They stared at each other intently for a long moment.
Lorelai was the first to cut the tension. “I can’t…sing, I mean.”
“When you laugh you sing.”
“I guess you’ve never heard me laugh before. I can’t remember the last time I did. You made me laugh, Jeb.”
The girl was looking at him with stars in her eyes. That wouldn’t do—or would it?
“I think you made yourself laugh.”
“I laughed, that’s all that matters. I never thought I’d laugh again. And to think it was the totally gross act of birthing lambs that made me laugh. So it was definitely you that made me laugh.”
This exchange was quite inane as well as inaccurate, but Jeb found he could squat all day there in the muddy hay, so long as he could look at her, observe her captivating features in motion, enjoy the oddly appealing way she had about her.
“How do you figure?”
“Well, you invited me to stay one more day and help you with the lambs. And I did—it made me so happy I laughed. Even though it was totally gross,” she added quickly.
She was a grown woman, but still acted like a girl. She was seductive yet guileless—earthy yet unearthly. Jeb had to put an end to this nonsense, or they’d be there all day. He was a little afraid he’d ask his unexpected guest to stay through the spring and assist him in birthing every last lamb on the ranch. Maybe he was lonelier than he’d realized. Or maybe she truly was an enchantress—an enchantress in rubber boots and coveralls.
“The front of your overalls is covered in lamb goo—now that’s totally gross.”
“Hey!” she exclaimed in mock indignation. “I’m a bona fide ranch hand now!”
She reached behind her and grabbed a handful of filthy straw and hurled it at him.
Jeb dodged the mud pie expertly. “You sure like throwing things, missy, but your arm hasn’t improved much in eight years.”
“I bet hanging out with you would give me a lot more practice!”
“I’m sure I deserved it. I was probably being a real smartass. That night is a haze, as most of my days on the circuit were.”
Lorelai rolled her eyes. “A haze of wine and women.”
“Cowboys don’t drink wine and there were quite a few girls until Sophie. I do recall how pissed she was that I let you in—except I didn’t let you in, did I? You busted in like a little blonde bandit. Anyway, she wouldn’t give me any that night.” He cocked a wicked brow. “Massages I mean.”
“Sophie was the dark beauty in the room with us that night. Whatever happened to her?”
“Well—that’s a long story.” Jeb said with a weary sigh.
“We could have been a long story,” Lorelai challenged him. “I wanted you to take my virginity that night, but you refused me.”
Jeb’s lips quirked. “You were far too young.”
“And there was Sophie,” she sulked.
“You’re used to getting whatever you want, aren’t you?”
“I used to be accustomed to getting my way, yes—but things have gone in a different direction for me. In any case, it should have been you—I wanted it to be you.”
“Damn, girl—you surely are brazen.”
“I just say what I’m thinking is all.”
“Maybe you ought to put a lid on that honesty of yours.”
“Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?”
“It isn’t proper.”
“I was raised to be proper by my mother, but it didn’t stick. I’m too forthright—like my father, so I don’t act like a lady when I’m supposed to. I
mean, I try—but the real me always slips out. Yes, it should have been you.”
“And there she goes again,” Jeb groaned. “It shouldn’t have been me. That particular act should be shared with someone you know, especially the first time.”
“I wanted an actual man to do it—not some bumbling teenage boy with soft hands. I gave it up to a frat boy. It was a disaster.”
The idea of her with another man made Jeb want to punch his hand through the barn wall—he’d even use his bad hand if he had to. The powerful reaction shocked him, caused his head to reel. He had to take a minute to straighten himself out again.
“You wouldn’t want some roughneck like me touching you. Especially back then. I was a cocky young shit.”
“I wanted someone who knew what they were doing. I figured if you could handle horses the way you did…”
So she thought he could ‘handle’ her, did she? Male pride swelled, causing a stirring in his jeans. He tried his hardest to suppress the heady waves of arousal.
“You’re not a horse, you’re a female.”
“I’m aware of that, but I get the distinct feeling whatever you do, you’re good at.”
There she went, with her over-the-top forthrightness. And her lips were moist and parted again, because she’d just licked them. Why was she looking at him as though she were hungry? He’d made her that big breakfast.
The barn felt steamy with their sexual chemistry. Or was it just that he’d been without a woman so long? The girl was covered in “lamb goo” and dressed in a pair of over-sized coveralls. How desperate was he? But there was more to it—there was more to her. She was compelling, for so many reasons.
She’s drawing me to those goddamn jagged rocks.
He had to lighten the mood again—and quick. He gave her his trademark smirk. “You sure wanted it bad enough, college girl in heat you were.”
Her face contorted. “Oh, how rude!” she ground out, gripping fresh handfuls of muck to throw at him.
Jeb leapt to his feet and sprinted for the door of the barn. “Race you to the stream!”
“The stream? Where is that?”
“I’ll show you.”
SHE WAS HOT ON HIS HEELS as he led her in a wild chase across the property, over a wide expanse of green grass, where the landscape opened up into a valley, surrounded by the high majestic Montana mountains. By the time they’d reached the stream, they’d thrown so many handfuls of mud at each other they were both filthy.
They laughed like children as they stripped down, until Jeb was in his boxer briefs and Lorelai was clad only in his white t-shirt.
She panted for breath. “I’m dying to get clean, but won’t it be cold?”
“There is a natural hot spring there between those rocks.”
Jeb motioned to the boulders which the stream trickled past, but she’d already splashed in, sinking all the way beneath the current, only to burst to the surface a second later.
“I love water,” she exclaimed.
He watched the rivulets run down her long, arched neck as he too splashed in.
“Of course you do.”
She turned on him with a coy smile. “Because I’m a mermaid.”
“That’s right.”
She waded closer to the rocks, slipping between them. She expelled a satisfied sigh at the feel of the warm waters.
“I think I had a dream about this place once…”
Jeb joined her in the magical cove. “This is one of my favorite spots on the property. John and I used to fish in this stream as boys, spills over from the Bighorn River.” A smile tugged at his lips. “Johnny takes his wife out here to smooth her feathers—when she gets out of hand. This is their make-up spot.”
“You took me here to smooth my feathers too, didn’t you? I was abusing you with mud pies after all.”
“I got a few good tosses in myself. And you don’t have feathers, you have scales, blue and green iridescent ones.”
“But I remind you of her?”
“You surely do. I hope to hell I don’t fall in love with you like Johnny did with her. She can be a mighty big pain in the ass, but you’re worse.”
“You think you could fall in love with me?”
Jeb seemed to have her dysfunction now. He said whatever he was thinking, no matter how revealing or outrageous. Maybe he just felt comfortable with this young woman—as if he’d known her forever. Once again, he deflected the situation with humor.
“You’re awful pretty and now that I know you’re useful around the ranch…”
His playful grin drooped when her face fell.
“I’m not useful for anything really. And I am a giant pain in the ass. Look what I put you through.”
“That’s over and done with,” Jeb said kindly. “You’re better now.”
“Yes, thanks to you. But I’m still a giant pain in the ass. I’ve been told I’m…temperamental.”
He winked at her, wanting her to feel better. Her sad face pained him.
“I prefer to think of you as a humdinger.”
“I can’t be that much of a humdinger if my husband cheated on me.”
“He cheated on you?” Jeb said in disbelief. “He must be playing for the other team.”
“I wish I had that as an excuse. I think he was just bored.”
“Bored! With you?”
A whisper of a smile softened her features. “I suppose we were all bored as well as boring—Dallas debs who married their frat boy boyfriends right out of college, did everything that was expected of us. Wore the right clothes, threw the right parties. It wasn’t what I wanted when I was young. I wanted something different, more unusual—I wanted to break out of that mold, I just didn’t know how to do it. So I sold out…lost my way entirely as well as my identity. I guess I’m going to have to reinvent myself, as well as rediscover myself. It was a terrible mistake to get married so young…”
“We all make mistakes, Lorelai.”
“You’ve never been married, have you?”
“No, but I would have married Sophie if she’d lived.”
“She died?” Lorelai whispered.
“Yes, not long after…”
Now Jeb was the one wearing the shadowy expression.
“Not long after the incident with the soda pop,” she finished for him.
“She was killed in an accident. She was carrying a baby in her belly. We don’t know whose child it was. She was my brother’s girl first. So you see—I cheated too, on my brother you could say. I hope that doesn’t make you hate me. He was away a lot—training. She got restless and well, I fell hard.”
“You cheated for love, that’s different. And the baby…?”
“Died with Sophie,” he said mechanically.
“Oh…that’s truly terrible, I’m sorry.”
“And I’m sorry you married the wrong man, Lorelai. I still regret what I did,” he continued, unaware he was opening and closing his bad hand under water, stretching the fingers wide then making a fist as he so often did. “It caused a lot of bad blood between me and my brother. He came home from a long trip to find us together. He busted me up good, I deserved that walloping. Problem is he crushed my hand, ended my rodeo career. That hand never was the same.”
“I never knew why you retired so early. Does it still pain you? I’ve noticed you stretch it a lot.”
“Stiffens up when the weather gets cold. I get physical therapy for it. Keeping it mobile is a good thing. Anyway, I told you Sophie was a long story. I only shared that piece of my past with you so you wouldn’t think you’re alone. We all have regrets. You’ll start a new life, make a new beginning. I don’t doubt it for a minute.”
“Do you want to start a new life, Jeb? Have a new beginning?”
“I did start a new beginning, one without Sophie, here at the ranch. Do you mean would I like a family?”
She nodded, searching his face intently.
“Yes, I would. Especially now that I have my little niece and I see how
happy John and Abbie are. That’s probably what’s missing in my life.”
“I’ve always wanted children,” Lorelai confessed. “Perhaps that’s why I married so young, but it was stupid to think I’d be satisfied being just a wife. I wanted to be a mother yes, but I’m also a modern woman who thinks for herself. I’m not good at doing a man’s bidding, playing the part of the southern belle. It seems I’m through with men for the time being. How about you—do you have anyone? You must have scads of women.”
“Scads? No,” Jeb answered modestly. “I haven’t had a lady friend for some time.”
“You must have lots of opportunities, what with your reputation.”
“Casual flings leave me with an empty feeling lately—so I’ve chosen to be on my own for now.”
“I’ve only been with one man,” Lorelai blurted. “Just the man I married. I don’t know why I told you that—how embarrassing.”
She sunk lower in the pool, her face red hot.
Jeb’s possessive inner animal reared its head. That only one man had touched her made him feel a little less like putting his fist through something. Even one man was one too many.
“You shouldn’t be embarrassed,” Jeb assured her, his voice cracked over the words. He still reeled from the intensity of his reaction.
She straightened in the water, laughing thinly. “This is like a confession pool, or something, right? Wow, I’m getting a little hot.”
Lorelai climbed out of the pool to rest on a large boulder. The wet t-shirt clung to her graceful form, leaving nothing to the imagination, her long slender legs were tucked beneath her. The length of her wet hair coiled around one gently curved shoulder. She’d never looked more beautiful, or more like a mermaid.
“What kind of moron would cheat on you? He ought to have his head examined.”
His comment pleased her. She smiled softly. “Guess he didn’t like mermaids.”
“You look just like one now, curled up on that rock.”
“You said your mother sang you the song about the mermaid Lorelai. My father named me for that song. Silly tune really. I think he just liked Gershwin. He never knew the true tale of Lorelai. She was trouble, she used to entice sailors to her cove with her singing so their ships would shatter against the rocks.” Suddenly, she looked very forlorn. “It’s not a very nice story. She wasn’t a very nice mermaid.”
