Jake by C. Petit (top novels TXT) 📗

the wall Kay seems to have built between them. I imagine that Homer still exercises his husbandly rights.”

Jake nodded, but didn’t say anything as his mind wrestled with that image. He hadn’t seen the changed Kay since he’d returned, but he was certain that Homer hadn’t changed much. He just had a difficult time imagining a cold Kay. She was always so enthusiastic. Maybe that had just been a pretense as well, but he found it hard to imagine.

Sara interrupted his short reverie by saying, “You have a nice house, Jake. I’ve never been on your ranch before, so I was impressed with how big it is.”

“You never even saw the place from the road?”

“I saw the access road but not the house. Kay never came out here either; did she?”

“Not once. My father would have probably made her feel more than just unwelcome.”

“If I was dressed for riding, you could show me around.”

“Do you even have a riding skirt?”

“No, but I could wear a pair of Emmett’s britches.”

Jake smiled as he said, “That would be quite a sight.”

She grinned and asked, “Would it be an impressive sight or a ridiculous sight?”

“I wouldn’t be laughing, Sara. When I return, I’ll give you a tour of the ranch, including my sanctuary.”

“Was it your hiding place from your father?”

“That was its primary purpose, but it became more than that. It was like a natural cathedral, only the congregation all walked on four legs.”

“How big is it?”

“Oh, I’d guess around a hundred and fifty acres, but the northern end kind of blends into a forest. There are enough trees scattered among the rocks to hide the critters, but they spend most of their lives in the forest.”

“That sounds like a wonderful place. When you give me the tour, will you let me enter your church?”

Jake smiled as he replied, “I would be honored, ma’am. You would be the first and only other person to see the interior.”

“Really? No one else visits the place?”

“I’m sure they had before I began using it for my refuge. Once they knew why I was going there, they let me have my privacy. They never said a word about it, either. My father certainly knew where I was, but he was probably just as pleased to have me out of his sight as I was to be hiding.”

“Was he really that bad, Jake?”

Jake needed to think for a minute before answering what should have been a simple question. He needed to set aside what his father had done on the second of the month and concentrate on the years before he enlisted.

He finally replied, “I’m not sure he was that much worse than most fathers. He was cold and demanding, but he never even paddled my behind. I deserved it quite often, too. When I was young, he’d scare me to death when he yelled at me, but he never even threatened me with his open hand. I’d get upset and my mother would comfort me later, but she’d always tell me that he was just trying to make me strong like him. As I grew older, I was no longer afraid of him, but was disappointed when he never once praised me for anything I did. No matter how well I had performed, it was never good enough.

“It wasn’t until Dave Forrest began to compliment me and tell me funny stories that I realized what a father needed to be. The more time I spent with Dave, the more distant my father became. He didn’t seem to mind that Dave had become my friend and mentor, but I never could understand what was on my father’s mind, so he could have been jealous. I really don’t know.”

“So, he wasn’t as horrible as I’ve heard?”

“I never believed he was horrible. Even when we had one of our loud rows, I just saw him as a demanding, hard man. That was why I found it hard to believe that he’d killed my mother. I don’t know what drove him to hurt her.”

“He never hit your mother before that day?”

“Not once. I’m sure that my mother still loved him, but he never showed any affection for her, at least I never saw any. I know that I wouldn’t exist if he had no feelings for her. I refuse to believe that my mother would have married him otherwise. When they married, this ranch wasn’t nearly as well established as it is now.”

“Your mother was still a very attractive woman. She must have been even prettier when she was young.”

Jake nodded as he studied Sara’s face. If he’d been sitting beside Kay, he would have been sure that her last remark was intended to extract a compliment about Kay’s handsome features. But Sara wasn’t Kay and Jake had no doubt that she meant nothing other than what she’d spoken.

Sara asked, “Why did you look at me that way?”

Jake smiled as he answered, “Because you aren’t Kay.”

“I told you that when we talked yesterday. Did you just figure it out?”

“No. I knew you weren’t anything like Kay shortly after I started seeing her five years ago. It was just that when you said that about my mother, I couldn’t help but imagine why Kay would have said those words. She would have expected me to reply with something like, ‘yes, Kay, she was very pretty, but you’re even prettier’. Yet I knew that you weren’t fishing for compliments. It was just another enormous difference between you and Kay.”

“You’re right about what she’d expect you to say. But she was that way long before you met her, too.”

“Sara, whatever else you may think of me as we talk, don’t ever believe that I want you to be anyone other than yourself. You aren’t a replacement for Kay. You